John Ronald Dale (24 October 1930 – 19 November 2016) was an English school teacher and cricketer. He was born in Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire in 1930 and played primarily for Lincolnshire County Cricket Club.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | John Ronald Dale | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1930-10-24)24 October 1930 Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 19 November 2016(2016-11-19) (aged 86) Skegness, Lincolnshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Slow left-arm orthodox | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1949–1979 | Lincolnshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1958–1959 | Kent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricInfo, 12 July 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dale made his debut for Lincolnshire County Cricket Club in the 1949 Minor Counties Championship against Derbyshire Second XI. He initially played for the county until 1952. He was a student at Durham University and played for the winning University cricket team in the final of the Universities Athletic Union Championship in 1953.[1] He later appeared for Northamptonshire Second XI in the Minor Counties Championship in 1955 and 1956 but was unable to break into the First XI.[1]
After making one Second XI appearance in 1957, Dale signed a two year professional contract with Kent before the 1958 season. He ended the season as the leading wicket-taker for the Kent Second XI with 42 wickets and was awarded his Second XI cap.[1] He made his only first-class cricket appearance during the season, playing against Cambridge University in May, taking the wicket of Ted Dexter, his only wicket in first-class cricket.[2]
Following the season Dale resigned his position at Kent, opting to become a teacher instead, although he played twice for Kent's Second XI during the 1959 school holidays, taking 14 wickets.[1] He made one appearance for Northamptonshire's Second XI in 1967 before playing regularly for Lincolnshire between 1970 and 1979 although his career limited his playing opportunities. Dale took a total of 151 wickets for Lincolnshire at an average of 20.08. He played three times for the county in the Gillette Cup, taking 3/33 against Glamorgan in 1974 as Lincolnshire became only the second minor county to defeat a first-class county in the competition. He also made one appearance for Minor Counties North in the 1974 Benson & Hedges Cup.[1]
Dale played club cricketer Skegness, playing league cricket into his 70s.[1] He had a long and successful teaching career, teaching at a grammar school before becoming headteacher of Sir John Franklin Secondary Modern School in Spilsby.[1][3] He died in Skegness on 19 November 2016 at the age of 86.[1][4]