David Skinner

Who was David Skinner?

David Anthony Skinner was an English cricketer who played first class cricket for Derbyshire in 1947 and captained the side in 1949.

Skinner was born in Duffield and educated at The Leys School. From 1938 he played various games for Derbyshire second XI and for the Club and Ground until 1947, apart from in the interruption of the Second World War. Skinner made his first class debut in one match in 1947, but in 1948 played only for the second XI.

Skinner was appointed as county captain for the 1949 season in accordance with the tradition of amateur captaincy. Skinner himself was a modest performer, though in this he was no different from the other amateurs – Gilbert Hodgkinson and Edward Gothard – who had captained an otherwise entirely professional side since the Second World War. The move was not successful, and Derbyshire, missing the all-round skills of George Pope, fell to 15th place in the County Championship. Towards the end of the season other amateurs appeared after fulfilling their schoolmastering commitments, and Skinner did not play in the last few matches of the season and never played first-class cricket again. Skinner was a right-handed batsman in the lower-middle-order and played 36 innings in 23 first class matches with an average of 13.57 and a top score of 63. He was a right-arm off-break bowler who bowled occasionally taking 2 first class wickets at an average of 91.