Peter Sainsbury

Peter James Sainsbury (13 June 1934 – 12 July 2014) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Hampshire from 1954 to 1976 and the Marylebone Cricket Club from 1955 to 1960. Born in Chandlers Ford, Hampshire in June 1934, Sainsbury was educated in Southampton, where he first played cricket and as a teenager was coached by Arthur Holt. After making his debut for Hampshire, his career was interrupted by two years of National Service, during which he played first-class cricket for the Combined Services. After completing his National Service, Sainsbury established himself in the Hampshire team as an all-rounder who bowled slow left-arm orthodox spin and batted as a right-hander in the middle order. In his first full season in 1955, he took a hundred wickets in a season. He established a spin bowling partnership with Mervyn Burden in the 1950s and into the early 1960s.

He was a member of the Hampshire team that won their first County Championship in 1961, and their second in 1973; he is the only player to have featured in both of Hampshire's County Championship winning teams. His bowling declined in the 1960s, due to him producing less flight with the ball, but he had marked success as a batsman, passing a thousand runs in a season six times in the 1960s, including five seasons in a row between 1960 and 1964. With the introduction of one-day cricket in 1963, Sainsbury was described as one of the first players to adapt to the format. With the return of his ability to flight the ball at the end of the 1960s, he found new success as a bowler and took over a hundred wickets during the 1971 season. He was named one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 1974, becoming the first Hampshire-born Cricketer of the Year. He won the John Player League in 1975, before retiring at the end of the 1976 season.

In 618 first-class matches, Sainsbury took 1,316 wickets, including 36 five wicket hauls. His career total is the seventh highest in first-class cricket, with his is 1,245 wickets for Hampshire the fifth most for the county. As a batsman, he scored 20,176 runs making seven centuries and 97 half-centuries. He scored 19,576 runs, the eighth highest aggregate for the county. He was a renowned fielder, later being considered by the cricket historian John Arlott to have been the best short-leg fielder in the world. He took 617 wickets in first-class cricket, with his 601 for Hampshire only bettered by Phil Mead. In one-day cricket, he scored over 2,000 runs and took more than 200 wickets. Despite his all-round record, Sainsbury never won a Test cap for England, finding himself overlooked for the spin bowlers spot by Tony Lock, Ray Illingworth, Fred Titmus, and Derek Underwood; his abilities as a fielder often saw him fulfill twelfth man duties for England.

Following his retirement, Sainsbury coached Hampshire following the death of Geoff Keith from 1977 to 1991, leading Hampshire to success in one-day cricket in the 1978 John Player League, 1986 John Player Special League, to their first cup final appearance at Lord's in the 1988 Benson & Hedges Cup, in which they were victorious, and to the 1991 NatWest Trophy. After the end of his coaching career, he ran a sports shop alongside his former teammate Jimmy Gray in Shirley, Southampton. He died on 12 July 2014.