Bill Horrocks
{{short description|English cricketer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox cricketer
| name = Bill Horrocks
| image = Bill Horrocks 1937.png
| country =
| fullname = William John Horrocks
| nickname =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1905|6|18|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Warrington, Lancashire, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1985|11|15|1905|6|18|df=yes}}
| death_place = Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| heightm =
| batting = Right-handed
| bowling =
| role =
| club1 = Western Australia
| year1 = 1926/27–1936/37
| club2 = Lancashire
| year2 = 1931–1933
| columns = 1
| column1 = First-class
| matches1 = 29
| runs1 = 1,255
| bat avg1 = 33.02
| 100s/50s1 = 3/7
| top score1 = 148*
| deliveries1 = 58
| wickets1 = 0
| bowl avg1 = –
| fivefor1 = 0
| tenfor1 = 0
| best bowling1 = –
| catches/stumpings1 = 9/–
| date = 27 August
| year = 2023
| source = https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/william-horrocks-5872 Cricinfo
}}
William John Horrocks (18 June 1905 – 15 November 1985) was an English-born cricketer who played 29 matches of first-class cricket for Western Australia and Lancashire between 1927 and 1936.
Life and career
Bill Horrocks' family moved from England to Perth in 1913. A right-handed batsman with a range of strokes all around the field, and an excellent fieldsman, he played first-grade cricket in Perth at 17, and made his first-class debut for Western Australia in the 1926–27 season.The Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket, Oxford, Melbourne, 1996, p. 253. He impressed the English team in 1928–29 with his batting in Perth for Western Australia{{cite web |title=Western Australia v MCC 1928-29 |url=http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1920S/1928-29/ENG_IN_AUS/MCC_WA_18-20OCT1928.html |website=Cricinfo |access-date=28 August 2023}} and an Australian XI,{{cite web |title=Australian XI v MCC 1928-29 |url=http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1920S/1928-29/ENG_IN_AUS/MCC_AUS-XI_21-23MAR1929.html |website=Cricinfo |access-date=28 August 2023}} and one of the team, George Duckworth, a relative of his from Lancashire, suggested he return to Lancashire to play county cricket.
Horrocks played for Lancashire for three seasons, 1931 to 1933, and scored a century against Nottinghamshire in 1931,{{cite web |title=Lancashire v Nottinghamshire 1931 |url=http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1930S/1931/ENG_LOCAL/CC/LANCS_NOTTS_CC_25-28JUL1931.html |website=Cricinfo |access-date=28 August 2023}} but was not generally successful, and returned to Perth.
Horrocks' highest first-class score came in the match against Tasmania in 1929–30, when he scored 65 and 148 not out.{{cite web |title=Tasmania v Western Australia |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/13/13358.html |website=CricketArchive |access-date=28 August 2023}} Later that season he scored 212 for his team, Claremont, to help them to win the grade cricket final.{{cite journal |title=Big Cricket |journal=The West Australian |date=3 June 1931 |page=12 |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/32524076}} Playing for a Combined XI against the touring English team in 1936–37, he scored 140, adding 306 for the second wicket with Jack Badcock.{{cite web |title=Combined XI v MCC 1936-37 |url=http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1930S/1936-37/ENG_IN_AUS/MCC_WA-COMB_22-24OCT1936.html|website=Cricinfo |access-date=28 August 2023}}
Horrocks married Queenie Blythe in Claremont in April 1930.{{cite journal |title=Horrocks–Blythe |journal=Daily News |date=8 April 1930 |page=2 |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/83502905}} One of their children was born shortly before they left England in 1934 to return to Australia, and was baptised by an Anglican clergyman on board while the ship was navigating the Red Sea.{{cite journal |title=Christening in Red Sea |journal=News |date=13 June 1934 |page=5 |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/128437532}}
Horrocks moved from Perth to Melbourne in 1937 and played for Essendon Cricket Club, which he captained.{{cite journal |title=Cricket |journal=West Australian |date=29 September 1937 |page=13 |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/41434432}} Between 1942 and 1946 he was a regular umpire in Melbourne senior district cricket.{{cite web |title=William Horrocks as Umpire in Victoria Premier Cricket Matches|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/16/16201/Umpire_in_Victoria_Premier_Cricket_Matches.html|website=CricketArchive |access-date=28 August 2023}} He died in Melbourne in November 1985.{{cite web |title=William Horrocks |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/16/16201/16201.html |website=CricketArchive |access-date=28 August 2023}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{cricinfo|id=5872}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horrocks, Bill}}
Category:Cricketers from Warrington
Category:Lancashire cricketers
Category:Western Australia cricketers