Richard Leslie Ollis (born 14 January 1961) played first-class and

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for

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

between 1981 and 1985. He was born at

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. The son of a haulage contractor from Keynsham, Ollis was an upright left-handed batsman used either as an opener or in the middle order. He also bowled occasional right-arm medium pace and once or twice kept wicket. Ollis played for Somerset's second eleven in the

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and the

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from 1978, and made his first-class debut in two matches at the end of the 1981 season. He played only once in 1982, but in 1983, he was brought into the team when Somerset's

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players,

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Viv Richards Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards (born 7 March 1952) is a retired Antiguan cricketer who represented the West Indies cricket team between 1974 and 1991. Usually batting at number three in a dominant West Indies side, Richards is widely ...

and

Joel Garner Joel Garner (born 16 December 1952) is a former West Indian cricketer, and a member of the highly regarded late 1970s and early 1980s West Indies cricket teams. Garner is the highest ranked One Day International bowler according to the ICC bes ...

disappeared on

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duty and stayed there for much of the season. Ollis's first game of the season was against

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; after two declarations, Gloucestershire set Somerset 330 to win in 217 minutes and as opening batsmen Ollis and Somerset captain

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made no attempt to go for the runs. At the designated close of play, they had reached 174 for no wicket, with Ollis not out 99, and Gloucestershire captain

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bowled an extra over in an attempt to secure Ollis his century; however Ollis was unable to score from it, and finished on 99 not out. That proved to be the highest score of Ollis's first-class career, though he passed 50 twice more in the 1983 season on his way to his best aggregate and average, 517 runs at 25.85. In 1984, Ollis was out of form and featured in only six first-class matches, making only 112 runs in them. But he returned to fairly regular cricket in 1985, appearing in 15 first-class matches and turning out regularly for the first time in Somerset's limited-overs side, though without much success. His 55 against

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was his only score of more than 50 in all matches in 1985, and it was overshadowed by the innings of 322 by Richards, made in less than five hours; Ollis shared a third wicket partnership of 174 with Richards. At the end of the 1985 season, Ollis's contract was not renewed by Somerset and he left first-class cricket.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ollis, Richard 1961 births Living people English cricketers Somerset cricketers Cricketers from Bristol 20th-century English sportsmen