86 Facts About Roy Kilner

Roy Kilner was an English professional cricketer who played nine Test matches for England between 1924 and 1926.

Roy Kilner first played for Yorkshire as a batsman before the First World War, establishing a regular place in the side.

Roy Kilner was selected during the 1926 Ashes but dropped for the final Test.

Roy Kilner went on several coaching trips to India during English winters, and on one of these, in 1928, he contracted an illness; on his return to England, he died aged 37.

Roy Kilner's funeral was attended by over 100,000 people and there was widespread sadness at his death.

Roy Kilner was born on 17 October 1890 in Wombwell, Barnsley, Yorkshire, England, the second son and one of eleven children of Seth Roy Kilner and Mary Alice Washington.

Roy Kilner showed enough ability to join the local colliery team, Mitchell Main.

At the age of 14 in 1904, Roy Kilner reached the Mitchell Main first team.

Roy Kilner displayed aggression but often attempted difficult shots and consequently lost his wicket.

Roy Kilner made a good start to 1912 for Yorkshire Second XI, scoring centuries in two consecutive games; in the second he took twelve wickets for 75 runs.

Roy Kilner replaced the injured all-rounder George Hirst for a match against Nottinghamshire.

Roy Kilner shared a partnership of 113 for the fifth wicket and scored 83 not out to take Yorkshire to a five wicket win.

Roy Kilner scored 570 runs at an average of 22.80 and took 16 wickets at an average of 22.12, figures regarded as respectable for a first full season.

Roy Kilner's batting was always adventurous and attacking although he often made uncertain starts to his innings and showed impatience.

Roy Kilner passed 1,000 runs for the second time but due to his uncertain form, his aggregate of runs and his average both fell.

Roy Kilner scored 1,329 runs, placing him fourth in the Yorkshire batting averages.

Roy Kilner's bowling was rarely used and he took just one wicket.

Roy Kilner scored his second first-class century against Gloucestershire late in the season; he made 169 in nearly three and a half hours, hitting 28 fours.

The United Kingdom declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914, while Roy Kilner was playing in that season's Roses Match at Old Trafford.

Roy Kilner trained as a mechanic before being stationed at Colsterdale in North Yorkshire as a corporal.

Roy Kilner was posted with his battalion to Egypt but was forced home with an injury.

Roy Kilner recovered in a military hospital near Blackpool before being assigned to Preston Garrison as a mechanic.

Roy Kilner suffered a second loss when his brother Bernard was killed at Ypres in 1917.

Subsequently, Roy Kilner was asked to deliver more overs, although not to the extent of a main bowler.

Roy Kilner took 45 wickets, more than his entire first-class wicket aggregate before the war, at an average of 18.12.

Roy Kilner's performances earned him a place in the Gentlemen v Players match at the end of season during the Scarborough Festival, although he neither took a wicket nor scored.

Roy Kilner began the 1920 season with an innings of 206 not out in his first match, against Derbyshire, and the effort remained the highest score of his career.

Roy Kilner batted for four hours, hitting 24 fours and two sixes.

Roy Kilner could have been caught when he had scored around fifty, but a local newspaper described the innings as brilliant, his driving and pulling being particularly effective.

Critics believed Roy Kilner should have bowled more frequently, an opinion shared by Wilfred Rhodes, Yorkshire's main slow left-arm spinner.

Consequently, during the winter, Roy Kilner practised bowling in the yard of the Wombwell hotel where his father was landlord.

Roy Kilner's bowling had greater success in 1921, helping Yorkshire to rise to third in the Championship.

Roy Kilner scored 1,137 runs at an average of 27.73.

Roy Kilner made centuries in the two matches against Northamptonshire, sharing big partnerships in both games: 276 with Rhodes in the first and 299 with Percy Holmes in the second.

Roy Kilner scored 1,198 runs at 27.22 and scored two centuries.

Roy Kilner was fifth in the Yorkshire batting averages and fourth in the bowling averages.

Roy Kilner played in several first-class matches, and enjoyed himself enough to return the following winter.

Roy Kilner made a very effective start to the season, taking 27 wickets in the first four matches for just 157 runs, including the best figures of his career, eight for 26 against Glamorgan, and six for 14 against Middlesex.

Roy Kilner finished with bowling figures of six for 22 and took ten wickets in the match.

Roy Kilner had been under the impression that Surrey had only needed seven runs to win at the end, and his teammates remembered he was pale with effort and concentration.

Roy Kilner took a step towards this when he was selected for a Test trial match, scoring 26 and 11 not out, but only bowling 18 overs in the match to take two wickets.

Roy Kilner made another appearance for the Players, this time at Scarborough.

Roy Kilner's batting suffered a decline; he scored 731 runs at 20.88, the lowest aggregate of his career and his first sub-1,000 total since 1912.

Roy Kilner took 33 wickets in the first six matches of the season, and his form earned selection for a Test trial match.

South Africa were dismissed for 30 runs in the first innings before Roy Kilner had an opportunity to bowl.

Roy Kilner settled the match by taking quick wickets and ending the innings with figures of six for 20 as the Players won by an innings.

Roy Kilner was recalled for Hearne in the fourth Test, but rain prevented all play after the first day.

Roy Kilner bowled 12 wicketless overs, meaning he had not dismissed anyone in his first two Tests and he did not play in the last Test as Hearne returned.

Roy Kilner was chosen for the Players again in an end of season match at Scarborough.

Roy Kilner continued to show good all-round form in the less important, non first-class matches, but in first-class matches leading up to the Tests he was less successful.

Roy Kilner passed fifty runs just once after his century and with the ball took one wicket in 81 overs during seven innings.

Roy Kilner did not play in the first two Test matches, both of which were lost by England, but was selected for the third when the selectors altered the bowling attack.

England fielded for nearly nine hours, and Roy Kilner bowled 56 eight-ball overs to take four for 127, his first wicket in Test matches being Arthur Richardson.

Australia lost their last seven wickets for 39 runs in an hour and Roy Kilner took four for 14 in his final spell of bowling to end with four for 51.

Between the third and fourth matches in the series, Roy Kilner recorded good bowling performances, with five for 35 against Tasmania and match figures of ten for 66 against Victoria, and kept his place for the final two Tests.

Roy Kilner finished the series with 129 runs and averaged 29.80, batting mainly at number eight in the order, and Wisden noted he scored runs when they were needed.

Wisden noted that no-one but Roy Kilner could take wickets to support Tate, the most successful bowler.

Roy Kilner was effective on pitches which favoured spin bowlers, but not on the flatter pitches prevalent in the dry summer of 1925.

Roy Kilner took 131 wickets at 17.92, finishing second in the Yorkshire averages and helping his team to their fourth successive County Championship.

Roy Kilner scored 1,068 runs at an average of 30.51 with two centuries.

Roy Kilner scored 249 runs in first-class matches at 22.63, with just one score over fifty, and took 34 wickets at 29.50.

Roy Kilner had some successful matches in the season and achieved at a consistent level, but his performance showed signs of deteriorating.

Roy Kilner scored 1,187 runs at 37.09, the highest seasonal average of his career.

Roy Kilner completed the double for the fourth and final time by taking 107 wickets, but his bowling average of 22.52 was his worst since 1920, before he became a regular bowler.

Roy Kilner finished sixth in the Yorkshire batting and third in the bowling averages.

Roy Kilner played for the Players for the final time at Lord's, scoring 72, but failed to take a wicket.

Roy Kilner only batted twice with a highest score of 36.

Rhodes had a successful match and England defeated Australia to win the Ashes for the first time since 1912, but Roy Kilner had played his last Test.

The 1927 season, which proved to be Roy Kilner's last, was his least effective for several years and a disappointing summer for Yorkshire.

Roy Kilner failed to achieve a century, scoring 1,004 runs, and did not reach 100 wickets for the first time since 1921, taking just 86 wickets at an average of 23.68.

Roy Kilner ended his first-class career with 14,707 runs at an average of 30.01 and 1,003 wickets at an average of 18.45.

The trip started badly when Roy Kilner's uncle, Irving Washington, died the day after he departed, and several of Roy Kilner's actions suggest this triggered some form of depression.

Roy Kilner began to have shivering attacks and perspiration while travelling from Marseilles on the way home.

Roy Kilner refused treatment in Southampton, wishing to return to his family, and asking for his wife.

On 5 April 1928, Roy Kilner died from enteric fever in the presence of his wife.

Roy Kilner first came into the Yorkshire side as a batsman.

Roy Kilner was considered a good, reliable batsman when he began, although his style was regarded by Yorkshire critics as unorthodox to the point where they disapproved of some of his unusual, eccentric shots.

Roy Kilner was particularly effective while playing the drive and pull shot.

In terms of bowling, Roy Kilner was an effective performer on rain affected pitches.

Roy Kilner's accuracy enabled him to bowl on good pitches without the batsmen being able to score too many runs.

In 1923, journalist Alfred Pullin said Roy Kilner spun the ball more than any other English bowler.

Roy Kilner noted, as did Wisden, how Kilner often bowled over the wicket, meaning he bowled from the right hand side of the wickets, unusual for a left-arm spinner in this period.

Roy Kilner delivered left-arm wrist spin at times, constantly practising it in the cricket nets.

At a time when the Yorkshire team was successful but exhibited a grim and determined attitude, Roy Kilner was very popular with spectators.

Roy Kilner had many friends in the game at a time when Yorkshire were not always welcome in other counties due to their on-field attitude.

Roy Kilner was a favourite of cricket writer Neville Cardus, who attributed several sayings to him in his prose.