Lenard Winston Hill (14 April 1941 – 12 April 2007) was a Welsh sportsman, who played first-class

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 ...

for

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 ...

, league football for Swansea Town and Newport County and was also a talented

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player. It was mentioned that he only went to play football professionally so he could spend more time practising in the nets for cricket. In later life Len was a keen golfer with a handicap of 3 and represented Wales Seniors.

Early sporting career

Hill was born in

Caerleon Caerleon ( ; ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies northeast of Newport city centre, and southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable ...

and played for Lovell's Athletic before joining Newport County in 1962. He remained with Newport until 1973, later playing briefly for

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

Later career

Hill joined

Glamorgan County Cricket Club Glamorgan County Cricket Club () is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Gla ...

in 1964, but his football career took precedence, preventing him from playing a full county cricket season until the mid-1970s. His first class debut came on 18 July 1964 against

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 ...

. He scored just one run on his debut, falling lbw to

Brian Statham John Brian Statham, (17 June 1930 – 10 June 2000) was an English professional cricketer from Gorton, in Manchester, who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club from 1950 to 1968 and for England from 1951 to 1965.Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

in 1974. In the same year, he scored 90 not out 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 one of the year's most notable Glamorgan victories. He played his last game for Glamorgan in 1976. He helped Glamorgan to victory beating Pakistan where he got Imran Khan and some other notable players out. A brief spell as professional at ''Ammanford Cricket Club'' completed his career.

Recognition of qualities

In 1975, he was featured in an article in ''

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 ...

'' by Basil Easterbrook entitled "The Willing Workhorses of First Class Cricket". A popular player, in retirement he kept in touch with his ex-colleagues through the Glamorgan Ex-Players' Association.

Death

Hill died in April 2007, aged 65.Welsh dual sport star Hill dies
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Len 1941 births 2007 deaths Glamorgan cricketers Newport County A.F.C. players English Football League players Sportspeople from Caerleon Footballers from Newport, Wales Swansea City A.F.C. players Welsh cricketers Welsh men's footballers Lovell's Athletic F.C. players Men's association football wing halves