Norman Yardley

Norman Walter Dransfield Yardley (19 March 1915 – 3 October 1989) was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England, as a right-handed batsman and occasional bowler.

Yardley was born in Royston, near Barnsley, on 19 March 1915 to a family with no real background in cricket.

He was sent to St Peter's, York, where he made a good impression as a cricketer, being in the school team for five years from 1930 and captain in his final two years.

He played for Yorkshire Second XI once in 1932, twice in 1933 and twice in 1934.

Leaving St Peter's School, Yardley went to St John's College, Cambridge University, where he immediately began to show all-round ability at sports.

In 1933, his first season in charge, he scored 973 runs at an average of 88.45, scoring three centuries in consecutive innings.

He headed the bowling averages, with 40 wickets at 11.90 runs per wicket.

His form that season saw him selected for the match between Young Amateurs and Young Professionals at Lord's Cricket Ground, in which Yardley scored 189 in his first representative match, playing against his future England team-mate Denis Compton.

In 1934, Yardley played in two further representative matches at Lord's, for The Rest against Lord's Schools, and for Public Schools against The Army, making 117, the first century in the fixture for Public Schools, and 63.

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack later cited these successes as a demonstration of his ability to perform well on important occasions.

While still at school, he came to the attention of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, playing for the Yorkshire Colts side and receiving coaching from George Hirst.

He won the North of England Squash Championships every year between 1934 and 1939, and won his Blue in hockey, squash, and Rugby fives.

However, his main distinction came from cricket, where he was a Blue in each his four years at Cambridge.

He played for the University team in his first year, the 1935 season, making ten first-class appearances without much success.

His Wisden obituary noted that "class rather than performance guaranteed his place."

He made his first-class debut against Sussex, scoring a duck in his first innings and 24 runs in the second.

He passed fifty on just one occasion that season, scoring 319 runs at an average of 16.78, and bowled 69 balls without taking a wicket.

Nevertheless, he played in the University Match, scoring just 19 and 36.

In the following season, Yardley improved considerably, becoming a dominant force in University Cricket according to Wisden.

His maiden first-class century came in a narrow Cambridge victory over the Army, and he scored a second against Surrey, remaining not out for 116 in a total of 359.

Bowling much more regularly, his maiden wickets in first-class cricket came in a performance of four wickets for 45 against Yorkshire, including the wicket of Len Hutton.

Yardley topped the Cambridge batting averages and played an effective innings of 90 in the University Match.

This display impressed Stanley Jackson, an influential former Yorkshire amateur cricketer, and he urged the Yorkshire selectors to include Yardley in the first team.

Yardley was still appearing in the county second team at this stage, but at the end of August, he made his debut for the Yorkshire first eleven, appearing in the County Championship match against Derbyshire.

He scored 12 in his only innings and took a wicket.

He played in a further seven matches for Yorkshire, scoring 309 runs in ten innings with a highest score of 89 against Hampshire, with further fifties against Surrey and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).

He made his Yorkshire debut in 1936 and played for the county until 1955, when he retired as a player.

He made his Test match debut against South Africa in 1939 and after the Second World War was chosen as vice-captain to Wally Hammond on the 1946—47 tour of Australia where he captained England in the fifth Test.

He followed Hammond as skipper in 1947, and captained England intermittently until 1950 when his business commitments allowed.

An amateur, he captained Yorkshire from 1948 to 1955 and England on fourteen occasions between 1947 and 1950, winning four Tests, losing seven and drawing three.

Yardley was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1948, and in his obituary in Wisden Cricketers' Almanack he was described as Yorkshire's finest amateur since Stanley Jackson.

Yardley played schoolboy cricket at St Peter's, York.

A highly talented all-round sportsman, he went to St John's College, Cambridge, and won Blues at cricket, squash, Rugby fives and field hockey.

In the university matches, he scored 90 in his second year, 101 in his third and was captain for his final year.

In 1948 he succeeded to the Yorkshire leadership when Brian Sellers resigned.

Under Yardley, Yorkshire were joint champions in 1949 but subsequently on a number of occasions, too often for the liking of supporters, finished second to Surrey in the County Championship.

He served as a Test match selector between 1951 and 1954, acting as chairman of selectors in 1952.

Yardley remained in the position until 1955, during a time when Yorkshire had several difficult players in their dressing room.

He was President of Yorkshire C.C.C. from 1981 to 1983, when he resigned after becoming involved in controversy over the decision to release Geoffrey Boycott in 1983.

He died after a stroke in 1989.