Frank Terence Willetts (20 November 1939 – 24 October 2022) was an English

cricketer 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 ...

. A left-handed middle-order batsman, he played first-class and

list A List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competit ...

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

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 ...

in the mid-1960s. He also played

Minor Counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

cricket for

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

and

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

. Although he was a prolific scorer at second eleven and Minor Counties level, he was not able to establish himself in first-class cricket. Willetts played for Somerset's second eleven as a batsman from 1960, and in the 1964 season made more than 900 runs for the second team, playing in both 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 ...

and the

Second Eleven Championship The Second XI Championship is a season-long cricket competition in England that is competed for by the reserve teams of those county cricket clubs that have first-class cricket, first-class status. The competition started in 1959 and has been co ...

. He was brought into Somerset's first team for three matches in mid-season, but made little impact. The following season, 1965, he was given six matches, but only in the game against

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 ...

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the North Somerset unitary district, in the county of Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. Its population ...

did he make significant runs, his first-innings 38 being the highest score of his career. His first List A appearance was in a losing Gillette Cup semi-final in 1966 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 ...

when he failed to score. In 1967, he played a further six first-class matches and two List A games, without success, and he left the county staff at the end of the season. Willetts had a long career in second-class cricket. He joined Shropshire's Minor Counties team in 1968, moved back to Somerset's second eleven in the early 1970s and then went on from 1977 to Cornwall where, from 1988 to 1990, finishing at the age of 50, he was captain of the Minor Counties side. He appeared in one further List A match for Cornwall, in the first round of the 1980 Gillette Cup, when the Cornish side lost to

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Willetts, Terry 1939 births 2022 deaths English cricketers Cricketers from Birmingham, West Midlands Somerset cricketers Cornwall cricketers Shropshire cricketers 20th-century English sportsmen