Ken Poole, born 27 April 1934 in Thurgarton, was a right-hand middle-order batsman and a useful right-arm medium-fast bowler; he was no relation to his contemporary Cyril Poole.
He was taken on the staff as a 17-year old. Poole played 19 games for Notts Second Eleven between 1950 and 1952 but achieved little apart from an innings of 76 v Yorkshire at Saltaire in 1951. For the next two seasons he was on National Service, making three Second Eleven appearances in 1953 and none in 1954. He returned to Trent Bridge for the 1955 season and started scoring runs more consistently in Minor Counties cricket. Immediately after scoring 101no at Worksop Town Ground against Yorkshire Seconds, he was called for his First-Class debut against Essex at Trent Bridge in July 1955; he scored 34 and 8 and took one wicket. He appeared in 11 matches during the season scoring 362 runs with a top score of 58, in the return match v Essex in Southend, and taking seven wickets. He struggled for form in the first-team in 1956 and 1957. In the former year he scored 89 runs and took nine wickets in eight appearances. In 1957 he played seven matches and scored 161 and obtained five wickets. His final First-Class appearance was versus Yorkshire at Trent Bridge in July of that year.
Poole, from farming stock, had to cut short his career owing to a farm accident in which he lost part of three fingers of his right hand in October 1957, although he did play as a batsman only in four early Minor Counties Championship games in 1958. In 26 First-Class matches he scored 612 runs @15.69 and took 21 wickets @64.80 with best figures of 2-10 versus Oxford University in The Parks in 1956. He was, for 27 years, a cricket coach at Nottingham High School.
In August 2014, Poole was run over by a tractor at a friend’s farm and ended up trapped beneath the trailer. Paramedics quickly summoned the air ambulance and he was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries, which resulted in the loss of both his legs. After spells in intensive care and high dependency, he was moved to the Major Trauma Unit, where he astounded staff with his speedy recovery and positive attitude.
Ken has been a regular attendee at the Old Players lunches over the years and still attends in his wheelchair. He now lives in Woodborough.
April 2020
Nottinghamshire First-Class Number: 406
See Ken Poole's career stats here