William Ederick Bates (5 March 1884 – 17 January 1957) 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 ...

, Wales and most notably,

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

, over a long career from 1907 to 1931. He was the son of

Billy Bates Willie Bates (19 November 1855 – 8 January 1900), known as Billy Bates, was an English cricketer. Skilled with both bat and ball, Bates scored over 10,000 first-class runs, took more than 870 wickets and was always reliable in the field. A ...

, another notable Yorkshire born cricketer.

Life and cricket career

Bates was born in

Kirkheaton Kirkheaton () is a village and former civil parish north-east of Huddersfield, now in the parish of Kirkburton, in the county of West Yorkshire, England, Historically, it is part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It is in the Dalton ward of t ...

, Yorkshire, England. He played 113 games for his native county between 1907 and 1913, scoring 2,634 runs at 17.32 with a highest score of 81. Although he developed into a fine left arm orthodox spinner, he hardly bowled before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, taking two wickets for Yorkshire. He joining Briton Ferry Steel C.C. in 1914, as the War shut down first-class cricket for four years. He served as a

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

during the war. Bates qualified for Glamorgan over this time, and found a regular spot as a determined opening batsman and useful spinner as cricket resumed after the war. Though he scored a thousand runs in 1923; without reaching a century in 1927, he became the first Glamorgan batsman to record a ton in each innings, with 105 and 111 against

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. He reached his peak as a batsman in this year, recording a double hundred against

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

at Kidderminster, and another ton against

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

to finish the summer with 1,645 runs to his account. He also passed the 1,500 runs mark in 1928, and began a most prolific partnership with a fellow Tyke,

Arnold Dyson Arnold Herbert Dyson (10 July 1905 – 7 June 1978) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Glamorgan. Dyson was born in Halifax, Yorkshire and played as a right-handed opening batsman, often partnering Emrys Davies David Emrys D ...

. The pair took delight in sharing a stand of 233 for the first wicket against Yorkshire, at Sheffield, in 1930. He played 283 first-class matches for Glamorgan, scoring 12,600 runs at 25.97 with ten centuries in all. Bates became a useful left-arm spinner, taking 8 for 93 against Essex in 1928, and was a most reliable fielder close to the wicket. He took 224 wickets for Glamorgan, with a best of 8 for 93, at 37.53. He took 5 wickets in an innings four times. In all first-class cricket, including a game 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) and H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI, he scored 15,964 runs at 24.4 in 406 matches, and took 230 wickets at 37.7 each. Financial straits, rather than any loss in form, caused Glamorgan to release him in 1931, but he continued to play for

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

in the Minor Counties, before turning his hand to coaching and groundsmanship in

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

where he died in January 1957, aged 72.

Football career

He was also a useful footballer, playing for

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

and

Leeds City Leeds City Football Club was the leading professional club in Leeds, England, before the First World War. It was dissolved in 1919 due to financial irregularities, after which Leeds United was established as a replacement. History The club was ...

. His son Ted Bates both played for and managed

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

References

External links

Cricinfo Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, William 1884 births 1957 deaths People from Kirkheaton English footballers Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Leeds City F.C. players English cricketers Yorkshire cricketers Glamorgan cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Wales cricketers Cheshire cricketers H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers English Football League players Association football fullbacks Association football forwards British Army personnel of World War I Royal Engineers soldiers