Les Jackson

Superlative bowler the selectors overlooked
Dare we say this was Gubby Allen at his most intractable? It is hard not to draw such a conclusion in the case of Les Jackson, a bowler appallingly ignored and, many would say, socially slighted when it came to Test recognition. He played just two Tests, against New Zealand at Old Trafford in 1949 and Australia at Leeds - 12 years later.

Jackson, who has died aged 86, was a bowler admired and feared on the county cricket circuit. Formidable visiting players would arrive at the Derby, Chesterfield or Burton grounds to exchange their customary two-edged jokes about Jackson and their vulnerable thighs even before they had pulled on their flannels. With his innate competitive edge, though never a serious overt sign of personal hostility, he dispensed bruising deliveries by the over. Fred Trueman called him "superlative"; Tom Graveney called him the best bowler in the country.

That Jackson played no more than twice for his country was absurd. The arguments were well-voiced from the elevated committee room: he wasn't supposedly fast enough; he was said to benefit from the grassy tracks in Derbyshire; his action was inclined to be slingy. Did no one keep an eye on his records or marvel at the accuracy of his bowling - and the constant manner in which his deliveries seamed away in both directions? Jackson, a modest man never bogged down by fancy theories, used to say he had no idea what would happen after the ball pitched.

It is difficult not to indict for this omission selector GO Allen, who was happiest in the company of clipped accents and a background that incorporated all the social graces. Jackson, on other hand, was a miner; his voice carried the vowels of the pit; his brother had died in a colliery disaster and team-mates noticed fleeting moments of working-class insecurity. Maybe Allen and England captain Freddie Brown before him were subconsciously influenced by his rather lugubrious down to earth persona.

Jackson was born in the mining village of Whitwell, the youngest of five brothers. He attended Whitwell Church of England school and became a miner at 16. He began his cricket career at the local club and was, in many ways, an instinctive village cricketer. There was little or no formal coaching on the way up. He did not believe in wasting balls; he was wicket-to-wicket, made the batsmen play, shouted down an apology as someone was wincing and rubbing his thighs. If it was an amateur in a pretty cap, well tough.

He joined Derbyshire in 1947 and took, in all, 1730 wickets, topping 100 in a summer 10 times. In 1958, he took 143 wickets at the phenomenal average of 10.99 runs per wicket and was a Wisden cricketer of the year in 1959. He took a further 140 wickets in 1959, and then 160 at 13.61 in 1960.

He was a quiet man by nature, not easily roused. But he certainly was, on the boat going out to India for a Commonwealth tour, when the Warwickshire player Dick Spooner made an indiscreet comment about miners. Jackson reportedly threatened to dump Spooner in the sea.

Jackson played for Derbyshire from 1947 to 1963, then enjoyed some league cricket. He tended his garden and went to chapel on Sundays. His wife Norma died in 1991 and he leaves one daughter.

· Herbert Leslie Jackson, cricketer, born April 5 1921; died April 25 2007

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