William Ederick Bates was a first class cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Wales and most notably Glamorgan County Cricket Club over a long career from 1907 to 1931. He was the son of Billy Bates, another notable Yorkshire born cricketer.
Born on 5 March 1884 in Kirkheaton, Yorkshire he played 113 games for his native county between 1907 and 1913, scoring 2634 runs at 17.32 with a highest score of 81. Although he developed into a fine left arm orthodox spinner he hardly bowled before the Great War, taking just 2 wickets for Yorkshire.
He joining Briton Ferry Steel C.C. in 1914 as the Great War shut down first class cricket for 4 long years. He qualified for Glamorgan over this time and found a regular spot as a determined opening batsman and useful spinner as cricket resumed after the war. Though he scored a thousand runs in 1923 without reaching a century in 1927 he became the first Glamorgan batsman to record a ton in each innings, with 105 and 111 against Essex. He reached his peak as a batsman in this year, recording a double hundred against Worcestershire at Kidderminster and another ton against Nottinghamshire to finish the summer with 1645 runs to his account. He also passed the 1500 runs in 1928 and began a most prolific partnership with fellow Tyke, Arnold Dyson. The pair took great delight in sharing a stand of 233 for the first wicket against Yorkshire at Sheffield in 1930. He played 283 first class matches for Glamorgan, scoring 12600 runs at 25.97 with 10 centuries in all.
Bates became a useful left-arm spinner, taking 8/93 against Essex in 1928, and was a most reliable fielder close to the wicket. He took 224 wickets for Glamorgan, with a best of 8-93, at 37.53. He took 5 wickets in an innings 4 times.
In all first class cricket, including a game for the MCC and HDG Leveson-Gower's XI, he scored 15964 runs at 24.4 in 406 matches and took 230 wickets at 37.7.
Financial straits, rather than any loss in form, caused Glamorgan to release him in 1931 but he continued to play for Cheshire in the minor counties before turning his hand to coaching and groundsmanship in Ulster where he died on 17 January 1957 aged 72.
He was also a useful footballer, playing for Bolton Wanderers and Leeds City, and his son Ted Bates both played for, and managed, Southampton.
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