PETER LEVER DEAD AT 84: FORMER ENGLAND BOWLER AND ASHES-WINNING HERO PASSES AWAY AFTER A SHORT ILLNESS
- Peter Lever was part of England's successful Ashes tour of Australia in 1970-71
- The former Lancashire bowler took 41 wickets in 17 Tests during his career
- Lever picked up 796 first-class wickets across his 17-year spell in the game
Peter Lever, an Ashes-winning hero from Ray Illingworth’s 1970-71 tour of Australia, has died at the age of 84 after a short illness.
Lever took 796 wickets with his lively, hard-working seamers during a 17-year first-class career, more than 700 of them for Lancashire, as well as 41 in 17 Tests – including six for 38 at Melbourne in 1974-75, when his nine wickets in the match helped avert a 5-0 whitewash.
Later that winter in Auckland he nearly killed New Zealand’s No 11 Ewen Chatfield, knocking him unconscious with a blow to the head, and causing him to swallow his tongue. Only the quick response of England physio Bernard Thomas, saved Chatfield’s life.
Lever was visibly distraught, and was comforted on the field by Derek Underwood.
‘I honestly thought I had killed him as I saw him lying there in convulsions,’ he said.
‘I felt sick and ashamed at what I had done, and all I could think when I got back to the pavilion was that I wanted to retire.’
Having made his debut under Illingworth four years earlier, he took part in the first one-day international, organised during that tour at short notice in Melbourne when the third Ashes Test was washed out.
His wife, Ros, said: ‘It is with a heavy heart and deep sadness that Peter Lever has passed away peacefully today.’
Read more 2025-03-27T14:14:54Z