Peter Lever, who has died aged 84, was a fast-medium bowler for Lancashire for 17 years and for England in 17 Test matches. In many ways he was the epitome of the staunch English professional cricketer, dedicated, modest and devoted to the game he loved. And yet throughout his career he experienced moments way beyond the norm, one of which was harrowing in the extreme.
He toured Australia twice, under the captaincy of Ray Illingworth in 1970-71 when England regained the Ashes with Lever playing in five of the six Tests, and then on the less successful expedition under Mike Denness four years later, during which an unsuspecting England team was confronted by the combination of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson for the first time. It was just after that series when a battered England side had moved on to New Zealand that Lever had the most traumatic experience of his life.
In the first Test at Auckland, Lever was bowling at the New Zealand tailender Ewen Chatfield. He deliberately propelled a short ball, which flicked the gloves of a batsman of very modest ability before hitting him on the head. Chatfield fell to the ground. The England physio, Bernard Thomas, ran to the middle to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation before Chatfield was stretchered from the pitch and taken to hospital.
Lever was understandably distraught. “I honestly thought I had killed him as I saw him lying there in convulsions,” he would recall. “I felt sick and ashamed at what I had done and all I could think when I got back to the pavilion was that I wanted to retire.”
Lever left the field weeping. As soon as possible he went to the hospital to visit Chatfield, who bore no grudges. This was an occupational hazard, especially in an age before batsmen wore helmets. No doubt Lever was a relieved man as Chatfield told him from his bed: “You look a sight worse than I do.”
This was an unforgettable lowlight in a distinguished career. The highlight, even though Lever participated in an Ashes victory, may well have been his first outing for England in 1970 when he played against the Rest of the World.
This was a one-off series, which had been swiftly organised after anti-apartheid protests led to the cancellation of the South African tour, a decision that Lever would have approved of even if this left him in a minority in the cricket world.
That series was subsequently denied Test status, a baffling decision, for there was no doubting the quality of the opposition. In what was then assumed to be his England debut, Lever took seven wickets in the first innings of the final match at the Oval; his victims were Eddie Barlow, Graeme Pollock, Garry Sobers, Clive Lloyd, Mike Procter and Intikhab Alam, which is arguably the best seven wicket haul in history.
Lever was born in Todmorden, West Yorkshire. “Technically I’m a Yorkie,” he would say, “but I don’t brag about that.” At Old Trafford he acquired the nickname “Plank” but there must have been a touch of irony there – he was bright and articulate with a warm regional accent, and he went to the local grammar school in between playing cricket for the local club side.
By 1960 he was on the Lancashire staff and he was soon bowling into the wind “for about seven years” while Brian Statham, one of England’s finest pacemen and a Lancastrian legend, bowled down wind. Statham set a wonderful example but he was no coach, so Lever learned just by watching him. Only when Statham retired did he have the chance of bowling with the wind.
When Jack Bond took over the captaincy in 1968, Lancashire, with Lever now a linchpin of the attack, became the best one-day side in the country, winning the Gillette Cup three years in a row as well as the new Sunday League. These were heady days at Old Trafford with crowds well in excess of 20,000 for the big games. Lever’s only regret was that with such a strong side they never won the County Championship in this period.
He was the most wholehearted of bowlers, very popular with colleagues and opponents, but he was also tough enough to battle with his employers if he felt that was justified in an era when county cricket operated with a 20th-century version of the feudal system.
He had passed his 30th birthday when he played for England in Australia. With a low-slung action after a bustling long run-up, which he eventually curtailed, Lever could swing the ball away from right-handed batsmen with pace and venom. His best Test figures, 6-38, were achieved in Melbourne in England’s solitary victory of the 1974-75 tour.
After his playing days he became a much respected coach at both professional and recreational level. At Lancashire he had a fruitful relationship with the young Mike Atherton and in 1995 he was reunited with Atherton, who was then captain of England, when Illingworth, the new supremo, employed him as his bowling coach alongside John Edrich as the batting coach, a trio of much cricketing wisdom and experience, but from another age.
Lever eventually retired to the middle of Devon, where he coached at Lewdown CC. He even played for them in his 70 so that the club would not be fined for failing to produce a side of 11 men in a league match. He ended up taking two cheap wickets and struggling to get out of bed the next morning. He was a familiar and much loved figure in Bratton Clovelly, where he endeared himself to the locals by planting wild flowers around the village. From Todmorden to Lord’s to Bratton Clovelly everyone was delighted to bump into him.
He is survived by his wife, Ros.