William Ernest Rhodes (5 August 1936 – 16 August 2005), generally known as "Billy Rhodes", was an English

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. He was a middle-order right-handed batsman and an occasional wicketkeeper who played

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 ...

for

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 ...

between 1961 and 1964. He was born in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

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 ...

and died in

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

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 ...

. He was the father of the

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

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), ...

wicketkeeper

Steve Rhodes Steven John Rhodes (born 17 June 1964) is an English cricket coach and former cricketer. He was the former coach of the Bangladesh national cricket team. He was best known as a wicket-keeper, but was also a useful number six or seven batsman, ...

and grandfather of George Rhodes. As a 17-year-old, Rhodes played for

's junior team in 1954. And in 1959 he played for both

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 ...

's second eleven and a non-first-class Nottinghamshire side. From 1960 he played for Nottinghamshire's second team, but as a wicketkeeper his passage into the first team was barred by

Geoff Millman Geoffrey Millman (2 October 1934 – 6 April 2005) was an English cricketer who played in six Tests for England from 1961 to 1962. Life and career Millman was born in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England and educated at Bedford Modern School. He was ...

who became a Test player soon after. In 1961, he played in seven first-class matches for Nottinghamshire purely as a batsman, being tried as an opener alongside the established

Norman Hill Norman Hill (born April 22, 1933 in Summit, New Jersey) is an American administrator, civil rights activist and labor leader. He attended Haverford College in Pennsylvania and received a bachelor's degree in 1956 in the field of sociology. He was ...

in five of them; the experiment was not a success, and Rhodes' highest score in 13 innings was just 38, and his 169 runs for the season came at an average of only 15.36. In 1962, Millman was

's incumbent Test wicketkeeper at the start of the season, and Rhodes played in several games as wicketkeeper as well as in some as a batsman only. This was his best season with the bat: he made 726 runs at an average of 23.41. But his aggregate and average were much bolstered by an innings of 132 in the game against

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He made only one other score of more than 50: he scored 57 as an opener in the game against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. Once Millman had lost his Test place, he played less and did not appear after the end of July. In 1963, Millman was both wicketkeeper and captain, and Rhodes played only one first-team match. There were a few more games in 1964, but he was not successful, failing to pass 50 in any innings, and at the end of the season his contract was not renewed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, William 1936 births 2005 deaths English cricketers Nottinghamshire cricketers Cricketers from Bradford