Benjamin Philip King (22 April 1915 – 31 March 1970) was an English first-class cricketer who played 117 matches either side of the Second World War, first for Worcestershire, and then – despite his Yorkshire birthplace – for Lancashire. He was capped by Worcestershire in 1938, and by Lancashire in 1946.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Benjamin Philip King | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 22 April 1915 Leeds, Yorkshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 31 March 1970 (aged 54) Bradford, Yorkshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | occasional wicket-keeper | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1935–1939 | Worcestershire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1946–1947 | Lancashire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: [1], 6 August 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
King made a quiet first-class debut for Worcestershire against Northamptonshire in August 1935, scoring just 3 in his only innings.[1] He appeared twice more that season, though did nothing of note, and although he played 20 games in 1936 and 1937 he made only two half-centuries: 51 not out against Surrey in July 1936[2] and 50* versus Essex the following month.[3]
1938 was a considerably more successful summer for King. He passed a thousand runs for the first time, hitting 1,178 at an average of 22.65, and scoring his maiden century, 104 against Kent at Tonbridge in June.[4] He also made 124 against Hampshire at Worcester later in the season.[5] On this occasion, he reached his hundred before lunch.[6]
Although King just failed to repeat the thousand in 1939, hitting 974 runs, he scored another two hundreds that summer.[7] In early July he took over the gloves from George Abell during the match against Surrey, and effected five dismissals.[8] King was named as wicket-keeper in four other matches that year.[9]
When first-class cricket resumed after the war, King offered to return to Worcestershire on condition he was paid one pound for every run over a thousand he scored, but the county refused to accept.[6] Instead, he moved to Lancashire, for whom he had a successful 1946. He scored 1,145 runs at almost 31, and again struck two centuries. The higher of these was the career-best 145 he made versus Gloucestershire in May; he scored a hundred runs before lunch on the third day, having begun the morning on 34*.[6][10]
King's final season of 1947 was not particularly successful: he made only 360 runs in 17 innings and passed 50 just twice. After that he retired from playing and took a position as a cricket and rugby league columnist with the Sunday People newspaper. In this role he twice accompanied the Great Britain team to Australia, and he was preparing for a third such tour when his life was claimed by a heart attack at the early age of 54.[6]
Notes
edit- ^ "Worcestershire v Northamptonshire in 1935". CricketArchive. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- ^ "Surrey v Worcestershire in 1936". CricketArchive. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- ^ "Worcestershire v Essex in 1936". CricketArchive. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- ^ "Kent v Worcestershire in 1937". CricketArchive. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- ^ "Worcestershire v Hampshire in 1937". CricketArchive. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- ^ a b c d Obituary. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1971.
- ^ "First-class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Phil King". CricketArchive. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- ^ "Worcestershire v Surrey in 1939". CricketArchive. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- ^ "Player Oracle". CricketArchive. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- ^ "Gloucestershire v Worcestershire in 1946". CricketArchive. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
References
edit- Phil King from CricketArchive
- Phil King at ESPNcricinfo