Peter Wight

Peter Bernard Wight (25 June 1930 – 31 December 2015) was a Guyanese first-class cricketer who played for Somerset, Canterbury and British Guiana. Wight was a prolific run scorer at the top of the order, scoring 16,965 runs during his thirteen years at Somerset; and at the time of his death only Harold Gimblett had made more runs for the county. After playing, he became an umpire in English first-class cricket, standing in matches from 1966 to 1995.

Early life His family was a mix of Scottish and Portuguese blood with good cricketing talent. His cousin, Vibart Wight had represented the West Indies twice, acting as vice-captain in the third Test against England in 1928. while his other brothers, Arnold and Norman, represented British Guiana at cricket, hockey, tennis and soccer. and was offered a Somerset contract. The following year he made his maiden County Championship century, with 106 in the first innings of a nine wicket victory over Worcestershire. The next three seasons proceeded in a similar fashion, with Wight scoring runs with an average fluctuating between the high twenties and low thirties, failing to make the big scores needed to boost it further. He finished the season with 1,874 runs, His career best score came also during this season, when he achieved 222* for Somerset against the visiting Kent at the County Ground, Taunton.

Coaching and umpiring career When he was released by Somerset in 1965 he had scored 16,965 runs for the county. After retiring he opened a cricket school in Bath and spent 30 summers as an umpire. He umpired 567 games in total and when added to his games as a player he holds the record for most first-class appearances in post-war England.

Honours

First-class Passed 1,000 first-class runs in a season: 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963 Passed 2,000 first-class runs in a season: 1960, 1962 County Championship leading run-scorer: 1960

Miscellaneous Named as one of the Playfair Cricket Annual Eleven Cricketers of the Year in 1961.