100 Years Ago: 14 July 1924
By John Ward
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Day 2
Leeds: England v South Africa (Third Test Match)
South Africa Improve in Follow-on
ENGLAND 396. SOUTH AFRICA 132 (H W Taylor 59*, R H Catterall 29; M W Tate 6/42) and (following on) 232/4 (J M M Commaille 31, T A Ward 25, M J Susskind 23, A W Nourse 30, H W Taylor 54*, R H Catterall 54*; R K Tyldesley 3 wkts). Overnight score was: South Africa (1) 15/2 (Ward 5*, Susskind 4*).
The South Africans had the best batting pitch of their tour to bat on today, but they sadly and badly messed it up in their first innings. Arthur Gilligan struck in his second over this morning, bowled out Manfred Susskind for his overnight 4 with an extremely fast inswinging yorker. Maurice Tate dismissed the night-watchman Tommy Ward for 17, which brought Dave Nourse and Herby Taylor together. They both began confidently, only for Nourse, not backing up quickly enough, to be run out as Taylor called for a rather risky single near Jack Hobbs in the covers. Taylor and Bob Catterall at last made a stand, putting on 54 for the sixth wicket, but then Tate returned to take for quick wickets for only two runs, leaving the tourists reeling at 90 for nine. The last man Claude Carter, however, stood firm for a while with Taylor, and they managed to put on 42 for the last wicket before Carter became too confident and skyed a ball to mid-on. Taylor played a superb innings for 59 not out.
Although he has found his true form, Taylor is still reluctant to return to open the innings, and his latest experiment was to send Ward in again to open with Mick Commaille in the follow-on. South Africa did quite a bit better this time, and the pair put on 35, and reached 81 before the second wicket fell. Dick Tyldesley took three of the four wickets that fell, and the day closed with an excellent partnership between Taylor, batting just as well a second time and scoring his second fifty of the day, and Catterall; it was worth 97 when play ended for the day. South Africa are still 32 runs behind England, but have six wickets in hand. Tomorrow they will come in to face Gilligan and Tate with the second new ball, though.
Swansea: Glamorgan v Derbyshire
Glamorgan’s Innings Victory
GLAMORGAN 427 (D Davies 41; S W A Cadman 2/44, L F Townsend 2/62, A Morton 3/107). DERBYSHIRE 169 (G R Jackson 29, S W A Cadman 20, L F Townsend 31, J Horsley 27; H Spencer 2/32, F P Ryan 3/76, D Davies 5/39) and (following on) 151 (L F Townsend 41, A Morton 45; H Spencer 2/23, F P Ryan 5/71). Glamorgan won by an innings and 107 runs. Overnight score was: Glamorgan (1) 406/7 (Davies 27*, Clay 7*).
Having beaten Somerset by an innings recently, Glamorgan continued to show improvement by doing the same to Derbyshire in two days, their fourth victory of the season. They soon finished their innings this morning, their highest team score since they entered first-class cricket in 1921, and then bowled their opponents out twice in a day. Derbyshire batted feebly on a fine batting pitch, but Les Townsend put up a good fight in both innings, and was especially severe on Frank Ryan in the second innings when he threatened to run through the rest of the side. Arthur Morton kept his end up and was not out in the second innings, but he did not bat impressively apart from sheer determination. Glamorgan bowled and fielded very well, working hard for their success, which came at about 5.30.
Maidstone: Kent v Yorkshire
Kent Seize the Advantage
KENT 230 and 143/2 (H T W Hardinge 84*, G C Collins 23, J Seymour 22, W H Ashdown 10*). YORKSHIRE 205 (P Holmes 59, M Leyland 22, E Oldroyd 32, E Robinson 39, G Wilson 25*; A C Wright 2/37, A P Freeman 5/39, W H Ashdown 3/44). Overnight score was: Yorkshire (1) 38/0 (Holmes 29*, Leyland 6*).
Having bowled out Kent for 230 yesterday, Yorkshire slipped up badly today. It must be said, though, that the Kent bowling and catching were excellent. Percy Holmes continued the good form he had shown last night to reach 59, but was then brilliantly caught at slip by Charlie Wright. Edgar Oldroyd played a fine determined innings, but the middle order collapsed to the cunning of Tich Freeman, who had a fascinating duel with Oldroyd, and Bill Ashdown, who had one of his best bowling days, getting pace and life from the pitch. Five wickets were down for 112 before Emmott Robinson joined Oldroyd and the two steadied the ship. Geoffrey Wilson showed sadly rare good batting form, but he ran out of partners when the last two batsmen fell quickly.
Kent had an unexpected lead of 25 on the first innings and built on it well. Wally Hardinge and George Collins set themselves to wear down the bowling and put on 68 for the first wicket, with Hardinge in particularly showing sound form and plenty of determination. He was still there at the close, and if there is to be a result in this match, it looks like going the way of Kent, who are now 168 ahead with eight wickets still in hand.
Meanwhile in Leeds Abe Waddington has given his statement to the Yorkshire committee about the charges made against him by the umpires in the Middlesex match, and have asked the M.C.C. committee to hold an inquiry into the matter and hear the accounts of witnesses. Waddington will be sent to rejoin the Yorkshire team in their match against Somerset.
Leicester: Leicestershire v Warwickshire (George Geary’s Benefit Match)
Warwickshire Follow On
LEICESTERSHIRE 401/9 dec (W E Astill 88, G L Berry 39*, A W Shipman 35; H Howell 4/91, G A Jennings 2/92, W G Quaife 2/68). WARWICKSHIRE 188 (E J Smith 35, G W Stephens 48, A J W Croom 36, G A Jennings 23*; A Skelding 2/49, W E Astill 4/47, G Geary 3/42) and (following on) 53/2 E J Smith 24*, W G Quaife 8*; A W Shipman 2 wkts). Overnight score was: Leicestershire (1) 308/7 (Astill 72*).
Leicestershire continued their confident batting this morning, although Ewart Astill was bowled by Harry Howell for 88. Les Berry and Alan Shipman put on 70 for the ninth wicket, and when Shipman was out Major Gus Fowke declared with his team’s highest total of the season to date, leaving Warwickshire half an hour to bat before lunch. They lost two wickets in that time, and the slide continued after lunch. George Stephens held the middle order together and shared useful partnerships with the opener Tiger Smith and then Arthur Croom, but there was no escaping the follow-on for Warwickshire. They again lost Jack Parsons and Reg Santall cheaply before the close.
Kettering: Northamptonshire v Worcestershire
Worcestershire’s Remarkable Fightback
WORCESTERSHIRE 169 and 147 (C V Tarbox 24, F A Pearson 23, J C Smith 32*, H O Rogers 37; V W C Jupp 7/64, A E Thomas 2/35). NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 193 (C F Root 3/50, G C Wilson 4/51, H O Rogers 2/34) and 98 (C N Woolley 16, W H Denton 37, F I Walden 18; C F Root 4/38, F A Pearson 6/49). Worcestershire won by 25 runs. Overnight score was: Northamptonshire (2) 181/8 (P A Wright 7*).
Northamptonshire will always wonder how they missed this. They continued their first innings this morning to take their lead to 24 — Vallance Jupp batted with his injured left hand, but scored only 4. This lead they lost when Worcestershire began their second innings well, with Charles Tarbox and Dick Pearson making 37 for the first wicket, and the score 55 before the second wicket fell. But then the middle order collapsed to Jupp, who enjoyed a golden spell of nine overs, in which he took seven wickets for only 12 runs. Maurice Foster was bowled by Jupp for 1. Worcestershire looked dead and gone when their ninth wicket fell at 82, a lead of only 58. But James Smith, who came in at No 3 and was holding on to the crease like grim death, was still there when the last man Harry Rogers came in and decided to hit. This inspired Smith to play some strokes too, and in three-quarters of an hour the last pair added 65 runs, which set Northamptonshire a target of 124.
This proved to be the stand that won the match. Now their bowlers had something to bowl at, although the expectation was still for a Northamptonshire victory. Claud Woolley and Fanny Walden played useful innings but were both out by tea, when the score was 49 for two. The final session belonged to the bowlers Fred Root and Pearson, and the home batsmen played into their hands by adopting rigid defence. Billy Denton returned to his bad old stonewalling days with 37 in two hours, while Harry Williams took an hour over 12. Root did most of the early damage, while Pearson finished them off, and Northamptonshire sank slowly for less than 100. Worcestershire duly won their second championship victory of the season, probably to their own surprise too.
Nottingham: Nottinghamshire v Middlesex
Middlesex Follow On
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 462 (W R D Payton 65; N E Haig 4/134, F J Durston 3/83). MIDDLESEX 253 (H W Lee 38, G O B Allen 21, C N Bruce 26, N J D Moffat 55*, F J Durston 45; F Barratt 3/61, F C L Matthews 2/33, W A Flint 2/26, T L Richmond 2/53) and (following on) 53/2 (H W Lee 23, G O B Allen 22). Overnight score was: Nottinghamshire (1) 423/5 (Payton 48*, Flint 0*).
The Nottinghamshire first innings did not last long this morning; no doubt they were eager to get at the Middlesex batsmen and with such a large score there was little need for more runs. Wilf Payton was the last man out as the last five wickets went down for 39 runs.
Middlesex lost their openers before lunch, when they had 76 runs on the board, and Fred Barratt came out afterwards refreshing and in superb bowling form. He took three wickets in four balls as he dismissed Gubby Allen, Frank Mann and John Guise to leave the score at 107 for five. Wickets continued to fall until there was an unexpected fightback for the ninth wicket, after eight were out for 147. Norman Moffat was joined by Jack Durston, and in just over an hour they put on 96 runs with good fighting spirit. Moffat played extremely well for his highest first-class score, but the last wicket fell 209 runs behind and Middlesex had to follow on.
There was an hour left for play, and although Harry Lee fought through successfully to the close, Horace Dales and Allen (a brilliant return catch by Sam Staples) were both dismissed for 53 runs, leaving Middlesex a major task to save the match tomorrow.
Bath: Somerset v Hampshire (Bath Festival)
Young Goes Big for Somerset
HAMPSHIRE 453 (R Aird 131, H A W Bowell 55, A S Kennedy 24; J J Bridges 3/129, H S R Critchley-Salmonson 2/97, J C White 5/122). SOMERSET 424/4 (J C W MacBryan 45, A Young 198, M D Lyon 87, A E S Rippon 51*; G Brown 2 wkts). Overnight score was: Hampshire (1) 368/5 (Aird 95*, Bowell 47*).
Early on Ronnie Aird completed his century and Alex Bowell his fifty, taking the score to 401 before the sixth wicket fell. Aird went on to score 131 in four hours and a half, batting much more fluently after reaching his fifty yesterday, and Hampshire probably thought they had done well enough when they were all out for 453. Jack White took most of the wickets and finished with five expensive scalps.
On this excellent batting pitch, though, for Somerset it was a case of whatever Hampshire can do, they can do better. Jack MacBryan and Archie Young sent them off with a partnership of 85, as a prelude to the big one, as Dar Lyon joined Young, who showed increasingly brilliant form. They put on 245 together, and the stand was only broken when Lionel Tennyson in desperation brought himself on and bowled a leg-side full toss which Lyon hit powerfully but straight at Jack Newman on the boundary. Young went on to fall just short of 200 while batting just short of four hours. He played his strokes brilliantly all round the wicket and survived two chances, hitting 2 sixes and 26 fours. Stanley Rippon had also reached his fifty by the close and Somerset looked poised to head Hampshire on the first innings — which looks like being the only result that will come from this match.
The Oval: Surrey v Lancashire
Jardine Leads Surrey Reply
LANCASHIRE 327 and 20/0 (Makepeace 2*, Hallows 7*). SURREY 386/8 dec (D R Jardine 122, H A Peach 33, T F Shepherd 42, W J Abel 90*, W C H Sadler 21; W E Hickmott 2/126, F B Watson 4/84). Overnight score was: Surrey (1) 8/0 (Jeacocke 4*, Jardine 3*).
As Harry Makepeace yesterday, so Douglas Jardine today, even down to the leg injury, with Jardine’s knee still troubling him. After some help from Alfred Jeacocke with 19 and Alan Peach with 33, Tom Shepherd shared with Jardine the major partnership of the day, 111 for the fourth wicket. Jardine scored his runs at a reasonable pace, but Shepherd was quite unenterprising and spent two hours in good batting conditions scoring 42. Runs came all down the order, with a lightning 10 from Percy Fender being the lowest score recorded. Jardine batted for three and a half hours altogether, a very precise innings. The Lancashire score was passed with six wickets down.
The weather again was very hot, and Lancashire were handicapped as Jack Iddon had suffered heatstroke on Saturday while batting and Cecil Parkin was not very well today; his bowling was of little account and his fielding a liability. William Hickmott and Frank Watson toiled away manfully and for the most part kept the Surrey scoring in check, but they rarely had the batsmen in trouble. The fielding was rather inconsistent, and even George Duckworth did a lot of fumbling from behind the stumps, dropping Jardine on 34. After Jardine, Willie Abel was the next highest scorer, but he played a mixture of good strokes and some very awful ones. He missed the chance of his century when Percy Fender declared to put Lancashire in again, without success, but he was really quite fortunate to make 90. Fender’s declaration seemed to have failed in its purpose, except that before the close Harry Makepeace was dropped from an easy chance.
Eastbourne: Sussex v Gloucestershire
Hat-Trick Sends Sussex Reeling
GLOUCESTERSHIRE 410/6 dec. SUSSEX 201 (H L Wilson 76, K A Higgs 71, G R Cox 19*; T W J Goddard 5/58, including hat-trick, C W L Parker 2/59, P T Mills 2/28) and (following on) 191/7 (H L Wilson 22, A H H Gilligan 48, W L Cornford 22, T E R Cook 59, J Langridge 9*, A F Wensley 7*; T W J Goddard 2 wkts, P T Mills 3 wkts. Overnight score was: Gloucestershire (1) 410/6 dec.
Sussex, without Arthur Gilligan and Maurice Tate, struggled with the ball yesterday against Gloucestershire, and with the bat today. They were in deep trouble early on, as their powerfully built pace bowler Tom Goddard in his third over took a fine hat-trick — Harold Gilligan was bowled, Tich Cornford caught at the wicket and Tommy Cook brilliantly caught by George Dennett at slip to make the score 7 for three. John Frazer of Oxford University also fell to Goddard soon afterwards at 21 for four, but then came the only good partnership of the innings as Herbert Wilson and Kenneth Higgs both played fine seventies to add 129 for the fifth wicket. After they were parted the later batsmen could not add many, and Sussex had to follow on 209 behind.
Wilson and Gilligan began this time with an opening partnership of 45, but after that there was a steady fall of wickets, with partnerships getting started but unable to last long. Most of the Sussex batsmen put up quite a feeble performance. Cook did best with a fifty, and by the close Sussex were still 18 runs behind with only three wickets left, the fort being held by Bert Wensley and James Langridge, the latter a promising debutant all-rounder just past his 18th birthday. Unless something remarkable happens, Gloucestershire should complete their victory before lunch tomorrow, perhaps by an innings.
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.