Peter Thorp Eckersley (2 July 1904 – 13 August 1940) was the captain of

Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in English cricket. The club has held first-class status since it was founded in 1864. Lancashire's home is Old Trafford Cricket Ground, although the team also play ...

from 1929 to 1935, who retired for a career as a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician.

Early life

Eckersley was born on 2 July 1904 to William Eckersley

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

and Eva Mary Eclersley (née Thorp) at

Lowton Lowton is a suburban village within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It is around from Leigh, south of Wigan and west of Manchester city centre. The settlement lies across the A580 East Lancashire Road. Wi ...

in the north west of England. For his education he attended

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

, where he played for the first XI at

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 ...

Cricket career

Lancashire

He began playing cricket at Leigh Cricket Club before joining

in 1923. Eckersley went up to Trinity College Cambridge but made his debut for Lancashire against his

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

on 9 May 1923. Over the course of his

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 ...

career he made 5,629 runs (his record score being 102), scoring 25 fifties, took 141 catches and took seven

wicket In cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a batsman out. ...

s for 348 runs conceded. His final first-class match took place on 31 August 1938 when he appeared for an England XI against a touring Australian team.

Exhibition matches and tours

Eckersley was selected for the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

(MCC) 1926/27 tour to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. He played 26 matches on the tour before returning to club cricket with Lancashire in April 1927. He also appeared for The Gentlemen against The Players, against Jamaica for L.H. Tennyson's XI and toured South America with Sir J. Cahn's XI.

Post-playing career

Business

He worked in

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

as a director at a coach building company called G.W. Smith and Co.

Politics

Having unsuccessfully fought

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

, he was elected at the 1935 general election as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Manchester Exchange.

Aviation

He and his wife, Audrey E. J. Eckersley, were members of the

Lancashire Aero Club The Lancashire Aero Club is the oldest established flying club in the United Kingdom, it was founded in 1909 to organise the Blackpool Aviation Week, Britain's first officially recognised air show. Early history * October 1909: The original c ...

. He regularly flew himself to cricket matches, becoming known as the 'Flying Cricketer'.

Second World War

Eckersley joined the Fleet Air Arm and was based at HMS Raven where he was in training. He died on 13 August 1940 in a flying accident near

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

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 ...

becoming the fourth MP to be killed in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. A stained glass window to his memory is in Chowbent Unitarian Chapel in Atherton. He is buried at Tyldesley Cemetery in the care of the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

References

External links

Cricinfo profile

Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eckersley, Peter Thorp 1904 births 1940 deaths Military personnel from Lancashire People from Lowton English cricketers Lancashire cricketers Lancashire cricket captains Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in England Fleet Air Arm aviators Royal Navy officers of World War II Fleet Air Arm personnel of World War II Royal Navy personnel killed in World War II Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1935–1945 Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen cricketers British sportsperson-politicians English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 L. H. Tennyson's XI cricket team Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1940 People educated at Rugby School