Wood Cecil Image 1 Leicestershire 1903

Description

Semilang, Northampton born all-rounder Cecil Wood made his debut for Leicestershire in 1896 and during a career of 456 first class matches over more than a quarter of a century he scored 23,879 runs for Leicestershire and also London County as an opening batsman at an average of 31.05, scoring 37 centuries and 136 half centuries, with a highest score of 225. He is one of just six players in the first-class history to carry his bat twice in the same match, against Yorkshire County Cricket Club at Bradford in 1911, and carried his bat through an innings on 17 occasions in his career. He hit 1,000 runs in a season 13 times, going on to score more than 2,000 runs in 1901. He took 172 wickets with his right arm slow bowling at 39.43 apiece with a best performance of 6-79, one of three five wicket hauls in his career, and took 180 catches in the field.

He also captained Leicestershire in a career which ultimately spanned to 1923. He was the Leicestershire Secretary in 1940 and 1941.

He was also a very good footballer, playing for several non-league clubs in the Leicestershire area for a decade during the 1890’s and early 1900’s. An inside forward, he also played for Second Division Leicester Fosse as an amateur, making his Football League debut at Walsall in March 1897, scoring in a 1-1 draw. He played a week later in a home defeat to Small Heath (now Birmingham City), but had to wait another three years for his final appearance for The Fossils, when he played at right half in a 2-0 win over Newton Heath (now Manchester United) at Filbert Street in March 1900.

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