Nigel Edwin Briers (born 15 January 1955 in Southfields, Leicester, England) played first-class and

List A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

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 ...

for

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

between 1971 and 1995.

Cricket career

A right-handed opening batsman, Briers was Leicestershire's youngest-ever first-class cricketer when he made his debut at 16 in 1971, but it was for his deeds towards the end of his career that he won accolades. The accolades, though, related not just to his longevity as batman but also to his captaincy. Appointed to succeed

David Gower David Ivon Gower (born 1 April 1957) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who was captain of the England cricket team during the 1980s. Described as one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of his era, Gower played 117 Te ...

in charge of an under-achieving team in 1990, Briers brought a touch of school-masterly discipline to the team that paid off in terms of results and earned the loyal respect of his team. In 1992, though finishing only halfway up 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 ...

table, Leicestershire spent much of the summer challenging for the leadership, and also went to their first-ever Gillette Cup final, the last of the 17 counties that were first-class when the competition started in 1963 to make an appearance in the final. Briers was rewarded by being 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 ...

in the 1993 edition of the almanack. Leicestershire and Briers continued to do well for the next three seasons, and Briers stepped down from the captaincy at the end of the 1995 season, intending to continue playing as a batsman for a further season at least. But a knee injury, followed by an operation, left him as a spectator as the county, under new captain James Whitaker, took their second Championship title in 1996, and he never played first-class cricket again. Briers' highest score was 201 not out, in the second innings against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in 1983. His best bowling figures were 4 for 29 against Derbyshire at Grace Road, Leicester in 1985.

Personal life

Briers was educated at

Lutterworth Grammar School Lutterworth College is a large 11–19 non-selective, inclusive, comprehensive, Church of England Secondary School and Sixth Form College with academy status. Lutterworth College is situated in the rural market town of Lutterworth in the dist ...

and at

Borough Road College Borough Road is in Southwark, London SE1. It runs east–west between St George's Circus and Borough High Street. History and location The route was created as part of the planning and road improvements associated with the completion of We ...

in London, where he studied teaching. He was the Director of Cricket and Director of Sport at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

. He was then Director of Sport and Director of Cricket at St Paul's School, Barnes, until his retirement in July 2021.

References

External links

Nigel Briers at Cricket Archive

1955 births Living people English cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Leicestershire cricketers Leicestershire cricket captains Cricketers from Leicester {{England-cricket-bio-1950s-stub