100 Years Ago: 2 September 1924

Glamorgan’s bold declaration and Marriott’s masterclass

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Day 3

Lord’s: Middlesex v Surrey

Hobbs and Sandham Secure Surrey Lead

MIDDLESEX 149 (J W Hearne 38, F T Mann 13, H R Murrell 14; W C H Sadler 2/37, H A Peach 3/20, P G H Fender 2/27, T F Shepherd 2/17). SURREY 221/2 (J B Hobbs 70, A Sandham 102*, R F Shepherd 23*). Match drawn (Surrey 3 pts, Middlesex 1 pt). Overnight score was: Middlesex (1) 51/0 (Lee 22*, Dales 26*).

The rain kept away today, but it was too late for this match to be anything but a first-innings contest.  This meant that both Surrey and Middlesex, being near the top of the table with percentages above 60, suffered a drop in their percentage, even for the team who led on the first innings, but it made no difference to their positions in the table, second and third respectively.  It was the last day of the season, and while the public at least had a full day’s cricket to watch, it was not particularly memorable.  Jack Hearne continued to play very correctly, but none of the other batsmen reached 15.  Perhaps the team simply felt deflated to have their hopes of winning the championship dashed so decisively.  Stanley Fenley, turning the ball, was the bowler who troubled the batsmen the most, although he took only one wicket.  His work takes him off to the Gold Coast tomorrow.  Middlesex have had a very good season, however, and perhaps their authorities might reflect on the fact that, had they stooped to arrange matches with the likes of Derbyshire, Northamptonshire, Worcestershire and Glamorgan, as Yorkshire do, they would almost certainly have won the title.

Surrey had no difficulty in taking the first-innings points, and in fact Jack Hobbs and Andy Sandham almost achieved the lead between them, having scored 148 together when Hobbs was out.  But it was a rather workmanlike performance, with Hobbs not at his best, and Sandham seemed mainly interested in ensuring he scored another century before the close.  In their defence, though, it must be said that the pitch was still not easy for batting.  But in a wet season like this one, we have to be grateful when they can play at all.

Cardiff: Glamorgan v Nottinghamshire

Glamorgan Lead but Cannot Win

GLAMORGAN 271 and 21/6 dec (M J L Turnbull 9; S J Staples 3/15, T L Richmond 3/3). NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 172 (G Gunn 19, J R Gunn 12, A W Carr 54, W R D Payton 45, A Staples 16; J Mercer 2/50, H Spencer 3/39, F P Ryan 5/47) and 59/1 (J R Gunn 21*, B Marshall 23*). Match drawn (Glamorgan 3 pts, Nottinghamshire 1 pt). Overnight score was: Nottinghamshire (1) 14/1 (G Gunn 5*, J R Gunn 0*).

The pitch played awkwardly for batsmen for most of the day, and Nottinghamshire struggled as they faced the Glamorgan first-innings total of 271.  George Gunn dug anchor and his eventual 19 runs took him two hours to grind out.  Arthur Carr managed success with aggression, scoring a fifty in 1¼ hours, but when he was out two more wickets went down quickly and Nottinghamshire were 112 for six.  This left them in danger of following on, with 172 needed to avoid it under the rules for what was now a two-day match, and Nottinghamshire were thankful to Wilf Payton, who played with great skill, and Arthur Staples for their determination which enabled them to avoid it with two wickets in hand — both of which then fell immediately.

The spin bowlers Sam Staples and Len Richmond then caused havoc among the almost strokeless Glamorgan batsmen on a pitch now drying in the sun, and when the sixth wicket went down at 21 Johnnie Clay decided to declare to offset further embarrassment.  The game was an obvious draw now anyway, with 40 minutes left for play — due to yet another arrangement to end play early at five o’clock — and Nottinghamshire needing 121 for victory.  Glamorgan rested their regular bowlers and their season ended with what qualifies as a triumph, first-innings points against Nottinghamshire.

Dover Week: Kent v Lancashire

Marriott Bowls Kent to Victory

KENT 199 and 115. LANCASHIRE 138 and 147 (J W H Makepeace 72, A E Pewtress 22, J Iddon 13; A C Wright 3/15, C S Marriott 6/68). Kent won by 31 runs. Overnight score was: Kent (2) 115 all out.

Lancashire began their second innings this morning needing 179 runs to win on a slow, turning pitch that was beginning to break up.  Harry Makepeace is at his best on such a pitch, while Father Marriott in particular bowled brilliantly, very accurate and varying his pace and spin all the time.  As his partners struggled, Makepeace made it his business to take as much of Marriott’s bowling as he could, and there was a fascinating battle between the two.  Alfred Pewtress opened the batting with Makepeace this time, and they put on 33 together.  After a while Pewtress decided to take on the bowlers, hitting Freeman for three consecutive fours, but when he tried to do the same for Marriott he was well caught by Charlie Wright at deep square leg.  He was immediately followed in and out by Ernest Tyldesley, who bagged a king pair, out to Freeman in the first innings and Marriott this time.

After that the promising Jack Iddon was the only other batsman to reach double figures, coming in at 66 for six and almost doubling the score with Makepeace as they added 63.  But then Wright came on instead of Freeman and removed Iddon at 129 for seven.  As long as Makepeace was still there Lancashire had hope, but two more wickets went down quite quickly, and in the end Makepeace, trying to force the game, was caught by Frank Woolley off Wright.  He scored more than half the runs off the bat, 72 out of 134 in three hours, and gave no chances.  Marriott’s magnificent bowling rivalled that of Cecil Parkin, and he took 11 wickets for 79 in the match.  So Lancashire finished their county season with only their second defeat.  Jack Sharp, the Lancashire captain, announced today his retirement from first-class cricket.

Leicester: Leicestershire v Essex

Geary Wraps Up Essex Just in Time

LEICESTERSHIRE 125 and 175 (S S Coulson 29, W E Astill 15, G H S Fowke 42, G Geary 20; L C Eastman 3/33, A B Hipkin 5/41). ESSEX 68 and 138 (J R Freeman 18, C A G Russell 39, F W H Nicholas 50; W E Astill 3/39, G Geary 4/45, A Skelding 3/26). Leicestershire won by 94 runs. Overnight: Leicestershire (2) 32/1 (Coulson 20*, Astill 5*).

The pitch today continued to favour the bowlers, and batsmen always had to struggle for runs.  The best innings for Leicestershire was played by Major Gus Fowke, who scored 42 in just over 1½ hours, but the later batsmen all failed, with Joe Hipkin picking up five wickets.  Leicestershire were eventually all out just after lunch, and Essex were set 233 to win, a highly unlikely target for them on such a pitch.

The first three wickets fell for 29 runs, but there followed the one good partnership of the innings, as Jack Russell and Captain Fred Nicholas put on 78 for the fourth wicket in an hour and a half, but Essex fell steadily behind the clock — not that Russell for one seemed to have any intention of chasing their unlikely target, although Nicholas did play a positive game.  As long as the two were together Leicestershire were in danger of losing their chance of victory, but Alex Skelding finally bowled Nicholas at 107.  Although Russell stayed in and fought it out he was eighth out to Ewart Astill at 138, and then George Geary whipped out the last two batsmen for a Leicestershire victory with just eight minutes to spare.

Northampton: Northamptonshire v Warwickshire

Wells Saves Northamptonshire Again

WARWICKSHIRE 265 and 61/2 (J H Parsons 35*; J V Murdin 2/30). NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 210 (W H Denton 37, W Wells 67, A E Thomas 28, J S Nicholson 15, J V Murdin 23*; H Howell 4/63, R E S Wyatt 2/51, E P Hewetson 4/45). Match drawn (Warwickshire 3 pts, Northamptonshire 1 pt). Overnight score was: Northamptonshire (1) 50/3 (Denton 21*, Bellamy 5*).

An outright result in this match was only reasonably possible if Warwickshire could make Northamptonshire follow on, and under the two-day match laws the latter needed to score 166 to avoid this happening.  When Harry Howell took two and then Edward Hewetson took three wickets in quick succession, seven wickets were down for 77 and Warwickshire looked like achieving their aim.  But once again Bumper Wells came to the rescue, attacking the bowling from the start and hitting two successive drives for six off Willie Quaife.  Albert Thomas stayed with him, also batting well, until the score reached 143, and the last two batsmen also played up nobly.  Wells was last out with 67 in just over two hours, and the Warwickshire lead was cut to 55.  The last three wickets had put on 142 runs.  The visitors then played out time in their second innings.

Day 2

Blackpool Festival: Gentlemen v Players

Gentlemen Collapse to Big Defeat

GENTLEMEN 152 and 52 (C H Titchmarsh 10, H L V Day 20; C W L Parker 3/20, P T Mills 2/20, G Brown 4/5). PLAYERS 200 (J A Newman 28, J W Whewell 25, C P Mead 24, N Kilner 37, G Brown 31; R J O Meyer 8/38) and 5/1 (C W L Parker 5*). Players won by nine wickets. Overnight score was: Players (1) 28/1 (Newman 8*, Whewell 7*).

This was a match of disappointing weather, largely disappointing batting and a disappointing — and disappointed — crowd.  The pitch was difficult for batting, and the Gentlemen especially were not prepared to knuckle down and work for their runs on it.  The Players did that in their first innings rather too well before lunch, with some dour batting, but then Norman Kilner and George Brown began to attack the bowling with discrimination and took the Players ahead by adding 63 for the sixth wicket, the best batting of the match.  Jack Meyer, who had dismissed the first three batsmen, now returned for an excellent second spell and bundled out the last five wickets, finishing with the remarkable figures of eight wickets for 38 runs.  He was to have a mixed day, though, as when he batted in the afternoon he completed a pair.  The Gentlemen in their second innings put up a very poor show, with few of the batsmen trying to apply themselves, and many were out to reckless hits in the circumstances; only Harold Day, top scorer in the first innings, scored more than 10.  The third-highest individual score was 5.  The last six wickets went down for only 5 runs and the innings was over in 70 minutes.  The bowlers had easy pickings and Charlie Parker completed his 200 wickets for the season.  He celebrated by scoring in a single over all the five runs the Players needed to win in their second innings as this largely forgettable match ended in two days.

FINAL COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE

Yorkshire won the County Championship quite comfortably in the end; Middlesex would have needed two more victories in their 22 matches to be able to overtake them.  However, as has been noted, their failure to play the four of the five bottom counties — Derbyshire, Northamptonshire, Worcestershire and Glamorgan — cost them dearly and is a major handicap to them every season unless they change their policy.  But Yorkshire were not the same all-conquering force as last season, lacking that same depth in batting and bowling, and the strain showed at times, as there were accusations that they were at times too fiercely competitive on the field.

The Big Six teams all finished at the top of the table, although the sixth place was shared between Nottinghamshire and Gloucestershire, who found the wet season suited their style of play — especially the superb bowling of Charlie Parker.  Last season’s pretenders Hampshire and Sussex both fell badly in the table; Hampshire had a horrible season, perhaps partly due to their fragile batting shown up by Philip Mead’s loss of form early on, and lack of depth in bowling, with Jack Newman have quite a poor season.  Sussex were doing well until Arthur Gilligan’s injury, and they showed how much they relied on his fast bowling in particular and his inspiring leadership by crashing to one defeat after another in the wake of this.  Warwickshire showed improvement despite so many rain-ruined matches at Edgbaston.  Glamorgan had the encouragement of rising to 13th in the table, but Derbyshire had a disastrous time, achieving no victories as in 1920, although at least this time they did manage to get a few points in drawn minutes.

If the South Africans had been playing in the County Championship, their record would have been: Played 20, won 5, lost 3, won on first innings 4, lost on first innings 3, tied on first innings 1, no result 4.  They would have earned 42 points of a possible 80 and finished with a percentage of 52.50, finishing eighth.  But they were playing in conditions very foreign to them.

TOMORROW’S MATCHES (first-class)

Hastings: South v South Africans

Scarborough: Yorkshire v M.C.C.

Starting on Thursday 4 September:

Blackpool: Lancashire v England Eleven

The County Championship is over, and it is now Festival time, with three separate first-class festivals going on concurrently at Scarborough, Blackpool and Hastings, so almost all the country’s leading players will still be in action, as well as the South African tourists.

WEATHER FORECAST

Some rain, but also beautiful weather at times.

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.