Robert Neal Abberley was an English
cricketer. A stalwart county player, he was a right-handed batsman and occasional right arm medium pace bowler. He was born in
Stechford,
Birmingham and played for his native
Warwickshire from 1964 to 1979.
Despite a modest batting record (he averaged under 25 as a specialist
batsman), he played over 250 times for the "Bears". He made 3 first
class hundreds, with a best of 117 not out against
Essex and scored his only one day hundred, 113 not out, against
Hampshire.
He moved into coaching in 1980 after retiring from the game,
initially as Warwickshire's Second XI coach and later with a 'roving
brief' at all levels in the club.
[1] He was particularly involved in the development of
Ian Bell and the England team wore black arm bands in his honour during the Test against
India at
Edgbaston in the days following his death..
(22 April 1944 – 8 August 2011)
Playing career
Abberley made his
First-class debut for Warwickshire in 1964 against
Cambridge University, scoring a half-century in the drawn match.
[2] The following year, he made his County Championship debut against
Yorkshire, but was unable to bat due to injury.
[3]
In 1966, Abberley struck his first First-class century, scoring 117 not
out against Essex, the highest First-class score of his career. The
1966 season proved to be Abberley's most prolific in First-class
cricket, with 1315 runs scored at an average of 28.58. He toured
Pakistan with an Under 25 MCC side in 1966/67, in a squad featuring a
number of current and future England stars such as
Mike Brearley,
Dennis Amiss,
Alan Knott and
Derek Underwood. Abberley scored 92 and 31 in his only match on this tour, against Central Zone.
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