Former England and Yorkshire all-rounder Graham Stevenson died, aged 58, in hospital yesterday three months after suffering a severe stroke.
Stevenson, whose first-class career spanned from 1973 to 1987 and would likely have been a devastating Twenty20 player, featured in two Tests and four one-day internationals for his country in the early 1980s.
His ODI debut was memorable as the medium-pacer returned 4-33 and struck 28 not out off 18 balls to earn a two-wicket win over Australia in Sydney.
Stevenson made 177 first-class appearances for Yorkshire, claiming 464 wickets at 28.56, scoring 3,856 runs with two centuries and holding 73 catches. He played 216 limited-overs games for the White Rose, taking 290 wickets and hitting 1,699 runs. Stevenson’s only other county was Northamptonshire, whom he represented in 1987.
He could move the ball both ways, was an attacking lower-order batsman and an excellent fielder with a strong arm.
Stevenson was the scourge of Lancashire in 1987, destroying them in their first innings at Headingley with figures of 8-65. Yorkshire went on to win by an innings and 32 runs on the second day. At Old Trafford later in the season, Yorkshire were triumphant by 10 wickets with Stevenson taking 5-61 and 3-57.
In 1980 he snared the first eight Northamptonshire wickets for 57 and could have gone on to bag all 10 had he not left the Headingley field to change his shirt.
One of his most headline-grabbing acts was with the bat when he shared a Yorkshire record-breaking last-wicket stand of 149 with good friend Geoff Boycott against Warwickshire at Edgbaston. Coming in as last man, Stevenson thrashed 115 not out, at the time the highest unbeaten score by a number 11 batsman.