| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Erasmus Albert Willson |
| Born | 13 October 1878 Sittingbourne, Kent |
| Died | 17 April 1948 (aged 69) Sittingbourne, Kent |
| Batting | Right-handed |
| Bowling | Right-arm fast |
| Role | Bowler |
| Domestic team information | |
| Years | Team |
| 1898 | Kent |
| Only FC | 27 June 1898 Kent v Notts |
Source:
CricInfo, 13 October 2023 | |
Erasmus Albert Willson (13 October 1878 – 17 April 1948) was an English first-class cricketer who played in a single first-class match for Kent County Cricket Club during the 1898 season. [1]
Willson was born at Sittingbourne in Kent in 1878, the son of dentist James Willson and his wife Catherine ( née Twort). He was educated at Borden Grammar School in the town where he played in the cricket XI and was considered a strong enough bowler to be offered a trial at Kent's Tonbridge Nursery after leaving school in 1897. [2] He impressed in a trial Second XI match at the end of the season and was brought on to the county's professional staff during the winter. [2]
Playing as an amateur, [2] Willson played his only first-class match during the following season. He took a single wicket and scored a total of nine runs during the match, a County Championship fixture against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in June. [2] [3] He played club cricket for Gore Court Cricket Club in Sittingbourne, and took seven wickets in two further Second XI matches later in the 1898 season, but opted to pursue a career as a bank clerk and did not play for the county side after the end of the season. [2] [4]
Willson married Nora Champion at Wandsworth in 1903. The couple had one son and lived at Mitcham and Streatham. [2] During World War I he enlisted in the British Army in December 1915, but was not called for a medical until May 1917, when he joined 2 battalion, Artists Rifles. He was posted to Hare Hall Camp at Romford in Essex in August where he served as a private, helping to train officer cadets. He remained at Hare Hall for the rest of the war and was demobilised at Crystal Palace in February 1919. [4]
Later in life Willson returned to Sittingbourne. [4] He died in the town in 1948 aged 69. [1]
References
- ^ a b Erasmus Willson, CricInfo. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
- ^ a b c d e f Carlaw D (2020) Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914 (revised edition), pp. 593–594. ( Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 2020-12-21.)
- ^ Erasmus Willson, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2020-06-06. (subscription required)
- ^ a b c Lewis P (2013) For Kent and Country, pp. 315–316. Brighton: Reveille Press. ISBN 978-1-908336-63-7
External links
Erasmus Willson at ESPNcricinfo
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