100 Years Ago: 7 November 1924

Record partnership puts South Australia in a strong position

Day 1

Adelaide: South Australia v M.C.C.

Richardson and Richardson in Partnership

SOUTH AUSTRALIA 334/4 (A J Richardson 192*, V Y Richardson 87, N A Walsh 31*; A E R Gilligan 2/51, M W Tate 2/56). M.C.C. to bat.

Arthur Richardson and the captain Victor Richardson are often referred to as brothers, even in Australia, but they are actually unrelated.  They came together this morning with their state side having lost two wickets for 8 runs to the bowling of Maurice Tate, and put on 214 runs together.  There had been heavy overnight rain, but the pitch had been covered and so was unaffected; however the outfield was heavy in the morning.  As usual, Arthur Gilligan and Maurice Tate opened the M.C.C. bowling, and Tate struck in his third over, when he bowled out Gordon Harris and had John Murray lbw with just 8 runs on the board.  Both were deceived by balls that swung away, followed by a fatal inswinger.

Then the Richardson non-brothers took up their partnership.  They saw off Gilligan and Tate, who only bowled short spells owing to the eight-ball overs and the heat.  They were particularly severe on Dick Tyldesley’s bowling, but mastered all the bowlers until, with the first ball after tea, Vic Richardson was given out hit wicket to Gilligan; he later claimed that he did not hit it, but the bail was displaced by the wind.  However, this was later disputed by the umpires and some of the M.C.C. players.  His innings lasted two hours and 40 minutes.  By the close South Australia were in an excellent position and Arthur Richardson was on the verge of a double-century.  Only against Tate did he have to take great care.  The English fielding had been rather inconsistent.  The crowd reached a total of about 6500 during the afternoon.

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.