Peter Harvey (cricketer, born 1923)

Peter Fairfield Harvey (15 January 1923 – 19 July 2006) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire from 1947 to 1958.^[1]

Harvey was a leg spin bowler, a right-handed batsman and a fine fieldsman. In the early stages of his career he was considered one of the best young players in England. In 1949 Learie Constantine wrote of him: "His big leg-breaks are most difficult to deal with, and put even batsmen like Compton and Edrich on the defensive. He is still young enough to have a good Test career. He is a steady and promising batsman, and definitely a brilliant fieldsman, one of the best in England."^[2]

Harvey's best match figures were 11 for 202 against Derbyshire in August 1949,^[3] and his best innings figures were 8 for 122 against Somerset a few days later.^[4] His most successful season was 1951, when he took 73 wickets and scored 784 runs, including a career-best 150 in six and a half hours against Leicestershire.^[5][6] However, the arrival of the leg-spinners Bruce Dooland and Gamini Goonesena at Nottinghamshire in 1953 relegated Harvey to the Second XI with occasional matches for the first team.^[5] Playing for the Second XI in the Minor Counties Championship in 1956 he was the leading wicket-taker in the competition, with 64 wickets at an average of 14.78; he also scored 449 runs at an average of 44.90.^[7]

During his playing days, Harvey was employed in the winter by Redmayne and Todd, a sports outfitters in Nottingham. When he retired from cricket he was appointed manager of the Leicester branch of the firm, and he stayed with Redmayne and Todd until he retired.^[5][8]

• Peter Harvey at ESPNcricinfo