Billy Bestwick
William “Billy” Bestwick (1875–1938) was an English cricketer who played as a fast-medium bowler for Derbyshire from 1898 to the mid-1920s. He was born in Heanor, Derbyshire, the son of a miner, and started work in a coal pit at age 11. He made his Derbyshire debut in 1898 while still working in the mines.
Bestwick took a huge number of wickets—over 1,400 in first-class cricket—and is one of only two Derbyshire bowlers to take all ten wickets in a single innings, a feat he achieved in June 1921. His best bowling in an innings was 10 for 40. He was not much of a batsman, with a career batting average of about 4.7 and a top score of 39.
His career was marked by personal troubles. He became an alcoholic after his wife left him in 1906, which affected his cricket. In 1907, after a night of drinking, he was involved in a fight in which a man was killed; the inquest ruled the act justifiable homicide. He left Derbyshire in 1909 and later played for Glamorgan in 1914 in the Minor Counties Championship.
Bestwick returned to Derbyshire in 1919 and played a few more games, finishing his first-class career in the mid-1920s. After retiring as a player, he became an umpire and officiated in 238 first-class matches, including three Test matches in 1929–1930. His son, Robert Bestwick, also played for Derbyshire, and they appeared together in two games in 1922. Billy Bestwick died in Nottingham in 1938 at the age of 63.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 00:14 (CET).