William Sykes (1852–1910) was an English businessman. Sykes was just 23 when, against the advice of his father he married and then with his own and his new wife's savings purchased a

saddle A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not know ...

r business in

Horbury Horbury is a town in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated north of the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder about three miles (5 k ...

, England, in about 1874. He married Louisa Abstemia Crabtree (1850–1928) in 1874. The business prospered and a few years later added footballs to the other

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...

goods it was making. The Sykes Zig-zag branded

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

was used in many leading events including the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

finals of 1936, 1937, 1939 and 1946. Sykes subsequently expanded his business by dealing in

cricket bat A cricket bat is a specialised piece of equipment used by batters in the sport of cricket to hit the ball, typically consisting of a cane handle attached to a flat-fronted willow-wood blade. It may also be used by a batter who is making batte ...

s, before moving into their manufacture.

Donald Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane ...

, widely acknowledged as the greatest Test

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 ...

of all time, used bats produced by Sykes throughout his career. in 1929, shortly after Bradman scored the then highest First-Class innings of 340 while playing for

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

, Sykes signed him up to help promote what became known as the Don Bradman bat, or the Autograph bat. William Sykes was joined in the business by his sons Henry Osbourne Sykes 1875–1939 married Maud Berry in 1899 and William Oates Sykes 1884–1935 married Ethel May Marshall in 1907. Early in the 20th century, Wm. Sykes & Sons merged with other sporting manufacturers, eventually becoming part of the Slazengers Sykes Gradidge and Ayres organisation.

References

Notes Bibliography * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sykes, William 1852 births 1910 deaths 19th-century English businesspeople