Roy Booth: From a Small Village to Famous Counties

Profiled by: Peter Redding (Huddersfield University - 2006)

Teams: Golcar 1939-47, Yorkshire 1951-55, Worcestershire 1956-1970, MCC

Roy Booth’s career is best remembered for a battling century against Brian Statham and a very strong Lancashire attack, as well as a lot of catches and stumpings. But how did a quiet man from Golcar go on to take apart one of the greatest bowlers in the world?

Roy began his career as a batsman and off-spin bowler in the Golcar 2nd XI in 1941. It wasn’t until the age of 16 that he stumbled upon the fielding position that allowed him to make his name. He began keeping wicket at the age of 16 and it became clear pretty soon that he wasn’t going to be marking his run-up again. By the age of 17 he was behind the stumps for Golcar’s first team. His talent was confirmed in 1946 when he picked up the Huddersfield League prize for top wicketkeeper.

A talented batsman too, Booth was blessed with powers of concentration that could also be attributed to another famous Yorkshireman, namely Geoffrey Boycott. While at Golcar he saved his best performances for matches against his home-town club Marsden, with knocks of 77 and an unbeaten 72.

After helping Golcar to promotion in 1947, Booth’s career at the club came to an end. He had caught the eye of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and in 1951 he began a long and successful first-class career. Yorkshire was renowned for being a hard school for a young cricketer, competition for places was intense and Booth spent most of his first two seasons playing minor counties cricket.

It wasn’t until 1953, following the retirement of Don Brennan, that he established himself as the first-choice wicket-keeper at the White Rose county. He played regularly during the 1954 and 1955 seasons as “Fiery” Fred Trueman had batsmen hopping around. Booth kept particularly well against the England left-arm spinner Johnny Wardle and it seemed that he would play out his whole career with his home county, but 1955 proved to be his last season at Yorkshire.

In 1956 Booth joined Worcestershire and he was about to enter the prime period of his career. He made his debut against the touring Australian side, being dismissed by Ray Lindwall and a certain leg-spin bowler named Richie Benaud.

Roy was at his best as a batsman and a wicketkeeper in the early 1960s. He reached 100 dismissals in the 1960 and 1964 seasons. Only seven wicketkeepers have achieved this feat. His maiden first class century (113 not out) came in 1959 against Sussex at Hove but it was his century against Lancashire at Old Trafford in 1962 that was more impressive. He made 102 not out against an attack that included three England bowlers, the most famous being Brian Statham, the man who Booth considers to be “the best bowler I have ever played against”. The 1962 season also provided Booth’s best individual performance with the gloves as he claimed nine catches in the match against Essex at Romford. The 1964 and 1965 seasons then brought silverware as Worcestershire won successive county championships.

Despite a first-class career spanning nearly 20 years, 10,000-plus runs and 1,000-plus dismissals, Roy Booth never received international recognition. This can largely be put down to a MacGill-Warne-like scenario in that he spent much of his wicketkeeping career in the same era as Godrey Evans, the man many consider to be the greatest wicketkeeper of all.

Though he didn’t play for England, he has no regrets about his career, saying: “I would do it all again”. After all, it is a career that took him from a small village in Huddersfield to famous cricket fields in which he played against the best, as he crossed paths with players such as Hutton, Trueman, Boycott, Sobers, Statham, Compton and Benaud. He also says: “I feel lucky to have stayed fully fit for most of my career, especially when considering the amount of games that players miss through injury in the modern era”.

Since his retirement in 1969 Roy Booth has gone onto become a member of the committee at Worcestershire and in 1999 he was elected club president. He is also an honorary member of Worcestershire County Cricket Club and continues to put a lot back into the game he loves.