Walter Thomas "Wally" Luckes (; 1 January 1901 in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

– 27 October 1982 at

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

), was a

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 who played for

. Born on the first day of the 20th century, Luckes was a lower-order right-handed batsman and a sound wicketkeeper who played for Somerset for a quarter of a century. An undemonstrative player who made his reputation by conceding very few byes in large totals compiled by stronger teams, Luckes started slowly in terms of the numbers of dismissals, but developed into one of the leading keepers of his day, high in the fielding statistics tables for several seasons. Luckes made his debut in 1924, and became Somerset's regular wicketkeeper in 1927. But after two seasons, he suffered nearly four years of ill-health, and was able to play in only a few matches in 1929 and 1930, and none at all in 1931. The high regard that Somerset had for Luckes was reflected by the fact that he was maintained on the staff during this long absence: for one of the perennially more cash-strapped counties, with one of the smaller playing staffs, this was a rare degree of commitment. Somerset used a variety of amateur and professional wicketkeepers in Luckes' absence, including Seymour Clark, the ultimate non-batsman, and Frank Lee, the opening batsman who later became a

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

. And Luckes was able to return for the second half of the 1932 season. He then remained as the regular wicketkeeper for the county up to and beyond the

Second World War 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 ...

, standing up at the wicket to all but the fastest deliveries from

Arthur Wellard Arthur William Wellard (8 April 1902 in Southfleet, Kent – 31 December 1980 in Eastbourne, Sussex) was a cricketer who played for Somerset and England. A late starter in county cricket, having been told by his native county, Kent, that he wo ...

and Bill Andrews and even in his last match, at the age of 48, managing a stumping off the quick bowler

Jim Redman James Albert Redman, (born 8 November 1931) is a British-born Zimbabwean former professional motorcycle racer. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 1959 to 1966. Redman is notable for being a six-time Grand Prix road racing world c ...

. Luckes was a useful batsman, but after his illness Somerset appear to have decided that he should not be subjected to the stress of batting high in the order, despite an at-times lack of depth to the county's batting. That decision accounts for the very high proportion of "

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

" innings – 212 out of 564 innings in all – in Luckes' career figures. Occasionally, he was allowed to bat higher and in 1937, against

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 ...

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, batting at No 5, he made 121 not out, the only first-class century of his career. Luckes returned to first-class cricket after the Second World War and set a county record with 77 dismissals in 1946. But at the end of the 1948 season, with Luckes now 47, Somerset recruited

Harold Stephenson Harold William Stephenson (18 July 1920 – 23 April 2008) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Somerset. He captained Somerset from 1960 until his retirement in 1964. Stephenson is easily the most successful wicket-keeper in his ...

from Durham, and Stephenson took over the wicketkeeping role after a few games of the 1949 season, going on to break Luckes' county record in his first year.

References

Sources

* ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'', 1925 to 1950, and 1983 editions * ''Sunshine, Sixes and Cider: a History of Somerset Cricket'', by David Foot (David & Charles, 1986).

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Luckes, Wally 1901 births 1982 deaths People from Lambeth English cricketers Somerset cricketers Wicket-keepers