Lancashire legend and former England Test player Roy Tattersall has died, aged 89.
The off-spinner was a member of the 1950 Red Rose side which shared the County Championship with Surrey – the last time the club won the title before last season.
Remarkably, he claimed 100 wickets or more in seven seasons for the club, taking a remarkable 193 in the Championship-winning year at an average of just over 13.
Having played in the Bolton League with Bradshaw and then Tonge as a seamer, he turned to off-spin while at Lancashire, for whom he made his debut in 1948.
It was the start of a career which saw him take 1,369 first-class wickets – including 99 five-wicket hauls – in 328 first-class matches. He is seventh in Lancashire’s all-time wicket-taking list and was the first winner of the Cricket
Writers’ Club Young Cricketer of the Year award.
Tattersall, who was born in Bolton’s Tonge Moor, made his Test debut in the 1951 Ashes Series in Adelaide, having been called up as a replacement.
In all, he played 16 Tests, claiming 58 wickets, and took a career-best 7-52 against South Africa at Lord’s in 1951. However, the emergence of Jim Laker curtailed his Test career.
He played his last game for Lancashire in 1960.
“I always remember Roy as a really nice guy,” said Lancashire chief executive Jim Cumbes. “A gentle man.
“He had an unusual action and quite a long run-up for a spinner. But he had an amazing record really.
“I remember when he was dropped for a game by Lancashire and Roy Collins felt a bit embarrassed at taking his place. But Roy Tattersall was the first to wish him well. And that summed him up really.”
Tattersall, who spent the latter part of his life living with wife Phyllis at their home in Kidderminster, was the last man to take nine wickets in an innings for
Lancashire until Simon Kerrigan claimed 9-51 against Hampshire during last season’s title-winning campaign.
Just weeks before his death, he wrote the foreword to a new book ‘Champions ... about bloomin’ time’ which charts Lancashire’s title-winning season.
"It’s a relief to be able to write these words because after so many near misses I was beginning to wonder when my beloved county would win the title again,” he wrote.
“As the final matches were being played at Worcester, Liverpool and Taunton, I was struck by the similarities between the current Lancashire team and the 1950 side which shared the title with Surrey.
“I’d like to challenge the current team to maintain their success in the coming years.
“After all, the Red Rose won the title four times in five seasons in the period 1926-1930 and I’d love this wonderful Championship win to mark the start of a great era for the team.”
Tell us your memories of Roy
Comments
Login or Register to comment
As a young boy, I remember seeing Roy many times playing for Lancashire in the 1950s. He was one of my heroes (although always overshadowed by Brian Statham at that time). Roy seemed older than his years, having an old-fashioned parting almost in the middle, and being rather slow and cumbersome in the field. But he was a very canny bowler who seemed virtually unplayable on some occasions. His partnership with left-arm spinner Malcolm Hilton was quite devastating at times. If memory serves, Roy occasionally delivered the ball from well behind the crease which sometimes seemed to confuse the batsman! I have never seen another bowler do that since. He always seemed to be a most pleasant person and - most important for a young admirer - he was always ready to sign the autograph book! He was discarded by Lancashire much too soon.