23 August 1924: 100 Years Ago

by John Ward

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Day 1

The Oval: Surrey v Yorkshire

Sandham Holds Surrey Together

SURREY 209 (J B Hobbs 17, A Sandham 72, T F Shepherd 35; G G Macaulay 3/70, R Kilner 5/58, W Rhodes 2/43). YORKSHIRE 16/3 (E Oldroyd 1*, W Rhodes 2*; W C H Sadler 2 wkts).

Yorkshire won the toss on a rain-affected pitch that would clearly help the bowlers, and decided to take the risk of putting Surrey in, especially with the possibility that the weather might improve over the weekend.  Surrey struggled on a pitch where the ball turned and lifted unpleasantly, and the Yorkshire bowlers used it superbly.  Andy Sandham was several times hit on the fingers and body by lifting balls from George Macaulay and Emmott Robinson, but Jack Hobbs was too skilful to get hit.  However, it was Hobbs who went first, caught at the wicket for 17 cutting a ball from Roy Kilner that lifted sharply—

—after batting for almost an hour for 17. At luncheon Surrey had struggled to 71 for two, and Sandham on 21 had been missed from an awkward skyed catch that Herbert Sutcliffe could not hold.  This turned out to be crucial, as four wickets were down for 104 before Sandham—

—and Tom Shepherd shared a crucial partnership of 55.  Sandham was finally out for a superb fighting innings of 72 in three hours and 20 minutes, and without him Surrey would have been in serious trouble.  Wilfred Rhodes bamboozled both him and Shepherd in the end by bowling them with balls at which they played no stroke.  The last two batsmen just managed to take the score past 200, a good score in the circumstances.  Kilner took five wickets, but Macaulay deserved much better figures than three for 70.

Yorkshire then had a disastrous 40 minutes to bat in poor light before the close.  Percy Holmes is unfit for this match with a thigh strain, so Maurice Leyland opened their batting with Sutcliffe.  Bill Sadler did early damage, bowling Sutcliffe for 3 with a ball that shot through low and having Leyland caught for 7 from one that popped.  Then Emmott Robinson (1) was brilliantly caught by Bert Strudwick and at the close three wickets were down for only 16 runs.

Leyton: Essex v Northamptonshire

No Play — Rain

There was a heavy rainstorm on Friday night which meant the start of play would be delayed.  Then more rain just before one o’clock wiped out all hope of play today.

Bristol (Greenbank): Gloucestershire v Middlesex

Bowlers Run Riot

GLOUCESTERSHIRE 31 (F J Seabrook 7, A E Dipper 6; N E Haig 6/11, F J Durston 4/18). MIDDLESEX 74 (H W Lee 21, J L Guise 22; W R Hammond 2/27, C W L Parker 7/30 including hat-trick).

Although Jupiter Pluvius allowed only about 2½ hours of playing time today and play could not start until after one o’clock, both sides completed an innings in that time on a very difficult drying pitch.  Douglas Robinson chose to bat in spite of the conditions when he won the toss, no doubt expecting that as the match progressed the pitch would cut up more and more.  But Gloucestershire failed completely, not one of their batsmen reaching double figures and Bev Lyon hitting the only four, when they were dismissed for 41.  Nigel Haig found a patch on the pitch to help him and bowled superbly to it, while Jack Durston got the ball to lift sharply.  Some batsmen tried to hit out, others tried grim defence, but all failed.  Bernie Bloodworth at No 7 was left stranded with 1 not out.  But it was a very poor batting display, whatever the conditions.  This is the tenth time Gloucestershire have been dismissed for less than 100 this season.  However they have now eleven times done just this to their opponents.

Middlesex started more confidently and took the lead with only two men out.  The score was 41 for three when Charlie Parker turned the innings around by taking a hat-trick, his second of the season and the third of his career.  Patsy Hendren (5) and Gubby Allen were caught in the slips and Frank Mann stumped.  John Guise hit out to score a brave but fortunate 22, and the Middlesex innings closed after tea for 74 — more than double the Gloucestershire total.  Before Gloucestershire could bat a second time the rain returned and ended play for the day.  Twenty wickets fell in about 2½ hours today for 105 runs and only two batsmen reached double figures.

Canterbury: Kent v South Africans

Magnificent Woolley Reaches 2000

KENT 385/5 (H T W Hardinge 118, F E Woolley 176, C H Knott 43*, G C Collins 15*; J M Blanckenberg 3 wkts). SOUTH AFRICANS to bat.

There was yet another magnificent innings by Frank Woolley today as he scored a memorable century against the South Africans for his county.  Kent lost two wickets for 31, but then a partnership worth 283 took place between Wally Hardinge and Woolley, who completely dominated the bowling.  Both scored centuries, with Hardinge batting three hours and 40 minutes for 118, while the dazzling Woolley made 176 in two hours and 40 minutes, with 4 sixes and 15 fours.  Neither batsman gave a chance before being dismissed.  Sid Pegler was quoted after the day’s play as saying it was a privilege to bowl at a batsman who could show such magnificent strokes with such ease and grace and with apparently so little effort.  Woolley also became the first batsman to reach 2000 runs this season.  He may not have the technical perfection of Jack Hobbs or the run-scoring hunger of Philip Mead or the swagger of Patsy Hendren, but for sheer grace and hidden power perhaps only Victor Trumper could compare.  He may not be quite as good a slip fielder as he was, he appears to be rather reluctant to bowl much these days, but in batting he is certainly still right at his peak.

The South Africans appeared to be limited in bowling skill, with only Pegler and Jimmy Blanckenberg able to test the batsmen at all, but they won the admiration of the crowd with their enthusiasm and enjoyment of the game in the field.  They even continued to play through fairly steady rain for about half an hour in the afternoon, even though they were handicapped by the wet ball.

Manchester: Lancashire v Hampshire

No Play — Rain

After heavy thunderstorms during the night the pitch was largely under water, and with more downpours taking place during the morning the situation grew worse rather than better.  It took them until two o’clock to abandon play for the day; another big financial loss for Lancashire.

Leicester: Leicestershire v Sussex

Gilligan Regains Form against Leicestershire

LEICESTERSHIRE 57/3 (E W Dawson 29*, G H S Fowke 11*). SUSSEX to bat.

Jupiter Pluvius delayed play at Leicester today, and then allowed 70 minutes in miserable conditions, before sending another big storm that ended it for the day.  In the brief period possible, Arthur Gilligan came roaring in with the ball in his old form, outshining Maurice Tate and making serious inroads into the Leicestershire innings.  He removed Sydney Coulson for 3, bowled Ewart Astill for 1 and caught and bowled George Geary for 8, while all Tate could do was split John King’s finger with a lifting delivery, causing him to retire hurt.  Eddie Dawson survived the carnage with confidence and lives to fight again, along with Major Gus Fowke, if and when Jupiter Pluvius permits.

Nottingham: Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire

Barratt and Staples Break Warwickshire

WARWICKSHIRE 130 (J H Parsons 42, C A F Fiddian-Green 24, W G Quaife 13; F Barratt 5/54, S J Staples 4/51). NOTTINGHAMSHIRE to bat.

The weather interfered seriously with the cricket here today, but at least play was possible for 2½ hours, long enough for Fred Barratt and Sam Staples to bowl Warwickshire out for 130.  Overnight rain was so heavy that the prepared match pitch was saturated and a new one had to be prepared.  After Tiger Smith was out to Barratt for 12, Warwickshire were in a hopeful position at 73 for one, with Jack Parsons playing well and Charles Fiddian-Green showing strong defence.  After they were both out to Barratt there was another thunderstorm, which affected the pitch so that when play restarted the ball bounced awkwardly.  George Stephens had to retire hurt for 1 after a bad blown on the finger, and Sam Staples used the conditions very well, the score slumping from 83 for three to 109 for eight before a final partnership boosted the score to 130.  Then the rain returned and no more play was possible.

Nottinghamshire’s regular wicket-keeper Tommy Oates is injured, and although his deputy Ben Lilley was included in the team, Dodger Whysall kept wicket, presumably as practice for his tour of Australia as a surprise choice for reserve wicket-keeper.  This change worked very well for Nottinghamshire, as Whysall kept wicket very well and took two catches, while Lilley took four catches fielding at short leg.

Taunton: Somerset v Worcestershire (Ernest Robson’s Benefit)

No Play — Rain

This match had been set apart for a second benefit match for Ernest Robson, but when he died in May it was decided to continue with the arrangement, with the money raised going to his widow.  So the loss of the Saturday play to rain was doubly unfortunate, although there has been a good response to appeals for subscriptions and other fund-raising efforts.  It is hoped that £1000 will be raised.

Swansea: Wales v Scotland

Yorkshire Century Partnership for Wales

WALES 157/1 (J T Bell 47, W E Bates 100*, A E Mallalieu 2*). SCOTLAND to bat.

While Scotland are playing a representative team, although not at full strength, in this match, the team playing under the name of Wales is rather less pure-bred.  It contains five Glamorgan players, which include the Yorkshireman Eddie Bates, three imported by Glamorgan from various English counties, one Yorkshireman still qualifying for Glamorgan in John Bell, the Yorkshire-born Albert Mallalieu now of Caernarvon, and a genuine Welsh-born player in Cyril Rowlands, born at Colwyn Bay and playing for Denbighshire.  The Wales Invitation XI, as they might be better called, batted first when play was finally able to start after the tea interval.  Two Yorkshiremen opened the batting, Bell and Bates, and put together an excellent opening partnership of 148 in about two hours before Bell was out just short of his fifty.  He was replaced by a third Yorkshireman in Mallalieu, and Bates reached his century just before the close.

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.