100 Years Ago: 4-8 December 1924

Big batting, dodgy umpiring and unconventional tactics

Brisbane: Australian XI v M.C.C. (four-day match)

Day 1

Determined Australian Batting

AUSTRALIAN XI 299/5 (L P D O’Connor 50, W H Ponsford 81, A J Richardson 35, H S T L Hendry 68, R K Oxenham 47*; R K Tyldesley 2 wkts, A P Freeman 2 wkts). M.C.C. to bat.

The Australian XI consisted of four top Queensland players and seven aspiring Australians from elsewhere who were given a chance to boost their claims for a place in the Test team, under the captaincy of Hunter Hendry. They certainly batted in determined fashion and kept M.C.C. in the field all day. However, Arthur Gilligan decided to rest both himself and Maurice Tate from this match, along with Jack Hobbs and Frank Woolley, so it was a much weakened team that Johnny Douglas had to captain. Harry Howell is playing, though, finally recovered from his strain.

The Australian team got off to a good start, with Bill Ponsford in fine form, driving fluently both to off and on, and the Queenslander Leo O’Connor putting on 121 together in two hours. Five of the first six batsmen all played good innings, the exception being Alan Kippax, who was out for 14. The day finished with a century partnership between Hendry and Ron Oxenham, with Hendry going out to Freeman in the final over of the day. The English bowling did not cause the batsmen much trouble on the good pitch — Tich Freeman was the best of them — while the fielding was mostly good, but a little patchy at times.

Day 2

Big Stand by Two Unknowns

AUSTRALIAN XI 526 (R K Oxenham 54, F C Thompson 114, F H Taaffe 86*; H Howell 2/123, R K Tyldesley 2/105, A P Freeman 6/160). M.C.C. 4/0 (J W H T Douglas 1*, H Strudwick 1*). Overnight score was: Australian XI (1) 299/5 (Oxenham 47*).

It was another hard day for M.C.C. as the Australian XI ground out the runs and kept them in the field for almost a full two days. Oxenham was stumped off Tich Freeman early on, but then Cecil Thompson of Queensland and Frederick Taaffe of Western Australia, both in their first representative matches, settled into a long, laborious partnership for the seventh wicket that eventually realized 170 runs, taking the score to 482 before Thompson was finally prised out after tea, having reaching his century. His is the first century ever scored by a Queenslander against an English team, and his innings took 3½ hours. The crowd, who wanted to see M.C.C. bat, grew very restive during their partnership. Taaffe took almost four hours for his 86 and was still unbeaten when the innings finally closed for 526. Obviously he was desperately keen to do well, but the state of the game should have demanded more attacking play. Freeman bowled 53 overs in the innings, showing tremendous heart and stamina in the heat. M.C.C. had just two overs to bat before the close of play.

Day 3

Powerful Batting from Chapman

AUSTRALIAN XI 526. M.C.C. 292/6 (J W H T Douglas 54, J L Bryan 29, E H Hendren 71*, A P F Chapman 92; C V Grimmett 3 wkts). Overnight score was: M.C.C. (1) 4/0 (Douglas 1*, Strudwick 1*).

For most of the day M.C.C. had to struggle hard to stay in competition in this match. Of the two stand-in openers, Bert Strudwick was soon out, but Johnny Douglas as so often led the resistance. Herbert Sutcliffe could well have played a major part, but was given out for 19 by a bad umpiring error — he edged a ball from Arthur Richardson hard on to his pads, but the umpire gave him out lbw in spite of the fact that nobody appealed.*

Douglas batted 2½ hours for his 54, and when Andy Sandham, badly troubled by Clarrie Grimmett, was out the score was 146 for five. Patsy Hendren was still there, batting doggedly, and was now joined by Percy Chapman, who responded to the situation by attacking the bowling brilliantly. He raced to his fifty in 49 minutes, and there was much excellent batting when Hendren began to catch hold of his confidence. The complexion of the innings was quite changed by the time Chapman was out in the final over of the day after scoring 92 in about an hour and three-quarters.

* ACS member Mark Catley comments: “In Gilligan’s Men, Monty Noble adds that the Australian captain approached the umpire and asked him to reverse his decision, but the request was refused. Noble also asserts that Sandham ‘just tipped’ the ball before being adjudged lbw. He laments: ‘It is unfortunate that there are not many umpires in Australia who thoroughly understand the leg-before rule.’”

ACS member Martin Briggs adds: “It seems faintly quaint and archaic that in law [Law 31.8], the fielding captain still has to (seek and) obtain consent from the umpire to withdraw an appeal and cannot do so unilaterally by grandly calling the batter back of his own volition. As with the Sandham case, this still leaves the way open for the umpire to withhold consent and stand by their original decision. As an umpire myself, extremely muddy waters and a stout rod for one’s back in doing so. One to be avoided…
“The fielding captain cannot demand that a batter (batsman if anyone prefers) remain at the crease if an appeal is withdrawn. The batter has a right to leave voluntarily, i.e. ‘walk.’ If consent is withheld, the umpire has to have good reason to do so.
“Very importantly, the umpire has the responsibility to recall the batter. It’s not the fielding captain who does so, much as he/she might like to do so for dramatic effect etc…”

Day 4

Tame Draw

AUSTRALIAN XI 526 and 257/5 (H S T L Hendry 26, L P D O’Connor 40, A J Richardson 83, A F Kippax 82*; A P F Chapman 2/33). M.C.C. 421 (E H Hendren 100, R Kilner 52, R K Tyldesley 29; C V Grimmett 4/176, R K Oxenham 4/25). Match drawn. Overnight score was: M.C.C. (1) 292/6 (Hendren 71*).

The day began with M.C.C. still needing 35 runs to avoid the possibility of a follow-on, and Patsy Hendren and Roy Kilner soon handled that. Hendren went on to complete a century, batting for 3½ hours, while Kilner passed 50 and Dick Tyldesley made some big hits off Clarrie Grimmett before the latter dismissed him. When the last wicket fell, the Australian XI had a first-innings lead of 105 runs.

Hunter Hendry opened their second innings with Leo O’Connor and was out just before tea, when the score was 89 for one. Soon after tea the match degenerated into a farce, though, as Johnny Douglas gave all eleven of his players at least three overs with the ball and the batsmen went in for extravagant hitting. Even Bert Strudwick took off his pads to bowl, with Tich Freeman going behind the stumps to keep wicket. This led to a unique curiosity in the match scorecard: Ron Oxenham was out stumped by Strudwick off Freeman in the first innings, and now in the second innings he was out stumped by Freeman off the bowling of Strudwick, the latter’s first first-class wicket.

Bulawayo: Rhodesia v S B Joel’s XI

Day 1

Jupiter Pluvius Again

S B JOEL’S XI 37/1 (P Holmes 20*, E H Bowley 15*). RHODESIA to bat.

Only a short period of play was possible before a duststorm blew up, followed by rain and hail. M.C.C. lost the wicket of Fred Nicholas, dismissed off the bowling of Tom Bourdillon, who played for Sussex in 1919. Rhodesia are captained by Bob Catterall, who has moved up there from Transvaal.

Day 2

Bowley and Jameson to the Rescue

S B JOEL’S XI 294 (P Holmes 32, E H Bowley 131, T O Jameson 90*; S A Cowper 4/65, F H Morgan 3/85). RHODESIA 118/8 R H Catterall 38, F H Morgan 25, W Wood 19*, E C Arnold 13*; G Geary 3 wkts, T O Jameson 3 wkts). Overnight score was: S B Joel’s XI (1) 37/1 (Holmes 20*, Bowley 15*).

The tourists surprisingly got themselves into trouble against the inexperienced Rhodesian team, which does not even play in the Currie Cup tournament yet. After Percy Holmes was out, the next five middle-order batsmen scored only 17 runs among them, few trying to dominate the bowling. The bowlers who caused the damage were Austen Cowper, left-arm medium, who has played for Western Province and Argentina, and Freddie Morgan, leg-breaks. At tea the score was 94 for seven, but Ted Bowley was in with a very dogged 39. During the afternoon Tom Jameson stuck in with him and their determined play added 168 for the eighth wicket, enabling the team to total a face-saving 294. When Rhodesia batted, only Bob Catterall and Morgan could cope with the bowling, after Geary had reduced them to 10 for three. They lost eight wickets for 87, but finished the day at 118 without further loss, needing to reach 145 to save the follow-on.

In Bombay, a three-day first-class match between the Muslims and the Parsees was completed today. The Muslims (219 and 130) beat the Parsees (76 and 168) by 105 runs. The best player was Ahmed Botawala for Muslims, who scored 76 in the first innings and took seven wickets for 26, ten for 133 in the match.

Day 3

Rhodesian Resistance in Vain

S B JOEL’S XI 294 and 42/2 (L H Tennyson 16*, A H H Gilligan 19; R H Catterall 2/24). RHODESIA 121 (W Wood 19*; G Geary 4/38, A S Kennedy 2/40, T O Jameson 3/13) and (following on) 212 (F H Morgan 50, W Wood 28, J C Campbell-Rodger 22, A Campbell 22, S A Cowper 18*; G Geary 5/70, C S Marriott 2/39, E H Bowley 2/21). S B Joel’s XI won by eight wickets. Overnight score was: Rhodesia (1) 118/8 (Wood 19*, Arnold 13*).

Rhodesia put up another spirited performance today and the tourists were hard pushed to win the match before time expired. They lost their last two first-innings wickets quickly and were forced to follow on 173 runs in arrears. They fought all down the order: only Freddie Morgan passed a score of 30, but eight men reached double figures and the bowlers had to fight for their wickets all the way. The follow-on was saved with seven wickets down, and eventually the tourists had to score 40 to win in quick time. The hitters went in, and Lionel Tennyson hit the winning boundary just in time. Clearly though Rhodesia has a stronger team than was expected, and they should seek to join the Currie Cup competition, if finances and distance permit.

1925 English season

The captains of the first-class counties held their usual meeting at Lord’s to select 24 first-class umpires for next season. Famous former players in the list include David Denton, Len Braund, Arnold Warren, Sailor Young, Bill Reeves and Frank Chester.

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