David Paul Hughes (born 13 May 1947) is an English former

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. David Hughes was a stalwart of the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

side for more than two decades, making 10,419 first-class runs. He batted right-handed and took 655 wickets with his

left-arm spin Left-arm orthodox spin, Left-arm off spin also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of left-arm finger spin bowling in the sport of cricket. Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left-arm bowler using the fingers to spin ...

. Hughes was born in

Newton-le-Willows Newton-le-Willows is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England. The population at the 2011 census was 22,114. Newton-le-Willows is on the eastern edge of St Helens, south of Wigan and north of Warrington. The ...

, St Helens,

. Making his debut in 1967, he was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

in 1970. During the 1971 Gillette Cup semi-final against

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

on 28 July 1971, Hughes walked out to bat with the time approaching a quarter to nine in the evening and 25 runs still needed from the five remaining overs. There was a suggestion that the umpires would have to abandon play for the day and finish the game the following morning, but, when Hughes queried the light, he was told by umpire Arthur Jepson, "You can see the Moon. How far do you want to see?".''The Times'', obituary of John Mortimore, 19 February 2014 Hughes proceeded to hit 24 off a single over bowled by John Mortimore, and set up a Lancashire win. Hughes played for D. H. Robins' XI in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in 1971/72 and for

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

in 1975/76 and 1976/77, and accompanied Lancashire on three overseas tours in the mid-1980s, but otherwise stayed at home; of his 447 first-class matches, only ten were not played on British soil. He was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of Lancashire between 1987 and his retirement in 1991, and in the first of these years Lancashire finished second in the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

; in 1988 Hughes was named as a

Wisden Cricketer of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

. As captain he oversaw a successful period for the county in limited-over cricket and they won the Refuge Assurance Cup in 1988, the

Refuge Assurance League The NatWest Pro40 League was a one-day cricket league for first-class cricket counties in England and Wales. It was inaugurated in 1999, but was essentially the old Sunday League retitled to reflect large numbers of matches being played on days o ...

in 1989, and in 1990 became the first county to win the

Benson and Hedges Cup The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals. It was the third major one-day competition established in Englan ...

and the

NatWest Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class cricket, first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scott ...

in the same season. He was given two

benefit season A benefit season is a method of financially rewarding professional cricketers that is used by English county cricket teams to compensate long serving players. The system originated in the 19th century to help out professional cricketers who were ...

s, in 1981 and 1992, which raised a total of £145,000.

References

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, David 1947 births Living people People from Newton-le-Willows English cricketers Lancashire cricketers Tasmania cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Lancashire cricket captains Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers D. H. Robins' XI cricketers Cricketers from Lancashire