Harry Dean, who died at his home at Garstang, near Blackpool, on March 12, aged 71, was one of the most successful bowlers who ever played for Lancashire. He first appeared for the county in 1906 and before he left them at the end of the 1921 season he took, with left-arm bowling, 1,301 wickets in all first-class matches for 18.14 runs apiece. He suited his methods to the conditions, bowling fast-medium with deceptive swerve or slow according to the state of the pitch. He made an auspicious start, for in his first season he dismissed 60 batsmen, and in each of the next seven summers he took over 100 wickets, as he did also in 1920. Six times he obtained nine wickets in an innings, his best analysis being 15.1 overs, 8 maidens, 31 runs, 9 wickets against Somerset at Old Trafford in 1909.

The performance which afforded Dean most satisfaction, however, was against Yorkshire at Aigburth in 1913 in an extra match arranged to mark the visit to Liverpool of King George V. He took nine wickets for 62 in the first innings and eight for 29 in the second, bringing his match figures to 17 for 91. There is no recorded instance of greater success by a bowler in a Roses match. In his best season, 1911, Dean secured 183 wickets, average 17.43. He played for England in two Test matches against Australia and one against South Africa in the 1912 Triangular Tournament, his 11 wickets in these three games costing 153 runs. After the end of his first-class career, he played for some years for Cheshire and from 1926 to 1932 was coach at Rossall School.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack