100 Years Ago: 20 September 1924

The White Rose clinches third consecutive Championship amid controversy

1924 County Review

YORKSHIRE — 1st place

Yorkshire won the County Championship for the third successive year, but it was hardly such a triumphant season as 1923 had been.  The team did not play as well and they had a tight battle for the championship with Middlesex, although they held out better at the end than their rivals.  Furthermore, and perhaps largely because they weren’t playing as well, they became unpopular in certain quarters, most notably in Middlesex and Surrey, for the over-aggressive way in which they were accused of playing the game.  There was at least some truth in these allegations, as Abe Waddington was at one time summoned to Lord’s after complaints from the umpires about his behaviour in the match against Middlesex at Bramall Lane, and George Macaulay was also named, with no specific incidents mentioned, but for his general attitude on the field.

It was also felt that the captain, Geoffrey Wilson, should have done more to keep certain players in check.  At the end of the season Wilson resigned the captaincy, and there was speculation as to whether he was in fact pushed by the Yorkshire committee under Lord Hawke, who were concerned about the county’s good reputation and perhaps felt that a stronger leader was needed — an amateur, of course.

As for Macaulay, his lack of self-control on the field no doubt cost him a place in either of the touring parties during the winter, as his superb bowling found him finishing at the top of the first-class averages.  He is also a brilliant close fielder and a spirited batsman, but his fiery temperament can be his undoing.

Yorkshire’s problem this season was that they did not play with the same depth in either batting or bowling as they did last year.  Macaulay and Roy Kilner at times seemed to carry the bowling and bowled well over 1000 overs each, with Kilner second to Macaulay in the national averages.  Wilfred Rhodes was close behind in average, but usually came on as third change.  Emmott Robinson could also have bowled more; again he was used mainly with the new ball, doing an excellent job, but was perhaps wrongly overlooked at times with the old one.  He does bowl better on hard wickets, though, and couldn’t find many this year.  Waddington after his shoulder injury last year is still not the same force as he used to be, and perhaps this was the frustration that overflowed against Middlesex.  Overall, though, they were still the best bowling team of all the counties.

The batting also was not as consistent this year.  Kilner’s batting suffered as his bowling prospered, and he averaged only 18 with the bat, highest score 50.  On the other hand, Maurice Leyland made good progress.  The team’s batting as a whole was solid rather than enterprising.  It was noticeable that the tail was much less proficient this year and often collapsed badly, while Geoffrey Wilson had another dismal season with the bat.  He did field superbly, though, and in this department Yorkshire generally maintained their best standards.

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.