Who would probably prefer to be thought of as a Yorkshire batsman.

Great innings, John, a masterly 14 and ingenious interpretation of the topic.

Just wondering if A dream of flashing drives that take me towards
would be better as A dream of flashing drives to take me towards?

Len Hutton! Three magic syllables evoking that summer of 1953.

But I think I'm with Bazza in preferring 'batsman' or gender-neutral 'bat'. Isn't 'batter' a baseball-player, as well the stuff that Scots encase Mars bars in?

Yes, come think of it, Rachel Heyhoe-Flint may have been referred to as 'a young bat' in her time.

To tell you the truth my hero was Denis Compton but he wouldn't rhyme. I was, after all, a London boy.