100 Years Ago: 9 July 1924

A regular series by John Ward

Match scorecards can be viewed through

https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Seasons/Seasonal_Averages/ENG/1924_f_Match_List.html

Day 3

University Match, Lord’s: Oxford University v Cambridge University

Wright Bowls Cambridge to Victory

OXFORD UNIVERSITY 133 and 248 (C H Knott 18, E H L G Sinclair 37, E P Hewetson 18; P A Wright 6/49, H M Austin 2/45). CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 361 and 24/1 (J E F Mann 12*, E W Dawson 7*). Cambridge University won by nine wickets. Overnight score was: Oxford University (2) 153/4 (Barnard 0*, Abell 0*).

The Northamptonshire medium-paced bowler, Philip Wright, was generally rated at the start of the match as the best bowler on either side, and this morning he proved it, as he bowled Cambridge to victory by taking five of the last six wickets.  He quickly bowled out the overnight batsman Francis Barnard before he had scored, and continued to work his way down the Oxford batting.  He also took the second new ball, changing his bowling from mainly off-cutters to little swingers with success.  The captain, John Knott, played with great determination for 18, but was finally out to Wright, brilliantly stumped (above) by Benjamin Sherwell, who did an outstanding job throughout the match. The one wicket that did not fall to Wright was that of Edward Hewetson, who hit out powerfully to make 18 in ten minutes.  William Shirley, who began the match with a brilliant slip catch, now made a brilliant running catch in the deep, all the more creditable because at the same time he collided with his captain, Tom Lowry, who was also going for it.  Erroll Sinclair made the best fight for Oxford today and he was their last man out.

Cambridge needed just 21 to win, and as (possibly) a reward for his excellent keeping Sherwell was sent in first, only to be bowled by Kenneth Blaikie before he had scored.  But this was the only consolation Oxford got as they went down by nine wickets.

Day 1

Southend-on-Sea: Essex v Yorkshire

Macaulay and Douglas Shine

ESSEX 132 (J R Freeman 27, J O’Connor 14, J W H T Douglas 48; G G Macaulay 4/38, R Kilner 2/31, A Waddington 2/12, W Rhodes 2/12). YORKSHIRE 123/1 (H Sutcliffe 69*, E Oldroyd 42*).

Most of the Yorkshire team, travelling down from Sheffield, arrived at Southend 20 minutes after midnight this morning.  Light rain early in the morning seemed to have affected the pitch slightly, as George Macaulay especially managed to get some awkward lift from a certain spot when Johnny Douglas decided to bat first.  However, most of the Essex batsmen were quite unable to handle this or to show any real enterprise, and seven wickets went down for 83.  The weather had now become hot.  John Freeman had batted solidly early on, showing few strokes in 1¾ hours at the crease, although Douglas did rather better to add 43 for the eighth wicket with Joe Hipkin before Macaulay bowled him off his pads in the end; he scored 48 in 100 minutes.  The innings then ended quickly, completed in three hours.  Four wickets had fallen to fine catches.

George Louden is playing in this match and opened the bowling with Douglas, who trapped Percy Holmes lbw for 9 with 17 runs on the board.  After that Herbert Sutcliffe and Edgar Oldroyd took over and ruled the roost, adding another 106 runs at quite a brisk pace before the close and finishing the day only 6 runs behind the Essex score.  Sutcliffe was in masterly form, and Oldroyd too batted well, apart from giving a slip chance to Jack Russell when he had 26.

Tunbridge Wells: Kent v Leicestershire

Kent Lead on Bowlers’ Day

KENT 124 (W H Ashdown 21, G C Collins 11, S G Hearn 33, A C Wright 13; A Skelding 5/45, G Geary 2/35, A W Shipman 2/21) and 17/0 (G J Bryan 14*, W H Ashdown 1*). LEICESTERSHIRE 49 (J H King 10; G C Collins 2/6, A P Freeman 4/12, F E Woolley 4/15).

Sun after morning rain made the pitch a paradise for bowlers.  Kent gained an advantage by winning the toss and starting their innings before the damp pitch became most difficult, but Bill Ashdown with 21 was the only batsman in the top five to reach double figures.  Frank Woolley was out for 2 in 20 minutes, driving Skelding to be caught at mid-off.  Bill Ashdown held the innings together with 21 in an hour and a half.  The pace of Alex Skelding claimed most of the wickets, as he made the ball lift very awkwardly from the pitch, and Kent would have been a deep trouble had not three slip catches gone down off his bowling — two from Ashdown early on.  Six wickets were down for 54 before he tired and the later batsmen brought about a recovery, Sidney Hearn in particular batting well for what turned out to be much the highest individual score of the day.

124 was nothing to be proud of, but it was far more than Leicestershire could manage as the sun was now shining powerfully.  This time it was the spin bowlers, Tich Freeman and Woolley, who did most of the damage, with only John King able to reach double figures.  The score at tea was 30 for four, but then the two spinners swept away the rest of the batsmen in three-quarters of an hour for only 10 more runs.  A deficit of 75 in such a low-scoring match is a major setback, and the Kent openers added another 17 to this before the close in their second innings.  Leicestershire are still without the injured Ewart Astill.

Northampton: Northamptonshire v Lancashire

Makepeace Back to Form

LANCASHIRE 341/5 (C Hallows 76, G E Tyldesley 52, J R Barnes 44, J W H Makepeace 100*, J Sharp 35, J Iddon 4*; A E Thomas 2 wkts). NORTHAMPTONSHIRE to bat.

Being a midweek match, Lancashire are able to play Ted McDonald in their side, although the presence of the Australian is causing increasing resentment among some of the other counties.  Jack Sharp’s good fortune with the toss continued, which was particularly welcomed this time as Cecil Parkin and Dick Tyldesley were both exhausted after their gruelling match at Trent Bridge.  Lancashire were able to build a good position for themselves without McDonald taking the field at all today.  Northamptonshire were also handicapped by the absence of Bumper Wells through illness, while Nobby Clark still has not recovered from his motor-cycle accident, and the pitch gave them no help. 

Frank Watson did not last long when Lancashire opened, but Charlie Hallows was in fine fluent form while Ernest Tyldesley supported him quietly, batting in classical style but never dominating the bowling.  John Barnes, in only his second appearance for the county this season, batted as beautifully for ever, and Harry Makepeace continued the fine form he has shown after being dropped down the order.  He reached his century just five minutes before the close in 2¾ hours, a very good time for him.

Bath: Somerset v Derbyshire

MacBryan Leads for Somerset Again

SOMERSET 230 (J C W MacBryan 72, M D Lyon 25, P R Johnson 30, J Daniell 42; W Bestwick 4/83, A Morton 2/55, F R Heath 2/4). DERBYSHIRE 48/5 (S W A Cadman 23*, F R Heath 2*; J J Bridges 2 wkts, J C White 2 Wkts).

Jack MacBryan was in fluent form for Somerset in beautiful sunny weather at Bath today, and although Archie Young was out for 2, he shared a stand of 60 for the second wicket with Dar Lyon, completing his 1000 runs for the season in the process.  Lunch was taken at 114 for two, but MacBryan was out, together with Ulick Considine, to Bill Bestwick in the first over afterwards.  The middle order began to crumble, although Randall Johnson did his best to arrest the decline.  Eight were out for 187, but John Daniell and George Hunt (16, but dropped twice) put on 43 for the ninth wicket to give a slightly better complexion to the score.  Harry Elliott kept wicket very well, taking four catches and conceding no byes.

Derbyshire, though, were soon deep in trouble, and only the steadiness of opener Sam Cadman saved them from a shocking score by the close, when they were 48 for five after 75 minutes.  The usual bowling suspects, Jim Bridges and Jack White, were mainly responsible, and none of the five men out scored more than 7.  The pitch and weather were good, but most of the batsmen who went in today from either side were not.

The Oval: Surrey v Gloucestershire

Hat-Trick for Parker but Surrey Lead

SURREY 184 (J B Hobbs 42, A Sandham 66, P G H Fender 39; C W L Parker 7/82 (including hat-trick), P T Mills 2/53) and 11/0 (J B Hobbs 9*, A Sandham 0*). GLOUCESTERSHIRE 78 (B H Lyon 20, H Smith 12, D C Robinson 26*; W C H Sadler 4/34, H A Peach 6/40).

A heavy shower in the morning, followed by a hot sun and brilliant weather, made for a sticky pitch and batsmen from both teams struggled seriously.  Jack Hobbs and Andy Sandham batted with great skill for Surrey, playing themselves in very carefully for half an hour and then opening out to attack the bowling in fine style.  Charlie Parker was always the main threat with his superb length, spin and accuracy.  Hobbs finally popped a catch off him to square leg having scored 42 out of an opening partnership of 91 in just under an hour and a half, and after that the bowlers largely dominated.  The score at lunch was 99 for three, and afterwards Sandham batted much less confidently.  Percy Fender was the only batsman to play with any confidence, attacking the bowling powerfully as soon as he came in, but Parker took a hat-trick when Sandham was caught at mid-off from a bad stroke, Bill Hitch drove a hard catch to mid-on and then Bill Sadler edged a catch to first slip.  The innings closed for 184.  Parker took seven for 82 off 36.3 overs and the bowlers were supported by excellent fielding, with Lyon at mid-off the best of all.

Gloucestershire, without Wally Hammond in this match, fared far worse, with Alan Peach and Sadler bowling unchanged.  Bev Lyon began in fine style, scoring 20 of the first 25 runs before Peach bowled him, but that started a torrent of wickets, several batsmen skying catches as they tried to hit their way out of trouble.  Nine wickets were actually down for 50, but George Dennett held firm while Douglas Robinson drove hard and well, so the last-wicket stand of 78 was the best of the innings.  This followed an over from Peach that almost emulated Parker’s feat: in it he took the wickets of John Bessant, Parker himself and Percy Mills.  The pitch should play easier tomorrow, so Surrey will continue with a big advantage.

Birmingham: Warwickshire v South Africans

South African Top Batsmen in Form

SOUTH AFRICANS 317 (J M M Commaille 44, M J Susskind 45, A W Nourse 49, H W Taylor 94; G A Jennings 5/92, W G Quaife 2/13). WARWICKSHIRE 43/1 (J H Parsons 25*, F R Santall 6* overnight).

Although Nummy Deane was bowled by Harry Howell for 7, the next four South African batsmen all played good innings, only for the later batsmen to play rather weakly and fall rather short of what could have been.  Mick Commaille, Manfred Susskind and Dave Nourse all got out in the forties, and the score reached 235 before the fifth wicket fell.  At one stage Dave Nourse scored an eight; he played a ball past square leg and the batsmen ran three quickly, while Jack Parsons, who fielded it, threw at the stumps in a run-out attempt as they went for a fourth, and instead gave away four overthrows.  Herby Taylor continued his good form with an innings of 94, which also brought him 1000 runs for the season.  He batted well for nearly 2½ hours.  George Jennings, the former Devonshire left-arm slow-medium bowler standing in for Norman Partridge, came good and bowled very well to take five wickets.

Warwickshire had about 35 minutes to bat before the close, and lost Tiger Smith third ball for 4, caught by Nourse in the slips off Sid Pegler, before Parsons and Reg Santall saw out the day.  Warwickshire are playing the former Yorkshire batsman Norman Kilner for the first time, while he is qualifying to play for them in the county championship, and he impressed with his brilliant fielding.

Worcester: Worcestershire v Hampshire

Newman and Root Boss the Play

WORCESTERSHIRE 175 (M K Foster 39, C R Preece 23; J A Newman 8/80) and 23/3 (H L Higgins 3*, F T Summers 0*; J A Newman 3 wkts). HAMPSHIRE 147 (C P Brutton 22, R Aird 20, L H Tennyson 49, W H Livsey 21; C F Root 6/75, F A Pearson 2/50, G C Wilson 2/16).

The Worcester pitch is still without grass after the floods, and although prepared as well as possible it had plenty of life and movement in it.  Bowlers thrived, batsmen struggled, and the only ones to have any success were those who played a strong attacking game.  This made Maurice Foster a good candidate for runs, and he was top scorer for Worcestershire with his 39.  Seven other batsmen also reached double figures, but only the aggressive Fred Root among them reached 20.  With Alec Kennedy not fully fit with a leg injury, Jack Newman bowled superbly for Hampshire, keeping a perfect length, bowling unchanged and taking eight wickets.  Against bowling of this class in these conditions, a total of 175 was a good effort.

Root was in his element bowling for Worcestershire when Hampshire batted, and Dick Pearson gave him excellent support.  Root bowled his leg-cutters brilliantly and caught and bowled Philip Mead first ball.  Four wickets were down for 43 when Lionel Tennyson came in and indulged in his usual powerful hitting.  Dropped twice, he raced to 49 in an hour, but too many of his team-mates failed and Hampshire continued their disastrous season by falling 28 runs behind on the first innings to lowly Worcestershire.  Batting continued to be difficult and Newman completed eleven wickets in a day when he whipped out the top three home batsmen when they went in again.

Third Test Match

After his motor-cycle accident, Percy Chapman is unfit to play in the Third Test starting at Headingley on Saturday, and Andy Sandham has been drafted into the England twelve in his place.

John Ward is an ACS member and a long-serving Zimbabwean cricket statistician. If you would like to contribute to this newsletter, please either respond to the email in which you received it, or leave a comment below.