{{Short description|English cricketer (1925–2019)}} {{about||the Canadian football player and coach|Ken Preston (Canadian football)|the United States Army soldier|Kenneth Preston}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Ken Preston | image = | country = | fullname = Kenneth Charles Preston | birth_date = {{birth date|1925|8|22|df=yes}} | birth_place = Goodmayes, Essex, England | death_date = {{death date and age|2019|1|6|1925|8|22|df=yes}} | death_place = | batting = Right-handed | bowling = | role = Bowler
| club1 = Essex | year1 = 1948–1964 | clubnumber1 = | club2 = | year2 = | clubnumber2 =
| columns = 2 | column1 = FC | matches1 = 397 | runs1 = 3053 | bat avg1 = 10.21 | 100s/50s1 = | top score1 = 70 | deliveries1 = | wickets1 = 1160 | bowl avg1 = 26.32 | fivefor1 = 37 | tenfor1 = 2 | best bowling1 = 7/55 | catches/stumpings1 = 350/0 | column2 = List A | matches2 = 2 | runs2 = 6 | bat avg2 = 6.00 | 100s/50s2 = 0/0 | top score2 = 4* | deliveries2 = 168 | wickets2 = 3 | bowl avg2 = 36.66 | fivefor2 = 0 | tenfor2 = 0 | best bowling2 = 2/39 | catches/stumpings2 = 1/0
| date = 11 February 2019 | source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/18611.html Cricinfo }} '''Kenneth Charles Preston''' (22 August 1925 – 6 January 2019) was an English cricketer.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.essexcricket.org.uk/2019/01/22/funeral-arrangements-set-for-ken-preston/ |title=Funeral Arrangements Set For Ken Preston |work=Essex County Cricket Club |access-date=24 January 2019}}</ref> He played for Essex between 1948 and 1964.<ref name="Cricinfo">{{Cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/18611.html |title= Ken Preston |access-date=19 July 2013 |work=ESPN Cricinfo}}</ref>
Preston was born in Goodmayes and served with the Royal Navy during World War 2, taking part in the Normandy Landings as a landing craft crew member. He made his first-class cricket debut in 1948 and impressed as a fast bowler in his first season. During the following winter he broke his leg playing football and missed the entire 1949 cricket season. When he resumed playing in 1950 he had lost some of his bowling speed but regained form and full fitness by 1951 and bowled well for the next three seasons. After losing form again and being dropped in 1954 Preston concentrated on accuracy rather than pace, and performed consistently until his retirement at the end of the 1964 season. His best season was 1957, when he took 140 wickets at an average of 20 runs each. After retiring from playing he coached cricket at Brentwood School.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Booth |editor1-first=Lawrence |title=Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2020 |date=2020 |publisher=John Wisden & Co Ltd |location=London |isbn=9781472972859 |pages=218–219}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{cricketarchive|ref=Archive/Players/5/5257/5257.html}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Preston, Ken}} Category:1925 births Category:2019 deaths Category:English cricketers Category:Essex cricketers Category:People from Ilford Category:Cricketers from the London Borough of Redbridge Category:Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Category:Players cricketers Category:Royal Navy personnel of World War II Category:20th-century English sportsmen
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