Herbert Alan Peach (6 October 1890 – 8 October 1961) was an English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er who played for Surrey. He was an

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...

: a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium pace bowler. Alan Peach was born in

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it wi ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

delayed his first-class debut until 1919, when he was already 28, but in a career that extended until 1931 he still managed to take 795 wickets at 26.58 and score 8940 runs at 23.71. The highest of his four hundreds was 200 not out, made against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

at Northampton in 1920, when he shared in a stand of 171 in forty-two minutes with Percy Fender.Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1962 Edition, "Obituaries in 1961"
Retrieved 1 Sept 2022 A notably hard striker of the ball, in 1924 he hit balls from both Bates of Glamorgan and Newman of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

clean out of

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

. During the same season, he dismissed four Sussex batsmen with consecutive balls, also at The Oval, finishing with eight wickets for 60, his best innings analysis. He played six times for the Players against the Gentlemen between 1923 and 1928. According to David Lemmon "he launched himself at the game with a zest, and the crowd loved him for it".David Lemmon, ''The History of Surrey County Cricket Club'', Christopher Helm, 1989, , p167. He was Surrey coach from 1935 to 1939 and discovered

Alec Alec or Aleck is a Scottish form of the given name Alex. It may be a diminutive of the name Alexander or a given name in its own right. Notable people with the name include: People *Alec Aalto (1942–2018), Finnish diplomat * Alec Acton (1938– ...

and

Eric Bedser Eric Arthur Bedser (4 July 1918 – 24 May 2006) was a cricketer who played for Surrey County Cricket Club. He was the elder identical twin brother of Alec Bedser (1918–2010), widely regarded as one of England's top bowlers of the 20th centur ...

. He died at North End, Newbury,

References

*
Wisden obituary
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peach, Alan English cricket coaches English cricketers Surrey cricketers 1890 births 1961 deaths Players cricketers Berkshire cricketers English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 Players of the South cricketers C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers Lord Hawke's XI cricketers A. E. R. Gilligan's XI cricketers