The position of scorer for a county cricket club would not generally be regarded as one of the more glamorous in professional sport. But for decades it has carried significant responsibilities, not only in the recording of details both for the present and for posterity, but in a range of other administrative tasks, from distributing expenses to players to transporting the county flag to away matches. For my friend Alan West, who was Lancashire's scorer from 1998 until early summer 2014, and who has died aged 76, it was a dream position following his retirement after almost four decades working in education – especially when he noted down the runs with which the county sealed a first outright championship title since 1934, at Taunton in September 2011. He was a proud Manchester Guardian reader who became a valued source of information and wisdom to me at numerous county grounds.
Alan was born into a mining family in St Helens. His father, Alfred, died when he was two, so he was brought up primarily by his mother, Eileen, supported by a number of aunts. Perhaps the most significant turning point in his life came when he won a scholarship to Manchester grammar school, much to the delight of his grandfather, who wrote him a letter telling him to forget neither the fact that he had started off poor, nor his old grandad. He kept this letter throughout his life.
Alan earned another scholarship, to Downing College, Cambridge, where he gained an MA in modern languages. During the holidays he worked as a courier for a travel firm that ran coaches from Halifax to Switzerland, and it was in that role that he met his future wife, Janet Carlton.
His professional career began at Mill Hill school in London, before he returned north to take up a job at Bolton school, then moved on to St Mary's College, Blackburn, as head of modern languages. He then became an exams administrator for the Joint Matriculation Board, before taking early retirement aged 55.
He played cricket, mostly for Langho Centre in the Ribblesdale League. He wrote a book marking the centenary of the league and another on the history of the Lancashire Cricket Federation, and became a regular contributor to, and presenter of, BBC Radio Lancashire's weekend cricket coverage, also covering football in the winter. When Bill Davies stood down as Lancashire scorer at the end of the 1997 season, Alan was identified as a suitable successor.
He underwent a first period of chemotherapy in the winter of 2010-11, missing the start of the following season, but was back for the majority of Lancashire's championship year, and remained as sharp and cheerful as ever until his cancer returned earlier this year, and defiantly upbeat even after that.
He is survived by Janet, their three sons, Tim, Chris and Martin, and six grandchildren.
