Hartley W Lobban (9 May 1926 – 15 October 2004)[1] was a Jamaican-born first-class cricketer who played 17 matches for Worcestershire in the early 1950s.
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| Born | 9 May 1926 Jamaica | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 15 October 2004 (aged 78) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm fast | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Life and career
editLobban played little cricket in Jamaica. He went to England at the end of World War II as a member of the Royal Air Force, and settled in Kidderminster in Worcestershire in 1947, where he worked as a civilian lorry driver for the RAF.[2] He began playing for Kidderminster Cricket Club in the Birmingham League, and at the start of the 1952 season, opening the bowling for the club's senior team, he had figures of 7 for 9 and 7 for 37.[2]
Worcestershire invited him to play for them, and he made his first-class debut against Sussex in July 1952. He took five wickets in the match (his maiden victim being Ken Suttle) and then held on for 4 not out with Peter Richardson (20 not out) to add the 12 runs needed for a one-wicket victory after his county had collapsed from 192 for 2 to 238 for 9.[3] A week later he claimed four wickets against Warwickshire, then a few days later still he managed 6 for 52 (five of his victims bowled) in what was otherwise a disastrous innings defeat to Derbyshire. In the last match of the season he took a career-best 6 for 51 against Glamorgan; he and Reg Perks (4 for 59) bowled unchanged throughout the first innings. Worcestershire won the game and Lobban finished the season with 23 wickets at 23.69.[4]
He took 23 wickets again in 1953, but at a considerably worse average of 34.43, and had only two really successful games: against Oxford University in June, when he took 5 for 70, and then against Sussex in July. On this occasion Lobban claimed eight wickets, his most in a match, including 6 for 103 in the first innings. He also made his highest score with the bat, 18, but Sussex won by five wickets.[5]
In 1954 Lobban made only two first-class appearances, and managed only the single wicket of Gloucestershire tail-ender Bomber Wells. In his final game, against Warwickshire at Dudley, his nine first-innings overs cost 51. He bowled just two overs in the second innings as Warwickshire completed an easy ten-wicket win. Lobban played one more Second XI game, against Glamorgan II at Cardiff Arms Park; in this he picked up five wickets.
He was also a professional boxer and played rugby union for Kidderminster.[2]
He later moved to Canada, where he worked as a teacher in Burnaby, British Columbia. He and his wife Celia had a son and two daughters.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b "Hartley LOBBAN". legacy.com. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
- ^ a b c The Cricketer, 9 August 1952, p. 335.
- ^ "Worcestershire v Sussex 1952". Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
- ^ "Glamorgan v Worcestershire 1952". Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
- ^ "Sussex v Worcestershire 1953". Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
External links
edit- Hartley Lobban at ESPNcricinfo
- Statistical summary from CricketArchive