100 Years Ago: 24 July 1924

by John Ward

Day 2

Derby: Derbyshire v Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire Throw Away Early Advantage

GLOUCESTERSHIRE 92 and 161 (B H Lyon 70, A E Dipper 49; S W A Cadman 4/36, A Morton 6/58). DERBYSHIRE 87 and 38/1 (G R Jackson 11). Overnight score was: Gloucestershire (2) 4/0 (Dipper 2*, Lyon 2*).

The weather was showery and the players were on and off the field for much of the day.  The pitch played very easily in the morning, though, and Alf Dipper and Bev Lyon did their best to take full advantage of it, putting on 110 runs for the first wicket in less than two hours, although both escaped chances in the field.  After they were out in quick succession, Gloucestershire collapsed and no subsequent batsman even reached double figures, Wally Hammond this time being out for 9.  Besides poor batting, it was due to fine bowling by Sam Cadman and Arthur Morton, who took all ten wickets between them, helped by some brilliant catching and a very good stumping by Harry Elliott.  Gloucestershire had lost the advantage their openers had given them and let Derbyshire back into the game.

Derbyshire were left with 167 to win.  It was a great blow for them to lose Guy Jackson before the close for 11, and given the standard of batting so far in this match and Derbyshire’s normal batting fragility, Gloucestershire are probably favourites to win tomorrow — weather permitting!  If Derbyshire are to win, they will probably need their veteran stalwarts Cadman and Morton to do it again.

Bournemouth Week: Hampshire v Lancashire

Brown Sets Lancashire Back

HAMPSHIRE 173 and 171/7 (W R D Shirley 27, C P Mead 60*, H A W Bowell 21, J A Newman 8*; C H Parkin 3 wkts, R K Tyldesley 3 wkts). LANCASHIRE 199 (J W H Makepeace 72, G E Tyldesley 64, G Duckworth 21*; A S Kennedy 4/68, G Brown 5/29). Overnight score was: Lancashire (1) 86/1 (Makepeace 41*, G E Tyldesley 30*).

Harry Makepeace and Ernest Tyldesley continued their overnight partnership a little more briskly than they had yesterday evening, and took their stand to 119 and the score to 140 before Makepeace was well caught in the slips by Philip Mead.  A shower of rain then drove the players from the field and affected the pitch, but did not turn it into the demon that might be assumed from the ensuing scorecard.  Tyldesley went at 161, starting a collapse of the middle order, including three wickets going down on 169.  Lancashire thus crept into the lead with only three wickets in hand and eventually finished only 26 runs ahead — and this was due to 21 not out from George Duckworth, who was only the third batsman of the innings to reach double figures.  Alec Kennedy and George Brown were the bowlers responsible, with Brown — no longer a regular bowler for Hampshire — bowling an excellent length at considerable pace.

Hampshire went after quick runs when they batted again, with William Shirley returning to his big-hitting days with 27 out of 39.  Then Philip Mead stuck in again, looking like he was back to his best form as he accumulated runs steadily.  With several partners batting usefully in success, Hampshire finished the day 145 runs ahead with three wickets in hand, the most important fact being that one of them was Mead’s.

Leicester: Leicestershire v Kent

Freeman Puts Leicestershire Behind

KENT 222 and 154/5 (F E Woolley 72*, C H Knott 45; A Skelding 2 wkts, A W Shipman 2 wkts). LEICESTERSHIRE 141 (E W Dawson 36, S S Coulson 18, W E Astill 18, C H Taylor 27; A P Freeman 6/52, W H Ashdown 3/22). Overnight score was: Leicestershire 20/0 (Dawson 4*, Coulson 9*).

Leicestershire began the day well, with Eddie Dawson and Sydney Coulson making 52 for the first wicket.  But Tich Freeman now had the ball and the situation changed drastically for Leicestershire.  Freeman bowled superbly and the batsmen had no idea what he was doing with the ball.  Ewart Astill made a quick 18, but six wickets were down for 90, five of them to Freeman, before Claude Taylor put up a stern fight.  He made 27 with a little help from the tail, but Leicestershire finished 81 runs behind on the first innings.

When Kent batted again they were given early hope by some fine pace bowling from Alec Skelding and Alan Shipman, who removed the top three Kent batsmen with 23 on the board.  But then Frank Woolley took over, with help from John Knott.  Leicestershire watched their hopes slip away as Woolley mastered the bowling, with Knott also playing well until he was badly run out.  By then Leicestershire were 235 behind with five more wickets to fall, and they were in a position of little hope on a pitch still favouring bowlers.

Weston-super-Mare: Somerset v Middlesex

Allen Shatters Somerset

SOMERSET 82 and 157/6 (A Young 33, G E Hunt 42, P R Johnson 36, J C White 10*, J Daniell 4*; N E Haig 3 wkts, F J Durston 2 wkts). MIDDLESEX 317 (J W Hearne 58, J L Guise 45, G O B Allen 33, F T Mann 26; J J Bridges 4/106, J C White 4/91, G E Hunt 2/28). Overnight score was: Middlesex (1) 173/3 (Hearne 51*, Guise 8*).

Middlesex were in a good position overnight, but Jack Hearne and John Guise began the day slowly and securely.  Hearne finally went out for 58 in 2½ hours, a perfectly constructed innings that would satisfy any connoisseur, though human beings probably found it rather boring — he took over an hour to score his last 7 runs this morning, a perfect portrait of still life.  Guise followed his example with 45 in almost two hours, and even Gubby Allen did little hitting as Middlesex were determined to build a big lead no matter how long it took them.  Frank Mann alone made a few memorable hits, including a drive on to the roof of the pavilion.  Jack White bowled 50.4 overs in the innings to take four for 91, figures which did little justice to his excellent bowling with wonderful accuracy.

Somerset needed 235 to avoid an innings defeat on a pitch that is turning a little awkward, and so far have not looked like doing so, having lost Jack MacBryan for 1 and Tom Lowry for 0, making the score 11 for two.  Archie Young and George Hunt did their best, but found runs hard to score.  Randall Johnson played the best-looking innings, but all were out before the close, when Somerset still needed 98 to escape being beaten by an innings with only three wickets left in effect, as Guy Earle will be unable to bat with a badly strained side.

Hove: Sussex v Warwickshire

Calthorpe Puts Warwickshire Ahead

SUSSEX 199 and 215 (E H Bowley 17, H L Wilson 108*, A H H Gilligan 16, A E R Gilligan 18; H Howell 5/68, R E S Wyatt 4/84). WARWICKSHIRE 264 (F S G Calthorpe 108*, G W Stephens 45, R E S Wyatt 19; M W Tate 5/87, E H Bowley 3/67) and 11/2 (E J Smith 10, J H Parsons 1*; M W Tate 2 wkts). Overnight score was: Warwickshire (1) 127/4 (Calthorpe 30*, Stephens 23*).

Warwickshire took a good first-innings lead of 65 over Sussex today, which they owed almost entirely to their captain, Freddie Calthorpe.  He enjoyed good support from George Stephens in a fifth-wicket partnership of 85, but after that only Bob Wyatt stayed with him for long.  He had to depend on the last man Harry Howell to block out a lengthy duck to enable him to reach his century (he was on 96 when Howell arrived), as Maurice Tate finished off the innings.  Calthorpe’s innings lasted for almost three hours and he was dropped on 36.

Sussex even more so depended on one man for their second innings, as their former captain Herbert Wilson, now opening with Ted Bowley, scored a fraction over half his team’s total and carried his bat through the innings.  None of his partners could even reach 20, and his best partnership was worth only 42, with Arthur Gilligan.  Coincidentally, he also scored 108 not out and was also dropped once, on 44 — and both were virtually lone efforts to save their side.  Wilson took longer than Calthorpe over his innings, though, batting for 3½ hours, and he did not strike the ball so cleanly until later in his innings.  Harry Howell bowled particularly well for Warwickshire.

This left Warwickshire with 151 to win, and in the few minutes remaining they lost Tiger Smith and the night-watchman Wyatt for just 11 runs on the board, both to Maurice Tate.  There should be a very interesting struggle for victory tomorrow, as the fragile Warwickshire batting has to score the remaining runs with Tate spearheading the bowling attack.

Bradford: Yorkshire v Glamorgan

No Play — Rain

GLAMORGAN 116. YORKSHIRE 248/3 (P Holmes 118*, W Rhodes 9*).

Showers of rain fell on and off through most of the day.  There were hopes in the afternoon to start play at five o’clock, but another heavy shower then stymied that fanciful idea and play was called off for the day at that point.

Sunderland: Durham v South Africans (two-day, not first-class)

Durham Lead Tourists

DURHAM 195 and 12/0. SOUTH AFRICANS 173 (J M M Commaille 31, H G Deane 38; L H Weight 2/54, T K Dobson 4/49, A G Doggart 3/21). Match drawn.

The South Africans took a casual approach towards this match and as a result fell behind on first innings due to some light-hearted and even careless batting.  They made six hits for six during their innings.  Durham bowled and fielded quite well, but did not make very good use of the slow pitch, or they would probably have removed the South Africans for an even smaller total.  Heavy rain ended the match early, but it was doomed to be drawn in any case.

Day 1

Lord’s: Army v Royal Navy

Fowler Fouls up Navy Batting

ROYAL NAVY 119 (A K Gibson 32, J P Gornall 24; R S Fowler 7/22, T O Jameson 2/43).

ARMY 208/4 (W A C Wilkinson 23, A C L Stanley-Clarke 34, G J Bryan 71, T O Jameson 34*, F G Rogers 21*; A R Cadell 2 wkts).

As usual for this fixture, the Army have a very strong side that would be more than a match for some counties, while the Navy is never able to be at full strength.  The pitch was soft, but not really difficult.  The Navy made quite a fair start, reaching 61 before their second wicket fell, but then the former Etonian Captain Robert Fowler got to work and the Navy batsmen were quite unable to handle his skilful off-spin, varying his pace and break well.  Captain Tom Jameson also bowled very well, but it was Fowler who had the better luck.

The Army began their innings very well, and would have done even better than they did had it not been for a bit of carelessness and overconfidence.  Godfrey Bryan played the best to score 71 in about even time, and the Army look set to build a big lead tomorrow.

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.