[2] He made his debut as an amateur right-handed middle-order batsman immediately after World War II, and in 1947 he made three centuries in eleven innings, which left him third in the English national averages behind Denis Compton and Bill Edrich in their year of unparalleled success.
After further good seasons in 1953 and 1954, though, his batting fell away badly in 1955, and at the end of July he was dropped from the first team.
Lester continued, however, to play for Yorkshire's Second XI for the next six seasons, often captaining the side and acting as the senior player alongside the younger players, including John Hampshire, Geoffrey Boycott, Philip Sharpe and Brian Bolus.
There was a brief codicil to his playing career: in 1964, John Hampshire fell ill just before the Gillette Cup one day match against Middlesex at Lord's and Lester, acting as scorer, was drafted into the side.
He was an often forthright champion against what he perceived as the undeserved neglect of the scorer's role in cricket competitions.