Lenard Winston Hill (14 April 1941 – 12 April 2007) was a Welsh sportsman, who played first-class cricket for Glamorgan, league football for Swansea Town and Newport County and was also a talented tennis player. It was mentioned that he only went to play football professionally so he could spend more time practising in the nets for cricket. In later life Len was a keen golfer with a handicap of 3 and represented Wales Seniors.
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| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm-medium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 27 March 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lenard Winston Hill | ||
| Date of birth | 14 April 1941 | ||
| Place of birth | Caerleon, Wales | ||
| Date of death | 10 April 2007 (aged 65) | ||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Wing half | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1958–62 | Lovells Athletic | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1962–1970 | Newport County | 269 | (52) |
| 1970–1971 | Swansea | 12 | (1) |
| 1971–74 | Newport County | 97 | (13) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Early sporting career
editHill was born in Caerleon and played for Lovell's Athletic[1] before joining Newport County in 1962. He remained with Newport until 1973, later playing briefly for Swansea City.[2]
Later career
editHill joined Glamorgan County Cricket Club in 1964, but his football career took precedence, preventing him from playing a full county cricket season until the mid-1970s.[3] His first class debut came on 18 July 1964 against Lancashire. He scored just one run on his debut, falling lbw to Brian Statham.
He later became a regular right-hand batsman in the Glamorgan first XI, and was awarded a county cap in 1974. He made 76 first-class appearances for Glamorgan and scored 2,690 runs (including 14 fifties), with a top score of 96 not out against Gloucestershire in 1974. In the same year, he scored 90 not out against Hampshire in one of the year's most notable Glamorgan victories. He played his last game for Glamorgan in 1976. He helped Glamorgan to victory beating Pakistan where he got Imran Khan and some other notable players out.
A brief spell as professional at Ammanford Cricket Club[4] completed his career.
Recognition of qualities
editIn 1975, he was featured in an article in Wisden by Basil Easterbrook entitled "The Willing Workhorses of First Class Cricket".[5]
A popular player, in retirement he kept in touch with his ex-colleagues through the Glamorgan Ex-Players' Association.[6]
Death
editHill died in April 2007, aged 65.[7]
References
edit- ^ Playing for Lovell's
- ^ Newport County A-Z of transfers
- ^ BBC Obituary
- ^ Club Web site
- ^ "Wisden's Cricketers' Almanac" Preston, N (Ed): London, Sporting Handbooks, 1975 ISBN 0-85020-048-2
- ^ Article by Alistair Hignell[permanent dead link]
- ^ Welsh dual sport star Hill dies
