Francis Appleyard

Who was Francis Appleyard?

Francis Appleyard was an English cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He was born in Clifton and died in Stevenage.

Appleyard began his Minor Counties career playing for Hertfordshire in 1931, and continued to play Minor Counties cricket until the outbreak of the Second World War. He made his first-class cricketing debut in 1939 for Minor Counties. During the war, Appleyard made ten appearances for a British Empire XI against various assembled teams.

Appleyard made his County Championship debut in the 1946 season, for Essex. Playing as a tailender, Appleyard finished not out on ten occasions from fifteen innings during the season. Appleyard made four further first-class appearances during 1947, a season which once again saw Essex underperform in the County Championship. Having struggled with the bat, Appleyard did not play again in the County Championship beyond this season.

Appleyard made just one further first-class appearance, for Minor Counties, in 1950.

Appleyard's sons, Peter and John, both played cricket for Hertfordshire.