John Miles Lawrence, born at Rothwell, West Yorkshire on 7 November 1940 and died at Toulston, Tadcaster, Yorkshire on 16 April 1989, played first-class cricket for Somerset in 18 matches between 1959 and 1961.
The son of former Somerset all-rounder Johnny Lawrence and like him a right-handed middle-order batsman and a leg-spin bowler, Miles Lawrence made 33 in his debut innings as an 18-year-old for Somerset late in the 1959 season.[1] In the next match, he did even better: he took 45 minutes to score his first run but then made 35 and shared a 118-run sixth-wicket partnership with his captain, Maurice Tremlett before finishing off a victory for Somerset with three of the last four Nottinghamshire wickets.[2] Those bowling figures of three for 44 were to remain his best, however.
In 1960, he played five games without bettering his personal batting or bowling bests. But in 1961, he was given an extended run in the Somerset side, playing in 10 of the first 12 first-class matches. He was used almost entirely as a batsman, bowling just seven overs and failing to take a wicket. In 18 innings, two of them not out, he made only 199 runs at an average of 12.43. This included his highest score of 41, made against Middlesex at Taunton.[3] He left Somerset at the end of the season, and did not play first-class cricket again.
Miles Lawrence returned to Yorkshire where he was associated with his father's indoor cricket schools business and coached at Leeds Grammar School.[4] In Yorkshire league cricket, he became a wicketkeeper. He died just four months after his father, aged 48.
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