100 Years Ago: 7 August 1924

by John Ward

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Day 2

Liverpool: Lancashire v Northamptonshire

Tyldesley and McDonald Cheap Wickets

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 97 (W Wells 14; C H Parkin 2/51, R K Tyldesley 14-12-6-7) and 47/5 (C N Woolley 27*, Wells 7*; E A McDonald 5 wkts). LANCASHIRE 206 (C Hallows 21, G E Tyldesley 42, F B Watson 60, A W Pewtress 32, R K Tyldesley 23; W Wells 3/52, A E Thomas 5/24). Overnight score was: Northamptonshire (1) 71/6 (Wells 1*, R L Wright 0*).

Dick Tyldesley continued to cast his spell over the Northamptonshire batsmen this morning as play continued.  They were too mesmerized even to attempt a scoring stroke off him most of the time, and all the runs came off Cecil Parkin at the other end; both bowlers finished with two of the four remaining wickets.  Tyldesley had the remarkable figures shown above: 14 overs for seven wickets and only 6 runs scored off him.  Today he bowled eight overs, all maidens, for his two wickets.  Northamptonshire failed to reach 100.

The pitch was still helping the bowlers, and Lancashire did not start too well either, losing Harry Makepeace for 1 and Charlie Hallows for 21 to make the score 29 for two.  It took hard work by Ernest Tyldesley and Frank Watson to build the innings, but gradually they began to master the bowling.  Northamptonshire have no spin bowler good enough to take advantage of the pitch and put Lancashire under pressure.  After Tyldesley went Alfred Pewtress, who is a master at Doncaster Grammar School and had fielded brilliantly, shared a good stand with Watson to take the score to 164 for three wickets.  Then suddenly there was a great middle-order collapse to Bumper Wells and Albert Thomas, and the eighth wicket fell at 169 — five wickets for 5 runs.  This virtually destroyed Lancashire’s hopes of an overwhelming lead, but Dick Tyldesley and Parkin took the score eventually past 200.  Thomas bowled superbly, swinging the ball late, to take five for only 24 off 19.4 overs.

When Northamptonshire batted it was Ted McDonald’s turn to destroy the innings, bowling at his fastest with his beautiful action, and he took all the first five wickets to fall for only 30 runs, all bowled out.  The first five men out, all quality batsmen, scored only 3 runs among them.  The only batsman to stand against him was the experienced Claud Woolley, who held out to the close, eventually finding a capable partner in Wells as McDonald tired.  Strangely Jack Sharp used Cecil Parkin to open with McDonald, and he was ineffective, but he has not called on Tyldesley again yet.  There was beautiful sunny weather in the afternoon.

Bristol: Gloucestershire v Essex

Parker Destroys Essex Batting

GLOUCESTERSHIRE 201 and 248/5 (F J Seabrook 22, A E Dipper 100, B H Lyon 23, W R Hammond 66, F G Rogers 20*; A B Hipkin 3/31). ESSEX 64 (F W Gilligan 18, C A G Russell 17, J O’Connor 12; C W L Parker 8/26). Overnight score was: Essex (1) 1/2 (Gilligan 0*).

Essex, after their disastrous start overnight, batted this morning as if both Charlie Parker and the pitch were demonic.  Jack Russell was the exception, scoring 17 in good style but then being bowled by Parker.  Frank Gilligan stonewalled 80 minutes for 18 and Johnny Douglas did a similar job while scoring 2 not out; the last six wickets fell for 14 runs.  Parker bowled throughout the innings and took the remarkable figures of eight for 26.

This poor batting and a lead of 137 gave the Gloucestershire batsmen a confidence they don’t often possess when batting a second time.  Fred Seabrook and Bev Lyon both batted brightly without lasting long, but Alf Dipper felt free to play a fine fluent innings, and scored a century in three hours before being out off the next delivery; however, he hit only 5 fours.  Wally Hammond always seemed to be back to his best form, taking an hour to reach his fifty.  At the close Gloucestershire had a lead of 385 runs and, if the rain keeps off, they should be staring victory in the face tomorrow.

Birmingham: Warwickshire v Glamorgan

Quaife Drops Anchor

GLAMORGAN 266 (F B Pinch 64, J C Clay 33; R E S Wyatt 3/51, E P Hewetson 4/60, W G Quaife 2/36). WARWICKSHIRE 268/6 (W G Quaife 109*, G W Stephens 48, L T A Bates 46; J Mercer 2 wkts, F P Ryan 2 wkts). Overnight score was: Glamorgan (1) 191/5 (Pinch 23*, Clay 7*).

Frank Pinch and Johnnie Clay took their overnight sixth-wicket partnership for Glamorgan to 83 runs this morning, but when they were separated the innings soon came to an end, with the last five wickets going down for 12 runs.  Edward Hewetson bowled a fine spell of fast bowling, taking four of the five.   Warwickshire did not start their reply too well, with Jack Mercer bowling well and the first three wickets falling for 45 runs.  Then Willie Quaife dug his trench at the crease and defied the bowlers, finding good partners in George Stephens (72 together for the fifth wicket) and Len Bates (126 for the sixth).  Bates was out in the final over just after Warwickshire had taken the lead and just after Quaife (aged 52) had reached his first century of the season — yes, and all the runs scored in one day!  He received a great ovation from the crowd, which can excuse his slowness when he is digging his side out of a hole.  In 3¾ hours, though, it was a rather brisker effort than he often produces.

Canterbury Week: Kent v Nottinghamshire

Kent Face Defeat

KENT 67 and 229 (H T W Hardinge 50, F E Woolley 64, G E C Wood 35, A C Wright 22*; F C L Matthews 2/39, S J Staples 5/65, T L Richmond 3/89). NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 242 (W W Whysall 109*; C S Marriott 3/71, A P Freeman 3/45, F E Woolley 2/30). Overnight score was: Nottinghamshire (1) 233/9 (Whysall 104*).

Much overnight rain prevented any play until after lunch.  The Nottinghamshire innings did not last long, and when Len Richmond was out lbw the Tich Freeman, Dodger Whysall was left to carry his bat through the innings for the first time in his career with 109 not out, after batting for about three hours and 40 minutes.  Nottinghamshire held a first-innings lead of 175.

Kent made a bad start to their second innings, losing Jack Bryan and James Seymour for 15 runs.  Frank Woolley narrowly escaped a king pair, nearly caught at short leg first ball.  But Frank Matthews did not bowl as well as in the first innings and found his run-up rather heavy, which made him pitch the ball too short; in the conditions Sam Staples was of more danger to the batsmen, getting help from the drying pitch.  There followed a fine partnership of 110 between Hardinge and Woolley, with the latter not getting much chance to drive, but able to pull the short stuff powerfully.  Both were out in quick succession, and again the middle order proved weak, although the pitch was becoming more difficult as it dried.  The best of the later batsmen was the acting captain and wicket-keeper, George Wood, who drove superbly in scoring 35.  Kent were out just before the close, and they could only set Nottinghamshire a target of 55 to get tomorrow.

Leicester: Leicestershire v Yorkshire

Yorkshire Lead Despite Geary Burst

LEICESTERSHIRE 114 and 14/2 (A W Shipman 5*, G H S Fowke 2*). YORKSHIRE 228 (P Holmes 90, H Sutcliffe 45, E Oldroyd 30, W Rhodes 21; A Skelding 2/48, G Geary 5/35, C H Taylor 2/13). Overnight score was: Leicestershire (1) 114 all out.

Like Leicestershire yesterday, Yorkshire also found run-scoring difficult against good bowling on a rather uncertain pitch, and like Leicestershire they showed rather too much caution — but their resources are greater.  Herbert Sutcliffe played well at the start, scoring 45 out of 69 for the first wicket, while Percy Holmes started uncertainly and was dropped twice.  He gradually regained his touch, though, and looked well set for another century when he was bowled by Alec Skelding for 90 in 3¾ hours.  Yorkshire passed 200 with four wickets down, but after tea George Geary took the second new ball and had a startling burst of success.  Five wickets went down for five runs, four of them to Geary, who bowled superbly, making the ball lift awkwardly.  Yorkshire went from 205 for four to 210 for nine before Geoffrey Wilson scored 13 not out with some defensive support from the last man Abe Waddington.  The final score was exactly double the Leicestershire total.  Geary bowled a final spell of ten overs for 7 runs and five wickets.

The collapse did allow Yorkshire to put Leicestershire in again for 40 minutes before the close, and in that time they bowled out both openers, leaving two night-watchmen at the crease to carry on the innings tomorrow.

The Oval: Surrey v South Africans

Susskind Leads South African Fightback

SURREY 300. SOUTH AFRICANS 311/5 (M J Susskind 118*, P A M Hands 20, H W Taylor 39, R H Catterall 63*; S Fenley 3 wkts). Overnight score was: South Africans (1) 44/2 (Susskind 4*, Hands 4*).

In damp conditions after a late start at 2.45, the South Africans continued their innings with great suspicion, but Surrey, without a quality finger-spin bowler, were unable to take advantage of the damp pitch.  Most of their bowling was rather poor, bowling too short, and the pitch turned these deliveries into long hops that the more enterprising batsmen were able to hit.  Philip Hands briefly tried to be aggressive and hit Stanley Fenley for a skimming low six on to the pavilion awning, but he did not last long.  Dave Nourse (14) was never comfortable, and when he was out his team was struggling at 83 for four.  However, Herby Taylor, after a cautious beginning, showed some brilliant back play before he was unexpectedly yorked by Fenley for 39 at 176 for five.

Fred Susskind was still there, playing a safe but laborious game, and he was now joined by Bob Catterall, and in the final session they took heavy toll of the bland Surrey bowling, of whom only Fenley seemed capable of troubling them at all.  Susskind reached his first century of the tour in 3½ hours.  They put on 135 without being separated in just over an hour and a half, taking the tourists into the lead just before the close and with a chance of pressing for victory tomorrow, if the pitch can give them a little co-operation.

Hastings Week: Sussex v Hampshire

Bowley Fights for Sussex

HAMPSHIRE 516/8 dec (H L V Day 97, L H Tennyson 29, H A W Bowell 55*, J A Newman 20; M W Tate 5/114). SUSSEX 83/2 (E H Bowley 43*, R A Young 19, W L Cornford 10*). Overnight score was: Hampshire (1) 356/4 (Day 38*, Tennyson 28*).

Rain overnight and early morning prevented any play until after lunch, when Hampshire continued their innings.  The best innings was played by Harold Day, who played a good strong innings, although he had to show more caution against Maurice Tate.  He was on the verge of a century when he was unexpectedly caught and bowled by the occasional bowler Harold Gilligan from a poor stroke.  Apart from Tate, the Sussex bowlers struggled, and Alec Bowell scored an easy fifty mainly from poor bowling.  Lionel Tennyson declared at tea after the 500 had been reached.

Jack Newman produced a beautiful delivery to bowl out Gilligan for 9, and he and Kennedy gave Hampshire two quality bowlers against Sussex’s one.  Ted Bowley struggled at first but survived the day.  Sussex have a long way to go to save the follow-on, but they will have to bat quite badly if they are to lose 18 wickets on this easy pitch tomorrow.

Worcester: Worcestershire v Derbyshire

Root Routs Derbyshire

WORCESTERSHIRE 212 (C F Root 37, J B Coventry 20; A Morton 3/71, J Horsley 4/50) and 150/6 (G Ashton 36, M K Foster 34, Lord Somers 16*, C F Root 31*; W Bestwick 2 wkts, A Morton 2 wkts, J Horsley 2 wkts). DERBYSHIRE 102 (J Bowden 22, S W A Cadman 13, G R Jackson 15; C F Root 7/37, F A Pearson 3/44). Overnight score was: Worcestershire (1) 184/6 (Root 30*, Coventry 20*).

The pitch, drying in the sun this morning, made life difficult for batsmen.  The Worcestershire first innings did not last long this morning, but they passed 200 before they were all dismissed.  Then came the Fred Root show.  It was his day, as he bowled in his best form throughout the innings, and only three Derbyshire batsmen reached double figures.  The opening batsman Joseph Bowden did best, batting nearly an hour and a half for 22, and at one stage the score was 59 for two, but it all went downhill from there and Derbyshire were all out in less than two and a half hours.  Root took seven wickets for only 37 runs, very accurate, and how Derbyshire must regret having lost him.

Worcestershire did not begin their second innings well, losing three wickets for 27, but Gilbert Ashton, promoted to open, was joined by Maurice Foster and they helped bring about a recovery.  By the close Worcestershire were in unfamiliar waters for them, having a strong advantage with a lead of 260 runs and still four wickets in hand.

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.