100 Years Ago: 12 September 1924

Visitors fall short in Scarborough

The latest ACS auction is open until 10.00pm BST on Monday, September 16, and is of particular relevance to those of you with an interest in cricket in Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Dorset and South Africa, and in women’s cricket. Check it out here.

Day 3

Scarborough Festival: C I Thornton’s XI v South Africans

South Africans Fight but Fail

SOUTH AFRICANS 143 and 273 (J M M Commaille 38, G A L Hearne 31, A W Nourse 84, M J Susskind 39, T A Ward 22, S J Pegler 23; G O B Allen 3/57, A S Kennedy 2/52, W Rhodes 2/45, J W H T Douglas 2/30). C I THORNTON’S XI 461/6 dec. C I Thornton’s XI won by an innings and 45 runs. Overnight score was: South Africans (2) 45/0 (Commaille 13*, Hearne 31*).

The South Africans fought hard to try to avoid defeat, but just failed, their last wicket going down only two minutes from time.  Soon after the start of play Gubby Allen made the early breakthrough by taking three quick wickets.  Dave Nourse came in and stopped the rot, however, while Mick Commaille played a strong defensive game that lasted 2¾ hours almost until lunch.  After lunch he put on 104 in two hours with Fred Susskind for the sixth wicket before Johnny Douglas came on for the first time in the match and removed Susskind.  Tommy Ward also dug in for a stern defensive innings until Nourse, who had looked like staying forever, was finally lbw to Alec Kennedy after a faultless innings lasting 3½ hours.

Sid Pegler stayed in with Ward while 35 were added for the ninth wicket, and with 20 minutes to go the last man Claude Carter joined Ward.  Allen was unable to bowl at the end with a side strain, but Douglas brought back Kennedy, who did the trick for his team with a fine breakback that bowled Ward to end the match and the tour.  The South Africans no doubt left the ground with great relief after a very difficult tour in one of the worst of English ‘summers’.

Tomorrow the last first-class match of the season takes place, as usual that between Yorkshire as champion county and The Rest at the Oval.  The Rest team is as follows:

Jack Hobbs, Andy Sandham, Jack Hearne, Frank Woolley, Patsy Hendren, Percy Chapman, Johnny Douglas, Maurice Tate, *Arthur Gilligan, Dick Tyldesley, Herbert Strudwick.  Twelfth man: Jack Bryan.

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.