Background
Sellers was born in Keighley, Yorkshire, England, and was a middle-order right-handed batsman of modest attainments, and close fielder.
Sellers was born in Keighley, Yorkshire, England, and was a middle-order right-handed batsman of modest attainments, and close fielder.
His cricketing significance relates almost entirely to his captaincy of the successful Yorkshire side, both before and after World World War World War II He played regularly for Yorkshire in 1932, and often captained the side in his debut season in the absence of the regular captain, Frank Greenwood. When Greenwood resigned at the end of that season, Sellers was appointed captain for 1933, and then held the post until 1948, when he retired. Intensely competitive, Sellers led by example in the field, where he always fielded close to the bat, and though his batting figures were modest – he hit 1,000 runs in a season only three times, despite regularly playing more than 30 matches a season, and made only four centuries in his career – he tended to make runs when they were needed.
His score of 204, playing against Cambridge University in 1936, was the only double-century recorded by any Yorkshire amateur player.
His Yorkshire teams included many England players, including Herbert Sutcliffe, Leonard Hutton, Hedley Verity, Bill Bowes, and Maurice Leyland. Both during his playing career and afterwards, Sellers was an England Test team selector, and in retirement he served on Yorkshire committees, taking a prominent and influential role in many of the controversies that surrounded the county club in the 1960 and early 1970s.
Sellers died in February 1981, at Eldwick, Bingley, Yorkshire.