William Herbert Hobbs Sutcliffe (10 October 1926 – 16 September 1998) was an English

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

er, and the son of

Herbert Sutcliffe Herbert Sutcliffe (24 November 1894 – 22 January 1978) was an English Professionalism#Sports, professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Yorkshire and England national cricket team, England as an opening batsman. A ...

; his middle name was in honour of

Jack Hobbs Sir John Berry Hobbs (16 December 1882 – 21 December 1963) was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches between 1908 and 1930. Known as "The Master", he is widely regarded ...

. Sutcliffe was born in

Pudsey Pudsey is a market town in the City of Leeds borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is located midway between Bradford city centre and Leeds city centre. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a population of 25,393. History T ...

, near

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Playing as a right-handed batsman and occasional medium and leg break bowler, he made his debut for

Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club is a professional Cricket club based in Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the County Championship, the top tier of English First-class cricket. Nicknamed "Vikings". Yorkshire also competes in T20 Blast, O ...

in 1948, and retired from the first-class game in 1959. In 210 first-class matches, he scored 7,530 runs, with a career best score of 181 against

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in 1952, at an average of 26.42. He scored six centuries in all, including 171 not out against

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

and 161 not out against

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

Bob Appleyard Robert Appleyard (27 June 1924 – 17 March 2015) was a Yorkshire and England first-class cricketer. He was one of the best English bowlers of the 1950s, a decade which saw England develop its strongest bowling attack of the twentieth century. ...

recalled that Sutcliffe batted with a 2 pounds 6 ounces bat, which had to be specially made as it was considered very heavy in its day. He toured India with the Commonwealth XI in 1950-51 (adding 301 for the fourth wicket with

Frank Worrell Sir Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell (1 August 1924 – 13 March 1967), sometimes referred to by his nickname of Tae, was a Barbadian West Indies cricketer and Jamaican senator. A stylish right-handed batsman and useful left-arm seam bowler, ...

in the match against

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

), and Pakistan with the MCC in 1955–56. Sutcliffe captained Yorkshire as an amateur for two years in 1956 and 1957. He led a recovering Yorkshire to third in the

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

in his final season in charge.

Brian Close Dennis Brian Close, (24 February 1931 – 13 September 2015) was an English first-class cricketer. He was picked to play against New Zealand in July 1949, when he was 18 years old. Close went on to play 22 Test matches for England, ...

called him "a super lad who made himself into a county cricketer because it was expected of him, and because he believed in Yorkshire cricket and its right to pre-eminence. He was happier having a pint and a natter than he was in cracking the whip on the field". The Yorkshire and

spin bowler and

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC) coach Don Wilson said "It was unfair to suggest he was only in the job because of his name. He was a great league player and had proved himself a knowledgeable captain for Leeds. It was the senior players who were at the root of this malediction." He later served on the Yorkshire committee, and on the Test selection panel in 1969 and 1970.''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' 1999, p. 1491. He died in September 1998 in Collingham, Yorkshire.

References

External links

Cricinfo Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutcliffe, Billy 1926 births 1998 deaths Yorkshire cricketers Cricketers from Pudsey English cricketers of 1946 to 1968 20th-century English sportsmen Yorkshire cricket captains Commonwealth XI cricketers England cricket team selectors English cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Minor Counties cricketers Gentlemen cricketers People educated at Rydal Penrhos 20th-century English businesspeople