Steven O'Shaughnessy
Encyclopedia
Steven Joseph O'Shaughnessy, often known as Steve (born 9 September 1961, Bury
, Lancashire
, England
) is a former English
cricket
er, who played for Lancashire
and Worcestershire
in the 1980s, and then had a substantial career in Minor Counties cricket with Cumberland
. Since retiring from playing, he has become an umpire
, and was promoted in December 2010 to the first-class
panel for the 2011 season.
and then, higher up the order, 81 and 93 in the third game at Bridgetown
. He was also to play for the Young Cricketers against their Indian counterparts in 1981, but with less success.
O'Shaughnessy made his List A debut on 1 June 1980, in a John Player League for Lancashire against Warwickshire
at Aigburth
, though his contribution was minimal as he was dismissed for one and neither bowled nor held a catch. His first-class debut was just three days later, against Oxford University
at The University Parks where he made an unbeaten
50 and took two catches in a ten-wicket victory. He took 3-23 in a John Player League match against Hampshire
in late July, and ended the summer with seven List A wickets, but his only first-class victim of the season was Yorkshire
opener Richard Lumb
in late August.
From 1981 until 1987, O'Shaughnessy played fairly regularly in the Lancashire side. He made two of his five first-class centuries in 1983 (100* versus Yorkshire and a contrived 105 against Leicestershire
, of which more below), but it was 1984 which proved to be his best year with the bat. He passed a thousand first-class runs for the only summer of his career, hitting 1,167 at 34.32
, including the other three centuries, the highest — and his career-best — being 159* against Somerset
at Bath. 1984 also saw his only List A hundred: 101* against Leicestershire in August. As a bowler, his highest season's aggregates were 27 in 1982 for first-class cricket and 26 in 1984 for the one-day game. His career-best returns were 4-66 against Nottinghamshire
in the County Championship
in 1982, and 4-17 against Leicestershire in the 1985 Benson & Hedges Cup
.
An unusual incident occurred on the last day of the 1983 County Championship season. Lancashire were playing Leicestershire, and rain had delayed the start of play by a day and a half. On the final afternoon, facing an attack consisting of David Gower
(9-0-102-0
) and James Whitaker
(8-1-87-0), Lancashire openers Graeme Fowler
and O'Shaughnessy both scored centuries: Fowler's in 46 minutes and O'Shaughnessy's in 35.
This performance won O'Shaughnessy the Walter Lawrence Trophy
for the fastest century of the season, despite its contrived circumstances, and equalled Percy Fender
's 1920 record. Fender himself, by then 91 years old and blind, sent O'Shaughnessy a telegram: "Congratulations on equalling my 63-year-old record. Fender" and the two men met a few days later at Fender's home in Horsham
.
O'Shaughnessy received his Lancashire cap in 1985, but he had a disastrous summer in first-class cricket. In 23 innings he passed 50 only once, and his average was barely 13.
He did better in one-day cricket, averaging over 29, but (the aforementioned 4-17 notwithstanding) the wickets were starting to dry up: he would only ever take two wickets in a List A innings once more.
The next two seasons were rather better so far as batting was concerned, though his bowling fell away further: he took just 12 first-class wickets in the two seasons combined, averaging
72 and 50 in 1986 and 1987 respectively.
In 1988, O'Shaughnessy moved to Worcestershire, and his career with his new employer began promisingly with 50 against his old county in the Refuge Assurance League at Old Trafford
.
He followed it up with 44 in the Championship against Nottinghamshire at Worcester
.
However, it proved to be a false dawn. That 44 remained his highest first-class score for Worcestershire, and although he did strike 62 versus Hampshire in the NatWest Trophy semi-final,
he failed badly with the rest of the top order in the final, being dismissed for one run.
By 1989, O'Shaughnessy was spending considerable amounts of time in the Second XI, and made only one first-class appearance (against the touring Australians), and although he played in 12 List A games he enjoyed little success. After the Refuge Assurance League game against Kent
at the end of July, O'Shaughnessy would not be seen again in a Worcestershire shirt, nor indeed in first-class cricket.
Although no longer involved in county cricket
at the highest level, he continued to play Minor Counties cricket for a decade. As well as his numerous games for Cumberland (which gave him the occasional List A appearance in the NatWest Trophy) he turned out on one occasion in 1990 for Northumberland
.
He also played in Australia for the Australian Capital Territory
on a few occasions in the early 1990s, and in 2003 and 2004 played club cricket
for Alderley Edge Cricket Club
.
O'Shaughnessy's final List A appearance came for Cumberland against Scotland in the C&G Trophy
in August 2003.
He scored 8, and thus missed by just one run the chance to have scored 3,000 List A runs in his career.
Bury
Bury is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Irwell, east of Bolton, west-southwest of Rochdale, and north-northwest of the city of Manchester...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) is a former English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er, who played for Lancashire
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
and Worcestershire
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...
in the 1980s, and then had a substantial career in Minor Counties cricket with Cumberland
Cumberland County Cricket Club
Cumberland County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Cumberland and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy...
. Since retiring from playing, he has become an umpire
Umpire (cricket)
In cricket, an umpire is a person who has the authority to make judgements on the cricket field, according to the Laws of Cricket...
, and was promoted in December 2010 to the first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
panel for the 2011 season.
Life and career
He was selected for the England Young Cricketers tour of the West Indies in 1979-80, playing in all three Youth Tests. He was successful with the bat, hitting 130 from number eight in the second match at CastriesCastries
Castries , population 10,634, aggl. 37,963 , is the capital city of Saint Lucia, a country in the Caribbean. The district with the same name had a population of 61,341 in 2001-05-22, and stretches over an area of ....
and then, higher up the order, 81 and 93 in the third game at Bridgetown
Kensington Oval
The Kensington Oval is located to the west of the capital-city Bridgetown on the island of Barbados. "The Oval" is one of the major sporting facilities on the island and is primarily used for cricket...
. He was also to play for the Young Cricketers against their Indian counterparts in 1981, but with less success.
O'Shaughnessy made his List A debut on 1 June 1980, in a John Player League for Lancashire against Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
at Aigburth
Aigburth
Aigburth is a suburb of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. Located to the south of the city, it is bordered by Dingle, Mossley Hill, and Garston.-History:...
, though his contribution was minimal as he was dismissed for one and neither bowled nor held a catch. His first-class debut was just three days later, against Oxford University
Oxford University Cricket Club
Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...
at The University Parks where he made an unbeaten
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
50 and took two catches in a ten-wicket victory. He took 3-23 in a John Player League match against Hampshire
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
in late July, and ended the summer with seven List A wickets, but his only first-class victim of the season was Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
opener Richard Lumb
Richard Lumb
Richard Graham Lumb is an English first-class cricketer, who started playing cricket for Brodsworth Main C.C. in Doncaster and then played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1969 to 1984. He was a tall, right-handed opening batsman of solid technique...
in late August.
From 1981 until 1987, O'Shaughnessy played fairly regularly in the Lancashire side. He made two of his five first-class centuries in 1983 (100* versus Yorkshire and a contrived 105 against Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
, of which more below), but it was 1984 which proved to be his best year with the bat. He passed a thousand first-class runs for the only summer of his career, hitting 1,167 at 34.32
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
, including the other three centuries, the highest — and his career-best — being 159* against Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...
at Bath. 1984 also saw his only List A hundred: 101* against Leicestershire in August. As a bowler, his highest season's aggregates were 27 in 1982 for first-class cricket and 26 in 1984 for the one-day game. His career-best returns were 4-66 against Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...
in the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
in 1982, and 4-17 against Leicestershire in the 1985 Benson & Hedges Cup
Benson & Hedges Cup
The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals....
.
An unusual incident occurred on the last day of the 1983 County Championship season. Lancashire were playing Leicestershire, and rain had delayed the start of play by a day and a half. On the final afternoon, facing an attack consisting of David Gower
David Gower
David Ivon Gower OBE is a former English cricketer who became a commentator for Sky Sports. Although he eventually rose to the captaincy of the England cricket team during the 1980s, he is best known for being one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of the modern era. Gower played 117 Test...
(9-0-102-0
Bowling analysis
In the sport of cricket, a bowling analysis usually refers to a notation summarising a bowler's performance in terms of overs bowled, how many of those overs are maidens , total runs conceded and number of wickets taken...
) and James Whitaker
James Whitaker (cricketer)
John James Whitaker is an English former cricketer, who played in one Test and two ODIs for England in 1986.-Life and career:...
(8-1-87-0), Lancashire openers Graeme Fowler
Graeme Fowler
Graeme "Foxy" Fowler is a former English professional cricketer, who played for Lancashire, England, and later for Durham...
and O'Shaughnessy both scored centuries: Fowler's in 46 minutes and O'Shaughnessy's in 35.
This performance won O'Shaughnessy the Walter Lawrence Trophy
Walter Lawrence Trophy
The Walter Lawrence Trophy is an annual award made to the player who has scored the fastest century in English domestic county cricket that season, in terms of balls received...
for the fastest century of the season, despite its contrived circumstances, and equalled Percy Fender
Percy Fender
Percy George Herbert Fender was an English all-round cricketer who played 13 Tests for England. He was a middle order batsman and bowled mainly leg spin.-Biography:...
's 1920 record. Fender himself, by then 91 years old and blind, sent O'Shaughnessy a telegram: "Congratulations on equalling my 63-year-old record. Fender" and the two men met a few days later at Fender's home in Horsham
Horsham
Horsham is a market town with a population of 55,657 on the upper reaches of the River Arun in the centre of the Weald, West Sussex, in the historic County of Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester...
.
O'Shaughnessy received his Lancashire cap in 1985, but he had a disastrous summer in first-class cricket. In 23 innings he passed 50 only once, and his average was barely 13.
He did better in one-day cricket, averaging over 29, but (the aforementioned 4-17 notwithstanding) the wickets were starting to dry up: he would only ever take two wickets in a List A innings once more.
The next two seasons were rather better so far as batting was concerned, though his bowling fell away further: he took just 12 first-class wickets in the two seasons combined, averaging
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
72 and 50 in 1986 and 1987 respectively.
In 1988, O'Shaughnessy moved to Worcestershire, and his career with his new employer began promisingly with 50 against his old county in the Refuge Assurance League at Old Trafford
Old Trafford (cricket)
Old Trafford is a cricket ground situated on Talbot Road in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester. It has been the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club since its foundation in 1864, having been the ground of Manchester Cricket Club from 1857...
.
He followed it up with 44 in the Championship against Nottinghamshire at Worcester
New Road, Worcester
New Road, Worcester, England, has been the home cricket ground of Worcestershire County Cricket Club since 1896. Immediately to the northwest is a road called New Road, part of the A44, hence the name.- Overview :...
.
However, it proved to be a false dawn. That 44 remained his highest first-class score for Worcestershire, and although he did strike 62 versus Hampshire in the NatWest Trophy semi-final,
he failed badly with the rest of the top order in the final, being dismissed for one run.
By 1989, O'Shaughnessy was spending considerable amounts of time in the Second XI, and made only one first-class appearance (against the touring Australians), and although he played in 12 List A games he enjoyed little success. After the Refuge Assurance League game against Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
at the end of July, O'Shaughnessy would not be seen again in a Worcestershire shirt, nor indeed in first-class cricket.
Although no longer involved in county cricket
County cricket
County cricket is the highest level of domestic cricket in England and Wales. For the 2010 season, see 2010 English cricket season.-First-class counties:...
at the highest level, he continued to play Minor Counties cricket for a decade. As well as his numerous games for Cumberland (which gave him the occasional List A appearance in the NatWest Trophy) he turned out on one occasion in 1990 for Northumberland
Northumberland County Cricket Club
Northumberland County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Northumberland and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy...
.
He also played in Australia for the Australian Capital Territory
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
on a few occasions in the early 1990s, and in 2003 and 2004 played club cricket
Club cricket
Club cricket is a mainly amateur, but still formal, form of the sport of cricket, usually involving teams playing in competitions at weekends or in the evening. There is a great deal of variation in game format although the Laws of Cricket are always observed...
for Alderley Edge Cricket Club
Alderley Edge Cricket Club
Alderley Edge Cricket Club is an amateur cricket club based at Alderley Edge in Cheshire. The club's first team plays in the Cheshire County Cricket League, which is one of the ECB Premier Leagues that are the highest level of the amateur, recreational sport in England and Wales.Alderley Edge were...
.
O'Shaughnessy's final List A appearance came for Cumberland against Scotland in the C&G Trophy
C&G Trophy
The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom.It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties compete each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland...
in August 2003.
He scored 8, and thus missed by just one run the chance to have scored 3,000 List A runs in his career.