Peter John Kippax (15 October 1940 – January 2017) 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 for

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 ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

and

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

. A right-handed batsman and leg spin bowler, he played five first-class matches but they spanned twenty six years.

Life

Kippax was born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

, educated at

Bedford Modern School Bedford Modern School (often called BMS) is a Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference independent school in Bedford, England. The school has its origins in Bedford Charity, The Harpur Trust, born from the financial endowment, endowments le ...

, and made his debut in 1961 for Yorkshire, and yet played his last first-class match, 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), in 1987. Kippax played three times in his debut season of 1961, 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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

and once in 1962 against the touring Pakistani team. The Yorkshire team, about to begin their domination of 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 ...

during the 1960s were well served with spinners such as

Ray Illingworth Raymond Illingworth CBE (8 June 1932 – 25 December 2021) was an English cricketer, cricket commentator and administrator. , he was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in first-class cricket.Arnold, Peter ...

and Don Wilson, and had little room for Kippax's leg spinners. After his rejection by Yorkshire he turned his attention to the leagues and, from 1975 to 1990,

Minor Counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

cricket with Durham. Fifteen years after his last Yorkshire appearance he turned out for the MCC against the Tykes at

North Marine Road Ground, Scarborough North Marine Road Ground, formerly known as Queen's, is a cricket ground in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Scarborough Cricket Club which hosts the Scarborough Festival and the Yorkshire County Cricket Club plays a se ...

in September 1987, taking the wickets of centurians Ashley Metcalfe and Ian Swallow, as well as Peter Hartley and Phil Robinson for a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

. In his eight first-class innings he scored 40 runs, with a highest score of 9 for an average of 6.66, and took 12 wickets at 33.00 with a best return of 5 for 74. In 13 one day matches for Durham and Northumberland, he averaged 17.00 with the bat, scoring 187 runs with a best of 42, and took 20 wickets at 19.35 with a best of 3 for 24. He ran his own

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...

making business for almost thirty years, Peter Kippax Sports and then Kippax Willow, with his English willow bats being used by many Yorkshire county and league players. Kippax died from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

in January 2017 aged 76.

References

External links

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Kippax Willow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kippax, Peter 1940 births 2017 deaths People educated at Bedford Modern School English cricketers Yorkshire cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Minor Counties cricketers Northumberland cricketers Durham cricketers Cricketers from Huddersfield Deaths from dementia in the United Kingdom Deaths from Alzheimer's disease English cricketers of 1946 to 1968 English cricketers of 1969 to 2000