William Oates

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William Oates (June 11, 1929 — May 15, 2001) was an English cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm off-break bowler. After an unsuccessful start to his career, when he was only signed professionally to Yorkshire for a single season, he spent two years out of the game.

In a surprising move, Oates was signed by Derbyshire in time for the beginning of the 1959 County Championship season. During his return season for Derbyshire, he hit a duck on his debut, along with a single half-century in just five season appearances. He was made a permanent fixture in the 1961 season, when he scored one century innings and nine fifties, securing his best season average of over 33 and his best single-innings tally of 148 not out.

He was to hit one further century during his career, in the following season, and one near-miss of 99 in 1963, the same season Derbyshire found themselves rooted to the bottom of the table. Oates stayed in the Derbyshire team until the 1965 season, when he made five catches but failed to impress with the bat.

Throughout his career, Oates was a middle-order batsman, alternating strike partners during the early part of his spell to achieve the best possible return from his batting.

Oates moved to Canada later in his life and died in 2001.