Tributes to cricket ace who played last game at 85

A Jamaican-born cricketer who made England his home and became a veteran of the Lancashire leagues before finally retiring at the age of 85 has died.

Cecil Wright played his last match for Uppermill in September 2019 in a career that saw him take more than 7,000 wickets over six decades.

Born in Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth, in 1933, the fast bowler played one first class match for Jamaica before moving to England in 1959, where he played semi-professionally in Lancashire alongside some of the greats of the game including Gary Sobers and Viv Richards.

His daughter Cecile Wright, a retired BBC network radio producer, said: "He was my hero really - it sounds like a cliche but he really was."

The 91-year-old father-of-three died at home in Royton, Oldham, on Sunday where he had been receiving palliative care from Dr Kershaw's Hospice.

Ms Wright described his care there as "fantastic".

Ms Wright said her father, who was married to wife Enid for 60 years until she died three years ago, had become a "bit of a character" in the local area.

She recalled how when she was out with him he was regularly stopped in the street.

She said: "Someone would say 'alright Cec how're you doing":[]}