William Watkins

William Watkins, died on October 15, 1986, aged 82. As a right-handed bat in the middle order and right-arm slow bowler who could turn the ball both ways, he played 27 times for Middlesex as a professional between 1930 and 1937. His highest score for them was 83 against Surrey at Lord's in 1933, when he helped Hendren add 174 and, though he could not save the match, turned what looked like a walkover into an honourable defeat. For MCC against Kent at Folkestone in 1936, he batted for two and three-quarter hours without mistake to score his only hundred, 115, and with Bill Edrich put on 198 for the fourth wicket. His best bowling was also for MCC, against Cambridge at Lord's in 1939 when he occasioned some surprise by taking five for 31 in 9.4 overs in the first innings. In all first-class cricket he scored 867 runs with an average of 18.84 and took eighteen wickets at 20.88. He later became coach of MCC's groundstaff.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack