Arthur Frederick Bannister (18 June 1875 – 17 November 1958) 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 striki ...

er: a right arm slow bowler who played 38 times for

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

between 1900 and 1902. Born in Somers Town,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Bannister made his first-class debut on 7 May 1900 against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. Although Worcestershire lost by an innings, Bannister made an immediate impact, taking 5–30 in the Yorkshire first innings; his first victim was

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...

Ted Wainwright Ted Wainwright (8 April 1865 – 28 October 1919) was an English first-class cricketer, who played in 352 first-class matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1888 and 1902. An all-rounder, Wainwright helped to establish the county at ...

, and he also claimed the scalps of three other

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

players including Yorkshire captain Lord Hawke. However, his achievement was rather overshadowed by Yorkshire's

Wilfred Rhodes Wilfred Rhodes (29 October 1877 – 8 July 1973) was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman t ...

, who took 7–20 in Worcestershire's second innings. Two matches later, against

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

, Bannister enjoyed what was to remain his best bowling performance, when he turned in an outstanding innings analysis of 20.4-8-29-7; 1900 was the first year in which six-ball overs were used in England. Another excellent effort came in August, when he took five wickets in each innings (his only ten-wicket match haul) against

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 ...

, despite his county slipping to a 231-run defeat. Bannister ended the season with 65 wickets at 20.47 to top the county's bowling averages.First-class Bowling for Worcestershire in 1900
, CricketArchive. Retrieved 26 August 2006. 1901 was a rather less successful season for Bannister: he picked up only 26 wickets in 15 games at an average of more than 31, and never managed more than four wickets in an innings. He did however manage his highest score with the bat when he hit 44 in the first innings against the touring

South Africans The population of South Africa is about 58.8 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. The South African National Census of 2022 was the most recent census held; the next will be in 2032. In 2011, Statistics Sout ...

in July; his part in a ninth-wicket stand of 60, as well as his unbeaten 15 in the second innings, proved crucial as the game ended in a tie, with South Africans' Robert Graham taking a career-best 8-90. After that summer, he was to play only two more first-class games, with his final appearance coming against Yorkshire in July 1902; he took only a single wicket, that of Irving Washington. Later in life he became an

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

, altogether standing in 20 first-class matches in 1910 and 1911. He died in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

at the age of 83.

References

Four children, two boys, two girls Great Children Nine Grand children, several great-grandchildren (edited by Julia Bannister)

External links

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Statistical summary
from CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Bannister, Arthur 1875 births 1958 deaths People from Somers Town, London Cricketers from the London Borough of Camden English cricketers Worcestershire cricketers English cricket umpires