Colin Lever

{{short description|English cricketer (born 1939)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2016}}

{{Use British English|date=February 2016}}

{{Infobox cricketer

| name = Colin Lever

| image =

| country = England

| international =

| fullname =

| nickname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1939|8|4|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Todmorden, West Riding of Yorkshire, England

| heightft =

| heightinch =

| batting = Right-handed

| bowling = Right-arm medium

| role =

| family = Peter Lever (brother)

| club1 = Minor Counties

| year1 = 1965

| clubnumber1 =

| club2 = Buckinghamshire

| year2 = 1962–1978

| clubnumber2 =

| columns = 2

| column1 = First-class

| matches1 = 1

| runs1 = 20

| bat avg1 = 10.00

| 100s/50s1 = 0/0

| top score1 = 12

| deliveries1 = 78

| wickets1 = 2

| bowl avg1 = 11.50

| fivefor1 = 0

| tenfor1 = 0

| best bowling1 = 1/5

| catches/stumpings1 = 0/–

| column2 = List A

| matches2 = 8

| runs2 = 69

| bat avg2 = 11.50

| 100s/50s2 = 0/0

| top score2 = 20

| deliveries2 = 468

| wickets2 = 7

| bowl avg2 = 43.00

| fivefor2 = 0

| tenfor2 = –

| best bowling2 = 3/19

| catches/stumpings2 = 2/–

| date = 3 May

| year = 2011

| source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/16559.html Cricinfo

}}

Colin Lever (born 4 August 1939) is a former English cricketer. Lever was an all-rounder: a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium pace.

Lever made his debut for Buckinghamshire in the 1962 Minor Counties Championship against Oxfordshire. He played Minor counties cricket for Buckinghamshire from 1962 to 1978, which included 91 Minor Counties Championship matches.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/30/30977/Minor_Counties_Championship_Matches.html|title=Minor Counties Championship Matches played by Colin Lever|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=4 May 2011}} In 1965, he made his List A debut against Middlesex in the Gillette Cup. He played seven further List A matches for Buckinghamshire, the last coming against Middlesex in the 1975 Gillette Cup.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/30/30977/List_A_Matches.html|title=List A Matches played by Colin Lever|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=4 May 2011}} In these eight matches, he scored 69 runs at a batting average of 11.50, with a high score of 20.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/30/30977/a_Batting_by_Team.html|title=List A Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Colin Lever|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=4 May 2011}} With the ball he took 7 wickets at a bowling average of 43.00, with best figures of 3/19 when Buckinghamshire beat Bedfordshire in 1970.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/30/30977/a_Bowling_by_Team.html|title=List A Bowling For Each Team by Colin Lever|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=4 May 2011}}

Lever made a single first-class appearance, for a combined Minor Counties cricket team against the touring South Africans in 1965 at Osborne Avenue, Jesmond.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/30/30977/First-Class_Matches.html|title=First-Class Matches played by Colin Lever|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=4 May 2011}} He took the wickets of Richard Dumbrill and Ali Bacher, and scored 12 and 8. His younger brother Peter, who later played Test cricket for England, was also in the Minor Counties team.{{cite web|url=https://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1960S/1965/RSA_IN_ENG/RSA_MINOR-C_14-16JUL1965.html|title=Minor Counties v South Africans, 1965|publisher=Cricinfo|access-date=29 March 2025}}

Lever played as the professional for Heywood in the Central Lancashire League for nine consecutive seasons from 1968 to 1976, leading Heywood to the championship three times.[http://www.heywoodcc.co.uk/heywood-cc-pro-stats-1968-2010/ Heywood CC pro stats] Lever then moved to play in the Liverpool and District Cricket Competition and, after a spell with Liverpool CC, joined the Northern Cricket Club in 1979. Over the next ten seasons he hit four first-team centuries and took seven or more wickets in an innings on seven occasions. He captained the club from 1980 to 1982. Most notably he celebrated his 40th birthday by scoring an undefeated 104 and taking 7 wickets for 28 runs against neighbours Bootle on 4 August 1979. In 1992, in a second-team fixture, he took 7 wickets for 56 at the age of 53.