George Duckworth (9 May 1901 – 5 January 1966) was a 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

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 ...

for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and

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 ...

. Duckworth, who won his cricketing fame as a

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

, was born and died in

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

, and joined Lancashire in 1922. He played his first game for the county in 1923 and his last in 1938 and went on to become a member of the Lancashire committee. 1928 was his best season, with him taking 77 catches and 30 stumpings, and this earned him the accolade of being one of the

Wisden Cricketers of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based "primarily for their influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in 1929. He played 24 Test matches for England, but as a wicket-keeper he was in direct competition in his later years with

Les Ames Leslie Ethelbert George Ames (3 December 1905 – 27 February 1990) was a wicket-keeper and batsman for the England cricket team and Kent County Cricket Club. Born at Elham, Kent, Ames began his first-class cricket, first-class career with h ...

, who was a much better batsman. He was awarded a benefit in 1934, which raised £1,257. He was reputed to have the loudest shout of appeal of any cricketer of his time. Duckworth's total of 925 dismissals for Lancashire is a record for the county. After retirement, Duckworth was a journalist and a broadcaster on both cricket and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

. He also acted as a cricket tour organiser and as baggage master and scorer on

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) tours.

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, ...

, recognising the high esteem that

Len Hutton Sir Leonard Hutton (23 June 1916 – 6 September 1990) was an English cricketer. He played as an Batting order (cricket)#Opening batsmen, opening batsman for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1934 to 1955 and for England national cricket team ...

had held Duckworth's role in 1953/54 took him to Australia as West Indies' baggageman/scorer/guru on their ground-breaking tour. A peanut shaped roundabout in his home town Warrington has been named after him. Duckworth's Roundabout is at Birchwood Way (A574) and Oakwood Gate. Duckworth was the nephew of the rugby league footballer for

, Jack Duckworth.

References

Cricinfo page on George Duckworth

External links

*

1901 births 1966 deaths Cheshire cricketers Cricketers from Warrington England Test cricketers English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 20th-century English sportsmen English cricketers H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers Lancashire cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers North v South cricketers People educated at Boteler Grammar School Players cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Wicket-keepers Marylebone Cricket Club Australian Touring Team cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club South African Touring Team cricketers {{England-cricket-bio-stub