100 Years Ago: 30 July 1924
by John Ward
Day 1
Huddersfield: Yorkshire v Derbyshire
Holmes Century Between Showers
YORKSHIRE 201/3 (P Holmes 107, H Sutcliffe 17, E Oldroyd 58, M Leyland 8*, W Rhodes 4*; A Morton 2 wkts). DERBYSHIRE to bat.
Interruptions by rain and bad light meant that less that four hours’ play was possible at the Fartown ground today. The Yorkshire batting was dominated by Percy Holmes’s fourth century in a fortnight, although he survived a chance to square leg when 14. His second-wicket partnership with Edgar Oldroyd put on 156 in about 2½ hours. The pitch was lifeless and the weather was dull and damp, but the Derbyshire ground fielding was very good and the batsmen found the going heavy at times. The score was 189 for one immediately before Holmes was out, after batting for 3½ hours, but the bowlers managed to dismiss both men before stumps. Bill Bestwick had been expecting to play for Derbyshire, but with the pitch was so slow he was left out.
Leyton: Essex v Lancashire
No Play — Rain
After torrential rain at Leyton yesterday, this morning found pools of water over most of the pitch and much of the outfield. It took until 4.15 before the captains bowed to the inevitable and let everyone go home. Ted McDonald, who nowadays usually plays in midweek matches for Lancashire, is not in their team this time, but the Lancashire Club have secured his release from Nelson for the Roses match that starts at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Nottingham: Nottinghamshire v Leicestershire
Leicestershire Under the Cosh
LEICESTERSHIRE 121 (J H King 23, G Geary 23, A W Shipman 21*; F Barratt 4/13, F C L Matthews 2/23, T L Richmond 4/25). NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 201/2 (G Gunn 87*, W W Whysall 32, A W Carr 74*; G Geary 2 wkts).
Leicestershire had a very rough day at Trent Bridge and by the close of play were faced with the likelihood of overwhelming defeat. The pitch was placid and the weather stayed dry, but so was Leicestershire’s batting. The Nottinghamshire pace bowlers, Fred Barratt and Frank Matthews, removed the openers for 13 and then Len Richmond, bowling very accurately for him in probably his best bowling of the season, took the next four wickets cheaply so six wickets were down for 66. There came a brief respite as George Geary and Alan Shipman added 40 for the seventh wicket, virtually the only batsmen to play a positive game, but then the pacemen returned and polished off the innings for just 121, a three-hour crawl. Even the usually positive Ewart Astill took almost an hour to score 11 runs.
George Gunn and Dodger Whysall made 56 for the Nottinghamshire first wicket, before the latter and John Gunn (6) fell in quick succession to Geary. But then Arthur joined George Gunn and the pair had built a big stand by the close, worth 137 by then and still going strong. Carr passed 1000 runs for the season, and this was one of Gunn’s enterprising days, as he played his polished strokes freely.
Taunton: Somerset v Warwickshire
Pace Sinks Somerset
SOMERSET 99 (A Young 13, J C White 45, J Daniell 13; H Howell 5/36, R E S Wyatt 5/47). WARWICKSHIRE 110/7 (E J Smith 18, J H Parsons 23, F S G Calthorpe 38*, R E S Wyatt 10* overnight; J C White 4 wkts, G E Hunt 2 wkts).
The pitch was soft and took turn, but was not seriously difficult. The bowling and fielding were good and the batting generally poor and dull today. Somerset, without Jack MacBryan who was resting, sent in Jack White as a stopgap opener to partner Archie Young, and he alone scored more than 13 with the bat, showing what a fine batsman he would be if he were unable to bowl. He stayed in 1¾ hours for 45. The others fell victim to fine pace bowling from Harry Howell, well backed by Bob Wyatt after lunch. Howell twice took two wickets with consecutive balls in the innings. The highest partnership of the innings was only 22.
Warwickshire did little better when they went in, although Tiger Smith and Jack Parsons put on 31 for the first wicket. Willie Quaife took half an hour to get off the mark, but speeded up enough to reach 8 in an hour before he was out. Freddie Calthorpe played the only successful attacking innings of the day, going for his strokes and taking his team into the lead with seven wickets down. After his fine batting, White was also Somerset’s best bowler, and most of the Warwickshire batsmen were almost strokeless against him. Somerset may have been rather unsettled today with a makeshift team, as Dar Lyon and Raymond Robertson-Glasgow were both selected to play but withdrew at the last moment.
The Oval: Surrey v Hampshire
Good Start by Surrey
SURREY 119/1 (J B Hobbs 57, A Sandham 48*, D J Knight 7*). HAMPSHIRE to bat.
Only two hours and ten minutes’ play was possible at the Oval today. The torrential rain of yesterday prevented any play until 3.30, and then another shower during an unnecessary tea interval meant there was no resumption until six o’clock. Surrey won the toss and expectedly batted with Jack Hobbs and Andy Sandham first. With the pitch quite awkward and both batsmen taking blows to the body, Sandham started slowly, taking 20 minutes to score his first run, but then speeded up afterwards, with the score at tea being 90 without loss. When play was eventually resumed Hobbs, who had shown superb technique and tactics on this pitch, was quickly out, stumped off the left-arm spin of Stuart Boyes, and Donald Knight joined Sandham to play out the day with some difficulty, as the pitch had worsened.
Hove: Sussex v South Africans
Nourse is Tourists’ Backbone
SOUTH AFRICANS 337 (J M M Commaille 42, T A Ward 47, A W Nourse 73, P A M Hands 58*, J M Blanckenberg 47, S J Pegler 25; M W Tate 2/69, R R Relf 3/80, J H Parks 3/91). SUSSEX to bat.
Arthur Gilligan is still not fit to play for Sussex, but they have Dick Young, Robert Relf and Norman Holloway available for this match, played in rare good weather. The tourists enjoyed a good opening stand of 90 between Mick Commaille and Tommy Ward, who stayed in until after lunch, but six wickets fell during the afternoon session so that by tea they had lost their advantage with a score of 182 for six. Dave Nourse was still there, however, holding the innings together, and at last after tea he found a reliable partner in Philip Hands. After Nourse was out, batting for just over two hours for 73, Jimmy Blanckenberg played the most aggressive innings of the day, scoring 47 out of 71 for the eighth wicket with Hands. The day ended with the close of the South African innings for what should be a good total against the weak Sussex batting. Jim Parks impressed with his slow-medium bowling and was the only bowler to bother Nourse, eventually having him stumped by Tich Cornford.
AUSTRALIAN TOUR
A team of 15 players (later to be supplemented by a reserve wicket-keeper) has been announced to tour Australia this coming winter. It is as follows: —
Opening batsmen: Jack Bryan, Andy Sandham, Herbert Sutcliffe.
Middle-order batsmen: Percy Chapman, Patsy Hendren, Jack Hearne, Frank Woolley.
Pace bowlers: *Arthur Gilligan, Johnny Douglas, Clement Gibson, Maurice Tate.
Spin bowlers: Dick Tyldesley, Tich Freeman, Roy Kilner (also Hearne and Woolley).
Wicket-keeper: +Herbert Strudwick.
Jack Hearne had not been expected to tour, but he now feels his health could stand up to the trip and has accepted the invitation. On paper there is plenty of bowling and a strong batting line-up, although 16 in the party means one or two players will get very little to do unless there are injuries.
The big surprise is the selection of Clement Gibson as one of the bowlers. He has been in Argentina all season and so has played no cricket in England at all this year. He toured Australia and New Zealand two years ago with Archie MacLaren’s M.C.C. team and had a poor record in the Australian leg of the tour. Far be it from us to suggest that his amateur status has anything to do with his selection . . . Actually MacLaren rates him highly, and quite possibly MacLaren’s influence was behind the selection. But surely Harry Howell (a professional) would have been a more appropriate choice. He toured Australia four years ago, and had appalling luck with dropped catches and injuries, but he impressed the Australians far more than his statistics showed. He is a bowler of real pace, and at this stage we cannot be sure of Gilligan’s fitness.
Philip Mead’s poor form for most of this season up until this last match has prevented his inclusion, but England may come to regret his omission, as his steady (rather than stonewalling; he is not that) batting in the timeless Australian Tests may be just what is needed to wear down the Australian attack for hours upon end, especially in the absence of Jack Hobbs. But the middle order is already very strong.
Bryan is in the team as a replacement for Hobbs, as a reserve opening batsman is needed after Sutcliffe and Sandham, but he could only be selected on potential (well, he is an amateur too) rather than current form, as he has so far this season been able to play in four matches and has yet to score a fifty. Jack MacBryan can count himself most unlucky, as he has had a fine season opening for Somerset and was given a début in the Fourth Test, only for rain to deny him an innings.
Freeman is considered to be very lucky to be included as a third leg-spin bowler after Tyldesley and Hearne, although he had experience of Australian conditions with MacLaren’s team two years ago, and had some success. Unless he strikes very good form he could find himself on the sidelines for most of the tour. All the spinners turn from leg, but who is the class specialist off-spinner worthy of a place today? George Macaulay can bowl off-spin as well as pace, but the selectors presumably consider his bowling unsuitable for Australian conditions. Hearne though can bowl off-breaks well and if these are needed he will be a useful man to have around.
The fielding should be much stronger than it was in the last two series against Australia. Chapman and Hendren are brilliant in all positions. The only weakness would appear to be in slip fielding, with Woolley less reliable than in the past. It is good to see Strudwick even in his forties entrusted with the job of first-choice wicket-keeper, as it is widely agreed that he remains the best in the country.
Who will the reserve wicket-keeper be? Since George Duckworth was included in the fourth Test team, where he did a generally good job, he is perhaps the man the selectors have in mind. If they are consistent they will play him in the fifth Test and, since nobody else has been given a real trial, he would have to have a disastrous time to be omitted now.
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.