Bob Appleyard

Bob Appleyard
Appleyard signing an autograph in 1954
Personal information
Full name
Robert Appleyard
Born(1924-06-27)27 June 1924
Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died17 March 2015(2015-03-17) (aged 90)
Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
BattingRight-handed
BowlingOff-break, Right-arm fast-medium
International information
National side
Test debut1 July 1954 v Pakistan
Last Test7 June 1956 v Australia
Career statistics
Competition Tests First-class
Matches 9 152
Runs scored 51 776
Batting average 17.00 8.52
100s/50s 0/0 0/1
Top score 19 not out 63 not out
Balls bowled 1,596 29,980
Wickets 31 708
Bowling average 17.87 15.48
5 wickets in innings 1 57
10 wickets in match 0 17
Best bowling 5/51 8/76
Catches/stumpings 4/– 80/–
Source: CricInfo, 4 April 2018

Robert Appleyard MBE (27 June 1924 – 17 March 2015) was a Yorkshire and England first-class cricketer.[1] He was one of the best English bowlers of the 1950s, a decade which saw England develop its strongest bowling attack of the twentieth century. Able to bowl fast-medium swingers or seamers and off-spinners with almost exactly the same action, Appleyard's career was almost destroyed by injury and illness after his first full season in 1951. In his limited Test career, he took a wicket every fifty-one balls, and in first-class cricket his 708 wickets cost only 15.48 runs each.[1]

  1. ^ a b Bateman, Colin (1993). If The Cap Fits. Tony Williams Publications. p. 14. ISBN 1-869833-21-X.