Huddersfield and Great Britain rugby league winger Dick Cracknell has died aged 87.
He scored a remarkable 106 tries in 100 appearances for Fartown and played in two Tests for Great Britain, against New Zealand in 1951, and five times for England.
Fast and prolific near the line, he moved on for a club record £6,000 to Oldham in October 1953 and made 213 appearances for the Roughyeds before retiring in 1959.
Born in Huddersfield in 1929, the son of Fartown player Richard Hammond Cracknell, Dick was brought up at the Railway pub in Lockwood and was a talented all-round sportsman.
He played football for Lockwood and Town Boys, cricket and was also a talented sprinter – his speed being noted by Huddersfield who signed him as an amateur at 16.
Playing for Central Iron Works Under 18s, he played in four amateur internationals for England and four amateur county matches for Yorkshire before signing professional at Fartown in April 1949.
He made his first-team debut on the left wing against Bramley at Fartown in the October, scoring a try in a 42-16 win, and he flourished amid competition from Lionel Cooper and Peter Henderson for a place in the 13.
In January 1950, he scored four tries against Barrow and six against Featherstone, and the following month he scored four tries against Hull, so no wonder he finished the season with 32 tries from 25 matches.
He was part of the Huddersfield team beaten 20-2 by Wigan in the League Championship final at Maine Road the following May – Huddersfield also winning the Yorkshire League that season.
Cracknell made his Yorkshire debut against Cumberland in September 1950 at Whitehaven – the first of 15 appearances for the county – and the following month he played on the right wing as Fartown won the Yorkshire Cup, 16-3 against Castleford at Headingley.
In excellent form, he was called up by Great Britain and scored a try in each of his Test appearances against the Kiwis, helping them to 21-15 and 20-19 victories at Odsal and Swinton.
He also played for Great Britain against France in a 22-12 defeat in Paris in May 1952, although the match did not carry Test status.
Cracknell played in every round of the Challenge Cup as Huddersfield made it through to the 1953 final against St Helens, but he was not selected at Wembley as Henderson was given the shirt, so he asked for a transfer and was put on the market at a record fee.
Oldham signed him in October 1953 and he became a regular, losing the Lancashire Cup final to Barrow in 1954 before helping them win the trophy twice, in 1956 and 1958, both against St Helens at Station Road, Swinton.
He made the last of his England appearances while at the Watersheddings, against France at Odsal in November 1953, and finished with an Oldham record of 119 tries and 28 goals (213 matches).
Cracknell, who served in the RAF and played rugby union at Cranwell, leaves a son and daughter, Andy and Joanne, and three grandchildren, Jessica, Harry and Robbie.
The funeral will be held at Huddersfield Crematorium next Tuesday, April 19.
