100 Years Ago: 12 August 1924

by John Ward

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Day 3

Portsmouth: Combined Services v South Africans

Taylor and Catterall Save Tourists

SOUTH AFRICANS 182 and 420 (H W Taylor 118, R H Catterall 137, H G Deane 41*, D J Meintjes 19; M B Burrows 3/111, T O Jameson 7/152). COMBINED SERVICES 418 and 88/2 (W A C Wilkinson 29, R A D Brooks 33*). Match drawn. Overnight score was: South Africans (2) 148/4 (Taylor 33*, Catterall 22*).

After two days of under-performance, the South Africans finally found their true form today and succeeded in drawing their match against the Services team.  Their overnight pair of Herby Taylor and Bob Catterall (above) began cautiously, but once their eyes were in they played fine, positive cricket, adding 232 for the fifth wicket.  Catterall was the more aggressive, scoring 137 of these in about three hours.  Taylor scored his fourth century of the tour, and the seal was finally put on a draw when Nummy Deane and Douggie Meintjes made 44 together for the ninth wicket.  This set the Services 185 to win in an hour and a half, and they decided to settle for the draw, though perhaps they might have sent in Godfrey Bryan first to see what he could do.

Southampton: Hampshire v Leicestershire

Fine Leicestershire Victory

HAMPSHIRE 318 and 141 (W R D Shirley 25, C P Mead 41, W H Livsey 26*; G Geary 3/38, W E Astill 2/57, A W Shipman 4/30). LEICESTERSHIRE 425/9 dec and 35/0 (G H S Fowke 24*, E W Dawson 10*). Leicestershire won by ten wickets. Overnight score was: Leicestershire (1) 425/9 dec.

Hampshire’s dismal season continued as their batting crumbled in their second innings and they lost to Leicestershire by ten wickets.  The pitch was still easy-paced.  Leicestershire declared at their overnight score with a lead of 107, and the Hampshire second innings never really got going against good bowling.  Only three men reached double figures, the highest partnership being between William Shirley and Philip Mead, 34 for the third wicket.  Mead as so often tried to hold the innings together as the batting collapsed around him, and was eighth out at 104 for once again the highest score.  Alan Shipman, bowling with real pace, shattered the middle order with four wickets in quick succession before Mead fell to George Geary for 41.  Walter Livsey played with some spirit at the end, but Leicestershire needed only 35 to win, which they polished off in 20 minutes without loss.

Blackpool: Lancashire v Essex

Douglas Defies Parkin, but Lancashire Remain Unbeaten

LANCASHIRE 209 and 180. ESSEX 180 and 174 (A B Hipkin 24, J O’Connor 50, J W H T Douglas 45*, L C Eastman 19; C H Parkin 6/62, R K Tyldesley 2/36). Lancashire won by 35 runs. Overnight score was: Essex (2) 7/3 (Hipkin 5*).

After their disastrous position overnight, Essex fought hard to try to reach their victory target of 210, but never quite looked likely to make it.  Joe Hipkin did well as night-watchman, and a couple of good partnerships gave Essex hope, but they were broken before they became really threatening to Lancashire.  Six wickets were down for 72 when Johnny Douglas joined Jack O’Connor and they added 41 together, O’Connor reaching his 50 before George Duckworth took a good high catch.  By now Lancashire had a worry in that Cecil Parkin, who had bowled superbly to take the first six wickets to fall, strained a muscle and Dick Tyldesley was handicapped by damaged hands from being overbowled — they also caused him to miss two chances in the field, including Douglas on 19.

The eighth wicket fell at 130, but Laurie Eastman gave Douglas good support until he and the last man Henry Franklin were out in quick succession and the match was over, Douglas remaining undefeated with 45 after batting for over two hours.  In one department Essex were certainly better than Lancashire in this match — that of fielding.  Both O’Connor and Douglas were dropped quite early in their innings, although Stanley Ellis’s running out of Whiz Morris for 10 was brilliant.

Nottingham: Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire

Flint and Payton Wrap Up Derbyshire

DERBYSHIRE 216 and 227 (J M Hutchinson 50; W A Flint 6/53, T L Richmond 3/83). NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 268 and 176/3 (J R Gunn 52*, A W Carr 21, W R D Payton 78*). Nottinghamshire won by seven wickets. Overnight score was: Derbyshire (2) 195/6 (Hutchinson 37*, Morton 5*).

Nottinghamshire moved into top gear today and cleaned up Derbyshire with unexpected ease.  Bill Flint led their bowling with his medium-pacers and took three of the four wickets to fall, the Derbyshire innings adding only another 32 runs.  Jim Hutchinson just managed to reach his fifty before the innings closed, with the debutant Stan Worthington the only other batsman to reach double figures today with 12.

The only snag for Nottinghamshire came when they lost their openers George Gunn (12) and Ben Lilley (4) for 20 run.  But as so often John Gunn dropped a secure anchor, helped briefly by Arthur Carr, and then Wilf Payton played in fine style at the other end, 78 not out in just over an hour and a half, to take the home side through to an easy victory in the end.

The Oval: Surrey v Middlesex (Bert Strudwick’s Benefit Match)

Quiet Draw

MIDDLESEX 445 and 173/6 dec (H W Lee 30, E H Hendren 77*. G O B Allen 37; W C H Sadler 3/44, D J Knight 2/0). SURREY 312 (D R Jardine 87, H A Peach 21, W C H Sadler 31*, H Strudwick 12; N E Haig 4/68, F J Durston 2/53, G T S Stevens 2/58) and 114/3 (J B Hobbs 43*, A Jeacocke 41). Match drawn (Middlesex 3 pts, Surrey 1 pt). Overnight score was: Surrey (1) 239/5 (Jardine 86*, Fender 8*).

Surrey began the final day needing to reach 296 in their first innings to save the follow-on, and they had unexpected trouble in doing so.  Both overnight batsmen were out almost immediately, and eight wickets were down for 276.  Bill Sadler batted well, though, and Bert Strudwick came in to give him quiet support and get Surrey past that score with two wickets in hand.  The innings ended with a Middlesex lead of 133.

There the match as a contest virtually ended, as Middlesex made no real effort to hit out in their second innings and make an early declaration to pursue an unlikely victory that would have strengthened their championship bid.  Hendren played well, but Surrey entered into the spirit of things by giving Strudwick and Donald Knight an over each as the Middlesex innings continued after tea — and Knight took two wickets, including that of the Middlesex captain Frank Mann, brilliantly caught by Percy Fender in the deep without scoring.  Mann then declared, some spectators having voiced their displeasure, with Hendren not out on 77.  Surrey simply played out time, with Jack Hobbs playing a fine innings under no pressure and Alfred Jeacocke hitting fiercely for 41.  Strudwick had a bat and when he was dismissed for 5 the match was given up.  Middlesex took three points for a first-innings lead in a drawn match, and quite probably considered that an early sporting declaration could cost them those three points and even if successful add only another two to their tally — and so were happy not to bother.

FIFTH TEST

The twelve players selected for the Fifth Test match against South Africa, to start at the Oval next Saturday, 16 August, are as follows: —

Jack Hobbs, Herbert Sutcliffe, Jack Hearne, Frank Woolley, Andy Sandham, Patsy Hendren, Roy Kilner, Maurice Tate, *Arthur Gilligan, Dick Tyldesley, +Bert Strudwick and Harry Howell.

Jack Hobbs has come to an agreement with M.C.C. that he will after all tour Australia if his wife is permitted to accompany him, to which they have no doubt very reluctantly agreed, and so he has been added to the tour party — making it rather too heavy on opening batsmen — and to the Fifth Test team.

Dropped from the Old Trafford team are Jack MacBryan, Johnny Douglas (who stood in as captain for Gilligan), George Geary and George Duckworth.  So little play was possible that they scarcely had a chance to show their worth.  Most unlucky is MacBryan, who never even got an innings.  I consider it would have been fairer, with the series won, to have kept MacBryan in the team to give him a fair chance, and made Hobbs wait, since his talents could not be better known.  We can only hope that MacBryan will be given another chance in the future.  Percy Chapman is still unavailable after his road accident. 

County championship positions: Middlesex 77.50, Yorkshire 75.55, Lancashire 70.90, Surrey 61.25, Nottinghamshire 60.00, Kent 59.04, Gloucestershire 53.00, Warwickshire 52.50, Somerset 52.22.

TOMORROW’S MATCHES (first-class)

Tourist Match

Eastbourne: Harlequins v South Africans

County Championship Matches

Leyton: Essex v Derbyshire

Swansea: Glamorgan v Lancashire

Cheltenham: Gloucestershire v Leicestershire

Bournemouth: Hampshire v Nottinghamshire

Taunton: Somerset v Kent

Birmingham: Warwickshire v Middlesex

Dewsbury: Yorkshire v Northamptonshire

No matches: Surrey, Sussex and Worcestershire.

Middlesex gained only one point from their drawn match against Surrey just played, while Yorkshire took the full five against Warwickshire, and so closed the gap between the two top sides, while Lancashire also took valuable points against Essex.  All three have matches starting tomorrow that they are expected to win.  There are no Big Six clashes, as Surrey are resting, and Kent and Nottinghamshire are away to Somerset and Hampshire respectively.  Essex and Derbyshire in the basement should be an interesting match, with two struggling teams desperate for a rare victory.  But it does seem like this will be an interesting round of matches, as our crystal ball has come up with two words: “Two Shocks.”

WEATHER FORECAST: The good weather is generally expected to continue, though there will be rain in some areas.

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.