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English
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England
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ENG
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Roly Jenkins
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Cricket_no_picpng
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Right-hand bat
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Legbreak googly
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9
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198
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1800
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-/-
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39
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2118
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32
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3431
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1
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-
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5/116
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4/-
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386
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10073
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2223
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1/40
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109
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59571
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1309
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2364
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92
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20
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8/62
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213/-
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16 December
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1948
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19 June
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1952
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(sometimes spelt '''Roley'''; full name '''Roland Oliver Jenkins'''; born
November 24 ,
1918 ,
Rainbow Hill ,
Worcester ; died
July 22 ,
1995 ,
Worcester ) was a
Worcesterhire Leg Spin ner in the period immediately after
World War II . Along with
Doug Wright and
Eric Hollies , Jenkins was a star of the last generation of English leg-spinners before overgrassed pitches, emphasis on extreme economy in bowling, and the development of limited-overs cricket removed wrist-spin from English cricket entirely by the 1970s.
Jenkins first played for Worcestershire as a teenager in 1938 and established himself as a regular member of the team almost immediately. He was carefully nursed in his first three seasons - separated by six years with no county matches due to war - but some of his performances already showed he was potentially a leg-spinner of more than ordinary ability. Although he had not reached a half century before the war, 1947 saw him come rapidly to the front as a gutsy middle-order batsman with a full range of leg-side strokes, and the following year he continued this advance as a batsman and, as a bowler, improved so much that he was chosen for the tour to South Africa.
Although he did not do much in the '' by ''
Wisden ''.
The following year saw Jenkins play in two Tests against the West Indies. In the first he took nine wickets but conceded almost 300 runs, and though Jenkins was probably the only English spinner who might have spun the ball appreciably on the cast-iron Australian wickets of previous years, a shift to a wetter climate meant he was not considered. His all-round work continued to be valuable for Worcestershire up to 1952, when he did the "double" for the second time and played in two Tests against India with some success.
In his benefit year of 1953, Jenkins began superbly as a bowler but not only lost form with the bat so much he averaged under ten an innings, but also suffered a serious injury that caused him to miss half the season and his benefit match against
Leicestershire . 1954's very soft pitches were unsuited to him both with bat and ball. However, after another injury in 1955 Jenkins returned to something like his best late that year, whilst in 1956 he took 101 wickets at a better average than ever before and frequently captained his county, he was established as an enthusiatic "senior professional" even though out of the running for higher representative honours. Apart from one match where he took eleven wicketes, however, Jenkins' skill deserted him in 1957 and he played only a few games in 1958 before his engagement was not renewed. Nonetheless, after retiring from first-class cricket Jenkins played for fifteen eyars with West Bromwich Dartmouth in the Birmingham and District League, in the process establishing a reputation beyond what he had had as a county player.At the end of this period, he was allowed to bowl a ten-ball over by one of the league umpires!
Along with Derbyshire
Wicket-keeper s
Bob Taylor and
George Dawkes , Jenkins is one of only three players who have reached ten thousand career runs while making only one century (against Nottinghamshire in 1948).
Throughout his career, Jenkins was noted for his obsessive perfectionism: he would typically begin practicing bowling at seven o'clock in the morning and he was known for always bowling in his cap (though he batted without one).
