Harry Pilling

I was surprised and saddened to read today of the death of Harry Pilling at the relatively young age of sixty-nine.

His name will probably mean nothing to you readers lucky enough to be under fifty. However, for those of a certain generation such as the Corporal and myself, it means a great deal and represents even more.

A fine and under rated right handed Lancashire batsman, he was somewhat unfairly best known for his size or, rather, lack of it. Standing just 5 feet 3 inches tall, he was predictably and for ever dubbed 'Little' Harry Pilling.

He gave great service to Lancs playing for them for twenty years from 1962 to 1982. His best years were in the late '60s and early '70s when he was one of the early stars of the domestic one day game. He was the first batsman to score 1,500 runs in the John Player League (a 40 over county league competition which started in 1969 and was played each Sunday afternoon throughout the season) and so more than played his part in Lancs winning that tournament in its first two years.

His greatest one day performance though came in the final of the Gillette Cup (a 60 over knock out competition) in 1970. Pilling scored 70 not out as Lancs defeated Sussex. He deservedly won the match of the match award but took more pleasure from his father being at Lord's to see Lancs win. It was the first time his father - a true Lancastrian like his son - had ever been to London.

The 1970 match was the beginning of a successive trio of wins for Lancs in the Gilly Cup. Whilst not repeating his first final success, Pilling still made useful knocks of 21 and 30 in helping Lancs to victories in '71 and '72 over Kent and Warks respectively.

He was also a decent player in the Championship (then a 3 day game). From the late '60s to the mid '70s, he scored a 1,000 first class runs seven times in eight seasons (admittedly more matches being played then than now but still commendable). He was spoken of at one time as a possibility for the England squad that toured Australia in '70 - '71. That call never came but Harry never complained. He was more than content to serve his beloved county. From the mid '70s, he struggled to hold down a regular first team place as several great Lancs batting hopes (in particular, Frank Hayes and Andy Kennedy) came, briefly shone brightly and disappeared. Harry would again come back in when required and could always be relied upon to give his very best. Appropriately, David Lloyd has tweeted today of Pilling being a 'Champion Lancastrian'.

It is worth noting that in the era that Pilling played, most English cricketers only had a summer contract. In order to earn money throughout the winter months Pilling had a variety of jobs including lorry driver, labourer, coffin maker and 'putter onner of umbrella handles'. I'll leave others to reflect on whether such work might benefit certain stars of the game today.

Farouk Engineer, former India and Lancs wicket keeper, has also spoken highly today of Pilling's batting and cheery nature. When Engineer first arrived at the Club, he was greeted with an 'Alreet lad' from Pilling. Engineer had no comprehension of the words being said to him but knew thet were welcoming from Pilling's smile.

The greatest memories though have to concern his size. Often he, batting at number 3, would be in partnership with Clive Lloyd, batting at number four and standing more than a foot taller. They were labelled the 'bucket and mop' combination. It was said that when they ran three, Pilling would have to take one and a half times as many strides as Lloyd.

At least once a fast bowler was said to have had an lbw appeal against Pilling turned down on the grounds 'it was too high'. The bowler's response was, 'Too high? If it had hit him on the f***ing head, it wouldn't have been too high!'.

Harry Pilling. Small only in height. A great character and a great servant of the game. He contributed significantly to my interest in and love of the game. Thanks.

Guildford, a magnificent tribute. A sad passing indeed, and thanks to various articles and your own addition, I can now gladly say I know a little more about the man.

Thanks for that.

guildford,

Wonderful tribute: informative, sad yet full of those anecdotes which make you smile.

Thank you for that. I admit to being one of the "lucky readers" who hadn't previously heard of him. Now I have.

Many thanks.

Fists and Mike - many thanks for your responses.

Back in the early '70s Lancs were referred to as the Kings of One Day Cricket and justifiably so with their domination of the John Player League and Gillette Cup. Harry Pilling was an integral member of their team.

England didn't play a one day series until 1972 but even then and in their early years, one day internationals were just tagged on to the end of a Test series with the same (Test) players taking part. If England had chosen a specialist ODI team then, Pilling would almost certainly have featured and probably be a far more recognisable name today.

Guildford - a fitting tribute indeed. As you say, Pilling was a very fine player in a team that for some years had complete mastery of the one day game.

He must have been one of the smallest players in the modern game - at a time when protection for batsmen was not what it is today and in some matches (certainly at international level) there were more bouncers per over than could be found outside many a nightclub....

The names from the Lancs team around that time remain very strong in the memory. So it is very sad news to hear that one has returned to the pavilion...

guildford,
Lovely tribute to a fine and entertaining cricketer.
Not sure who is more fortunate, those of us who are under fifty or us lucky fewer who got to see him play.

(PS: I also note the recent demise of two-sport Ron Tindall and only learned thru his obituaries what a success he made of his later career in W.Australia.)

Thanks, Kwini. It's slightly strange that those of us who saw Pilling play instantly recall him whilst later generations have no idea who he was.

I have to be honest and admit I don't really remember Ron Tindall although I almost certainly saw him play for for Portsmouth towards the end of his football days (late '60s). He must have been a good player to partner Jimmy Greaves up front at Chelsea for several seasons before that.

I've read Tindall stopped playing fc cricket in '66 which was a little before I started following the game seriously. However, tributes to him on the official Surrey Supporters and Club web sites certainly back up his all round cricketing abilities as well as his subsequent service to sport in Australia where he ended his days. Clearly a top sportsman and bloke.

It's difficult to appreciate fifty (almost) years on that one-day cricket in England was pretty much invented by that (Harry Pilling era) Lancashire team, a collection of very solid northern cricketers with Indian and West Indian icing on a very good cake.
That was in the days when some teams took to the one-day game whilst others took a decade or more to "get" it. Great times.

(Ron Tindall Pompey manager and, I think, chief exec, before heading to the land Down Under.)

I had missed this news. While a few years under 50, I am still old enough to remember Little Harry while watching the old JPL Sunday League fixtures. Now that takes me back, John Arlott waxing lyrical about Little Harry. He may have been a Lancy - but he was still the right sort.

LondonTiger wrote:I had missed this news. While a few years under 50, I am still old enough to remember Little Harry while watching the old JPL Sunday League fixtures. Now that takes me back, John Arlott waxing lyrical about Little Harry. He may have been a Lancy - but he was still the right sort.

In a simpler and less demanding television age (we had never seen anything better!), BBC2's whole uninterrupted coverage of a 40 over JPL match every Sunday throughout the season was sheer bliss for any young cricket enthusiast.

During the 20 minute break between innings, there would often be a pre-recorded showing of Arlott talking straight to the camera about a past great of the home side. Somewhat to my shame, that was the bit of the programme I would normally opt out of. Far more disgracefully, I understand hardly any of the BBC tapes survive.

Guidford Bat... what a wonderful tribute to HP.... one minor correction... I can stilll just about truthfully say that I'm under 50 but do remember HP from my early days of following cricket!!... a great Lancs team memories of Shuttleworth, Flat Jack Simmons, Lloyds et al...

Also, thank you for reminding me of memories of watching 40 over cricket on the BBC... happy days... I think I can remember Ted Dexter, Peter Walker, Tony Lewis & Jim Laker on the commentary team... No doubt to the new generation of cricket watchers on sky, it would all seem incredibly archaic!

I'm probably thinking about it rather nostalgically and through rose tinted glasses...but much missed really!! - can't be doing with all the adverts these days...

chichestersurryfan wrote:Guidford Bat... what a wonderful tribute to HP.... one minor correction... I can stilll just about truthfully say that I'm under 50 but do remember HP from my early days of following cricket!!...

Thanks, Chichester.

Apologies for my error. I wasn't trying to overstate your age. I do feel though that very few under 50s would recall HP. I guess you had little choice as what to watch on tv on a Sunday afternoon when you were a tiny whippersnapper. Next to no chance of you ever seeing the likes of The Clangers or Black Beauty during the summer months once big bro had settled down to a JPL game on BBC2!