William Herbert Wilkinson (12 March 1881 – 4 June 1961) 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 was also a

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

in the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

Cricket career

Born in

Thorpe Hesley Thorpe Hesley is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, lying east of the M1 motorway at junction 35. The village has been included within the boundaries of Rotherham town since 1894, having previously be ...

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 ...

, England, Wilkinson was a first-class cricketer who played 127 matches between 1903 and 1910. He played for

Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club is one of 18 first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Yorkshire. Yorkshire are the most successful team in English cricketing hi ...

from 1903 to 1910, and one match for the

North of England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

in 1908. He also played for the Yorkshire Second XI from 1902 to 1912, and for R. W. Frank's XI in 1906. A left-handed batsman, Wilkinson scored 3,912 runs at 21.73 with one century, a knock of 103 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 ...

. He took 31 wickets, bowling slow left arm orthodox spin, at 31.32, with a best of 4 for 23 against

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He also took 4 for 27 against Sussex.

Football career

Wilkinson played between 1901 and 1908 as an inside forward for

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

. His brother,

Bernard Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...

, also played for United and served as team captain.allfootballers.com Retrieved 29 December 2009

Death

Wilkinson died in

Winson Green Winson Green is a loosely defined inner-city area in the west of the city of Birmingham, England. It is part of the ward of Soho. It is the location of HM Prison Birmingham (known locally as Winson Green Prison or "the Green") and of City Hospi ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, England, in June 1961, aged 80.

References

1881 births 1961 deaths Cricketers from Rotherham Footballers from Rotherham Sheffield United F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players English men's footballers English cricketers Yorkshire cricketers Men's association football forwards North v South cricketers English cricketers of 1890 to 1918 {{england-cricket-bio-1880s-stub