Warwickshire great Horner dies

Former Warwickshire batsman Norman Horner has died at the age of 77. He had been suffering from cancer.

Horner made two appearances for Yorkshire before moving to Edgbaston in 1951 where he was party of Warwickshire's Championship-winning side in his first season with the county.

In all, he scored 18,217 first-class runs for Warwickshire, a total only bettered by Dennis Amiss, Billy Quaife, MJK Smith, Tom Dollery, Bob Wyatt and Len Bates. Horner's best innings was generally considered to be his 203 - the only double hundred of his career - against Surrey at The Oval in 1960 when he added an unbeaten 377 with Billy Ibadulla for the first wicket. An athletic fielder, Horner also prided himself on his fitness and the number of games he missed through injury could be counted on one hand.

After retiring, Horner became a sought-after coach and groundsman at Warwick School, before eventually returning to his native Yorkshire.