100 Years Ago: 19 August 1924

by John Ward

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Day 3

The Oval: England v South Africa (Fifth Test Match)

Hendren Century Before Rain

SOUTH AFRICA 342. ENGLAND 421/8 (E H Hendren 142, A E R Gilligan 36; A W Nourse 2/63, C P Carter 3/85, S J Pegler 3/128). Match drawn. Overnight score was: England (1) 332/6 (Hendren 92*, Gilligan 4*).

Play started an hour late and was finished off by another Jupiter Pluvius invasion just before one o’clock, so only 50 minutes’ play was possible, which made two successive Test matches in which both sides were unable to complete their first innings.  England, not knowing the evil plans of the rain god, obviously aimed to pile on as many runs as they could as quickly as they could, and get South Africa in again in the hope of forcing an unlikely victory, and in Patsy Hendren and Arthur Gilligan they had two ideal men at the crease to do it.  Hendren swept to his century in fine style, and it looks as if he has now found the same confidence in Test matches as he has in county cricket — though the coming tour of Australia will be the ultimate test of that.  His last three deliveries also proved he is playing for his team and not his average: he drove Claude Carter for two great sixes on to the awning of the pavilion, and then he sent up a huge skyer that eventually came down into to big hands of Dave Nourse at long-off.  His 142 came in three hours and also contained 14 fours.

He and Gilligan put on 74 for the eighth wicket, Gilligan being dropped three times off the unfortunate Sid Pegler, and even Jupiter Pluvius waited until both men were out before he brought on his destruction.  Pegler was again South Africa’s best bowler, but he suffered most from dropped catches and his figures of three for 128 do him no justice at all.  So the series ends in a three-nil victory for England in conditions very alien to their tourists.  Bob Catterall actually finished as the top run-scorer of the series, with only two England batsmen (Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe) getting as many as five innings over the series.  Despite being so badly outclassed, the South Africans were praised everywhere for their fine sportsmanship throughout the tour.

Leading averages

England batting: Hendren 398 runs at 132.66, Woolley 249 at 83.00, Sutcliffe 303 at 75.75, Hobbs 355 at 71.00.

England bowling: Tate 27 wickets at 15.70, Gilligan 17 at 18.94, Tyldesley 12 at 20.75.

South Africa batting: Catterall 471 runs at 67.28, Susskind 208 at 33.50, Taylor 197 at 32.83.

South Africa bowling: Parker 8 wkts at 34.12, Pegler 9 at 55.55.

Derby: Derbyshire v Nottinghamshire

Carr Century, but Derbyshire Lead

DERBYSHIRE 224 and 127/4 (C J Corbett 25, J M Crommelin-Brown 45, G R Jackson 21*, J S Heath 28; W A Flint 2/12). NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 212 (G Gunn 55, A W Carr 101; J S Heath 5/54). Match drawn (Derbyshire 3 pts, Nottinghamshire 1 pt). Overnight score was: Nottinghamshire (1) 12/0 (G Gunn 2*, Whysall 8*).

Derbyshire had a good day when they were able to celebrate a first-innings lead over their powerful neighbours.  Nottinghamshire lost the early wickets off Dodger Whysall (9) and John Gunn (3), but then George Gunn and Arthur Carr put on 139 for the third wicket.  Carr played himself in and then attacked the bowling, but George Gunn was in obdurate mood and apparently never got further than playing himself in.  He perhaps should shoulder the blame for his team’s eventual failure to take first-innings points, as his 55 took over three hours and he never tried to dominate the bowling as his captain did.  Carr was out after reaching his century in 2½ hours and surviving two chances, and Nottinghamshire collapsed from 189 for three to 212 all out, when they had appeared certain to take the lead.  Their main executioner was the leg-spinner John Heath, who had earlier taken some stick at the hands of Carr.  In the 90 minutes that remained there was no chance of any further result, but the Derbyshire amateur batsmen enjoyed some entertaining batting.

Cheltenham: Gloucestershire v Kent (Percy Mills’ Benefit)

Mills’ Benefit Innings

GLOUCESTERSHIRE 48 and 179/9 dec (W R Hammond 39, P T Mills 44*, C W L Parker 20; A P Freeman 5/69, C S Marriott 3/39). KENT 76 (H T W Hardinge 35; C W L Parker 3/24, W R Hammond 2/10, E G Dennett 4/28) and 67/4 (J L Bryan 20, G C Collins 21*). Match drawn (Kent 3 pts, Gloucestershire 1 pt). Overnight score was: (first day) Kent (1) 57/6 (Hardinge 27*, Hubble 4*).

The pitch was still damaged by the rain when the match was continued, so scoring runs remained difficult and bright sunshine made it worse.  Wally Hardinge carried his score to 35 before he was eighth man out after batting for 1¼ hours, and Kent took an eventual lead of 28 on the first innings.  The leg-spinners Tich Freeman and Father Marriott did most of the bowling when Gloucestershire went in again, and only Wally Hammond of the early batsmen did very much.  Eight wickets were down for 105, but then Percy Mills decided to celebrate his benefit match with his team’s highest score of the match, and scored a good 44 not out, helped by fellow tail-enders Charlie Parker and George Dennett.  Colonel Douglas Robinson decided to declare the innings closed at 179 for nine, setting Kent 152 to win in about two hours.

Although hailed as a ‘sporting’ declaration, Kent did not have a very good chance of victory on the damaged pitch, especially when another storm lost another quarter of an hour.  They lost three quick wickets, including Wally Hardinge lbw to Parker for 1, although Jack Bryan batted quite well, and then just played out the draw, with George Collins standing firm.  Mills’ innings most likely saved Gloucestershire from defeat, though, which was some consolation for him after such a disappointing benefit match financially.

Bournemouth: Hampshire v Essex

Hampshire Squeak Home

ESSEX 204. HAMPSHIRE 205 (H L V Day 33, L H Tennyson 67, A S Kennedy 13; G M Louden 4/64, A B Hipkin 3/39). Match drawn (Hampshire 3 pts, Essex 1 pt). Overnight score was: Hampshire (1) 124/4 (Day 26*, Tennyson 31*).

Morning showers prevented any play until 4.15, allowing only 75 minutes play and making sure that the only issue at stake could be that of three first-innings points.  Had there been one or two of the top teams in the table playing, they would no doubt have been content to play for a ‘no result’, but both Hampshire and Essex have had such poor seasons that three points would be of some value to them.  The overnight pair of Harold Day and Lionel Tennyson continued their partnership, with Tennyson hitting out boldly while Day was content to support him.  At 181 for four and the partnership worth 96, it seemed as if Hampshire were certain to sweep into the lead and gain three points.

But then Tennyson, trying to hit Jack Russell for a second six, holed out to long-on, having scored 67 in 70 minutes, and one run later Day followed him back to the pavilion.  Alec Kennedy made a few runs, but when 200 was reached George Louden came on with the second new ball and had Jack Newman caught at the wicket, the ninth wicket to fall.  Fortunately for Hampshire, Walter Livsey had one of his heroic days and scored the necessary 5 runs before the last man, Stuart Boyes, was out dead on time with Hampshire just one run ahead.

Taunton: Somerset v Surrey

No Play — Rain Again

SURREY 235/8. SOMERSET did not bat. Match drawn — no result.

Heavy storms overnight and this morning left the Taunton ground so saturated that there was never any chance of resuming this match today, the pitch being completely ruined.  Only three hours’ play had been possible in three days, all of them yesterday.  This has resulted in a very serious financial loss for Somerset.

Birmingham: Warwickshire v Lancashire

No Play — Rain Again

LANCASHIRE 228/4. WARWICKSHIRE to bat. Match drawn — no result.

Showers of rain kept falling on an already sodden pitch, and it was probably a relief to everybody when a major downpour at about two o’clock made the inevitable happen sooner, and the match was abandoned.

Worcester: Worcestershire v Northamptonshire

Rain Robs Match of Good Finish

WORCESTERSHIRE 176 and 169 (F A Pearson 28, H L Higgins 25, M K Foster 17, C F Root 60; W Wells 2/27, A E Thomas 2/39, V W C Jupp 4/45). NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 124 and 166/5 (V W C Jupp 33, C N Woolley 51, F I Walden 36*, A E Thomas 15*; G C Wilson 3/43, H A Gilbert 2/51). Match drawn (Worcestershire 3 pts, Northamptonshire 1 pt). Overnight score was: Northamptonshire (1) 124 all out.

Jupiter Pluvius sadistically ruined a good finish to this match today, ending play when Northamptonshire’s last five wickets needed another 56 runs to win in 42 minutes against Fred Root and Co.  The Worcestershire batting in their first innings was as inconsistent as the weather, who interrupted play several times.  After leading by 52 runs on the first innings, they lost much of that advantage when their first five wickets went down for 67 runs in their second, but Fred Root again took a hand in the game with a bold 60.  By the time they were all out, they set Northamptonshire 222 to win, the highest total of the match, in two hours and 40 minutes.

Boldly Northamptonshire went for it, and did well.  Vallance Jupp got them off to a good start with a quick 33, backed by a sound 50 from Claud Woolley.  When the rain came victory was a real possibility, as Fanny Walden and Albert Thomas were building a good partnership, but then 40 minutes from time rain robbed both teams of a rare outright victory.  Northamptonshire were scoring at over four runs an over and so were up with the clock.

Bradford: Yorkshire v Leicestershire

Waddington Takes Five in Yorkshire Victory

YORKSHIRE 119 and 205 (P Holmes 48, E Oldroyd 38, E Robinson 56*, W Rhodes 16, G G Macaulay 15; A W Shipman 3/34, F Bale 4/47, G Geary 2/31). LEICESTERSHIRE 71 and 159 (E W Dawson 44, W E Astill 10, G Geary 63*; W Rhodes 2/44, A Waddington 5/57). Yorkshire won by 92 runs. Overnight score was: Yorkshire (2) 78/1 (Holmes 36*, Oldroyd 35*).

Spared the ravages of Jupiter Pluvius on these last two days, Yorkshire achieved what no other county managed during this round of matches and won, an important victory that takes them close behind Middlesex in the County Championship table now.  Yorkshire soon lost their overnight batsmen when they continued their second innings, but Emmott Robinson played a fine determined fifty in just over an hour and a half, batting through to the end of the innings when Yorkshire set Leicestershire a hypothetical 252 to win.

Leicestershire began with a collapse to 24 for five wickets, but then fought back hard, as Eddie Dawson was joined by George Geary and they added 76 in an hour.  Even the last wicket fought hard for half an hour to the verge of extra time, and Geary was left unbeaten with 63 after fighting hard for almost 2½ hours to make the highest individual score of the match.  George Macaulay appeared tired in this innings after his great effort in the first innings, but Abe Waddington came through with a fine five-wicket performance.

AUSTRALIAN TOUR

Clem Gibson, the surprise choice for the M.C.C. tour of Australia this winter as a pace bowler, has been obliged reluctantly to withdraw from the tour, as he cannot get away from business for such a long period.

County championship positions: Middlesex 78.82, Yorkshire 78.00, Lancashire 67.82, Surrey 61.25, Kent 60.86, Nottinghamshire 54.73, Gloucestershire 53.63, Somerset 49.47, Warwickshire 49.41.

TOMORROW’S MATCHES (first-class)

Tourist Match

Lakenham: Minor Counties v South Africans

County Championship Matches

Chesterfield: Derbyshire v Essex

Cardiff: Glamorgan v Somerset

Manchester: Lancashire v Gloucestershire

Lord’s: Middlesex v Kent

Nottingham: Nottinghamshire v Northamptonshire

Hove: Sussex v Surrey

Harrogate: Yorkshire v Hampshire

No matches: Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

Yorkshire were the only county both good enough and fortunate enough to gain an outright victory in this last round, and they are now very close behind Middlesex at the head of the championship table.  In the next round they have on paper an easier task than Middlesex, too, as they play suffering Hampshire, while Middlesex take on Kent.  The remaining championship fixtures for both are as follows:

Middlesex — 20 August v Kent (home), 23 August v Gloucestershire (away), 30 August v Surrey (home).

Yorkshire — 20 August v Hampshire (home), 23 August v Surrey (away), 27 August v Hampshire (away), 30 August v Sussex (away).

But before we start trying to predict, remember there is a massive wild-card factor — Jupiter Pluvius, who is likely to make monkeys out of all would-be prophets.

WEATHER FORECAST: Plenty of rain is still on its way in, although some parts of the country will be affected more severely than others.

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.