Former Manly, New South Wales and Australian Test cricketer Peter Philpott has passed away at the age of 86 after a long battle with illness. The leg-spinning all-rounder and former NSW captain played eight Tests in the 1960s, taking 26 wickets at an average of 38.46. Philpott made his Test debut against the West Indies in Kingston in 1965, taking 2-56 and 4-109 with the ball. He took 18 wickets at 34.94 on that tour, before claiming 5-90 in the first Ashes Test against England later that year. Sadly, he played just two more matches for Australia during that Ashes series, taking two wickets before retiring at the age of 31.
For NSW, Philpott's record was immense, snaring 245 first-class wickets, between 1955 and 1968. He captained NSW during the 1963/64 and 1964/65 Sheffield Shield seasons. In his first match as NSW captain he scored 153 against Queensland and in his second match as NSW skipper he claimed 10 wickets (3/45 7/71) against Victoria.
Philpott is one of just 10 players to score a century (125) and take 5 wickets in an innings (6/65) in the same match, a feat he accomplished against Western Australia in 1964-65. He was honoured with Life Membership of the NSW Cricket Association in 2004.
A strong advocate for spin bowling, Philpott went into coaching and had stints with many teams, including NSW, South Australia, Yorkshire, Surrey, Manly, Mosman and Sri Lanka. Away from cricket, Philpott worked as a teacher for 50 years.
Cricket NSW CEO Lee Germon paid tribute to Philpott's contribution to cricket. "I'd like to pass on my deepest condolences from everyone at Cricket NSW to Peter's family and friends," Germon said in a statement by Cricket NSW.
"Any player that has reached the heights Peter did, in playing for his country and captaining his state, will long be remembered by the game. After his decorated playing career Peter was an outstanding coach and educator who was involved in cricket in Sydney's north for more than six decades," he added.
Philpott's passing comes a day after legendary NSW and Australian all-rounder Alan Davidson passed away.