100 Years Ago: 12 July 1924

By John Ward

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Day 1

Leeds: England v South Africa (Third Test Match)

Hendren’s First

ENGLAND 396 (J B Hobbs 31, H Sutcliffe 83, J W Hearne 20, E H Hendren 132, M W Tate 29, A E R Gilligan 28, R K Tyldesley 29; S J Pegler 4/116). SOUTH AFRICA 15/2 (T A Ward 5*, M J Susskind 4*).

It was a hot sunny day at Leeds.  England left Andy Sandham out of their twelve.  The South Africans decided not to continue calling on George Parker and Aubrey Faulkner, and played Buster Nupen and Claude Carter instead.  As so often, luck favoured the big battalions, and England won the toss and had the benefit of batting in good conditions.  However, they nearly lost a wicket in the first over of the match, as Jack Hobbs called for a single into the covers, where Nummy Deane brilliantly fielded the ball but his wild throw at the stumps (instead of to the bowler) missed and went to the boundary, and so Hobbs picked up five runs instead of an ignominious scoreless dismissal.   However, this near disaster seemed to dissuade the batsmen from running all the stolen singles as they did in the last Test.

The South African ‘attack’ consisted only of Sid Pegler, as the other bowlers were used more in defensive rôles, with Buster Nupen, such a great bowler on South African matting wickets, and Dave Nourse bowling leg-theory to try to keep the runs down — a negative and defeatist policy.  Pegler bowled very well, though, and both Hobbs (above) and Herbert Sutcliffe (below) had to play very carefully against him.

But it was Nourse who dismissed Hobbs, although Pegler was the man to take the catch at fine leg; the opening stand put on 72 in an hour.  Jack Hearne batted too slowly though skilfully, an hour for 20, but Frank Woolley did not score, bowled by a superb leg-cutter (to the left-hander) from Pegler.

Patsy Hendren made his usual uncertain start in Test cricket, but then decided to take some risks against the leg-theory bowling, often backing away with superb footwork to cut, and his tactics paid off.  He had two chances missed before he was 40, and lost Sutcliffe for a fine chanceless 84, followed by Ernest Tyldesley who ran himself out for 15.  He scored his first Test century before being brilliantly caught in the deep by Deane, and his 132 took only two hours and 20 minutes.  Pegler bowled superbly throughout the innings and never resorted to negativity.  The South African fielding was a mixed bag, although Deane after his early error was the best of them.

Maurice Tate (above), Arthur Gilligan and Dick Tyldesley all played valuable attacking innings, so England could put South Africa in for half an hour before the close.  They lost Deane, so shocked by a long hop from Tate that he lobbed an attempted hook back to the bowler, and Mick Commaille ran himself out as he foolishly went for a single near Hobbs in the covers.

Readers will remember we predicted that Hendren would eventually come good in Test cricket!  However, he is only halfway there really right now; to prove himself he has to succeed against Australia, and we think he will eventually do that as well, if persevered with.

Swansea: Glamorgan v Derbyshire

Two Centuries for Glamorgan

GLAMORGAN 406/7 (N V H Riches 170, W E Bates 54, T Arnott 102, D Davies 27*, J C Clay 7*; L F Townsend 2 wkts, A Morton 3 wkts). DERBYSHIRE to bat.

Glamorgan seemed to thrive in the warm sunshine with a fine batting pitch ready for them when they won the toss.  Their former captain Norman Riches opened the batting and played a superb innings of just over four hours, scoring 170 runs.  He enjoyed a second-wicket partnership of 110 with Eddie Bates, but the rest of the top order failed, and five wickets were down for 181.  Then Trevor Arnott came in and began to attack the hot, tired bowling from the start.  His powerful hitting came off, and he raced to his maiden first-class century in 1¼ hours, sharing a sixth-wicket partnership of 159 with Riches.  It was obvious that the secure, confident batting of Riches had a stabilizing and inspiring effect on both Bates and Arnott.  Glamorgan were in a fine position at the close of play, with the Derbyshire bowlers quite mastered, although they never became loose and Bill Bestwick in particular continued to run in, give of his best and keep his good humour all day.

Maidstone: Kent v Yorkshire

Seymour Shines, but Kent Struggle

KENT 230 (W H Ashdown 61, J Seymour 61, J C Hubble 23, C H Knott 35, A L Hilder 24; E Robinson 4/73, R Kilner 5/48). YORKSHIRE 38/0 (P Holmes 29*, M Leyland 6*).

Kent is a team generally well known for its positive, attractive batting, but only James Seymour fitted the bill today as his colleagues struggled to score runs against a weakened Yorkshire bowling attack on a good batting pitch.  With George Macaulay playing in the Test match and Abe Waddington recalled to Leeds for his disciplinary hearing, Yorkshire had only three frontline bowlers left and had to call in Louis Ryder, a fast bowler from Middlesbrough.  Bill Ashdown played a dogged innings opening the batting for Kent, and after George Collins went for 10, Seymour came in and played some superb strokes, scoring 61 of his partnership of 77 with Ashdown.

John Knott is playing for Kent after the University ended, but he did not look very confident until near the end of his innings.  Jack Hubble and Alan Hilder played quite brightly, but the total of 230 must have been disappointing for them.  Wilfred Rhodes had the unusual experience for him of bowling well for 24 overs and 58 runs, but without taking a wicket.  Roy Kilner was the best of the bowlers, going for less than two an over to take five wickets, while Emmott Robinson had four.  Yorkshire had three-quarters of an hour to bat before the close, and did not lose a wicket, with Maurice Leyland opening this time with Percy Holmes and concentrating only on survival.  Holmes for his part showed a good improvement on his recent indifferent form before the close.  There was a capacity crowd of at least 5000 at the Mote Park ground for this match, including numerous cars.

Leicester: Leicestershire v Warwickshire (George Geary’s Benefit Match)

Dawson Astonishes

LEICESTERSHIRE 308/7 (E W Dawson 87, J H King 92, G Geary 20, W E Astill 72*). WARWICKSHIRE to bat.

George Geary’s benefit match began in brilliant weather, with Leicestershire winning the toss.  The home county opened their innings with two stonewallers, Claude Taylor from Oxford University and Eddie Dawson from Cambridge.  Taylor was quickly out, but Dawson played an innings that must have astounded all who knew him only as a stonewaller.  He went for his strokes in fine style, despite two wickets having gone down for 12, showing fine judgment in his shot selection, and found a good partner in John King, more than twice his age, who gave him his head as he made 87 in under three hours.  This enlightening innings shows his true quality when he has the courage to play his strokes.  King also came close to a century, while Ewart Astill, returning after his ankle injury, played the most entertaining innings of all, hitting the tired bowling and racing to his fifty in an hour; he was still there at the close.  There was a good attendance of about 6000 people.

Kettering: Northamptonshire v Worcestershire

Murdin and Woolley Give Northants Advantage

WORCESTERSHIRE 169 (J C Smith 32, W H N Shakespeare 33, M K Foster 21, W E Adshead 22; J V Murdin 5/32, V W C Jupp 2/34, A E Thomas 2/24). NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 181/8 (W H Denton 31, C N Woolley 47, R L Wright 20, H Williams 27, P A Wright 7* overnight; G C Wilson 4 wkts, H O Rogers 2 wkts).

This basement battle saw the home side finish the first day with a slight advantage and the first-innings lead.  James Smith and William Shakespeare made the most runs for Worcestershire, but they generally struggled for runs, with John Murdin carving a hole in the middle order, taking four wickets for 6 runs at one stage, including a return catch from Maurice Foster when he had scored 21.  Northamptonshire began well in reply, with Claud Woolley and Billy Denton making 86 in an hour for the first wicket, and some useful runs came from the middle order.  They went into the lead with six wickets down.  Vallance Jupp bowled but did not bat today, as he still has difficulty in holding the bat with his left hand after his blow from McDonald’s bowling, but he will come in tomorrow if he can.

Nottingham: Nottinghamshire v Middlesex

Two Centuries for Notts

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 423/5 (G Gunn 55, W W Whysall 36, J R Gunn 113, A W Carr 134, W R D Payton 48*, W A Flint 0* overnight; N E Haig 2 wkts). MIDDLESEX to bat.

A depleted Middlesex team, with Jack Hearne and Patsy Hendren at the Test match and also Greville Stevens, struggled in the field as Nottinghamshire won the toss on a perfect batting pitch in hot weather.  They were given a brisk start of 63 by George Gunn and Dodger Whysall, but they were followed by John Gunn and Arthur Carr, who both hit centuries.  They put on 196 for the fourth wicket before Gunn retired with a leg strain; he returned later, but was soon stumped.  Carr scored 134 in 2¾ hours, including 20 fours mainly from his usual powerful drives, while Gunn batted for three hours and 40 minutes.  Wilf Payton was also among the runs and Nottinghamshire still have wickets in hand.  Middlesex never wilted with the bat or in the field, though, and put in a fine effort to the end of the day; the brilliant deep fielding of Clarence Bruce was particularly prominent.

Bath: Somerset v Hampshire (Bath Festival)

Brilliant Day for Hampshire

HAMPSHIRE 368/5 (W R D Shirley 43, H L V Day 142, R Aird 95*, H A W Bowell 47*; J J Bridges 3 wkts). SOMERSET to bat.

There was hot sunny weather and a perfect batting pitch waiting for Hampshire at Bath when they chose to bat.  Their opening batsman problem was solved by the arrival of William Shirley from Cambridge University, where he has developed into an opener instead of the tail-end slogger he was for Hampshire last season.  He played well for 43 today, after George Brown went for 13, but the stage was given to Harold Day, going in at No. 3 to play a brilliant innings.  He attacked the bowling in fine style, driving brilliantly and hooking as opportunity arose as he scored 142 in just under four hours.  At one stage 100 runs were scored in only 40 minutes.  He hit a six and 26 fours, and gave just one very difficult chance at 63; he was eventually out to a brilliant one-handed catch by Archie Young in the gully.  He shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 135 with Ronnie Aird, who was still there at the close within touching distance of his own century.  Philip Mead missed out on the run feast, being dismissed for only 15, while Lionel Tennyson was out for 2.  With Guy Earle not playing, Somerset are a bowler short.

The Oval: Surrey v Lancashire

Makepeace Back at the Top

LANCASHIRE 327 (J W H Makepeace 120, H D Davies 26, J Sharp 26, J Iddon 37, G Duckworth 24*, C H Parkin 38; W C H Sadler 2/58, S Fenley 5/71). SURREY 8/0 (A Jeacocke 4*, D R Jardine 3*).

Perhaps a main reason why Lancashire are so far unbeaten this season is that they are a very stubborn batting side — apart from winning the toss now 13 times out of 16 — and so it proved again at the Oval today.  They made a bad start, losing three wickets for 30 runs, but after that Surrey had to toil long and hard in the hot sun to take wickets.  Harry Makepeace, back opening the innings after his run of poor form, celebrated his return with a dogged century, a masterpiece in defensive play, but he never became bogged down, despite having to struggle with a strained thigh muscle.  Don Davies gave him good support before being brilliantly caught by Herbert Strudwick down the leg side off a leg glance.  His best partner was his captain, Jack Sharp, who played a fine positive innings of 26 in a partnership of 64 with Makepeace for the fifth wicket that regained the initiative.

Jack Iddon continued the good work, coming in at 134 for five and taking the score past 200 with Makepeace, who passed his century and eventually batted for over four hours; his thigh strain may well have cost him about 30 runs as he ran with a limp.  His only chance was a run-outs opportunity when 44.  When they were finally prised out, the last four batsmen all played very useful innings, with George Duckworth, promoted to No 8, very stubborn and remaining not out until the end.  The last four scored 90 runs between them, but were helped by the fact that the Surrey bowlers were struggling in the heat, so the final score passed 300.  The leg-spinner Stanley Fenley was the best of the bowlers with his clever variations of length and pace.

Surrey had a few minutes to bat before the close, and without Jack Hobbs and Andy Sandham, both at the Test match, they had to introduce a new opening pair, who proved to be Alfred Jeacocke and Douglas Jardine.

Eastbourne: Sussex v Gloucestershire

Dipper Feasts

GLOUCESTERSHIRE 410/6 (A E Dipper 196, B L Lyon 53, H Smith 55, B S Bloodworth 68, D C Robinson 12*, E G Dennett 2* overnight; A F Wensley 2/110, K A Higgs 2/15). SUSSEX to bat.

In the absence of Arthur Gilligan and Maurice Tate at the Test match, the Sussex bowling was quite bland on a good pitch, and Alf Dipper must have licked his lips as he went in to bat.  He dug in for the long haul and was given outstanding support by his first three partners, in different ways.  He opened with Bev Lyon, who took the attack to the bowlers with an aggressive innings, scoring 53 in less than an hour out of their stand of 79.  Harry Smith was cautious and determined, making 55 out of 136 in two hours and 20 minutes, while Bernie Bloodworth hit out freely, with Dipper himself more aggressive now, and scored 68 out of 155 in 80 minutes.  Dipper looked to be on course for another double-century, but he fell four runs short of 200, hitting a catch to short leg, and batted for a few minutes short of five hours.  After reaching his century he played a fine attractive innings, which included 26 fours, and Gloucestershire finished the day in a very strong position.  Sussex were not helpless victims, though; they can blame only themselves for dropping Dipper at 73 and 161, and Smith at 22 — things could have been very different for them.

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.