William John Abel (29 August 1887 – 23 March 1934) was a first-class cricketer who played for

Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club (Surrey CCC) is a first-class club in county cricket, one of eighteen in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Surrey, including areas that now form South London ...

making his debut in 1909. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm bowler. He was born in South

Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, a ...

and died in

Stockwell Stockwell is a district in south west London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. It is situated south of Charing Cross. Battersea, Brixton, Clapham, South Lambeth, Oval and Kennington all border Stockwell. History The na ...

, London. His brother

Tom Abel Tom Abel (born 1970) is a German cosmologist who first simulated the collapse of a metal-free massive star that belongs to the first generation of stars in the Universe. This work was done in collaboration with Greg L. Bryan and Michael L. Norma ...

and father, the England and Surrey batsman

Bobby Abel Robert Abel (30 November 1857 – 10 December 1936), nicknamed "The Guv'nor", was a Surrey and England opening batsman who was one of the most prolific run-getters in the early years of the County Championship. He was the first England player ...

, were also first-class cricketers. His last appearance in the County team was in 1926 and, after a few games with the Second Eleven, he joined

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

, the Lancashire League Club. A batsman of the unorthodox school, Abel was a pleasing, forcing player and, even though he never gained the distinction of obtaining a century in County Championship matches, he put together many useful scores. Abel won his Surrey cap in 1910 and scored his only first-class hundred, 117, against Cambridge University in 1923. He took five wickets in an innings three times, with a best of 5 for 28 against Middlesex. His best season was 1923 when he had an aggregate of 957, while in 1914—when Surrey won the County Championship—he hit up 524 runs in sixteen County games with a highest score of 87. As a bowler, Abel began as fast-medium, but lessening his pace he exploited the leg-break and the googly. In his most successful season as a bowler 1919, he took thirty-seven wickets. He was a first-rate slip fielder. After serving in the First World War, Abel did not enjoy good health.

References

1887 births 1934 deaths Surrey cricketers English cricketers H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers {{England-cricket-bio-1880s-stub