Peter William Denning (16 December 1949 – 17 July 2007) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Somerset County Cricket Club between 1969 and 1984. He was known to Somerset cricket fans as 'Dasher' due to his "pace over the ground",[1] and he was also known for an unorthodox stroke called the 'Chewton carve' or 'Chewton chop', a stroke that cut the ball away between the slips and the covers.[2] Denning was a left-handed top order (often opening) batsman and scored 1,000 runs in a season on six occasions.[2]
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Peter William Denning | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1949-12-16)16 December 1949 Chewton Mendip, Somerset, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 17 July 2007(2007-07-17) (aged 57) Taunton, Somerset, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Dasher | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Left-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm offbreak | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Opening batsman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1969–1984 | Somerset | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FC debut | 28 June 1969 Somerset v Glamorgan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last FC | 30 June 1984 Somerset v Northants | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LA debut | 6 July 1969 Somerset v Lancashire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last LA | 9 September 1984 Somerset v Notts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricketArchive, 13 October 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Denning was born in the village of Chewton Mendip in Somerset,[3] where his father was the butcher. He was educated at Millfield, where he was captain of cricket and also played tennis, rugby and football.[4] He later studied at St Luke's College, Exeter (now part of the University of Exeter), and qualified as a teacher.
He made his first-class cricket debut for Somerset against Glamorgan in June 1969.[5] He played much of his career as an opener in partnership with Brian Rose.[2]
He joined Somerset when they were struggling. However, Somerset later became a strong one-day side with Brian Close as captain and a team containing three world-class players in Viv Richards, Ian Botham and Joel Garner.[6] He was awarded his Somerset cap in 1973. He made his top score, 184, against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge. He hit two centuries in the match against Gloucestershire in 1977,[7] and his 145 in a one-day game against Glamorgan in 1978.
His most prolific year came in 1979, when he made 1,222 runs at a batting average of 42.13. It was a memorable year for Somerset as well as they won the Gillette Cup and Sunday League under Rose's captaincy. Denning was a good limited overs player having the ability to run quick singles.[6] The following year, in partnership with Ian Botham, he added 310 for the fourth wicket against Gloucestershire at Taunton in 1980, which remains a record for Somerset.[8]
He was a member of the Somerset team that won the NatWest Trophy in 1983. He won seven man-of-the-match awards in the one-day game.[7] Denning retired in 1984 after suffering problems with a cartilage and became a grain merchant in Somerset.[9]
Denning died of cancer in Taunton in 2007.[6] He is survived by his wife and two daughters. Brian Rose, Denning's former opening partner and Somerset Director of Cricket paid the following tribute to his former teammate: "To me Peter epitomised all that should be good in a professional cricketer. He was hard, stubborn and made it difficult for the opposition – especially when he growled at them. His sad death is a tremendous loss to Somerset cricket."