Benjamin Birdsall Wilson (11 December 1879 – 14 September 1957) was an English

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er, who played 185 games for

Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club is one of 18 first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Yorkshire. Yorkshire are the most successful team in English cricketing hi ...

between 1906 and 1914. Known as "Benny", he was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire. He was a right-handed batsman who scored 8,053 first-class runs at 27.20, with a highest score of 208, one of four centuries he made against

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

. He scored fourteen centuries in all with 35 fifties, and he took 53 catches in the field. He took two first-class wickets at 139.00 each. He also played for the Yorkshire Second XI from 1902 to 1911, and for H. Hayley's XI in 1906.

Playing career

Wilson played his early cricket in Scarborough before joining

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 ...

, for whom he was a prolific scoring batsman from 1906 to 1914, though he scored slowly at times and was slow in the field. He possessed a strong defence, and could hit hard without any pretense to style. After a modest start, he scored 109 at Headingley against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

in his only innings of the 1908 season, and his extended trial in 1909 saw him finish fourth in Yorkshire's batting averages with a four-figure aggregate. He maintained his place as Yorkshire's opening batsman until the beginning of World War I in 1914, but left the county when hostilities ceased in 1919.

Coaching career

Wilson became a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

and was with Pudsey Britannia Cricket Club until taking a position at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

in 1921. He was at Harrow for eleven years and later coached at St Peter's School in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. In the late 1930s, he was in charge of coaching for Yorkshire at Headingley and one of his charges was the teenage

Jim Laker James Charles Laker (9 February 1922 – 23 April 1986) was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey County Cricket Club from 1946 to 1959 and represented England in 46 Test matches. He was born in Shipley, West Riding of York ...

, who was then a promising batsman and fast bowler. Wilson taught Laker how to spin the ball and Laker developed this ability into a skill while he served in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

during World War II. After the war, Wilson coached in New Zealand for a time and later at Harrogate Cricket Club when he was over 70 years old.

Personal details

Wilson died in September 1957 in

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

, Yorkshire. His son, Ben Wilson, played one match for

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Benjamin 1879 births 1957 deaths Cricketers from Scarborough, North Yorkshire English cricketers English cricketers of 1890 to 1918 Yorkshire cricketers