Raymond Pitman

{{short description|English cricketer}}

{{for|the Bermudan sailor|Raymond Pitman (sailor)}}

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

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

{{Infobox cricketer

| name = Raymond Pitman

| image =

| country = England

| fullname = Raymond Walter Charles Pitman

| nickname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1933|2|21|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Bartley, Hampshire, England

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1998|6|5|1933|2|21|df=yes}}

| death_place = Rhos-on-Sea, Denbighshire, Wales

| heightft =

| heightinch =

| batting = Right-handed

| bowling = Right-arm medium-fast

| family =

| club1 = Hampshire

| year1 = {{nowrap|1954–1959}}

| columns = 1

| column1 = First-class

| matches1 = 50

| runs1 = 926

| bat avg1 = 13.61

| 100s/50s1 = –/1

| top score1 = 77

| deliveries1 = 95

| wickets1 = 1

| bowl avg1 = 68.00

| fivefor1 = –

| tenfor1 = –

| best bowling1 = 1/4

| catches/stumpings1 = 42/–

| date = 15 February

| year = 2010

| source = http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/18546.html Cricinfo

}}

Raymond Walter Charles Pitman (21 February 1933 — 5 June 1998) was an English first-class cricketer.

Pitman was born in February 1933 at Bartley, Hampshire. Having spent four years playing for Hampshire second team, Pitman made his debut in first-class cricket for the Hampshire first team against Oxford University at Oxford in 1954.{{cite web|url=https://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/6/6801/First-Class_Matches.html|title=First-Class Matches played by Ray Pitman|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=29 February 2024|url-access=subscription}} Later that season he made three appearances in the County Championship, but did not feature for Hampshire the following season. He became a more established figure in the Hampshire team from 1956 to 1958, making 43 first-class appearances between those seasons and played most regularly in 1958, making 24 appearances. He recorded his only half century during that season, making a score of 77 against Derbyshire in Hampshire's last match of the 1958 County Championship.{{cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/raymond-pitman-18546|title=Profile: Raymond Pitman|publisher=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=29 February 2024}} He made just three first-class appearances in 1959, before a broken finger against the Marylebone Cricket Club at Lord's ruled him out for three-weeks;{{cite news|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000736/19590515/152/0019|title=Cricket|newspaper=Portsmouth Evening News|page=19|date=15 May 1959|access-date=1 March 2024|url-access=subscription|via=British Newspaper Archive}} this match subsequently turned out to be his last for Hampshire. He was described by Wisden as an "aggressive batsman", though it was also suggested by the same publication that as a cricketer he never quite made the grade.{{cite book|last=Engel|first=Matthew|year=1999|title=Wisden Cricketers' Almanack|page=1487|edition=136|publisher=John Wisden & Co. Ltd|location=Guildford|ISBN=0947766502}} In exactly fifty first-class matches, he scored 926 runs at an average of 13.61.{{cite web|url=https://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/6/6801/f_Batting_by_Team.html|title=First-Class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Ray Pitman|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=29 February 2024|url-access=subscription}}

Following his retirement from county cricket, he played club cricket in Scotland.{{cite web|url=https://hampshirecrickethistory.wordpress.com/2018/04/09/a-z-p4/|title=A–Z (P4)|website=www.hampshirecrickethistory.wordpress.com|access-date=1 March 2024}} Pitman later held a coaching and administrative post at Rydal Penrhos School at Colwyn Bay in Wales.{{cite news|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003119/19980625/083/0083|title=Notices|newspaper=North Wales Weekly News|location=Llandudno|page=83|date=25 June 1998|access-date=1 March 2024|url-access=subscription|via=British Newspaper Archive}} Shortly after Pitman's retirement at the age of 65, he was diagnosed with cancer and subsequently died in June 1998 at Rhos-on-Sea, Denbighshire.