A LANCASHIRE cricket historian is looking to track down the relatives of a Bolton player who died 100 years ago.

Malcolm Lorimer is researching the life of Billy Tyldesley and would like to hear from any relatives of his or anyone who could shed light on his relatives.

Tyldesley was the eldest of four brothers who played for Westhoughton Cricket Club, who named their previous ground after them.

Billy, Jimmy, Harry and the most famous, Richard – better known as Dick Tyldesley – all played county cricket for Lancashire, with the latter also playing for England.

April 26 this year was the 100th anniversary of the death of Billy, who, unlike the other three, was a left-hand batsman and bowler.

He made his Lancashire debut against Kent in 1908 and went on to play 87 times for the Red Rose county, scoring just under 3,000 runs with a highest score of 152 against Derbyshire.

He played in the last county fixture before the outbreak of World War One, before joining the forces.

He reached the rank of lieutenant in the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and was killed in action in the Belgian town of Kemmel in 1918.

He is buried at La Clytte Military Cemetery in Klije, Belgium and his family gravestone recording Billy is in Westhoughton Cemetery.

The Westhoughton Tyldesley brothers are no relation to two other famous cricketing Tyldesley brothers who played for Lancashire, Ernest and Johnny, from Worsley.

If any relatives of Billy Tyldesley, or anyone with any information about his relatives, would like to contact Mr Lorimer, of Heritage Team Lancashire CCC, they can email him at maxcricket@btinternet.com