Slater Archibald Image 1 Derbyshire 1921

Pilsley, Derbyshire born all-rounder Archibald Slater was a right-arm medium pace bowler and right-hand batsman who made his County Championship debut for Derbyshire in a win against Northamptonshire in June 1911 when he scored 43 not out in the first innings which was to remain his best score that season. In 1912 his best bowling performance was 5-80, which he bettered in 1913 with a best return of  5-43. In the 1914 season his bowling took off when he took 69 wickets. His best performance that year was 6-19 and he had 3 other five wicket innings performances. In the same year, he scored 99 against Hampshire.

After the First World War Slater played two games for Derbyshire in the 1919 season and one in the 1921 season and did not return for the full season until 1927. In the interval he was playing in the Lancashire League. Back to Derbyshire in the 1927 season, he made a century against Warwickshire, scoring 105. In the 1928 season he took 64 wickets and achieved a best performance of 8-24 against The West Indies with three other five wicket hauls. In the 1929 season he took 87 wickets with a best performance of 6-54 and again three other five wicket innings.

In the 1930 season he took 8-46 against Worcestershire and had 6 other five wicket performances in a season when he took 81 wickets. He also managed a top score of 95. In the 1931 season he took 108 wickets took 8-51 against Essex and 8-67 against Kent with 5 other five wicket performances. However after helping Derbyshire to 7th in the Championship table, he ended his Derbyshire career that season, resuming his Lancashire League cricket until 1939, and in 1932 Slater played for Sir L Parkinson’s XI against Lancashire. The match for Sir L Parkinson’s XI v The West Indians in 1933 qualified as first class which brought his first class wicket total to 500, and proved his final match.

In 211 first class matches Slater took exactly 500 wickets with an average of 21.11 and a best performance of 8-24. He played 327 innings scoring 5,943 runs at an average of 19.87. In addition to his one century, he also made 24 half centuries, and held 124 catches in first class play.

His father Henry Slater played for Derbyshire between 1882 and 1887, and his brother Herbert Slater appeared for Derbyshire in 1907.

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