Ian Hall

Who is Ian Hall?

Ian William Hall is a former English cricketer and professional footballer. He played cricket for Derbyshire between 1959 and 1972, and played football for Derby County F.C. from 1959 to 1962 and for Mansfield Town F.C. from 1962 to 1968.

Hall was born at Sutton Scarsdale, Derbyshire. He first played cricket for Derbyshire in 1955 in a junior match and in the following years played occasionally for the second XI in the Minor Counties Championship. He was also an England Schoolboy and Youth international footballer.

Hall made his debut first-class appearance for Derbyshire in the 1959 season, in a win against Middlesex at Lord's when he made a duck in his second innings. However later in the season he made his first century of 113 against Hampshire and his an average for the season was just over 30. He also started playing football for Derby County in 1959. He became a regular opening batsman for Derbyshire throughout the early 1960s, keeping his regular opening batting partnership with John Eyre and later with Peter Gibbs. In 1962 he moved to play football for Mansfield Town.

Hall made his top score of 136 against Nottinghamshire in the 1963 season and scored 103 not out against Sussex in the 1964 season. In the 1965 season he scored a double century in one match against Kent and in the 1966 season made 102 against Oxford University. In the 1967 football season, Hall severed an achilles tendon, which brought his full-time football career to an end after making over 200 Football League appearances. In the 1967 cricket season, he was down to ten matches and played only four times in the 1968 season. In the 1969 season he played ten matches again, but his average was down to 15.