GRAHAM LEE
Torrisholme CC hears with the greatest sadness of the death of our friend, clubmate and legendary bowler Graham ‘Chubby’ Lee after a long, brave battle against cancer
Of course those who will feel the loss most intensely are his family and we offer our deepest condolences at this very difficult time to his wife Joanne, daughter Tia and to his wider family.
Graham was a fantastic left arm bowler who won the Palace Shield Premier Division Bowling Averages as recently as 2017, after first representing the club in the early eighties as a teenager. He very quickly became a fixture in the First XI and remained there until he departed for a highly successful decade at Morecambe Cricket Club where he played a pivotal role in that club’s Northern Premier League Championship season of 2006. On returning to Torrisholme he was instrumental in securing a place in the Premier Division for the team under Matt Jackson and helping to retain that place for a number of seasons. His unique style of bowling meant that he was rarely collared, even by the top Northern League professionals, offering his captain control on most wickets. On a wicket offering a little assistance he could be virtually unplayable, his height extracting bounce at around medium pace with the ‘keeper standing up. Not a spinner in the classical sense, he would occasionally cut the ball but most of his movement came in the air and off the seam and was allied to great accuracy and a canny understanding of what the batsman was likely to try next.
Chubby, as he was almost universally known in cricket circles, was not afraid to subtly ‘work over’ an umpire to persuade him that the next ball hitting the pads simply had to be LBW. He did not suffer fools gladly but was great company, with a slightly quirky sense of humour and sharp cricket brain. He used these last two assets to great advantage in the late 1980s while running the Under 17 team that developed Karl Hansson, Paul Jackson, Gareth Westworth, Andy Teasdale, Chris and Jonno Gates and Alistair Worth, amongst others, for the club. Though only in his early twenties and without his own car he took the time to coach the team and accompany them to all corners of the Palace Shield, ensuring that they developed into fine club cricketers of the future. He was a very useful bat in his early years, making a number of fifties for the first eleven and captaining the club at a time when many of his Under 17 team had progressed to play alongside him and become lifelong friends.
That Graham had not yet reached his 53rd birthday, or seen his beloved Liverpool FC formally claim their first Premier League Trophy makes his passing all the more poignant. Physically Graham David Lee was a towering presence, and in the history of Torrisholme Cricket Club and league cricket in Lancashire, he will always remain a towering figure.
We will remember his friendship, his achievements and his sense of irony to keep us on our toes. The matter of fact way that he battled with his recent illness was, and should remain, an inspiration to those who knew him.
RIP Chubby, a complete original.
