100 Years Ago: 18 July 1924

by John Ward

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Day 3

Lord’s: Gentlemen v Players

Kilner’s All-Round Triumph

PLAYERS 514. GENTLEMEN 130 and 153 (J C W MacBryan 35, J L Bryan 35, J W H T Douglas 24, G T S Stevens 43*; R Kilner 6/20, A P Freeman 2/41). Players won by an innings and 231 runs. Overnight score was: Gentlemen (1) 130 all out.

The troubles of the Gentlemen multiplied as they arrived at the ground this morning to find a difficult pitch waiting for them after heavy overnight rain that was now drying out.  Play started on time, but it took only one over to realize that Harry Howell could not find a firm enough foothold.  Maurice Tate and the spinners then took over, though Tate was not at his best today.  Jack MacBryan and Jack Bryan opened the innings again, with Bryan playing particularly well as a left-hander facing the bowling of Jack Hearne, who could spin the ball quickly and sharply away from him.  He was superb in attack and defence alike until a short ball from Tich Freeman got up on him and he skyed a hook to be caught, for 35 out of 72.

MacBryan also added to the coincidence of their names by making the same score of 35, lbw to Freeman, although the latter was not in his best bowling form today.  Johnny Douglas came in third, but it was obvious even to him that on this pitch too much defence was futile, and he played quite a positive innings in partnership with Greville Stevens, who also batted very well.  These two were still together at lunch with three wickets down, but after the interval it took only another nine overs and 35 minutes to finish the match, with Frank Woolley and Roy Kilner bowling slow left-arm in tandem.  Kilner bowled with deadly accuracy on the right-hander’s blind spot, spinning sharply, and the batsmen either tried to slog him without footwork or played the back defensive too much.  His low flat trajectory, rather a handicap on hard wickets, makes it difficult for batsmen to use their feet to him.  Stevens managed to keep at Woolley’s end, and hit him brilliantly, while Kilner shattered the others.  He whipped out the last five batsmen who scored just four runs between them, including the most vicious delivery of the match to having Maurice Foster caught at slip for 3.  George Duckworth kept wicket brilliantly.  The comparative figures of the bowlers after lunch were remarkable.  Kilner bowled five overs with four maidens, five wickets for just two runs; Woolley’s four overs brought the wicket of Douglas, caught at extra cover, for 38 runs, almost all to Stevens, who carried out his bat.  Only nine wickets fell altogether, as Percy Fender was not fit to bat with his back injury.

Southampton: Hampshire v Northamptonshire

Mead and Tennyson Lead Hampshire to Victory

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 142 and 247 (W H Denton 31, V W C Jupp 71, F I Walden 32, A E Thomas 43, A H Bull 19*; A S Kennedy 2/73, W R Shirley 3/28, J A Newman 3/76). HAMPSHIRE 193 and 197/4 (A S Kennedy 25, C P Mead 79*, R Aird 37, L H Tennyson 44*; W Wells 2/38). Hampshire won by six wickets. Overnight score was: Northamptonshire (2) 61/1 (Denton 22*, Jupp 8*).

Northamptonshire continued their second innings with attractive batting, but lost wickets.  Their best innings was played by Vallance Jupp, who batted brilliantly to score 71 in 100 minutes, but once he was out the middle order fell away, apart from 32 by Fanny Walden.  Nine wickets were down for 205, but the last pair of Albert Thomas and Arthur Bull made an unexpected stand as they hit out gaily for 42 runs in 20 minutes.  Lionel Tennyson made a surprise decision to throw the ball to Philip Mead, but it worked, as he bowled out Thomas for 43 with his first delivery.

Hampshire needed 197 to win, but three wickets were down for 43, giving the visitors hope of turning the tables.  Mead, scoring quite fluently, came to the rescue, helped by Ronnie Aird, with scored 37 of their partnership of 98 for the fourth wicket in an hour and 40 minutes.  Mead survived quite an easy chance on 26.  A brisk scoring rate was needed to complete victory in time, but Tennyson himself came in now and blasted 44 runs in 20 minutes, including five fours in an over from Thomas, to take Hampshire home.

Maidstone: Kent v Gloucestershire

Ashdown Bowls Kent to Victory

GLOUCESTERSHIRE 213 and 92 (A E Dipper 16, H Smith 16, W R Hammond 38; A C Wright 2/40, W H Ashdown 6/23, S G Hearn 2/10). KENT 295 and 13/2 (H T W Hardinge 12*). Kent won by eight wickets. Overnight score was: Kent (1) 295 all out.

It was Gloucestershire’s bad luck that the rain that stopped play yesterday continued throughout the night, only to be followed by bright sunshine this morning, ideal ingredients for a sticky pitch.  They didn’t do too badly at first, taking the score to 36 with only Bev Lyon (13) out.  But then that inconsistent bowler Bill Ashdown came on and immediately had Alf Dipper caught at the wicket and took a return catch from Bernie Bloodworth before another run was scored.  After that Ashdown ruled the roost, except for Wally Hammond, the only batsman able to cope with his bowling and the conditions.  He stayed almost an hour and a half for 38 runs while Ashdown, very accurate and moving the ball sharply, achieved the best bowling figures of his career, but Gloucestershire could leave Kent only 11 runs to win.  At least before they (or rather Wally Hardinge) did so, Charlie Parker and Percy Mills managed a wicket apiece.  The match was over by three o’clock.

Liverpool: Lancashire v South Africans

Commaille and Nourse Revive Tourists

LANCASHIRE 445/6 dec. SOUTH AFRICANS 259/3 (J M M Commaille 85, A W Nourse 103*, H W Taylor 37*; E A McDonald 2/79). Match drawn. Overnight score was: South Africans (1) 47/1 (Commaille 29*, Susskind 5*).

More rain overnight and in the morning left conditions so wet that no play was possible until after lunch.  The absence of a hot sun meant that there was no sticky pitch to trouble the South Africans, and they were able to get some valuable batting practice in the time remaining, with an outright result now out of the question.  Mick Commaille batted well and Dave Nourse scored his fourth century of the tour, an innings full of powerful drives.  At one stage he scored 16 off an over from Ted McDonald.  When he reached three figures, the match was officially declared a draw.

Weston-super-Mare: Somerset v Yorkshire

Rhodes in Charge as Somerset Out Twice

YORKSHIRE 342. SOMERSET 174 (A E S Rippon 29, T C Lowry 26, R A ingle 42; E Robinson 4/62, W Rhodes 4/49) and (following on) 127 (A Young 16, R A Ingle 50; E Robinson 2/63, W Rhodes 5/28, E Oldroyd 2/16). Yorkshire win by an innings and 41 runs. Overnight score was: Yorkshire (1) 342 (no play yesterday).

Helped by a strong wind, the ground dried out well overnight after yesterday’s washout.  Yorkshire had a difficult task ahead of them, as if they were to gain an outright victory they would need to make Somerset follow on and bowl them out twice in a day on a rather lifeless pitch — with only two regular bowlers left.  George Macaulay and Roy Kilner were in Gentlemen v Players, while Abe Waddington had been summoned to Lord’s as M.C.C. investigated his behaviour in the match against Middlesex at Sheffield, so that left only Emmott Robinson and Wilfred Rhodes, backed by the inexperienced pace bowler Louis Ryder, whose bowling was not really suited to the conditions anyway.  Yet they did it.

It did not seem likely at lunch time, when the Somerset score was 111 for three wickets.  But after the interval wickets fell fast, with Emmott Robinson and Wilfred Rhodes bowling in tandem.  As long as Reggie Ingle was still there Somerset had hope of avoiding the follow-on, that target being 193, but he was ninth out at 171 for a dogged 50 in two hours and 20 minutes, and Yorkshire achieved their first target.  Maurice Leyland was given 20 overs of his left-arm spin during innings; he did not take a wicket but bowled so accurately that he conceded only 38 runs.  The Yorkshire attack is generally so strong and deep that he has rarely bowled for them before.

Yorkshire now had three hours left to bowl Somerset out a second time, including the extra half-hour.  After quite a good opening partnership of 31 by Stanley Rippon and Archie Young, four wickets went down quickly just before tea.  Seven were down for 65, but Ingle, playing a much more aggressive innings than he had done first time round, hit up 50 in 45 minutes, well supported by George Hunt in an eighth-wicket partnership of 40.  He was especially severe on Robinson, who was tiring and needed a rest.  Edgar Oldroyd took his place with his occasional off-breaks, and with his first ball he had Ingle caught at point for 50, and soon afterwards ended the innings and the match by taking a return catch from Mervyn Hill at five minutes to six.  Rhodes took nine wickets for 77 in the match to add to his century.

Eastbourne: Sussex v Essex

Louden Finishes Off Sussex

ESSEX 354. SUSSEX 178 (K A Higgs 54, G R Cox 12; G M Louden 3/47, H J Palmer 4/57, C A G Russell 2/7) and (following on) 112 (J E Frazer 20, A F Wensley 32, G R Cox 22; G N Louden 5/41, H J Palmer 2/22, A B Hipkin 3/48). Essex won by an innings and 64 runs. Overnight score was: Sussex (1) 146/8 (Higgs 44*, Cox 2*).

With all the overnight rain and then sunshine this morning, Sussex had very little chance of avoiding heavy defeat.  Kenneth Higgs fought hard to be last out for Sussex, but they had to follow on with a deficit of 176.  The conditions helped the Essex bowlers, especially George Louden, who bowled throughout their second innings, 18 overs without a break.  Three wickets went down for 16, and six for 34.  Ted Bowley enjoyed more success than in the first innings, although he was again bowled by Louden, this time for 1.  John Frazer began as good a fightback as Sussex could manage with some hard hits, and Bert Wensley played another good fighting innings, but it was only a matter of time.

County championship positions: Middlesex 75.38, Yorkshire 71.42, Surrey 68.33, Lancashire 67.05, Kent 57.50, Somerset 56.00, Nottinghamshire 53.84, Sussex 52.50.

TOMORROW’S MATCHES (first-class)

Tourist Match:

Lord’s: Middlesex v South Africans

County Championship:

Chesterfield: Derbyshire v Northamptonshire

Leyton: Essex v Hampshire

Cheltenham: Gloucestershire v Glamorgan

Blackheath: Kent v Surrey

Manchester: Lancashire v Worcestershire

Nottingham: Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire

Weston-super-Mare: Somerset v Sussex

Birmingham: Warwickshire v Leicestershire

Other first-class match:

Dundee: Scotland v Ireland

No matches:

Everybody is playing, or hoping to . . .

It could be said that the natural order of the counties is reasserting itself, as two of the Big Six counties, Kent and Nottinghamshire, have gained victories and move up the table at the expense of Somerset and Sussex, who both lost heavily — and play each other with reinforced teams.  The next round of matches throws up several exciting contests, which could be ruined by the factor noted below.  There are two Big Six clashes, including the famous one between Kent and Surrey at Blackheath.  Last year Surrey broke the succession of defeats they have suffered on that ground for so many past seasons — can they continue to overcome the hoodoo?  The other is Yorkshire against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, which should be another very stern fight between last season’s two top teams.  Middlesex, playing the South Africans, and will therefore retain first place after this round even if Yorkshire win.  In the basement, the two bottom teams Derbyshire and Northamptonshire will meet, both hoping desperately for a rare win — if the weather will permit them.

WEATHER FORECAST: Woe!  Red alert!  Jupiter Pluvius has been away collecting reinforcements, and he is swooping in to renew his frenzied assault on the English cricket season.  Rain will be quite widespread.

AUSTRALIAN TOUR

Jack Hobbs has announced that he will not be available to tour Australia this winter.  He claims business reasons, but probably the state of his health is also a factor, as he has apparently still not fully recovered from his serious health problems of 1921.  This is naturally a major blow to England’s hopes of regaining the Ashes, as he was settling in to an outstanding opened partnership with Herbert Sutcliffe.

Jack Hearne also is uncertain, for business reasons, and the wicket-keeper George Wood has had to decline for business reasons, as was rather 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.