Richard Mayes (7 October 1922 – 10 July 2013), known as Dicky Mayes, was an English professional

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who played 80

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 ...

matches for

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ken ...

between 1947 and 1953. Mayes, who was considered a stylish batsman, later coached cricket and played for

Suffolk County Cricket Club Suffolk County Cricket Club is one of twenty minor county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Suffolk. The team is currently a member of the Minor Counties Championship East ...

. He had served in World War II.

Early life

Mayes was born at Littlebourne in

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 ...

and joined the Kent staff at

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

in 1939.Mayes, Richard
Obituaries in 2013, ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''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 ...

'', 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2018. He played once for the county Second XI before the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

later in the year.Dicky Mayes
CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 December 2018. Initially primarily a

leg spin Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called a leg spinner. Leg spinners bowl with their right-arm and a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery is called a leg break, which spins fr ...

bowler, he returned to the game after serving in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

during the war as a batsman, partially as a result of playing cricket on hard pitches in Egypt his service.

Cricket career

Mayes made his first-class cricket debut in 1947 against

Northants Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordsh ...

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Roche ...

. He played for the county First XI for the next seven seasons, making a total of 80 appearances for the side in first-class matches. His best seasons were in 1951, when he scored 719 runs, which he bettered the following season when he made 934.Kent Cricket saddened by the death of Richard Mayes

, 10 July 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2018. He scored four centuries for Kent at First XI level, making his first, a score of 133 against

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, in 1951 before scoring three the following season, including his highest score of 134 against

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...

,Dicky Mayes
''Boundaries'', issue 13, p.11. The Professional Cricketers' Association, 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2018. during which he and Bill Murray-Wood set a record for the sixth-wicket at the ground which stood until 2010.Stevens romps to an unbeaten 181 before rain arrives in Tunbridge Wells

, 5 June 2010. Retrieved 18 December 2018. He was awarded his

county cap In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

in 1952. Although he was a "prolific scorer of runs" at Second XI level and considered a "stylish right-handed batsman", Mayes was considered a "bad starter" and he made 23 ducks during his career. He was released by Kent at the end of the 1953 season. He went on to become coach and groundsman at Woolverstone Hall School near

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

from 1957 to 1987 where he coached future England international Graham Barlow when he was a pupil at the school. He played for

in the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

between 1957 and 1963, making 57 appearances for the county and scoring 729 runs in 1959, at that point a record total for the county in a single season.Garnham N (2012
Ex-Suffolk cricketer and coach celebrates 90th birthday
''

East Anglian Daily Times The ''East Anglian Daily Times'' is a British local newspaper for Suffolk and Essex, based in Ipswich. History The newspaper began publication on 13 October 1874, incorporating the ''Ipswich Express'', which had been published since 13 August ...

'', 11 October 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2018.

Personal and later life

As well as cricket, Mayes played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

semi-professionally for Ramsgate Town between 1947 and 1951 and for Canterbury City F.C. Mayes lived in Chelmondiston in Suffolk after his retirement with his wife Violet. One of their sons,

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan (given name), Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish language, Irish and Breton language, Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan language, Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. ...

, also played cricket for Suffolk. Mayes died in Suffolk in July 2013 aged 90.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayes, Dicky 1922 births 2013 deaths English cricketers Kent cricketers People from Littlebourne Suffolk cricketers British Army personnel of World War II British Army soldiers Cricketers from Kent Military personnel from Kent 20th-century English sportsmen