Peter Bernard Wight (25 June 1930 - 31 December 2015)[2] was a Guyanese first-class cricketer who played for Somerset, Canterbury and British Guiana. Wight was a prolific run scorer at the top of the order, scoring 16,965 runs during his thirteen years at Somerset; and at the time of his death only Harold Gimblett had made more runs for the county. After playing, he became an umpire in English first-class cricket, standing in matches from 1966 to 1995.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Peter Bernard Wight | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 25 June 1930 Georgetown, British Guiana | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 31 December 2015 (aged 85) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Rajah[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm offbreak | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Batsman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1953–1965 | Somerset | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1963/64 | Canterbury | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1950/51 | British Guiana | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First-class debut | 10 March 1951 British Guiana v Jamaica | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last First-class | 3 July 1965 Somerset v Nottinghamshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Umpiring information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FC umpired | 567 (1966–1995) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LA umpired | 462 (1966–1995) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricketArchive, 16 February 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Early life edit
His family was a mix of Scottish and Portuguese blood with good cricketing talent. His cousin, Vibart Wight had represented the West Indies twice,[3] acting as vice-captain in the third Test against England in 1928.[1] His elder brother Leslie Wight also went on to play Test cricket for the West Indies,[4] while his other brothers represented British Guiana at cricket, hockey, tennis and soccer.[1]
Wight came to England at the age of 20, arriving on a cargo boat in 1951. The conditions in England came as a shock to him, with rationing and outside toilets still prevalent.[1] He had arrived in the country with the intention of studying engineering, but his employer in Burnley refused to release him, as promised, for his motor mechanic exams.[1] With this, he emigrated to Toronto before returning to Lancashire to work in a factory.[1]
Career edit
Playing career edit
In 1953, he was scoring runs for Burnley Cricket Club in the Lancashire League when his brother-in-law suggested he try out for Somerset. He impressed in the nets and was selected to play in a trial game, against the touring Australians. A shaky start saw him dismissed for a first-innings duck but he scored a century in the second-innings[5] and was offered a Somerset contract.[1]
Wight passed 1,000 runs in a season for the first of ten successive years during 1954; his first full season with the county, totalling 1,343 runs in 50 first-class innings.[6] The following year he made his maiden County Championship century, with 106 in the first innings of a nine wicket victory over Worcestershire.[7] The next three seasons proceeded in a similar fashion, with Wight scoring runs with an average fluctuating between the high twenties and low thirties, failing to make the big scores needed to boost it further.[6]
It was during the 1959 season that he truly established himself as one of the leading batsmen in English cricket, despite missing a number of games due to eye problems.[8] He finished the season with 1,874 runs,[8] and with the joint second highest batting average (of those playing more than 2 innings) in the County Championship, behind only M. J. K. Smith.[9] His career best score came also during this season, when he achieved 222* for Somerset against the visiting Kent at the County Ground, Taunton.[10]
Coaching and umpiring career edit
When he was released by Somerset in 1965 he had scored 16,965 runs for the county.[11] After retiring he opened a cricket school in Bath and spent 30 summers as an umpire. He umpired 567 games in total and when added to his games as a player he holds the record for most first-class appearances in Post-War England.[1]
Honours edit
First-class edit
- Passed 1,000 first-class runs in a season: 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963
- Passed 2,000 first-class runs in a season: 1960, 1962
- County Championship leading run-scorer: 1960
Miscellaneous edit
- Named as one of the Playfair Cricket Annual Eleven Cricketers of the Year in 1961.
Notes edit
- ^ a b c d e f g h Chalke, Stephen (1 October 2005). "The Way It Was – The accidental cricketer". Cricinfo. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
- ^ Peter Wight: Cricketer who became Somerset’s most successful post-war batsman
- ^ "Player Profile:Vibart Wight". CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
- ^ "Player Profile:Leslie Wight". CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
- ^ "Somerset v Australians in 1953". CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 September 2009.
- ^ a b "First-class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Peter Wight". CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 September 2009.
- ^ "Somerset v Worcestershire in 1955". CricketArchive. 8 October 2009.
- ^ a b Eddie Lawrence. Somerset County Cricket Club (100 Greats) (2001 ed.). Tempus Publishing. p. 125. ISBN 0-7524-2178-6.
- ^ "Batting and Fielding in County Championship 1959 (Ordered by Average)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 September 2009.
- ^ "Somerset v Kent in 1959". CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 September 2009.
- ^ "Most Runs for Somerset". CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
External links edit
- Peter Wight at CricketArchive (subscription required)
- Peter Wight at ESPNcricinfo