William Harry Walters Wilkes (1865 - 18 February 1940) was an English

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...

 cricketer

Cricketer

A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....

: a right-handed batsman who played 14 times for 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 their early years in first-class cricket

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...

.

Born in Aston

Aston

Aston is an area of the City of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Lying to the north-east of the Birmingham city centre, Aston constitutes an electoral ward within the council constituency of Ladywood.-History:...

, Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, Wilkes' first-class debut came in a County Championship

County Championship

The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...

 match against Yorkshire County Cricket Club

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....

 in 1899

1899 English cricket season

In the 1899 English cricket season, Surrey won the County Championship for the first time in four years, and the title turned out to be their last until 1914. Surrey's season was dominated by draws, with fourteen out of 26 games drawn, just like the season in general - especially the Australian...

, Worcestershire's first season at that level; he made 55 in his only innings. The following summer

1900 English cricket season

The 1900 English cricket season saw Yorkshire finish the season unbeaten in the County Championship, the first time this had happened since the start of the official championship in 1890. They therefore became county champions, while defending champions Surrey finished in the middle of the pack in...

 he made ten appearances, while in 1901

1901 English cricket season

Yorkshire defended their County Championship title in the 1901 English cricket season, though, unlike in 1900, they lost one game during the season, to 12th-placed Somerset....

 he hit his only century, 109 against Yorkshire at Dewsbury

Dewsbury

Dewsbury is a minster town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Huddersfield and south of Leeds...

. His last match was against Sussex

Sussex County Cricket Club

Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...

 in 1902

1902 English cricket season

The 1902 English cricket season saw the first Ashes series in England since 1899, when Australia had won a series in England for the first time since 1882. Australia won again, this time 2–1, with the first two Tests rained off...

.

Wilkes died in Birmingham at the age of 75.

External links

• Statistical summary from CricketArchive
  CricketArchive
  CricketArchive is a website that aims to provide a comprehensive archive of records relating to the sport of cricket. It claims to be the most comprehensive cricket database on the internet, including scorecards for all matches of first-class cricket , List A cricket , Women's Test cricket and...