Engineer pays tribute to Harry Pilling

By Graham Hardcastle

The late Harry Pilling has been described as Lancashire’s ‘Mr Reliable’ by former team-mate Farokh Engineer. A mainstay of the county’s hat-trick of Gillette Cup triumphs in 1970, ’71 and ’72, Pilling died on Saturday aged 69 after a short illness.

Pilling, standing at 5ft 3in, scored 25 hundreds in 15,279 runs from 333 first-class matches, but he earned most of his acclaim in one-day cricket with 3,887 runs, including 70 in the final of the first of those aforementioned Gillette Cup crowns against Sussex at Lord’s.

Having joined the Red Rose county as a 16-year-old, he made his debut three years later in 1962 before being handed a benefit year in 1974. He had played a key role in the club’s Sunday League title wins in 1969 and 1970.

“He should have played for England,” said former India Test star Engineer. “He was a really good cricketer, but more than that he was a good team man and a real character.
 
“We batted out in the middle many times, putting on match-winning partnerships. We used to call him Mr Reliable in the dressing room because we knew that what ever happened at one end, he would be at the other steadily going along making runs, whatever the wicket.”

Pilling also shared a number of key partnerships with overseas star Clive Lloyd, the great West Indies batsman, who towered over his great mate at the height of 6ft 4in.

Lancashire’s outgoing chief executive Jim Cumbes, who played with Pilling, added: “We are greatly saddened to hear about Harry’s passing. He was a stalwart of the Lancashire side in the 1960s and 1970s, and was a key member of the successful one-day teams from that era. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.”

Pilling, whose wife Yvonne died in 2009, leaves two children, Gary and Julie, and two grandchildren, Max and Harriet. Details of his funeral are yet to be finalised.

Date: 25/09/2012 23:59:46 by Graham Hardcastle
In: Today | Lancashire |