22 August 1924: 100 Years Ago

by John Ward

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Day 3

Cardiff: Glamorgan v Somerset

No Play — Match Abandoned

After still more heavy night rain, much of the ground at Cardiff Arms Park was under water, even to the depth of several inches, while the area where the pitch had last been sighted was guarded by numerous seagulls.  It was decided not to disturb them, and the match was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Chesterfield: Derbyshire v Essex

No Play — Rain Again

ESSEX 29/1. DERBYSHIRE to bat. Match drawn (no result).

Today was finally a dry day at Chesterfield, but the damage had been done — the pitch was so saturated that at one o’clock the captains agreed that there was no alternative but to abandon the match.  So Derbyshire have finished their disastrous season without a victory, and also with a financial loss of about £2000 owing to such severe weather interference throughout the season.

Manchester: Lancashire v Gloucestershire

A Thirty-Minute Match

LANCASHIRE 26/0 (J W H Makepeace 13*, C Hallows 13*). GLOUCESTERSHIRE did not bat. Match drawn (no result).

Play was finally able to begin at Old Trafford at 12.15 today, and Harry Makepeace and Charlie Hallows settled in against the Gloucestershire attack headed by Charlie Parker, but they denied him any success.  However, Jupiter Pluvius’s spies informed him of this development, and with typical efficiency he sent another thunderstorm to strike the ground after only half an hour, so that the pitch again sank under the water.  It is hoped by eternal optimists that it will be possible to start the scheduled Lancashire match against Hampshire on this ground tomorrow.

Lord’s: Middlesex v Kent

Rain Ruins Good Finish and Middlesex

MIDDLESEX 133 and 334 (G O B Allen 31, F T Mann 27, J L Guise 22; G C Collins 2/62, C S Marriott 6/92). KENT 165 and 3/0 (H T W Hardinge 2*, J L Bryan 0*). Match drawn (Kent 3 pts, Middlesex 1 pt). Overnight score was: Middlesex (2) 271/4 (Allen 15*, Mann 26*).

Middlesex, desperately needing a victory, especially after falling behind on the first innings, tried their best to score quickly, but they had limited success, especially against the leg-spin bowling of Father Marriott, who spun the ball sharply.  Frank Mann was brilliantly caught by Jack Bryan off a huge skyer, and only John Guise in his brief innings enjoyed much success.  Marriott finished with six wickets, wrapping up the tail quickly, and Kent were set 303 to win.  The visitors began their second innings about half an hour before lunch.

The match was set for possibly an exciting finish, as it was expected that the pitch would roll out well for the Kent batsmen, and Jack Hearne was still in pain from his injury, which would no doubt handicap or prevent his bowling.  But Jupiter Pluvius had other plans . . .  Only 2.2 overs could be bowled before the invasion of heavy rain and a full-blown thunderstorm that did such damage as to end the match at that point.  So Middlesex suffer severely for their failure to win even on the first innings, and yield first place in the championship table to Yorkshire.

Lakenham: Minor Counties v South Africans

Beadsmoore Snatches Victory for Minors

MINOR COUNTIES 196 and 272. SOUTH AFRICANS 149 and 294 (G A L Hearne 45, M J Susskind 25, A W Nourse 91, H W Taylor 47, D J Meintjes 26; M Falcon 5/103, W A Beadsmoore 4/53). Minor Counties won by 25 runs. Overnight score was: South Africans (2) 66/1 (Hearne 38*, Susskind 25*).

The South Africans came close to snatching what would have been an unexpected victory today, and even closer to forcing a draw, as their last wicket fell with only two minutes left for play.  They quickly lost Fred Susskind this morning, with George Hearne following, but the old hands Dave Nourse and Herby Taylor rose to the occasion with a fine partnership that added exactly 100 runs for the fourth wicket.  With Douggie Meintjes again batting well, the score at one stage reached 257 for five wickets, chasing 320, and victory was quite possible.  But the stand was broken by the Norfolk left-arm spinner Walter Beadsmoore, who trapped Meintjes lbw, and without addition Michael Falcon removed Nourse for a superb innings of 91, which took just over three hours.  Falcon was tiring, but Beadsmoore became the hero, along with his fielders, as he took the last three wickets, helped by brilliant catching.  Chapman took two in the covers, while Graham Doggart ended the match with a one-handed catch at slip to dismiss Claude Carter just before the close.  It was a wonderful victory for the Minor Counties, but at least the South Africans went down with honour today.

Nottingham: Nottinghamshire v Northamptonshire

Notts Fight Back but Match Drawn

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 242 and 121/3 (R A Haywood 24, V W C Jupp 43*, F I Walden 42*; F Barratt 2/16). NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 249/9 dec (B Lilley 68, W A Flint 35, F Barratt 12, T L Richmond 16*; C N Woolley 2/70, J V Murdin 4/40). Match drawn (Nottinghamshire 3 pts, Northamptonshire 1 pts). Overnight score was: Nottinghamshire (1) 153/6 (Lilley 37*).

At the close of play yesterday Nottinghamshire were in a rather poor position and Northamptonshire were perhaps favoured to take the first-innings points.  However, after a late start on a lifeless pitch Ben Lilley continued to bat well and reached his highest score in first-class cricket, while Bill Flint batted very soundly.  For once Len Richmond came good with the bat, and he and Flint saw Nottinghamshire through to a lead.  Since Nottinghamshire’s percentage in the County Championship table is just below 60, the three points out of five for a first-innings lead is of a slight benefit to them — while Northamptonshire, with a percentage of below 20, also gain a slight increase with their single point for a drawn match!  Nottinghamshire declared after taking the lead, perhaps just in case they could skittle their visitors in the second innings, but it was another showery day, and although three wickets fell for 47, that did not happen and the match ended with easy runs coming off part-time bowlers, who were feasted on by Fanny Walden in particular.

Hove: Sussex v Surrey

One Over for Victory

SUSSEX 148 and 153 (H A Peach 3/17, S Fenley 3/61). SURREY 358. Surrey won by an innings and 57 runs. Overnight score was: Sussex (2) 153/9 (J H Parks 4*).

Jupiter Pluvius almost robbed Surrey of victory over Sussex today, when they needed just one Sussex wicket to win the match.  After heavy morning rain that left the pitch under water, it was not possible to resume play until 4.25 in the afternoon, and it took only six balls for Surrey to gain their victory.  The last man Henry Roberts came in to join Jim Parks, who faced the bowling of Stanley Fenley.  He played five balls without a run, and popped up a simple return catch off the sixth to end the match.  Sussex have not won a match since Arthur Gilligan’s accident in the Gentlemen v Players match at the beginning of July — in fact, not since 19 June.

Harrogate: Yorkshire v Hampshire

Another No Result, but Yorkshire Head the Table

YORKSHIRE 291/2 dec (E Oldroyd 122*, M Leyland 100*). HAMPSHIRE 137/7 (H L V Day 25, H A W Bowell 21, G Brown 34*; E Robinson 2/23, W Rhodes 2/25, H Sutcliffe 2/24). Match drawn (no result). Overnight score (Wednesday) was: Yorkshire (1) 164/2 (Oldroyd 60*, Leyland 44*).

Edgar Oldroyd and Maurice Leyland continued the Yorkshire innings this morning on a damp, soft and lifeless pitch, and they continued to dominate the bowling, with Leyland the more aggressive of the two.  They put on 205 runs, and both reached their centuries, with Oldroyd batting altogether almost five hours and Leyland almost 3½.  Leyland reached his century soon after lunch, and almost immediately there was another shower of rain.  When it stopped, with only two hours left for play, Yorkshire declared, though in a way it was a little risky.  If they accidentally bowled out Hampshire in that time they would gain three points for a first-innings lead in a drawn match, but their percentage in the county championship table would suffer; they wanted a no-result match that would not count in the table.

In fact there was some danger of that happening, when three wickets went down for 38, and then five were out for 89.  Yorkshire’s solution was to put on their part-time bowlers, but even then Herbert Sutcliffe took two wickets with successive deliveries, including a return catch to dismiss Alec Kennedy first ball.  But there were no more mishaps, and Hampshire quietly played out the day and Yorkshire secured their no-result — their seventh of the season.  As a result their percentage did not change, but such are the vagaries of the points system that they returned to the top of the table, thanks to Middlesex losing on the first innings to Kent.

WEST INDIES TOUR

M.C.C. are sending their main team to Australia, Solly Joel is taking a team to South Africa, and now M.C.C. have announced that they will also be sending a team to West Indies.  The team will leave on 12 December and return during the first week of April.  The captain will be Captain Robert Fowler, conditional on his being granted leave by the military authorities.  Others in the team will include Freddie Calthorpe and Jack MacBryan, and there will be two professionals, still to be chosen, who will do most of the donkeywork of bowling in the heat so as not to tire the amateurs unduly.

County championship positions

Yorkshire 78.00, Middlesex 75.55, Lancashire 67.82, Surrey 63.52, Kent 60.83, Nottinghamshire 55.00, Gloucestershire 53.63, Somerset 49.57, Warwickshire 49.41.

An exciting finish appears to be in store in the County Championship competition, although the weather could easily reduce it to a lottery, if it has not done so already.  As stated above, Yorkshire have now taken the lead over Middlesex; they would probably have beaten Hampshire outright anyway, had the weather allowed them, but Middlesex finished the match looking as if they could beat Kent outright after being behind on the first innings.  The remaining matches for the two teams are as follows:

Middlesex — 23 August v Gloucestershire (away), 30 August v Surrey (home).

Yorkshire — 23 August v Surrey (away), 27 August v Hampshire (away), 30 August v Sussex (away).

It looks like Yorkshire have the easier programme, as they will expect to beat Hampshire and Sussex at least on their southern tour — if the weather permits them.  Both teams have to play Surrey, but Middlesex’s only other match is against Gloucestershire, starting tomorrow.  The western county has been on the up recently, especially with Charlie Parker and Co enjoying the wet weather, so they could prove quite a handful for Middlesex in their own last match of the season.  But again, the weather could do anything.  Everybody will be following the matches at Bristol and the Oval.

TOMORROW’S MATCHES (first-class)

Tourist Match

Canterbury: Kent v South Africans

County Championship Matches

Leyton: Essex v Northamptonshire

Bristol (Greenbank): Gloucestershire v Middlesex

Manchester: Lancashire v Hampshire

Leicester: Leicestershire v Sussex

Nottingham: Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire

Taunton: Somerset v Worcestershire

The Oval: Surrey v Yorkshire

Other first-class match

Swansea: Wales v Scotland

No matches

Derbyshire and Glamorgan (whose players will be available to play for Wales against Scotland).

WEATHER FORECAST

There is still a lot of rain around, and again some areas will be affected much more than others.

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.