100 Years Ago: 15 August 1924
by John Ward
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Day 3
Dewsbury: Yorkshire v Northamptonshire
Wells Saves Innings Defeat
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 163 and 187 (W Wells 52*, J V Murdin 18; G G Macaulay 4/85, W Rhodes 6/40). YORKSHIRE 328 and 23/0 (P Holmes 12*, H Sutcliffe 11*). Yorkshire won by ten wickets. Overnight score was: Northamptonshire (2) 129/8 (Wells 14*, Nicholson 0*).
Northamptonshire seemed likely to suffer an innings defeat when play began as they were eight wickets down and 36 runs behind. John Nicholson was bowled by Rhodes immediately, but the last man John Murdin joined Bumper Wells and the two hit out in a do-or-die effort and managed to score 58 runs together, with Wells going on to his fifty in just over an hour. Rhodes eventually ended the innings by trapping Murdin lbw, and then Northamptonshire put on their picnic bowlers as Yorkshire needed only 23 to win.
County championship positions: Middlesex 78.82, Yorkshire 76.84, Lancashire 67.82, Surrey 61.25, Kent 60.90, Nottinghamshire 56.66, Gloucestershire 55.23, Somerset 59.47, Warwickshire 49.41.
Leyton: Essex v Derbyshire
Surprise Stand Gives Derbyshire Lead
ESSEX 260/9 dec and 174/3 (J R Freeman 34, C A G Russell 76*, C T Ashton 47*). DERBYSHIRE 342/9 dec (A Morton 120*, J Horsley 66; J W H T Douglas 2/72, C T Ashton 3/56). Match drawn (Derbyshire 3 pts, Essex 1 pt). Overnight score was: Derbyshire (1) 148/7 (Morton 20*, Horsley 0*).
The Essex first innings had been given a revival by its eighth-wicket pair, mainly due to Whiz Morris; now the Derbyshire eighth-wicket pair did even better. Overnight Derbyshire were 112 behind and only three tail-enders were left to accompany Arthur Morton. But Jim Horsley did a fine job, hitting hard at times but generally taking few risks as he concentrated on supporting Morton, and the pair put on a remarkable 155 together in two hours and ten minutes. Morton batted an hour longer for the highest score of his career, at the age of 41. He was still unbeaten at the lunch-time declaration, which gave Derbyshire a totally unexpected lead of 82 and hope of a possible victory.
The first two Essex wickets fell for 14 runs, but then John Freeman and Jack Russell dug in, and later Russell and Claude Ashton put on an unbeaten 100 together to see Essex to safety, even without the dogged batting of Percy Perrin and Johnny Douglas this time.
Swansea: Glamorgan v Lancashire
Glamorgan Shatter Lancashire’s Record
GLAMORGAN 153 and 143 (W E Bates 19, M J L Turnbull 16, T Arnott 15, J C Clay 14, J Mercer 36; C H Parkin 5/40, E A McDonald 2/27, R K Tyldesley 2/63). LANCASHIRE 151 and 107 (J W H Makepeace 43, G E Tyldesley 18, F B Watson 13, J L Hopwood 10*; H Spencer 3/40, F P Ryan 6/40). Glamorgan won by 38 runs. Overnight score: (Wednesday) Lancashire (1) 151 all out.
Who would ever have believed that it would be lowly Glamorgan that had the honour of ending the unbeaten record that Lancashire had fought so proudly to keep? Were Lancashire too overconfident coming into this match? One would have thought that the blank day yesterday, after falling behind on the first innings, would have given them time to prepare themselves for a tougher fight than they expected. But nothing should be taken away from a magnificent Glamorgan performance, especially by their two main bowlers, paceman Helm Spencer and left-arm spinner Frank Ryan.
Glamorgan were struggled to come from behind for most of the day. They had a lead of only 2 runs on the first innings, and now they lost their first four wickets for 28. Maurice Turnbull and Trevor Arnott again steadied the ship, but not to the extent as in the first innings; now they added 26. The major factor this time in giving them a score they had a chance of defending was a successful slog by Joe Mercer, who hit 36 in 20 minutes, including two sixes and 4 fours. Cecil Parkin bowled successfully throughout the innings for five wickets, and actually deserved better figures than he had, but Dick Tyldesley, who took most of Mercer’s onslaught, was expensive and Ted McDonald ineffective in these conditions.
Lancashire needed 146 to win, and again the general expectation was that they would succeed, despite the pitch being difficult now, and especially when they reached 84 with only two wickets down. Harry Makepeace led the way with a sound 43, and the turning point of the innings and match came when he was bowled by Spencer at 84 with a ball that shot through very fast and low. Clay made the decision to change the bowlers’ ends, and suddenly Spencer and Ryan broke through and the rest of the batting simply collapsed. Len Hopwood fought hard but was left stranded at the end. The last eight wickets went down for 23 runs, with Ryan in particular bowling with great accuracy and sharp spin to take six of them, a wonderful performance, and brilliantly supported in the field. Wales celebrated as only they can when Ryan bowled out McDonald and Lancashire bit whatever dust there was on the St Helen’s Ground. Ryan’s match figures were ten wickets for 109 runs, while Spencer had nine for 84. The crowd of about 6000 surged on to the field and carried Ryan off on their shoulders, and this is said to be the greatest celebration to date in Glamorgan’s cricket history.
Cheltenham: Gloucestershire v Leicestershire
Parker Wraps Up the Match
LEICESTERSHIRE 144 and 89 (G H S Fowke 38, J H King 14; C W L Parker 6/46, P T Mills 3/31). GLOUCESTERSHIRE 179 and 56/3 (B H Lyon 29*, W R Hammond 11*). Gloucestershire won by seven wickets. Overnight score was: Leicestershire (2) 69/2 (Fowke 38*, King 11*).
The first day of this match belonged to Gloucestershire and the second to Leicestershire. Today Gloucestershire won the final act. A sticky pitch, feeble Leicestershire batting and a very determined display in the field by Gloucestershire, with Charlie Parker to the forefront, brought them in the end an easy victory. Parker licked his lips in the morning at the sight of the sticky pitch, but it was never bad enough to excuse Leicestershire for losing their last eight wickets for only another 20 runs. Only Tommy Sidwell with 8 runs at No 10 looked like taking on the bowlers with any success.
This left Gloucestershire with only 55 to win, and at first it seemed as if they might struggle to get there against fine bowling by George Geary and Ewart Astill. Fred Seabrook was out for 4 and Alf Dipper was remarkably run out through failing to ground his bat. Harry Smith, out of form, scored only 1 and three wickets were out for 27. But Bev Lyon was in good form and Wally Hammond supported him well to take Gloucestershire home.
Bournemouth: Hampshire v Nottinghamshire
Hampshire Shock Notts
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 194 and 148 (W W Whysall 60, W R D Payton 22; A S Kennedy 4/47, W R D Shirley 3/33, J A Newman 2/31). HAMPSHIRE 183 (C P Mead 57, G Brown 16, A S Kennedy 16; F Barratt 4/44, T L Richmond 4/48) and 161/7 (W R D Shirley 35, H L V Day 59, G Brown 19, H A W Bowell 9*, J A Newman 10*; T L Richmond 2/40, W A Flint 4/31). Hampshire won by three wickets. Overnight score was: Hampshire (1) 128/4 (Mead 56*, Brown 16*).
Nottinghamshire certainly could not have expected to lose this match outright after so much rain had meant that even the first-innings issue was still far from decided, although they were no doubt concerned that they might lose on the first innings. But the pitch helped the bowlers early on, and Fred Barratt quickly removed the overnight batsmen, Philip Mead and George Brown. The later batsmen could not contribute very much, and Nottinghamshire led by 11 runs on the first innings.
With their strong batting line-up, Nottinghamshire no doubt expected to be safe from outright defeat, but they put up a rather feeble performance in their second innings on a pitch still difficult. The only batsman to stay long was Dodger Whysall, with a fine 60, who put on 47 for the fourth wicket with Wilf Payton, but no other batsman in the side made more than 12. Their lack of application cost them dearly, although again they probably still thought they were safe when Hampshire needed to score 160 to win in an hour and 40 minutes.
Other captains than Lionel Tennyson would probably have thought such a task out of the question also, but not this one. He opened the innings himself, as he likes to do when quick runs were needed, and quickly slammed three fours before he was out for 13. Then came the decisive partnership, as Harold Day joined William Shirley and the two, obviously instructed by their captain, put on 62 for the second wicket in only 23 minutes, taking heavy toll of the bowling of Fred Barratt and Sam Staples. Uncharacteristically both survived stumping chances to Tom Oates. When Shirley was out George Brown joined Day and the hundred went up after only 40 minutes, Day scoring 59 in just over an hour. Wickets began to tumble, though, including that of Philip Mead for 2, and a score of 141 for four became 146 for seven (Day’s wicket), but they were still ahead of the clock, and Alec Bowell and Jack Newman achieved victory with ten minutes to spare. The 161 runs were scored off only 30 overs. It is a rare bright spot in an otherwise dismal season for Hampshire.
Taunton: Somerset v Kent
Wright Routs Somerset
KENT 283 and 209. SOMERSET 184 and 95 (P R Johnson 17, J C White 21, G E Hunt 23; A C Wright 7/31, A P Freeman 3/35). Kent won by 213 runs. Overnight score was: Somerset (2) 15/3 (MacBryan 0*, Johnson 5*).
Starting the day on 15 for three with 309 needed altogether to win, Somerset had problems enough without having to bat on a drying pitch in the sun. Charlie Wright took full advantage of it with some superb pace bowling, and although there were brief periods of resistance, Somerset had no answer and little fight, and their innings was over in a total of an hour and three-quarters. Wright took all the first five wickets to fall, and twice in the match improved upon his career best figures. In the match altogether he took 12 wickets for 64 runs, bowling accurately and making the ball lift awkwardly.
Birmingham: Warwickshire v Middlesex
Warwickshire Crumble to Spin
WARWICKSHIRE 131 and 107 (J H Parsons 32, W G Quaife 13, G W Stephens 26; G T S Stevens 4/46, J W Hearne 5/31). MIDDLESEX 280/2 dec. Middlesex won by an innings and 42 runs. Overnight score was: Middlesex (1) 280/2 dec.
Middlesex maintained their position at the top of the County Championship table with a big victory over a very feeble Warwickshire team. Frank Mann, taking no risks with the weather, declared their innings closed at the overnight score, with a lead of 149 runs. Warwickshire never looked like avoiding an innings defeat, especially with Tiger Smith out of the match after dislocating a finger yesterday. Bob Wyatt after his fighting first innings was promoted to open in Smith’s place along with Jack Parsons, and they put on 32 together before both were out in quick succession. After that the Middlesex spinners, with some help from the pitch and greater help from the Warwickshire batsmen, took control and wickets fell steadily. George Stephens was the only other batsman to play a confident, positive innings as his team went down, many of the others falling to half-hearted attacking strokes instead of trying to fight it out. The match was over before lunch, at 1.10, after just an hour and 40 minutes’ play today.
Jack Hearne continues a remarkable batting record at Edgbaston. He has played four innings on the ground since the war, and has made scores of 215 not out, 202, 221 not out and now 101 not out, which gives him an average of 739. He also took five cheap wickets today. Jupiter Pluvius also tried to disrupt the cricket at Edgbaston today, but he was too late — Warwickshire had capitulated just before he arrived.
TOMORROW’S MATCHES (first-class)
Test Match
The Oval: England v South Africa (Fifth Test Match)
County Championship Matches
Derby: Derbyshire v Nottinghamshire
Cheltenham: Gloucestershire v Kent
Bournemouth: Hampshire v Essex
Taunton: Somerset v Surrey
Birmingham: Warwickshire v Lancashire
Worcester: Worcestershire v Northamptonshire
Bradford: Yorkshire v Leicestershire
No matches: Glamorgan, Middlesex and Sussex.
The surprise defeats of Lancashire and Nottinghamshire by lesser-ranked teams has rather altered the scenery at the top of the championship table. In particular Lancashire’s slight hopes of a late burst at the championship title seem to have been shattered. Middlesex are not playing tomorrow, so Yorkshire will hope to beat Leicestershire and narrow the gap at the top of the table. There are no Big Six clashes in this round, so most attention will be on the fifth and final Test match at the Oval.
WEATHER FORECAST: Bad news! Jupiter Pluvius, uninvited, is expected to attend the Test match, as well as the rest of the cricket in the country, over the weekend, so widespread disruption and few (if any) results may be expected.
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.