Roger Wilfred Wrightson (29 October 1939 – 13 September 1986) was an English

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. Wrightson was a left-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

who occasionally fielded 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 ...

. Although born in

Elsecar Elsecar (, ) is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It is near to Jump, South Yorkshire, Jump and Wentworth, South Yorkshire, Wentworth, it is also south of Hoyland, south of Barnsley and north-east ...

, Yorkshire to Frederick Liddell Wrightson and Jessie Arline Hague, Wrightson was raised in Essex where his family moved to when his father took up a teaching position in the county. It was in Grays that he was educated at Palmer's School, going from there to

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

. His father first introduced Wrightson to cricket when he was a child, according to Wrightson had made him, along with his brothers bat as left-handers. Prior to playing

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Two county championship competitions have existed since the late 19th century at ...

he became a primary school teacher in

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Essex, England. It lies on the north bank of the River ...

. He eventually made his debut for

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

in a first-class match against

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in 1965, with him making nine further first-class appearances in the 1965 season. Against

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

that season at Clacton, Wrightson scored 84 runs, which was to be his only first-class

half century This is a general glossary of the terminology used in the sport of cricket. Where words in a sentence are also defined elsewhere in this article, they appear in italics. Certain aspects of cricket terminology are explained in more detail in cr ...

. Later that season when playing against

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 ...

he had his two front teeth knocked out by a

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delivered by

Fred Trueman Frederick Sewards Trueman, (6 February 1931 – 1 July 2006) was an English cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the England cricket team. He had professional status and later became an author and broadcaster. Acknowled ...

. He made no appearances for Essex in 1966, with his teaching career taking precedence. He did appear in two first-class matches in the 1967 season against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

and

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, ...

, and was at the end of that season offered a new contract by Essex, but decided not to accept the offer. In his brief first-class career, Wrightson scored 332 runs at an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of 20.75. He and his wife Audrey, who was an art teacher, moved to

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

shortly thereafter. He played 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 ...

for

, making his debut for the county in 1970 against the Yorkshire Second XI. He played for Cumberland in 1970 and 1971, making nine Minor Counties Championship appearances. Wrightson died at

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

, Cumberland on 13 September 1986, aged 46. He was survived by his wife Audrey, son Michael and daughter Anna.

References

External links

Roger Wrightson
at

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Roger Wrightson
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Wrightson, Roger 1939 births 1986 deaths People from Elsecar Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley Alumni of Loughborough University Schoolteachers from Essex English cricketers Essex cricketers Cumberland cricketers Cricketers from South Yorkshire 20th-century English sportsmen