Lionel Lister

LISTER, WILLIAM HUBERT LIONEL, died on July 29, 1998, aged 86. Lionel Lister captained Lancashire from 1936 to 1939, when the county was in retreat after a decade of success, and was sometimes criticised for unwise declarations and failing to show command. But, overall, he is remembered as a good leader of a declining team, notably short of fast bowling, and was much liked by his men. He was also a batsman of spasmodic magnificence. He scored a century against Middlesex in his second match for the county, in 1933, and made 96 in 100 minutes at Worcester later that season. In 1934 he played an innings of great courage at Trent Bridge when being pummelled by Larwood and Voce. As captain, the great innings were infrequent, though Neville Cardus was ecstatic when Lister made just 34 in the 1937 Roses match at Sheffield: boundaries as good as any cricketer could wish to make or to see ... a brave and dashing and good-looking innings. In August 1939, Lister was padded up at Northampton when he was summoned to join his territorial regiment. He said goodbye to his team-mates (he was recorded as absent ... 0), and never played another first-class match, though some were amazed that he was not contacted when Lancashire were desperate for a captain in 1946; he was still only 34. Lister was the son of the managing director of Cunard, and had been a successful batsman at Malvern. At Cambridge, he failed to get a cricket Blue, but won a soccer Blue three times, and four amateur international caps as a wing-half. He was a brigade-major in the Normandy landings, though his moneyed background enabled him to live a post-war life of some ease. This included plenty of golf and regular visits to Old Trafford.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack