James Aitchison

The Reverend James Aitchison was regarded as one of Scotland's best post-war batsmen, the only regret being that as he never tried to play county cricket, his real ability was not fully tested. His seven hundreds for his county - five of which were first-class - remained a record until 1992, and he scored centuries in two-day games against South Africa (1947) and Australia (1956). The latter innings was described by Keith Miller and Ray Lindwall as the best they saw all summer. His best came in 1959 when he scored 190 against Ireland, sharing a stand of 144 with the schoolboy Mike Denness. In club cricket for Carlton, Grange and Kilmarnock he made 56 hundreds. He was a minister in the Church of Scotland, in Edinburgh for 11 years and in Glasgow for 23, until his retirement in 1986. Wisden noted that "after Aitchison played a long, chancy innings against Worcestershire, Roly Jenkins said that with his luck he should be an Archbishop".
Martin Williamson