100 Years Ago: 18 August 1924
by John Ward
Note to readers: Our latest auction of cricket books (of particular relevance to those of you with an interest in Australian and South African cricket, and to collectors of Wisden and other yearbooks) is open to members and non-members alike—an excellent way of supporting our work. Check it out here. It ends tomorrow!
The ACS’s latest publication, a lively history of cricket in Suffolk by Simon Sweetman, is available for purchase on our website. Buy it here.
Day 2
The Oval: England v South Africa (Fifth Test Match)
Hendren Boosts England on a Sticky
SOUTH AFRICA 342. ENGLAND 332/6 (J B Hobbs 30, J W Hearne 35, F E Woolley 51, A Sandham 46, E H Hendren 92*, M W Tate 50, A E R Gilligan 4*; A W Nourse 2 wkts, C P Carter 2 wkts, S J Pegler 2 wkts). Overnight score was: South Africa (1) 342 all out.
England’s batsmen turned in a very heartening performance on a sticky pitch at the Oval yesterday, and before Jupiter Pluvius arrived at the tea interval they had taken themselves to a position where they had almost caught the South African score with four wickets still in hand. Admittedly the South Africans do not have the ideal or experienced bowlers to take full advantage of such a pitch, drying out after plenty of rain yesterday, apart from Sid Pegler, but batting was never easy on a pitch where the ball often popped and broke sharply. The South Africans at first tried leg-theory, bowling at the batsmen’s legs with an array of short legs, and soon claimed the wicket of Herbert Sutcliffe for 5, caught at the wicket down the leg side.
Jack Hobbs and Jack Hearne made a solid partnership of 67 with expert batting on such a pitch before both were out in the thirties with the score in the seventies. Frank Woolley came in and attacked the bowling with some superb drives, while Andy Sandham played a sound defensive innings, although he struggled against Pegler. Woolley was out at the lunch interval at 137 for four, as he was bowled by a cunning ball from Claude Carter that he tried to hit for six. In retrospect, his was the finest innings of the day.
The afternoon saw a partnership of 101 between the solid Sandham and the brilliant Hendren, whose superb footwork enabled him to take charge of the bowling, although he had some luck and survived two sharp early chances off Pegler which cost South Africa dearly. When Sandham was finally out, Maurice Tate, clumsy-looking but with a strong straight bat, attacked the bowling and scored exactly 50 out of a stand of exactly 100 with Hendren, until he decided to play for tea and was bowled. Both Woolley and Tate were out the next ball after completing their fifties.
During the interval the rain began to fall heavily and ended play for the day — it lasted only ten minutes but was torrential enough to put the pitch under water — with England surely delighted to have overcome the conditions so well. Pegler was as expected the best of the bowlers until he tired as Tate came in, but Jimmy Blanckenberg was a disappointment. South Africa have had some lucky breaks in this match, but have not made the best possible use of them. If the pitch is sticky tomorrow, they may have to fight for survival.
Derby: Derbyshire v Nottinghamshire
Jackson Century
DERBYSHIRE 224 (G R Jackson 103, J L Crommelin-Brown 49, J M Hutchinson 18; F Barratt 4/58, S J Staples 2/64, W A Flint 2/31). NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 12/0 (G Gunn 2*, W W Whysall 8*). Overnight score was: Derbyshire (1) 96/3 (Jackson 38*, Crommelin-Brown 41*).
Heavy weekend rain left the ground so wet that play could not start until 3.15 on a fairly lifeless pitch. The overnight partnership ended at 115, when John Crommelin-Brown was out just a run short of his fifty. Jackson continued to bat in fine style with some help from the middle order, and reached his first century of the season, his excellent innings eventually lasting for three and a quarter hours. He scored nearly half his side’s total. Nottinghamshire had 20 minutes to bat before the close, which their usual openers survived.
Cheltenham: Gloucestershire v Kent (Percy Mills’ Benefit)
No play — rain. GLOUCESTERSHIRE 48. KENT 57/6 (H T W Hardinge 27*, J C Hubble 4*).
It rained in Cheltenham almost throughout Sunday, and a series of heavy storms hit the ground today, leaving it so saturated that play could never be considered. This is a financial disaster for Percy Mills, whose benefit it is.
Bournemouth: Hampshire v Essex
Kennedy Among the Wickets
ESSEX 204 (J O’Connor 73, J W H T Douglas 14, H M Morris 40, A B Hipkin 17; A S Kennedy 6/60). HAMPSHIRE 124/4 (W R D Shirley 47, R Aird 21, H L V Day 26*, L H Tennyson 31*; G M Louden 2 wkts). Overnight score was: Essex (1) 63/4 (O’Connor 17*, Douglas 5*).
Essex continued their innings cautiously, but when Johnny Douglas was well caught at short leg Essex were in trouble at 83 for five. Whiz Morris turned the situation round in an hour, hitting out powerfully to score 40 out of 71 before Alec Kennedy came back for another spell and bowled him out. Kennedy continued to work his way through the later batsmen, while Jack O’Connor played his steady game. As he began to run out of partners, however, he tried to become more aggressive and was finally out for 73, scored in just over 3¼ hours. Some useful runs from Joe Hipkin saw the last wicket take the score past 200.
Hampshire were boosted by a good second-wicket partnership of 51 between William Shirley and Ronnie Aird, but George Louden removed Philip Mead without scoring, well caught at the wicket by Frank Gilligan. Four wickets were down for 85, but the aggressive pair of Harold Day and Lionel Tennyson were bringing about a recovery when rain ended play early. A first-innings decision seems to be the best that can be hoped for in this match now, unless there is a very sticky pitch tomorrow, and the position seems to be well balanced there.
Taunton: Somerset v Surrey
White Holds Surrey in Check
SURREY 235/8 (H A Peach 64, D R Jardine 62*, H G Baldwin 26; J C White 6/56). SOMERSET to bat. Overnight score: No play on Saturday.
After much weekend rain, play finally began at 3.15 today. Surrey’s stand-in opening batsmen, Donald Knight and Alfred Jeacocke, were out for 40 on the board, but the real entertainment came from Alan Peach, promotion to No 3. He hit out brilliantly for 64 in just over half an hour at the wicket before being superbly caught by Reggie Ingle at long-on off Jack White, whose steady and accurate bowling always kept the pressure on the batsmen. Errol Holmes, an amateur debutant, was dismissed without scoring; Percy Fender hit two sixes as he tried to knock White off his length, but the bowler got him for 18 to make the score 150 for six. But Douglas Jardine played a calm, steady innings with help from Herbert Baldwin in a partnership worth 76 runs. Jardine was still there at the close while White had taken six of the eight wickets to fall. Much of the Somerset fielding was brilliant.
Birmingham: Warwickshire v Lancashire
Tyldesley Hits Fourth Century
LANCASHIRE 228/4 (C Hallows 41, G E Tyldesley 100, F B Watson 43, A W Pewtress 18*, J Sharp 13*; G A Jennings 2/40). WARWICKSHIRE to bat. Overnight score was: Lancashire (1) 34/1 (Hallows 7*, Tyldesley 22*).
This could be said to be a good day for cricket at Edgbaston this season, for just over half a day’s play was possible, although much of it took place in conditions scarcely suitable for good cricket, with the bowlers especially struggling to cope with slippery run-ups and a wet ball. The overnight pair of Charlie Hallows and Ernest Tyldesley put on 105 together, and then Frank Watson proved another good partner for Tyldesley as they added another 80 for the third wicket. Tyldesley reached his fourth century of the season and brought up the 200 with the same stroke, only to be bowled next ball by George Jennings, having batted for almost 3½ hours. Alfred Pewtress and Jack Sharp settled in until the tea interval, after which Jupiter Pluvius settled in for the rest of the day with great force.
Tyldesley played more freely today than he has done for some time, and it is suggested that this is because he is now released from the burden of having to preserve Lancashire’s unbeaten record, and also of playing for a Test place. The conditions were not good, but he always showed a graceful, easy style and played only one false stroke before he was out.
Worcester: Worcestershire v Northamptonshire
Root Earns Worcestershire Lead
WORCESTERSHIRE 176 (M K Foster 44, W H N Shakespeare 48, C F Root 27; A E Thomas 5/42, V W C Jupp 3/60). NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 124 (C N Woolley 23, R A Haywood 18, F I Walden 25; C F Root 5/36, F A Pearson 2/43, G C Wilson 2/21). Overnight score was: Worcestershire (1) 1/0 (Pearson 1*, Tarbox 0*).
After so much rain, the pitch was soft and helped the bowlers. Worcestershire lost their first four batsmen for 35, with Albert Thomas and Vallance Jupp bowling very well. Then Maurice Foster as so often came to the rescue with a dashing innings, scoring 44 in about 40 minutes, and was given solid support by Will Shakespeare, who was ninth out after batting for two hours. He played with great calm and confidence, and it is unfortunate that as an amateur he should be so seldom available for a county that really needs him. Fred Root also played a robust innings. There was a remarkable incident when the last man, Humphrey Gilbert, was batting. He hit a ball to leg, but as the batsmen were running there was suddenly such a great outburst of rain that the fielding side left the ball and raced for the pavilion instead. The ball stopped just short of the boundary, and the umpires later decided to award the batsman two runs, in the absence of any law covering such an instance.
Northamptonshire then batted against superb bowling by Root, who quite dominated most of the batsmen. Fanny Walden stayed the longest but could not find a reliable partner, and when the innings closed Root had taken five wickets, while Worcestershire gained a first-innings lead of 52.
Bradford: Yorkshire v Leicestershire
Macaulay Gives Yorkshire Lead
YORKSHIRE 119 (M Leyland 16, E Robinson 14, W Rhodes 36; G Geary 3/52, W E Astill 6/45) and 78/1 (P Holmes 36*, E Oldroyd 35*). LEICESTERSHIRE 71 (W E Astill 11, J H King 15, S S Coulson 21; G G Macaulay 7/31, W Rhodes 2/15). Overnight score was: Yorkshire (1) 29/2 (Leyland 11*, Robinson 8*).
Bowlers continued to dominate at Park Avenue, where there has been heavy weekend rain, but the ground recovered well, and remarkably there was a full day’s play. With the pitch drying in the wind and some sunshine, it became quite sticky. Yorkshire owed much to the experience of Wilfred Rhodes, who fought a fine battle with Ewart Astill, who bowled superbly, and scored 36 before the bowler finally got him. Nobody else could stay with him for long and Astill bowled throughout the innings to take six wickets.
Leicestershire’s batsmen could not challenge the Yorkshire score of 119 against the superb Yorkshire bowling, led by George Macaulay. Astill tried to take on the bowlers, but was out to Macaulay for 11. John King defended stubbornly before Macaulay got him for 15. Sydney Coulson was the most successful of the batsmen, but he could find no-one to stay with him for long, and was eventually last out for 21, with Macaulay taking seven wickets.
With a lead of 48 and on a pitch now becoming easier, Yorkshire batted better a second time round, although Maurice Leyland was out soon for 8. This time Percy Holmes and Edgar Oldroyd did not fail, and they stayed together until the close, giving Yorkshire an advantage that should gain them a victory tomorrow. If Jupiter Pluvius permits.
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.