The Club were saddened to hear of the death of former Essex Cricket statistician Brian Heald, aged 79.
Brian became Essex County Cricket Club statistician in 1999 and stayed in the role until 2016. He was an integral part in the completion of the annual Yearbook providing updated statistics and records for all Essex Cricket matches.
He also provided key statistical inputs to the Playfair Cricket Annual, The Cricketer Quarterly, and the Benson and Hedges Cricket Year. Though an Essex Man by adoption, he remained a Yorkshireman by birth and inclination, and a loyal supporter of Hull Kingston Rovers.
Brian was one of 30 founder members present when the Association of Cricket Statisticians was set up in 1973, and served on the committee from 1988 to 2005.
In the 1990s and 2000s he was the general editor of the Statistical Surveys series, covering the years from 1868 to 1881, and he was the joint compiler of the volume for 1863.
His wife, Jenny, has contributed significantly in her own right to Essex and the ACS.
Our thoughts and condolences are with Jenny and all of Brian’s family at this difficult time.
