Raymond Walter Charles Pitman (21 February 1933 — 5 June 1998) was an English first-class cricketer.

Raymond Pitman
Personal information
Full name
Raymond Walter Charles Pitman
Born(1933-02-21)21 February 1933
Bartley, Hampshire, England
Died5 June 1998(1998-06-05) (aged 65)
Rhos-on-Sea, Denbighshire, Wales
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium-fast
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1954–1959Hampshire
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 50
Runs scored 926
Batting average 13.61
100s/50s –/1
Top score 77
Balls bowled 95
Wickets 1
Bowling average 68.00
5 wickets in innings
10 wickets in match
Best bowling 1/4
Catches/stumpings 42/–
Source: Cricinfo, 15 February 2010

Pitman was born in February 1933 at Bartley, Hampshire. Having spent four years playing for Hampshire second team, Pitman made his debut in first-class cricket for the Hampshire first team against Oxford University at Oxford in 1954.[1] Later that season he made three appearances in the County Championship, but did not feature for Hampshire the following season. He became a more established figure in the Hampshire team from 1956 to 1958, making 43 first-class appearances between those seasons and played most regularly in 1958, making 24 appearances.[1] He recorded his only half century during that season, making a score of 77 against Derbyshire in Hampshire's last match of the 1958 County Championship.[2] He made just three first-class appearances in 1959, before a broken finger against the Marylebone Cricket Club at Lord's ruled him out for three-weeks;[3] this match subsequently turned out to be his last for Hampshire. He was described by Wisden as an "aggressive batsman", though it was also suggested by the same publication that as a cricketer he never quite made the grade.[4] In exactly fifty first-class matches, he scored 926 runs at an average of 13.61.[5]

Following his retirement from county cricket, he played club cricket in Scotland.[6] Pitman later held a coaching and administrative post at Rydal Penrhos School at Colwyn Bay in Wales.[2][7] Shortly after Pitman's retirement at the age of 65, he was diagnosed with cancer and subsequently died in June 1998 at Rhos-on-Sea, Denbighshire.[2]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "First-Class Matches played by Ray Pitman". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Profile: Raymond Pitman". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  3. ^ "Cricket". Portsmouth Evening News. 15 May 1959. p. 19. Retrieved 1 March 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ Engel, Matthew (1999). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (136 ed.). Guildford: John Wisden & Co. Ltd. p. 1487. ISBN 0947766502.
  5. ^ "First-Class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Ray Pitman". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  6. ^ "A–Z (P4)". www.hampshirecrickethistory.wordpress.com. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  7. ^ "Notices". North Wales Weekly News. Llandudno. 25 June 1998. p. 83. Retrieved 1 March 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
edit