Early life and career Peter James Sainsbury was born on 13 June 1934 in
Chandler's Ford, Hampshire. He was educated at
Bitterne Park Secondary Modern School, playing both
cricket and
football for combined Southampton schools. Aged 14, he was amongst the first to play for
Hampshire's newly formed colt's side in 1949, under the guidance of coach
Arthur Holt. He joined the staff at Hampshire the following year, and played for the Second Eleven a week after his 16th birthday. The start of his career was interrupted by two-years compulsory
National Service, Sainsbury later made his
first-class debut for Hampshire against
Oxford University at
Oxford; following this match, he played twice for the
Combined Services against the touring
Pakistanis, and
Yorkshire. He made his
County Championship debut in the
1954 County Championship, when he played against
Nottinghamshire at
Southampton, scoring 63 runs in Hampshire's second innings and added 90 runs for the eighth wicket with
Desmond Eagar. Sainsbury made six Championship appearances in the latter half of the
1954 season. he took his first
five wicket haul (5 for 63) against
Kent.
Established all-rounder Sainsbury established himself in the Hampshire team in 1955, On his 21st birthday against Yorkshire, he took 5 for 19 in their first innings and 4 for 43 in their second, dismissing
Len Hutton twice in a day. With the bat, he scored 586 runs at an
average of 15.42. He was awarded his
county cap at the end of the season, and was chosen for the
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) 'A' tour of Pakistan during the winter. His selection ended
Chelsea manager
Ted Drake's hopes of signing Sainsbury, after he had received reports of his abilities as an
outside left in Southampton club
football. He made nine first-class appearances on the tour, playing in two of the four representative matches against
Pakistan. Prior to the
1958 season, Sainsbury received coaching from former Surrey bowler
Alf Gover. His all-round form assisted Hampshire to second place in the
1958 County Championship. He took 71 wickets at an average of 19.98, with two five wicket hauls from 34 matches. Hampshire were left without an
opening partner for
Roy Marshall; Sainsbury was one of five batsman to open the batting prior to Gray's return at the end of May. He took part in the season-ending
Scarborough Festival, playing for the MCC against Yorkshire and earning his callup to the
Gentlemen v Players fixture; His 6 for 72 in the Gentlemen's second innings helped the Players to victory with 25 minutes left in the match. In the early stages of
England's 1958–59 tour of Australia, it was decided to add another spinner to the squad, with Sainsbury being chosen. However, by the following morning, the decision had changed and
John Mortimore was called-up instead; this would not be revealed until 2004, when a letter detailing the decision was discovered. He took 60 wickets at an average of 27.75 and scored 934 runs at an average of 30.12. He played again in the Scarborough Festival at the end of the season, playing for a second time in the Gentlemen v Players fixture. He took 81 wickets in the season at an average of 25.33, claiming five or more wickets three times. making 1,459 runs in the County Championship at an average of 31.04; he would make one century and eight half-centuries in the Championship. His century was the highest score of his career to that point, an unbeaten 125 runs against
Glamorgan. The
Hampshire Telegraph noted that his batting consistency often ensured Hampshire gained first innings batting points. He also took 54 wickets at an average of 26.09, taking six wickets in an innings once. In the final Championship match of the season, he played an important role in Hampshire's victory against
Derbyshire at
Bournemouth, which secured them the title. On the final day, Hampshire were 129 runs ahead with six wickets remaining, and a draw looking the likely outcome. With Barnard, he put on 99 runs in 70 minutes for the fifth wicket, allowing them to declare on 263 for 8; this gave Shackleton (6 for 39) time to bowl Hampshire to victory. Sainsbury took the final wicket in Derbyshire's innings, that of
Harold Rhodes. In 33 first-class matches in 1962, he scored 1,503 runs at an average of 31.97, making eight half-centuries and one century for the second consecutive season; Although he had begun to concentrate more on batting, he still took 56 wickets at an average of 28.57 in 1962. In May, he was a member of Hampshire's team for their inaugural
List A one-day match against Derbyshire in the
1963 Gillette Cup. At the end of the season,
Mervyn Burden, with whom Sainsbury had formed a bowling partnership with since his debut, retired. In 1964, he scored a thousand runs in a season for the fifth consecutive year. His 1,305 runs came at an average of 34.34, making one century and three half-centuries. He took 57 wickets at an average of 23.12; He played twice in the
1964 Gillette Cup, in Hampshire's victory against
minor county Wiltshire in the first round and their defeat to Warwickshire in the second. He again played 30 first-class matches, scoring 917 runs at an average of 26.20, but did not score a century. this would remain a Hampshire one-day record until it was surpassed by
Liam Dawson's 7 for 15 against Warwickshire in 2023. He also scored his first one-day half-century in the match, making 76 runs. Conversely, Sainsbury's bowling workload reduced and he took only 21 wickets at an average of 42.14. Sainsbury made 15 one-day appearances. and took 29 wickets at an average of 14.86. He was the second highest wicket taker in the Player's County League with 28, behind
Ray East (29), with Sainsbury's tally helping Hampshire to finish second in the competition.
Second County Championship Having lost much of his ability to flight the ball for a large part of the 1960s, Sainsbury had rediscovered it by the
1970 season. He took over 50 wickets for the first time since 1965, with 71 from 23 matches at an average of 26.54, claiming five wickets in an innings twice. He scored 688 runs at an average of 23.72, making two half centuries. He was Hampshire's leading wicket taker in the
County Championship with 101, and nationally he was behind
Fred Titmus (102) and
Lance Gibbs (123). He also scored 959 runs at an average of 33.06, with nine half-centuries, Sainsbury made 21 first-class appearances in 1972. At various times in the season he combined well with the slow-left arm spin of
David O'Sullivan, with their bowling partnership spinning Hampshire to the verge of the Championship title by late August. He scored 758 runs at an average of 34.45, making one century, In the Championship, he ended the season as Hampshire's third highest runscorer and headed their bowling averages. He also made twenty one-day appearances during the season, and the first born in Hampshire. In 21 first-class matches in 1974, with the attack led largely by the
seam bowling of
Bob Herman,
Andy Roberts, and
Mike Taylor. He also scored 599 runs at an average of 33.27, Hampshire narrowly missed out on consecutive County Championship titles, finishing second. In 21 one-day matches in 1974, Sainsbury took 30 wickets at an average of 18.46, Shortly after the season ended, he was selected in the
International Wanderers team that toured Rhodesia and Transvaal; the team was promoted by the businessman
Derrick Robins. Tours to South Africa were considered controversial due to the
apartheid policies of its government, and were viewed as breaking the anti-apartheid stance that had seen South Africa isolated in international cricket in 1971; despite this, the tour received little political or public condemnation. The team played one first-class match each against
Rhodesia and
Transvaal. He also claimed 52 wickets at an average of 21.78, twice taking five wickets in an innings. Sainsbury contributed 20 wickets from 24 matches at an average of 32.90, He made 16 first-class appearances in the season, a match in which he took overall figures of 12 for 184. Alongside his wicket tally, he also scored 492 runs at an average of 23.42, making three half-centuries. his only one-day half-century in the season. and remarked that this contributed to him being overlooked by England at Test level and saw him behind Lock,
Ray Illingworth, Titmus, and
Derek Underwood for the spin bowlers spot. this view was later correlated to his bowling in one-day cricket by Arlott, who described it as "tight", and by
Wisden, that remarked that he "seldom [gave] anything away". His delivery trajectory changed in limited-overs cricket, being much flatter. The cricket journalist Ryan Bailey opined that Sainsbury was one of the first spin bowlers to adapt to limited-overs cricket. Despite this, Arlott proffered that he never dominated opponents. His batting adapted to the advent of one-day cricket, where he was a "busy" batter who used his favourite shot, a hit over mid-off, effectively. his speed saved many runs, and he possessed the ability to pick the ball up at speed and throw in one movement. He took 50 wickets or more in 16 seasons. He took 1,245 wickets at an average of 24.14 for Hampshire, taking five wickets or more in an innings on 35 occasions, with all five of his ten-wicket match hauls coming for the county. His wickets aggregate is the fifth highest for Hampshire. Sainsbury had success as a bowler with other first-class teams, beside Hampshire. Sainsbury made 16 appearances for the MCC between 1955 and 1960, taking 30 wickets at an average of 25.46, whilst his three appearances for the Players yielded him 21 wickets at an average of 20.95. Sainsbury scored 20,176 runs at an average of 26.86 during his first-class career, making seven centuries and 97 half-centuries. the eighth highest aggregate for the county, He took 617 catches in first-class cricket, 601 for Hampshire — a total only bettered by Mead. ==Coaching career==