Gloucestershire fall short in time chase
100 Years Ago: 5-11 August 1925
Day 1
Bristol: Gloucestershire v Middlesex
The Gloucestershire innings was the story of four good innings, which resulted in two excellent partnerships. Colonel Douglas Robinson went in first with Alf Dipper, but was in dour mode today as they put on a stand of 47 in almost an hour and a half. Then Wally Hammond joined Dipper and they put on 101 together in 75 minutes, with Dipper speeding up his batting almost to match that of Hammond. After Hammond was out the next two batsmen failed, and Dipper left at 165 for five after scoring 87 in three hours. Then came the next good partnership, as Bernie Bloodworth and Robert Melsome, the former Lancing schoolboy, added 94 for the sixth wicket. Bloodworth finally tried to celebrate his fifty with a six, but was caught in front of the sightscreen, and this signalled another collapse. Four wickets went down for 12 runs, which left Gloucestershire with nine down at the close of play. The most effective bowler of the day was the young slow bowler Ernest North.
Canterbury Week: Kent v Sussex
The quantity of cricket at Canterbury today was reduced by the rain, but nobody could complain about the quality when there was a century from Frank Woolley. He has for the present taken over the No 3 spot occupied by the now injured James Seymour for many years. After a late start (and a rain interruption in the afternoon), Jack Bryan and Wally Hardinge took an hour and 40 minutes to grind out 52 for the first wicket, with Bryan quite unable to find his touch. When he finally skyed a catch, Woolley came in and turned the innings around. Though Maurice Tate, badly handicapped by the slow pitch, and Bert Wensley kept their length, the backup bowlers practically went to pieces under his onslaught. They had three or four deep fielders to block his drives, but he was so dominant that he got the ball past them time and again.
He was finally caught from a huge skyer by Colonel Arthur Watson right in front of the pavilion, having scored 118 in less than 2½ hours, with a six and 13 fours to his credit. After he left the cricket again became somnolent, but Wally Hardinge, having taken almost 4½ hours to score 82, somehow managed to get himself stumped off the last ball of the day. Apart from Woolley, the best feature of the day was the superb Sussex ground fielding, inspired by Arthur Gilligan, although they did miss both Hardinge and Woolley in the field.
Blackpool: Lancashire v Essex
No play was possible until 2.25 due to rain and the wet ground, and then, with the sun shining, the bowlers found help from the pitch. Essex struggled from the start, but reached 45 before John Freeman was out, bowled by Ted McDonald for 21. Then Frank Sibbles came on to bowl and took three quick wickets, putting the skids under the middle order. Jack Russell showed his class and played a fine innings that eventually amounted to exactly half the Essex total of 98. None of the last seven batsmen reached double figures, and Frank Watson took the last four, bowling off-breaks, a relief for Lancashire as soon after the match started Dick Tyldesley was called away by news of his father’s serious illness. Percy Perrin, as acting captain of Essex, permitted Jack Iddon to take his place in the Lancashire team as a full substitute.
There was a rain delay before Lancashire batted, and immediately lost Charlie Hallows and the footballer Don Davies to Laurie Eastman without scoring and only 3 runs on the board. Harry Makepeace hung in, though, and for a while Watson helped in the recovery, so Lancashire reached 53 for three by the close.
Leicester: Leicestershire v Yorkshire
Major Arthur Lupton caused a surprise by putting Leicestershire in to bat on winning the toss. The pitch was a little soft and damp from over-watering, which must have been the reason, but there was no sun or wind to make it dry awkwardly, nor was there any life in it. Eddie Dawson from Cambridge University, in his first match for Leicestershire this season, and Alan Shipman took advantage of this with a sound opening partnership of 71 until just before lunch, although both batsmen survived a rather difficult chance. Then three wickets fell in fairly quick succession, but as so often Ewart Astill held the innings together, while George Geary played the first aggressive innings of the day for 21.
Six wickets were down for 147, but Major Gus Fowke, despite being handicapped by a sore heel, played a good aggressive innings, hitting Wilfred Rhodes for two sixes. Emmott Robinson finished off the innings with the second new ball, leaving Fowke undefeated. George Macaulay, although accurate and economical, has appeared rather tired in the last two or three matches, and he was not up to his best, taking only one wicket today. In 20 minutes before the close, there was a very interesting battle between Percy Holmes and Herbert Sutcliffe with the bat and Alec Skelding and Shipman with the ball. The latter two bowled with superb pace and hostility, but the batsmen skilfully saw them off. Yorkshire are without Maurice Leyland after his wrist injury in the Lancashire match.
Northampton: Northamptonshire v Derbyshire
Northamptonshire, batting first, lost Claud Woolley for 13, but there followed a good partnership between Wilfrid Timms and Vallance Jupp that took the score to 92 before Jupp was second out. After that the middle order fell apart, the next four batsmen scoring only 16 runs among them and were out to four different bowlers; Guy Jackson handled his bowling well. It was not until Philip Wright came in at 144 for seven that Timms found another capable partner. Without the stable innings by Timms Northamptonshire would have been in a bad way, and he was finally out at 171 for eight after scoring 67 in just over four hours in his usual dogged style. Wright hit well to take the score past 200 with the last pair together; it took more than 100 overs to achieve this.
Derbyshire went in and lost their anchor, Garnet Lee, bowled third ball by Nobby Clark without a run on the board. Les Townsend (6) and Jackson (1) also went to make the score 32 for three, but Joseph Bowden, showing unusual freedom for him, and John Crommelin-Brown more than doubled that score before the close.
Taunton: Somerset v Hampshire
John Daniell has returned to captain Somerset after being out for two months owing to a knee injury, while Raymond Robertson-Glasgow should be available for the rest of the season. But this did not prevent Somerset from suffering a dismal day today. Rain had leaked under the pitch covers and so damaged the pitch that a new one had to be prepared, and then the sun shone strongly and turned it sticky after Daniell had decided to bat. Daniell opened the batting himself, with Jack MacBryan no longer available, but scored only five singles before being caught at the wicket off Alec Kennedy. Kennedy and the left-arm spinner Stuart Boyes took advantage of the state of the pitch and ran through the Somerset batting, with nobody able to reach 20 in a feeble display. Randall Johnson with 19 put up the best show. Kennedy in particular bowled superbly from the railway end almost without a break.
Conditions were easing when Hampshire went in, and George Brown and Jack Newman put on 46 for the first wicket in 40 minutes. By the close Phil Mead was still at the crease with 19 and obviously eager to add to his tally of centuries; Hampshire had already taken the lead and the situation does not look good for Somerset.
Birmingham: Warwickshire v Glamorgan
In a day of poor batting and collapses, a fine innings by Dai Davies of Glamorgan stood out. He went in after Glamorgan, having been put in to bat, were struggling against the bowling of Norman Partridge at 49 for four wickets and stayed to the end of the innings to make 66 not out in just under two hours. The pitch was not as bad as Freddie Calthorpe thought when he won the toss, but most of the Glamorgan batting was. Norman Riches and Trevor Arnott put on a good 43 for the first wicket, but after that the only good stand was one of 54 for the fifth wicket between Eddie Bates and Davies.
Warwickshire had no Davies to hold their innings together, and they lost wickets steadily. Len Bates and Calthorpe scored well but failed to play the major innings their team needed, and Willie Quaife in scoring 11 reached 1000 runs in the season for the 23rd time in his career. Jack Mercer removed the openers and then Frank Ryan caused trouble in the middle order, well backed by Johnnie Clay. Charles Fiddian-Green and Arthur Croom looked to be building a useful partnership after six wickets had fallen for 101, but when Croom was bowled in the last over of the day, it could be said that Glamorgan had a slight advantage, as Warwickshire were 46 behind with only three wickets left.
Day 2
Bristol: Gloucestershire v Middlesex
So much rain fell on and off during the day that play could not start until 4.30 on a soft, slow pitch. The last Gloucestershire wicket soon fell for the addition of only 43 runs, and Middlesex went in. The ball came off the pitch rather too slowly to suit Charlie Parker, and Horace Dales hit him for two sixes, before being caught and bowled by Hammond from a skyer. Dales, a left-hander, always plays Parker particularly well and tried to monopolize his bowling today, he and his partners even turning down easy singles to make this possible, only for him to fall to Hammond at 67 for two.
Jack Hearne made a shaky start, but hung in as usual. He opened up as a threatening partnership with Patsy Hendren developed, and they put on 56 together in 50 minutes, scoring freely off Parker. No doubt Gloucestershire were greatly relieved when Parker dismissed Hearne, caught in the gully by Wally Hammond in the last over of the day, which left the teams apparently quite evenly balanced. Gloucestershire would have had a definite advantage had Hendren not been twice missed by the wicket-keeper Harry Smith.
Canterbury Week: Kent v Sussex
This is Ladies’ Day at Canterbury, and the afternoon was blessed with bright sunny weather. Kent continued their innings this morning on a slow pitch where run-scoring was not very easy. Percy Chapman played some good attacking strokes in spite of that, including a six on to the top of the pavilion, where Colonel Arthur Watson caught the rebound. George Cox also played a good innings before Captain Stanley Cornwallis declared to give Sussex 20 minutes’ batting before lunch. The pace bowler Norman Holloway put in a good and successful spell this morning.
Maurice Tate, opening, was out for 4, and in the afternoon the two leg-spinners, Father Marriott and Tich Freeman, tormented the Sussex batsmen. Five wickets went down for 55 and seven for 109. Then Ronnie Holdsworth, the former Oxford University and Warwickshire batsman now playing for Sussex, stood firm while Watson launched one of his famous artillery assaults by hammering 53 in 40 minutes, with 3 sixes and 3 fours, two of the sixes going over the buildings or out of the ground. He almost saved the follow-on for Sussex, but they finished 153 behind. When they batted again, the Sussex top order had little to offer, apart for a solid 24 from Ted Bowley, who was out just before the close, leaving Sussex with little hope for tomorrow apart from the possibility of rain.
Blackpool: Lancashire v Essex
Jupiter Pluvius continued to play games with the cricketers at Blackpool, and no play was possible until three o’clock, when conditions were naturally damp. Lancashire struggled along to 69 for four wickets, but then their captain Jack Sharp came in and played just the positive, confident innings needed, with good help from Jack Iddon. When the seventh wicket fell at 203, Sharp rather surprisingly declared with a lead of only 105. However, he was obviously concerned about the unreliable weather and wanted to get Essex in again for 40 minutes before the close. His plan did not work out as he hoped, and the Essex openers played out time safely.
It is reported that Sharp had said that he will not play again at Old Trafford under any circumstances. This is in protest against what he sees as the constant negative barracking of the crowd against the Lancashire players who, for example, dropped catches in the field or otherwise earned their displeasure.
Leicester: Leicestershire v Yorkshire
Morning and afternoon rain prevented play until 4.22, and only 2¼ hours’ play were possible. The pitch was not badly affected by the rain, but it did help the bowlers and was quite lively, while Leicestershire lived up to their reputation as a strong bowling side; Yorkshire struggled with the bat throughout. Their best bowlers were George Geary, who bowled superbly, and Ewart Astill, who bowled with tremendous accuracy and was very difficult to score from; in fact he bowled 20 overs today for only 17 runs. When Astill was rested, Frank Bale replaced him and bowled with similar accuracy, starting with seven successive maiden overs and then having Roy Kilner well caught at short leg — by Geary. Yorkshire were then 82 for five wickets. The day finished with Edgar Oldroyd and Emmott Robinson digging in for survival, adding 18 runs in three-quarters of an hour. Yorkshire have a very difficult task tomorrow if they are to win this match, and they are likely to find it difficult even to gain a first-innings lead.
Northampton: Northamptonshire v Derbyshire
Derbyshire soon lost Joseph Bowden this morning, but their innings was rescued by a fine fifth-wicket partnership of 79 between John Crommelin-Brown, a master at Repton School, and the veteran Sam Cadman. Crommelin-Brown in particular played some impressive strokes to score 68 in just over two hours. A useful eighth-wicket partnership of 31 between Jim Hutchinson and Harry Storer took Derbyshire into the lead, and when their innings closed they were 43 runs ahead.
Northamptonshire had a remarkable start to their second innings — remarkable in that Wilfrid Timms, renowned as a virtual stonewaller, suddenly seemed to have found his confidence after his 67 in the first innings, and played strokes few people had seen him use before, as he raced to 51 not out in an hour before the close. Northamptonshire are now 45 runs ahead and there could be a good finish to this match tomorrow.
Taunton: Somerset v Hampshire
Rain prevented any play until after 3.30 today, when the pitch was lifeless and Hampshire put their heads down to build a big lead. Somerset fielded well, and Raymond Robertson-Glasgow and Jack White in particular bowled well, and made Phil Mead and Alex Bowell work hard for their runs, taking no risks. They put on 127 together for the fourth wicket in steady accumulation before Bowell was out. The next few batsmen soon went, dismissed as they tried to score quickly, but Mead refused to join such frivolity and was still there at the close on 80, when Hampshire had a lead of 168 runs.
Birmingham: Warwickshire v Glamorgan
Rain fell at Edgbaston for most of the morning. When it stopped, the pitch was drying out, there were hopes of starting play again soon, only for Jupiter Pluvius to make another major attack at 2.15 that made sure no play was possible today.
Day 3
Bristol: Gloucestershire v Middlesex
Gloucestershire turned in a good performance, but did not have enough time to beat Middlesex as they did last year. Middlesex continued their innings in the morning, and Patsy Hendren and Frank Mann got after the runs, continuing to pursue an aggressive policy against Charlie Parker. They added 64 together, but then the effects of the heavy roller began to wear off, and Parker and George Dennett were able to take advantage of a helpful pitch. After Hendren was out Mann was unable to find another partner able to stay with him, and the later batting collapsed around him. The last seven wickets fell for 34 runs and Gloucestershire earned a first-innings lead of 52. Parker took six wickets in the end, but he had to pay heavily for them this time.
Gloucestershire began their second innings aggressively, keen to pursue victory. Jack Durston made the ball bounce awkwardly from just short of a length, though, and the batsmen struggled to score against him. Wally Hammond hit an aggressive 45, but he survived three chances in the field. But Gloucestershire could not score fast enough to declare and leave themselves time to bowl Middlesex out again, so the match tailed off into a draw.
Canterbury Week: Kent v Sussex
It took Kent less than an hour this morning to finish off this match, with Tich Freeman completing the job by taking the last three wickets. The pitch was helpful and the bowlers could get a fair amount of turn, so Sussex had little chance of saving the match, although they could have avoided an innings defeat — and should have done with more determined batting. George Cox fought hard for a while, but again it was Colonel Arthur Watson who boosted the tail with 31 not out in half an hour. His last-wicket partnership of 26 with Norman Holloway (9) was the highest of the innings, and he hit both Freeman and Father Marriott for sixes, although he was dropped twice. It was a disappointment to the spectators when Holloway was bowled by Freeman with Watson 31 not out and Sussex still short of saving the innings defeat.
Blackpool: Lancashire v Essex
Johnny Douglas may be unable to play for Essex at the moment, but his influence lived on today in his team as they grimly held out to avoid defeat by Lancashire. John Freeman batted for almost three hours to score 41, while Jack Russell batted two hours to score 49 for the second time in the match, although in the first innings he was not out. Finally Laurie Eastman, a little more fluent, stayed in almost to the close to make sure of the draw on a rather lifeless pitch. The Lancashire attack badly missed the bowling of Dick Tyldesley, although Cecil Parkin bowled so accurately that his 34 overs (with 21 maidens) cost only 26 runs for two wickets — but he found very little spin from the pitch. Overall 110 overs were bowled for 184 runs.
Leicester: Leicestershire v Yorkshire
Yorkshire continued their innings with their last five wickets needing another 123 runs to take the first-innings lead, but some fine bowling by Ewart Astill in particular thwarted them. After Emmott Robinson was prised out after a valuable innings in a partnership worth 44, Astill took two quick wickets and reduced Yorkshire to 137 for eight. Major Arthur Lupton threatened a recovery, hitting hard and with discrimination, adding 25 runs with the stubborn Edgar Oldroyd, and then the last man Arthur Dolphin held firm for another 35 runs, but Yorkshire fell 25 runs behind. The pitch was now getting easier for batting, but it was too late for Yorkshire to benefit from it. Oldroyd was still unbeaten at the end after batting for 3¾ hours, holding the innings together.
It was just right for Leicestershire, though, as Yorkshire’s only hope was the slight one of rolling the home side over quickly in their second innings, but the pitch now played too well for that to be possible. A 55-minute second-wicket partnership between Alan Shipman and Les Berry virtually ensured a draw. It was a little too late when four wickets went down for 65. Two of them fell to Wilfred Rhodes, who showed he is still in the top class as a bowler, although he no longer has the same body swing and sting off the pitch that he used to have. As Astill and George Geary began to build a partnership, Lupton rested his main bowlers and unleashed the lesser talents of Herbert Sutcliffe and Oldroyd on the batsmen. These two all-rounders were the main architects of Leicestershire’s success in this match, and they deserved some easy runs. Leicestershire are the first county apart from Lancashire to take any points off Yorkshire this season. Things might have been different had not Lupton chosen to bowl on winning the toss, as the weather turned that decision against Yorkshire.
Northampton: Northamptonshire v Derbyshire
Both teams made tentative efforts towards gaining a victory today, but in the end both seemed quite content with a draw. Northamptonshire’s efforts were badly set back by the quick dismissals of Vallance Jupp for 1 and Wilfrid Timms for 55. The middle order batted steadily but only opened up when Philip Wright joined Fanny Walden at 161 for seven. Wright hit powerfully, while Walden began to play his strokes as well and reached his first fifty of the season. Wright scored 63 in less than an hour and a half, and when he was out Northamptonshire declared, leaving Derbyshire to score 237 to win in just under 2½ hours. This was hardly likely, although Garnet Lee shed his sheet-anchor rôle and played a positive and fluent innings until the teams agreed on an early finish.
Taunton: Somerset v Hampshire
Hampshire’s acting captain, Harold Day, decided that with the weather uncertain it was more important to get Somerset in again for their second innings immediately rather than wait for Phil Mead to grind out another century, so he declared at the overnight score. Alec Kennedy quickly broke through the Somerset top order, taking the first three wickets for 37 on the board, but John Daniell showed his team how to resist. He played an outstanding aggressive innings of 72 against the Hampshire bowlers and shared a good fourth-wicket partnership of 64 with Randall Johnson before Kennedy finally had him lbw just before lunch at 101 for four.
Apart from some big hits from Guy Earle, the later batsmen showed little fight, and nine wickets went down for 158, with Somerset still ten runs short of making Hampshire bat again. The last pair of Raymond Robertson-Glasgow and Mervyn Hill showed what could have been achieved by adding 44 for the last wicket. Kennedy was tired by that stage, but he had bowled superbly again for his seven wickets and took twelve for 106 in the match. Hampshire eventually had to go in again to make 33 for victory, which took them only 13 minutes to achieve.
Birmingham: Warwickshire v Glamorgan
Glamorgan had a poor day, and with a bit more fighting spirit should have managed to draw this match reduced to two days owing to rain. Warwickshire began the day 46 runs behind in their first innings with only three wickets left, but a good innings of 41 from Charles Fiddian-Green, an amateur rarely available to play for the county, put them within reach. He was ninth out at 169, but the last man Harry Howell settled the matter of first-innings lead with two fours.
Glamorgan gently subsided in their second innings, all out for 118 in two hours and 20 minutes, despite the Warwickshire fielders dropping four chances. Norman Partridge again troubled the top order, removing the same three batsmen that he dismissed in the first innings, and Glamorgan could only set Warwickshire a target of 112 in two hours. With Jack Parsons in fine form, they accomplished this with more than half an hour to spare.
Day 1
Leyton: Essex v Glamorgan
Glamorgan are playing two public school captains in this match, the already known Maurice Turnbull of Downside, and are giving a début to Trevil Morgan of Charterhouse. Johnny Douglas is back for Essex, and he soon made his presence felt by dismissing Cyril Walters without scoring in his first over. Glamorgan struggled to 64 for four before Dai Davies came in to join Turnbull, and followed up his fine sixty against Warwickshire with another one today. While Turnbull was more cautious, Davies hit out in fluent style, while Morgan, a left-hander, though scoring only 7, supported him well in a partnership of 45 for the sixth wicket in an hour. Turnbull has few off-side strokes at present, and he became rather bogged down when Douglas astutely packed the leg-side field against him. Still, nine wickets were down for 171 with the last pair together, but Frank Ryan and Dennis Sullivan decided that attack was the best option, and as so often it succeeded, as they added 57 together in less than 40 minutes, taking the score well past 200. Harold Palmer bowled well for Essex, taking four wickets with his slow-medium bowling.
When Essex batted for 55 minutes, Jack Mercer soon bowled out John Freeman for 8, while Jimmy Cutmore was more fortunate, being dropped off Trevor Arnott. Mercer troubled the batsmen but was unable to take another wicket before the close.
Cheltenham Festival: Gloucestershire v Hampshire
Hampshire won the toss on a fast, true pitch, but on the whole their batsmen failed to take advantage of it, turning in a dull performance, Hampshire taking four and a quarter hours to put together 244. The main culprits were the normally positive batsmen, George Brown and Harold Day, who took an hour and a half to grind out 70 runs in their second-wicket partnership; Brown took 2¼ hours to score 48. Phil Mead was more positive, scoring 46 in an hour, but the most aggressive batting came from Charles Brutton, who reached his fifty in an hour, but then unaccountably slowed down. Hampshire were 222 for six at one stage, but then Percy Mills, who had been rather ignored by his captain earlier, took the last four wickets in quick order for only five runs off his bowling, and the last four wickets went down quickly.
Gloucestershire were more positive when they batted for the final hour. Alf Dipper was dropped on 4, but went on to reach 40 with confident batting by the close, although Alec Kennedy took two wickets.
Manchester: Lancashire v Nottinghamshire
Jack Sharp carried out his promise not to play at Old Trafford again due to the abusive barracking of certain sections of the crowd, and Alfred Pewtress took over as captain, as the next-ranking available amateur. He had a good day by winning the toss and then playing a fine innings of 89. Lancashire made a bad start on a pitch heavy after rain but with little life in it, losing Harry Makepeace (5) and Don Davies (1) for only 9 runs, and this sent Charlie Hallows and Frank Watson into such rigid defence that they only managed to score 52 for two wickets in an hour and a half before lunch. It was gloomy batting under gloomy skies. Afterwards Harold Larwood bowled Hallows for 28 in 1¾ hours; 62 for three.
Then Watson and Pewtress set about to rescue the innings, although Watson struggled hard for survival at first. He worked through his difficulties, though, and eventually reached a fighting century before being out for 120 in 3¾ hours after tea, after taking two hours for his first 33 runs. He and Pewtress had put on 162 for the fourth wicket. Pewtress, who played more stylish cricket after a very slow start, moved towards a maiden first-class century, but he became rather bogged down and was eventually bowled by a superb leg-cutter from Sam Staples for his highest score of 89 in three hours and 20 minutes. Frank Sibbles showed his all-round skills by scoring a good 28 in half an hour, and Lancashire had reached a good score by the close after making such a turgid start for three hours. The Nottinghamshire bowlers did their job well and persistently and their fielding was excellent, particularly by their captain Arthur Carr, who also captained his team imaginatively and well.
Northampton: Northamptonshire v Worcestershire
Although they are playing a rather weakened Worcestershire team, Northamptonshire clearly underlined their general improvement this season. Worcestershire probably reluctantly decided to bat on a pitch that was affected by overnight rain, and the Northamptonshire pacemen Nobby Clark and John Murdin removed their openers for 4 runs in the first four overs. Philip Wright backed them both up very well. Gilbert Ashton, on a rare appearance for the county, batted well for 24, but five wickets were down for 38. Maurice Foster, less flamboyant than usual, steadied the team with 25 in over an hour, but eight wickets were still down for 94. The last two wickets, however, almost doubled the score, with Harry Rogers sharing a ninth-wicket stand of 26 with Wilfred Shorting and then 57 for the last wicket with the debutant Henry Sale. This was the only time of the day when Northamptonshire rather let things slip.
Claud Woolley and Wilfrid Timms began the Northamptonshire reply slowly, but their partnership developed and they put on 109 together for the first wicket in less than two hours. Timms, more confident in his strokeplay after his success against Derbyshire this week, reached his fifty first before being out just before the close. The home county now have a solid platform for a match-winning score tomorrow if the remainder of the team back them up.
The Oval: Surrey v Middlesex
The Oval pitch had been affected by rain, playing slowly and taking some turn, so batsmen did not have it as easy as usual here today and run-scoring was heavy going. Jack Hobbs as usual was under the pressure of expectation of his 126th century. He and Andy Sandham put on 41 for the first wicket, and they had to face some excellent pace bowling from Nigel Haig, Gubby Allen and Jack Durston, who managed to get a surprising amount of life from the slow pitch. Allen also swung the ball skilfully. Hobbs was out for 49 just after lunch, superbly caught down the leg side by Joe Murrell as he attempted to glance a ball from Durston, who went on to take two more quick wickets. Hobbs perhaps is in the frame of mind where he is thinking more of accumulating runs for his century than of the needs of Surrey, and it isn’t working for him. Tom Shepherd held the batting together with 57 in an hour and a quarter, the best batting of the day, but it took a ninth-wicket partnership of 21 between Alan Peach and a defensive Bert Strudwick to take the final score past 200. The three pacemen deservedly shared the ten wickets among them. Frank Mann had a good day as captain, with every bowling change — or lack of it — seeming to work.
When Middlesex went in the cricket became less interesting, as it was a case of poorer batting against poorer bowling. Only Percy Fender of the Surrey bowlers was as accurate or testing as the Surrey bowlers had been, while the Middlesex batsmen failed to take advantage of that weakness and had little to offer besides stodgy defence. The opening pair took more than half an hour to make 14 together, and Patsy Hendren made 17 in an hour in a partnership of 47 with Jack Hearne. Many bad balls went unpunished. The crowd for this local derby match was over 22,000.
Hastings Week: Sussex v Kent
After their match at Canterbury, both teams proceeded to Hastings for the return. Sussex with their fragile batting side did not do as well as they should have when they batted first on a good batting pitch, but their innings was built around three good partnerships, although no batsmen really played a masterful innings. Maurice Tate, whose duties have now been expanded to that of opening batsman with Ted Bowley, so as to give him a good rest before he is called on to bowl, hit up 36 of their partnership of 62. After the third wicket fell at 118, Ronnie Holdsworth and George Cox put on 52 for the fourth wicket, and then Cox and Tommy Cook added 47 for the sixth. After they were parted Con Johnstone came on to bowl his occasional medium-pacers and took three quick wickets for only 4 runs as the last five wickets went down for 17 runs.
Kent made much better and quicker progress in the hour and a half they had to bat before the close. They lost only the wicket of Wally Hardinge, run out for 14 by a good throw-in from Arthur Gilligan, and Jack Bryan with Frank Woolley shared an unbroken stand worth 81 runs so far. Woolley was in fine form and reached his fifty just before the close in 50 minutes. Maurice Tate was unable to strike with the ball.
Dewsbury: Yorkshire v Warwickshire
Yorkshire made a moderate start, losing three wickets for 91 before lunch, including that of Maurice Leyland, returning after his wrist injury but scoring only a single. Percy Holmes made 17 of an opening partnership of 44. Herbert Sutcliffe was still there, though, starting slowly and almost playing a ball on to his stumps at 17, but opening out after lunch and recording his fifth century and second double-century of the season. His only chance was a difficult one to Willie Quaife in the covers when he had 193. He took three hours to reach his century, but his last 106 runs came in only 80 minutes. Altogether he batted for four hours and 20 minutes, hitting at six and 24 fours.
Roy Kilner was his main partner, scoring a dashing century himself as the pair added 173 for the fifth wicket in only 80 minutes. He played a joyful innings of 124 in about two hours and ten minutes, with 22 fours. As the bowlers tired, the later batsmen cashed in. This match on one of Yorkshire’s outgrounds attracted about 12,000 spectators.
Day 2
Leyton: Essex v Glamorgan
With a delayed start and rain ending play at 3.30, cricket was only possible for about 2½ hours today. Jack Russell came in to bat with Jack O’Connor at the start, as Jimmy Cutmore was attending his father’s funeral, but Johnnie Clay as Glamorgan captain has agreed to allow him to resume his innings later. Russell and O’Connor both played cautiously at the start, but began to open out as they settled in. None of the Glamorgan bowlers could make any impact, for much of the time being handicapped by having to bowl with a wet ball, and the pair batted through the time available to add 151 runs to the total. The Glamorgan fielding was excellent.
Cheltenham Festival: Gloucestershire v Hampshire
Gloucestershire were unfortunate after bowling Hampshire out comparatively cheaply yesterday. There was heavy rain on Sunday and this morning the pitch was still wet and helpful to bowlers. Alf Dipper and Reg Sinfield did well to take the score to 125 before their partnership was broken, and after that it was hard going for the home side, with only Bernie Bloodworth reaching double figures after that and being last man out. Jack Newman was the best of the Hampshire bowlers today after several disappointing matches for him with the ball.
Hampshire had an unexpected lead of 63, and they tried an attacking game in their second innings without much success. Three wickets went down for 66, but then rain started returning, deadening the pitch and there were several interruptions. Phil Mead and Alex Bowell settled in with determination, while the bowlers were handicapped by a wet ball, and by the time a thunderstorm ended play they had completed a century partnership, despite fine bowling by Charlie Parker, and Hampshire led by 238 runs, a very strong position.
Manchester: Lancashire v Nottinghamshire
Dick Tyldesley began the day with some breezy hits as Lancashire continued their first innings with nine wickets down, before after 15 minutes he was out to a brilliant catch by Fred Barratt, who turned and run back from mid-off to catch a huge skyer. The Lancashire total was 359.
Nottinghamshire in reply made a very bad start, despite some rather indifferent bowling from Lancashire, and especially by Ted McDonald, who bowled much too short with frequent bouncers, which hit the batsmen several times. Yet he dismissed George Gunn (8), who was scornful of the bouncers but played a leg-side ball on to his stumps with his pads, and Dodger Whysall (2) to a brilliant catch by Frank Sibbles in the gully. Arthur Carr was run out for 6 and then Willis Walker (18) mishit a bad ball from Cecil Parkin and skyed a catch; 40 for four. Lancashire at this point were fielding brilliantly. Some positive play from Ben Lilley began a recovery to 75 for five, and then Wilf Payton and Bill Flint fought back well. They found their best tactics were to play right back on their stumps to hit the bad balls, and Parkin for one was quite defeated by their skill and aggression.
They were going well, especially Flint, with their partnership having reached 66 when, after much sunshine, bad light and a thunderstorm came on in midafternoon and ended play for the day. Nottinghamshire still have a long way to go to save the follow-on, and that is probably the vital factor (apart from rain) as to whether Lancashire will be able to force an outright victory tomorrow.
Northampton: Northamptonshire v Worcestershire
It was a rough day for Worcestershire, with only three frontline bowlers in their team. They all had a heavy load to bear as Northamptonshire built up their big total, and when the innings ended Fred Root had sent down 55 overs altogether, more than even he has ever bowled before in an innings, for his five wickets, a very fine effort of untiring perseverance. He has now taken 174 wickets this season, another personal record. Claud Woolley and Vallance Jupp made a cautious start to the day, intent on building a big lead. They passed the Worcestershire total with only two wickets down, and then the batsmen began to open up. Jupp played the most brilliant innings of the team, scoring 70 in only 80 minutes before being third out at 222 for three. Hamer Bagnall made it a fourth fifty for the team, scoring 71 in less than two hours. His seventh-wicket partnership with the captain, Maurice Fitzroy, added 78 runs in 40 minutes.
Northamptonshire eventually gained a lead of 212 runs before half-past three. Before Worcestershire could go in again a great storm broke over the ground and flooded the field. Northamptonshire’s only worry will be the weather tomorrow, which may prevent them from gaining their anticipated victory.
The Oval: Surrey v Middlesex
Middlesex’s slow batting on Saturday told against them today, as they were never quite able to make up the lost ground, especially after heavy night rain. The overnight batsmen took the score to 113, but both were out in quick succession to bad balls from Alan Peach, Jack Hearne being brilliantly caught by a leaping Jack Hobbs at cover. Gubby Allen paid the price for hitting against the spin, and Middlesex found themselves suddenly at 114 for six. Graham Doggart played perhaps the best innings of the team, struggling at times against good balls but being almost unique in taking toll off any ball off a length. He scored 38 put on 48 in about 50 minutes while his partners chose to block, and Middlesex fell behind by 20 runs on the first innings.
Their 183 took them more than 95 overs, a very slow rate of scoring even taking into account the state of the pitch and outfield. Percy Fender and John Lockton, in his first match for Surrey for two years, were the best of the bowlers, concentrating on accuracy rather than Fender’s usual bag of tricks. Surrey were able to start their second innings for five overs before rain arrived at about 3.30, and that ended play for the day. Only two hours and 20 minutes’ play was possible.
Hastings Week: Sussex v Kent
It could be said that while the first day’s play went in favour of Kent, Sussex had the better of the second day. This would be true enough — in half an hour’s play Sussex took the wickets of the two overnight batsmen, while Kent scored only 15 runs. Play began at the usual time, and Maurice Tate, naturally opening the bowling, removed Frank Woolley for his overnight score of 51 and then Jack Bryan for the addition of only 6 to his score. John Knott and Con Johnstone replaced them. Play went on for a few minutes in a light drizzle, but then heavier rain set in, forcing the players from the field — and it continued to rain for the rest of the day.
Dewsbury: Yorkshire v Warwickshire
Yorkshire batted on for about 25 minutes this morning, adding another 44 runs, mainly from Abe Waddington, and then declared. They were handicapped in that Emmott Robinson had taken ill this morning with a septic throat and when he arrived at the ground he was sent home again to recover. So Yorkshire were a bowler short, Waddington taking the new ball with Macaulay. They came up against some very determined batting from Tiger Smith and Jack Parsons, who held them up for almost two hours with a dogged opening partnership of 92.
After lunch Roy Kilner broke through by removing Parsons and Len Bates (13), before Smith went at 122 for three wickets. Willie Quaife and Freddie Calthorpe were now together, but the weather was starting to close in, and there were interruptions for bad light and rain. Finally just before tea a real downpour began and ended cricket for the day. This leaves Yorkshire with the difficult task of taking 17 Warwickshire wickets tomorrow if they are to start winning matches again.
Day 3
Leyton: Essex v Glamorgan
More heavy rain during the night delayed the start to one o’clock. Essex in their good position wanted to take the lead, score runs quickly and hope to bowl out Glamorgan with their fragile batting a second time to win the match. The overnight pair of Jack O’Connor and Jack Russell both moved quickly to their centuries, although losing their wickets soon afterwards — their partnership eventually realized 174 runs — and Whiz Morris made some good hits before being brilliantly caught overhead by Johnnie Clay at mid-off from a powerful drive.
Essex declared with a lead of 97, and had an hour and three-quarters left in which to bowl Glamorgan out. Trevor Arnott went out quickly, but then Glamorgan’s two most promising young batsmen, Cyril Walters and Maurice Turnbull, played soundly and well and saw Glamorgan to safely before Turnbull was out. Johnny Douglas did not claim the extra half-hour.
Cheltenham Festival: Gloucestershire v Hampshire
Rain, which had been Gloucestershire’s enemy earlier in this match, today saved them from defeat. The pitch was wet at the scheduled start, which had to be delayed. Hampshire batted on for an hour with the pitch playing awkwardly, and Charlie Parker took three more wickets, including that of Phil Mead, lbw for 94. Then they declared, sending Gloucestershire in for ten minutes before lunch. Their openers survived, but during the interval a great storm burst over the ground, flooding the pitch and ending the match as a draw in Hampshire’s favour.
Manchester: Lancashire v Nottinghamshire
Parts of the final day were quite farcical, beginning with the decision of the umpires, after overnight rain, to be exceedingly fussy about starting play, and in the end allowing just 15 minutes for play before lunch. The pitch was soft and may have been helpful to a left-arm spinner, but the acting Lancashire captain Alfred Pewtress ignored Jack Iddon; no-one else got anything from it. Ted McDonald bowled better today, but neither Cecil Parkin nor Dick Tyldesley bowled well, failing to adapt to the conditions, although Tyldesley was fortunate enough to pick up three wickets. Wilf Payton and Bill Flint took their sixth-wicket partnership to 85 before Payton and Sam Staples were out. The vital issue was whether Nottinghamshire could avoid the follow-on, and at this stage they were 181 for seven, still needing 29 for safety. Flint was out at 190 after perhaps his most valuable innings for Nottinghamshire, but Harold Larwood (16) and Fred Barratt (12) scored enough runs to get their team through. Lancashire, having fielded so well yesterday, missed several catches today and this probably made the difference.
Pewtress made a token effort to press for victory, going in with Charlie Hallows for about half an hour before tea, when he declared with 55 runs on the board. Hallows hit the biggest six off Staples at Old Trafford that even the oldest inhabitant could remember; it pitched on the platform of the Warwick Road Station. Then the tea interval lasted 25 minutes, after which Nottinghamshire were set 199 to win in a maximum of an hour and a half. George Gunn and Dodger Whysall achieved their main aim of not getting out and batted for an hour without anybody claiming the extra half-hour; in that time Whysall smashed up the grand total of 2 runs. Hallows in response also demonstrated his opinion by bowling underarm.
Northampton: Northamptonshire v Worcestershire
Fortunately the rain did not spoil Northamptonshire’s triumph, although that of yesterday left the pitch very soft. Nobby Clark in particular made the ball fly around when Worcestershire went in again 212 runs behind, but Dick Pearson and Charles Tarbox fought with great determination for almost an hour to put on 50 for the first wicket. But when Tarbox fell lbw to John Murdin the floodgates opened and four were down for 54. The collapse was temporarily stopped as Pearson and Richard Williams put on 28 for the fifth wicket, which was to be Worcestershire’s only other double-figure partnership of the innings. Then Pearson was out lbw to Jupp for a gallant 43 in 1¾ hours, and the slide was on again. Maurice Foster kept himself back to No 8, where Jupp had him lbw for 1. Nine wickets were down at lunch, and the first ball afterwards ended the match. Jupp took half of the wickets, with help first from Murdin and then from Clark in his second spell. This is Northamptonshire’s tenth victory of the season in all matches, and well deserved. The superb all-round form of Jupp has been the major factor in their success.
The Oval: Surrey v Middlesex
There was excessive rain overnight, but this morning was sunny and a large crowd waited outside the gates for several hours in the hope of play starting sometime after lunch. However, Jupiter Pluvius sadistically sent a great downpour at about one o’clock, and when the umpires inspected the pitch at 1.45 they decided that any play today would be impossible. Water polo, perhaps, but not cricket.
Hastings Week: Sussex v Kent
In spite of losing most of the second day to rain, Kent managed to complete a nine-wicket victory over Sussex today. They began the day still 107 runs behind Sussex, but with seven wickets in hand, on a pitch that was too soft to give much help to the bowlers. The overnight pair of John Knott and Con Johnstone batted well to put on 78 in partnership, taking the score to 202. Then the spinners began to take wickets, but George Collins made some powerful hits, including two sixes, and Kent were able to declare at lunch time with a lead of 56. Sussex however fielded brilliantly.
When Sussex went in again with the sun shining and the pitch starting to take spin, Kent quickly turned to their leg-spinning pair of Father Marriott and Tich Freeman, who proceeded to bowl Sussex out. The pitch was not as difficult as the Sussex batsmen tried to prove. Five wickets went down before Sussex cleared off the arrears, and after that only Tommy Cook, with a fine 31 not out in 40 minutes, could play the spinners, and he gave Freeman in particular some punishment. But he was left stranded when the last wicket fell, and Kent needed only 42 to win. They achieved this their second victory over Sussex in a week in three-quarters of an hour with time to spare for the loss of only Jack Bryan’s wicket.
Dewsbury: Yorkshire v Warwickshire
There was some remarkable cricket at Dewsbury today as Yorkshire achieved their difficult task of taking 17 wickets during the day to wrap up the match. This was in spite of the highest and most brilliant innings played against the Yorkshire bowling this season from Reg Santall. Warwickshire lost three wickets quite quickly this morning and were 192 for seven soon after Santall arrived at the crease. He unleashed a terrific onslaught on the bowling, in particular the spinners Roy Kilner and Wilfred Rhodes, racing to his fifty in 40 minutes and his century in 65 — all before lunch. He slowed down as the pace bowlers returned to finish off the innings, and his 119 not out took altogether an hour and 40 minutes, containing 7 sixes (three each off Kilner and Rhodes) and 8 fours. He added 80 for the eighth wicket with John Fox, and showed what a huge and as yet unfulfilled talent he is.
Warwickshire naturally had to follow on 184 runs behind, and this time the Yorkshire bowlers were on top from beginning to end, helped by the pitch drying under the sun and making the ball turn more quickly. The highest partnership was a dogged one for the eighth wicket of 31 between Willie Quaife and Bob Wyatt. Freddie Calthorpe and Santall again tried to take the attack for the bowlers, but did not last long, Santall this time being bowled by George Macaulay for 14. In spite of all the happened, Yorkshire won the match at 4.25, their first victory after three draws.