Harry Sharp

Harry Sharp was an old-fashioned kind of cricketing stalwart who spent his entire adult life at Lord's except for the interruption of war, when he was an able seaman - which is why he was known as The Admiral. He joined the Lord's groundstaff in 1934 and stayed on as player, coach, MCC umpire and Middlesex scorer for 60 years. He did not make his Middlesex debut until he was back on dry land in 1946, when he was already 28. At first he struggled to win a regular place in that dynamic batting side, but he did play in the famous match at Cheltenham in 1947 when his batting and his offspin were vital in the win that decided the Championship for Middlesex. In 1948 he was capped, became the regular opener in 1950, and in 1953 scored five of his ten career hundreds. He was released in 1955, and became an MCC coach, a job he held for 17 years. For 20 years after that, he was Middlesex scorer, until retiring in 1993. In this post, he acquired an extra, unofficial, job as Mike Gatting's mentor. In all his roles he was genial, humorous, knowledgeable and helpful and he was a much loved figure on the circuit.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack