Hobbs supreme
100 Years Ago: 12 to 18 August 1925
Day 1
Chesterfield: Derbyshire v Glamorgan
Glamorgan Struggle
Glamorgan struggled for runs on a cold, dull day against very accurate Derbyshire bowling, and none of their batsmen ever managed to shake off the chains. Their best partnership was one of 41 in an hour for the second wicket between Norman Riches and Maurice Turnbull, but both went in quick succession. As is quite usual nowadays, Dai Davies batted well to steady the middle order, although the young Trevil Morgan was so bogged down that he scored only 2 runs as he partnered Davies for an hour, taking the score past 100. Then the tail collapsed and Glamorgan were all out for 126. Arthur Morton and Harry Storer carried the main burden of the attack very well, as neither Bill Bestwick nor Jim Horsley was fit to play. Rain interrupted play for a time in the afternoon.
Derbyshire did not find runs easy either when they went in, and after an opening partnership of 24 between Garnet Lee and Joseph Bowden they lost three wickets for 49 before bad light stopped play.
Leyton: Essex v Yorkshire
Essex Labour
It was a very boring day for the hardy spectators who came to watch cricket at Leyton today. More than half of the day’s play was lost to light rain or bad light, and what play there was saw very dour batting from Johnny Douglas’s team. Yorkshire were without Emmott Robinson with his septic throat, and gave a début to Stanley Douglas, a left-arm medium-pace bowler. A curiosity is that they are playing five left-arm bowlers in this match, if we include Maurice Leyland’s occasional spin. Douglas did not get very much action, as the pitch was damp and lifeless and did not suit his bowling at all.
Play began half an hour late, and John Freeman and Jimmy Cutmore put on only 34 runs in the first hour before Cutmore was caught at the wicket off Abe Waddington for 18. The players were on and off for rain or bad light for the rest of the afternoon, during which Freeman and Jack O’Connor made little effort to score for most of the time, even though the bowlers were handicapped by a wet ball. They did rouse a little towards the close, when an amazing 12 runs were hit from an over by the only right-arm bowler in the Yorkshire attack, George Macaulay, including two fours from O’Connor. But overall 73 runs from two hours and 20 minutes’ play was a very poor deal for spectators.
Cheltenham Festival: Gloucestershire v Nottinghamshire
No Play — Rain
A light but steady rain fell all morning, on top of much rain yesterday. It stopped, a strong wind dried the ground — only for a storm to arrive, so at 2.30 all hope of play today was officially abandoned.
Bournemouth Festival: Hampshire v Somerset
No Play — Rain
The pitch was soft to start with, and frequent showers during the day made play impossible.
Lord’s: Middlesex v Kent
Century Opening Partnership
Only two hours’ play was possible in this match today. The pitch had been covered; after the rain that delayed the start it was soft but otherwise sound. Middlesex opened their batting as usual with Harry Lee and Horace Dales. The first Kent bowlers were Charlie Wright, from the pavilion end, and the googly bowler Father Marriott, who was to bowl unchanged apart from a change of ends. Marriott bowled with remarkable accuracy and most of the runs came off Wright and later Tich Freeman. The batsmen reached 45 in about 50 minutes before lunch, and during the interval a light rain began that lasted for over three hours.
Whether play restarted at 5.25, conditions were scarcely suitable for cricket; the light was very bad and the field so wet that even with sawdust the bowlers found themselves sliding about and having to bowl with a wet ball. The batsmen had to play carefully in bad light for a while, but they survived, and were scoring quite well with a score of over 100 without loss before bad light finally ended play.
The Oval: Surrey v Leicestershire
Lockton Troubles Leicestershire
Play was possible for less than 2½ hours at the Oval yesterday, and it took place on a sodden, lifeless pitch in poor light. As happened at Lord’s, play was possible only for a short while before lunch, 17 runs being scored, before rain came and prevented any further cricket until about 4.45. The only Surrey bowler to trouble the batsmen was John Lockton, bowling at a fast-medium pace and every so often making the ball lift sharply from the pitch. He took the first two wickets, with both Alan Shipman (8) and Les Berry (4) being brilliantly caught by Bert Strudwick at the wicket. When Eddie Dawson (11) was caught by Percy Fender at slip off Stanley Fenley, Leicestershire were in trouble at 28 for three.
As usual Ewart Astill was the man for the situation, although he did not always look comfortable. The most confident innings was played by Claude Taylor, who showed why two or three years ago many had backed him as a future England Test player. He played some fine, positive strokes, only to be cut off at 32 when he miscued a pull and was caught by Douglas Jardine at forward short leg. Astill and George Geary then survived the day.
Hastings Week: Sussex v Northamptonshire
Claud Woolley Gives Northants Lead
The weather remained mostly dry at Hastings today and, with poor batting by both teams against good bowling and fielding, the teams completed an innings each. The pitch tended to help the bowlers, but it was never really difficult for batting. Sussex had only three batsmen who reached double figures, and their best partnership was one of 35 for the second wicket between Ted Bowley and their regular August amateur, Richard Young. After that Tommy Cook batted well with little support. The tail collapsed so quickly that Ronnie Holdsworth at No 6 was not out with 5 when his last partner went. Nobby Clark was the best of the bowlers, although he was rewarded with only three wickets.
Northamptonshire owed their first-innings lead entirely to Claud Woolley, who carried his bat through the innings for 59 against excellent bowling by Maurice Tate and Bert Wensley. Both bowlers beat him quite frequently, but they were unable to remove him as he hung in with wonderful determination for 2¼ hours. Again the second-wicket partnership was the most productive of the innings, as Woolley and Ben Bellamy put on 45 together. Northamptonshire took the lead with eight wickets down and led by 24 on the first innings. As with Sussex, most of the batsmen put up a poor show.
Stourbridge: Worcestershire v Lancashire
McDonald Rolls Worcestershire
The weather for the most part kept away from this match today, but conditions were very cold and unpleasant, with an icy wind. The pitch was good, but the Worcestershire batsmen did not show their appreciation of it with a poor display, especially against Ted McDonald, who bowled unchanged with the wind behind him, apart from the lunch interval. Three wickets went down for 38 before Gilbert Ashton and Fred Root put up a stand of 48. Ashton took on McDonald in fine style and cut him for two brilliant successive boundaries; the fast bowler responded with a bouncer that hit Ashton on the chin and caused him to retired hurt temporarily for medical treatment. McDonald then broke through the lower order, although Maurice Foster resisted him stoutly and was last out for 23. Ashton returned, but could only add a single before he was caught off Dick Tyldesley.
Lancashire began well, and Charlie Hallows seemed in sparkling form with excellent footwork as he scored 23 out of 30 before he was unexpectedly given out caught at the wicket. Harry Makepeace, 35 in almost an hour and a half, and Don Davies, playing for his place in the team, batted doggedly against fine bowling from Fred Root, and Davies survived the day, although he was dropped twice. At least the wicket-keeper Cecil Ponsonby remained alert to take three catches. Lancashire edged into the lead just before the close, although it took them more time than the Worcestershire innings had lasted.
Day 2
Chesterfield: Derbyshire v Glamorgan
Good Finish Anticipated
Derbyshire this morning immediately lost the wicket of Sam Cadman, caught off Frank Ryan. There followed a valuable partnership of 28 for the fifth wicket between John Crommelin-Brown, the Repton schoolmaster, who began slowly, and Les Townsend, who hit 19 of them within ten minutes with powerful front-foot driving. But then Ryan, spinning the ball dangerously, broke through again, making a meal of the over-cautious batsmen, and five wickets fell, all to Ryan, for 20 runs; 97 for nine wickets. Glamorgan were eagerly anticipating a first-innings lead. But Crommelin-Brown was still there, and at the last ditch he found a capable partner in the wicket-keeper Harry Elliott. They put on 47 together in half an hour, the highest partnership of the match so far, with Crommelin-Brown just failing to reach the fifty he greatly deserved in an innings lasted an hour and a quarter. Ryan finished with seven wickets, but the last pair badly spoiled his figures.
The best that can be said of Glamorgan’s second innings was that it was consistent. Seven batsmen reached double figures, but only Cyril Walters reached 30. There was another solid, reliable innings from Dai Davies, while Jack Mercer hit hard for 27 in less than half an hour. In the end they set Derbyshire 152 to win. Before the close they had lost four wickets for 67 in just over an hour with four top batsmen gone, including Crommelin-Brown, who this time was caught off Ryan without scoring. Derbyshire need another 85 runs for victory, and against the bowling of Ryan this is not likely to be easy. There could be a good finish tomorrow, and Glamorgan are well in the fight.
Leyton: Essex v Yorkshire
No Play — Rain
There was heavy rain during the night and another downpour during the morning, leaving water standing on the pitch. The umpires made regular inspections to see if any play could be squeezed out of the day, but there was neither sun nor wind, and at half-past five they finally bowed to the inevitable and play was abandoned for the day, having wasted six hours of everybody’s time.
This evening a special meeting for all Essex County Cricket Club members was held at Leyton in response to the statement last month of the Army Sports Central Board, who bought the ground several years ago, to sell it. The Essex Club had first option to buy it, and the membership present came out strongly in favour of doing so. The problem is in raising the necessary money by the cash-strapped Club. The committee has been instructed to canvass the whole membership to ascertain whether this can be done. A sum of £23,000 is required.
Cheltenham Festival: Gloucestershire v Nottinghamshire
Notts Set for Victory
It was a hectic day of wickets and excitement at Cheltenham today, and almost a result in a single day, as the sun came out on the soaked pitch and made it sticky. Gloucestershire won the toss and batted first, a wise decision as the pitch was only likely to become more difficult as the day progressed. Alf Dipper and the aggressive Bernie Bloodworth made the highest partnership of the innings, 25 for the third wicket. The googly bowler Len Richmond, who has not had a good season to date, revelled in the conditions and regained his best form, troubling all the batsmen as he took seven wickets, although the left-handed Bloodworth briefly hit him around.
Gloucestershire found in Charlie Parker and Percy Mills their best bowlers, but some good hitting by Arthur Carr and Willis Walker took their score to 55 before the third wicket fell. Then the bowlers took charge and eight wickets were down for 76. It looked as if the Nottinghamshire lead would be fairly small, but Fred Barratt had other ideas, as he launched a daring full-blooded attack on the bowlers, smashing 36, the highest individual score of the day, in only 15 minutes, with 2 sixes and 4 fours. He hit Mills for 19 in one over. Nottinghamshire thus took a lead of 56, almost doubling the Gloucestershire score.
Wally Hammond opened the Gloucestershire second innings with Alf Dipper, realizing that attack was their only chance of scoring runs, and after 35 minutes they had virtually equalled their opponents by putting on 55 together. Dipper’s feat of reaching 20 in both innings was a fine feat. But as soon as they were separated Sam Staples and Richmond, who bowled unchanged, broke through and the middle order collapsed to 89 all out.
This left Nottinghamshire with only 34 to win — although this was by no means easy on such a pitch — and before time ran out they had scored 18 of them in the last 20 minutes for the loss of Dodger Whysall, who was brilliantly caught by Hammond at slip off Parker without scoring. 31 wickets had fallen in the day, 14 of them to Richmond for 83 runs. He bowled many superb deliveries with flight and spin, although he was rather flattered, as he also bowled quite a number of loose balls, which were not all punished as they should have been. It should not take long for Nottinghamshire to complete their victory tomorrow. If weather permits! If not, they will bitterly regret not having made more effort to score 34 in 20 minutes.
Bournemouth Festival: Hampshire v Somerset
No Play Again — Rain
More rain has left the ground quite saturated and play was again called off for the day, at 1.30.
Lord’s: Middlesex v Kent
No Play — Rain
Although there had been much rain overnight, the pitch itself recovered quite quickly, but part of the surrounding area, especially around cover point, was very wet and slippery. This caused the umpires to make the controversial decision not to allow any play until this area had dried significantly, which in the absence of either sun or wind did not happen.
The Oval: Surrey v Leicestershire
No Play — Rain
So much rain fell during the night that the pitch was under water this morning. The situation had scarcely improved by the afternoon and it was an easy decision to call off play for the day.
Hastings Week: Sussex v Northamptonshire
Tate the Match-Winner
On a day when cricket in London was completely wiped out by rain, Northamptonshire might have wished the same for Hastings, as a brilliant century by Maurice Tate knocked them right out of this match in two days. Arthur Gilligan’s plan of sending him in to open the batting so as to give him more rest before bowling seems to have inspired his batting. Northamptonshire dug their own grave when they dropped him before he had scored. After that he hammered their bowling all over the field for 121, all scored before lunch, in just over 1¾ hours, with a six and 17 fours; his century came up in 70 minutes. He was first out with the score at 193. Ted Bowley played the perfect supporting rôle with a sound 89, looking set for a century before he was bowled by a fine swinging ball from Nobby Clark. Vallance Jupp broke through the middle order, none of whom reached 20, but the runs were scarcely needed after such a wonderful start to their innings.
Northamptonshire were set 291 to win, scarcely possible for them against bowlers such as Tate and Bert Wensley — and especially when Tate had Claud Woolley caught without a run on the board. The only real resistance came when Jupp and Jack Timms put on 47 for the fifth wicket. After they were separated Tate returned for a second spell and finished off the innings. It is a rare and convincing win for the beleaguered Sussex team.
Stourbridge: Worcestershire v Lancashire
Parkin’s Turn
The two teams produced some brighter cricket in brighter weather today, and Lancashire completed an easy victory in two days. Don Davies batted for 2½ hours altogether, but fell short of a maiden first-class fifty. Jack Sharp made a bright 30 and Dick Tyldesley played one of his powerful innings. He was dropped before scoring, the fifth chance missed by Worcestershire during the innings, but went on to hit 2 sixes and 5 fours in 43 not out. Lancashire led by 99 on the first innings, but it would have been much closer had Worcestershire held their catches.
The Worcestershire batsmen at least played fairly freely in their second innings, on a pitch helping the bowlers as the sun came out to dry it, rather than try to block it out. This time the most successful bowler was Cecil Parkin, who did not bowl in the first innings as he was still feeling the effects of a knee injury after a collision in the field in the last match. Today he decided he was fit to bowl and took six wickets, most of them good ones; this is his first five-wicket haul since May. Gilbert Ashton scored 27 without showing the dominance of his first innings, while Maurice Foster was yet again the backbone of his team with 48. Lancashire had little trouble in hitting off the 62 they needed for victory, although Fred Root made Harry Makepeace struggle at times. Their two wickets to fall both went to catches in Root’s leg-trap. Frank Watson scored an eight in his innings, including an initial overthrow for one, and then another that went to the boundary.
Day 3
Chesterfield: Derbyshire v Glamorgan
Jackson Leads Derbyshire to Victory
Glamorgan’s hopes of victory today were soon shattered once play was possible after lunch. Derbyshire needed 85 more runs to win with six wickets left, which promised a close finish but failed to deliver. Guy Jackson was in brilliant form after a careful start with his new partner, Les Townsend, and he scored the only individual fifty of the match in fine style. It took only 70 minutes for Derbyshire to win without losing another wicket, although both had a narrow escape. Frank Ryan was unable to make any impact today, handicapped by a wet ball, and Jackson treated him quite roughly, including 17 off one over (two sixes) as he raced past his fifty with victory assured. However, Ryan finished the match with ten wickets for 130 runs.
Leyton: Essex v Yorkshire
Slow Essex and No Result
The Essex batsmen made this another day the spectator would like to forget, although the weather was much improved. The pitch was damp and slow, although taking spin, but even the return of the sun could not make it really difficult. Essex continued their stonewalling tactics of the first day. Jack O’Connor did not last too long, and Jack Russell came in to play with slightly more enterprise to score 64 in 2½ hours in a third-wicket partnership of 122 with John Freeman. The aim of Essex should have been, as the best option possible in this situation, to declare and try to bowl out Yorkshire for a first-innings victory, as three points would have slightly increased their percentage in the championship table, while Yorkshire would not have wanted any first-innings result at all. Yorkshire were quite content with the stodgy Essex batting for this reason.
Probably Johnny Douglas delayed his declaration to give Freeman the chance of reaching what would have been only the third century scored off Yorkshire bowling this season, but Freeman continued to bat so negatively that Douglas apparently lost patience and declared with him having been on 98 for several overs, after batting for 5¾ hours altogether. The whole innings lasted 140 overs; Essex scored only 210 runs off the bat, which made a scoring rate of exactly 1½ runs an over for the whole boring innings, which contained 5 fours. And this was without Douglas himself taking an innings! Yorkshire had no intention of either chasing first-innings points and a reduced percentage, or of collapsing, so they simply batted out time, with Herbert Sutcliffe providing the most — the only — attractive batting of the match, reaching his fifty with a four off the last ball of the match. Percy Holmes was the only man out, miscuing a pull to be caught at square leg for 4.
Cheltenham Festival: Gloucestershire v Nottinghamshire
Notts Struggle to Victory
The teams came back for the third day with Nottinghamshire needing to score just another 16 runs to win the match with nine wickets in hand. The pitch was no better than it had been yesterday, and it took them half an hour to finish the job against superb bowling from Charlie Parker and George Dennett. In the process they lost the wickets of George Gunn and Arthur Carr for 14 and 5 respectively, before Willis Walker hit the winning runs, finishing with 8 not out after batting for 50 minutes.
Bournemouth Festival: Hampshire v Somerset
Somerset Unable to Secure Lead
With the first two days completely washed out, the two counties were left to get what result they could on the final day, playing on a fresh pitch with a late start at 12.30. As both teams have percentages of below 60 in the Championship table, they were genuinely seeking three points for a first-innings victory. Hampshire decided to bat first and were bowled out in 2½ hours, thanks to superb bowling from Jim Bridges, who was unchanged and took seven wickets. Phil Mead was the only batsman to score 20 or more.
Somerset had less than two hours in which to chase down 123. They were given a fine start by John Daniell and Archie Young, who put on 56 for the first wicket, but began to fall behind the clock. Some of the Somerset batsmen ran to the wickets and got out through reckless strokes as time was running out. 45 runs were still needed when the extra half-hour was claimed. Then 20 runs were required in the last ten minutes when the fourth wicket fell. George Hunt played a fine attacking innings of 31 not out in 40 minutes, but in the final over Bridges was bowled out by the second ball still 5 runs short. With less than two minutes left, there was not enough time according to the laws for the next man to come in, and the umpires removed the bails, leaving the match drawn without a first-innings result and therefore not counted in the Championship table.
Lord’s: Middlesex v Kent
Lee Century in Boring Draw
After the blank day yesterday and with a lifeless pitch today, this match petered out into a pointless draw, as both sides preferred it to be. Three points for a first-innings lead would have reduced the percentage of either team in the County Championship table, so a result on the first innings was to be avoided by both. So Middlesex continued their innings with Harry Lee and Horace Dales taking their opening partnership to 161 before Dales was caught in the deep. Jack Hearne played one of his all-too-rare attacking innings, playing some superb strokes as he made 41 in less than an hour, and then Patsy Hendren joined Lee. Lee has been in poor form recently, but he kept going for a fine century, batting for 4½ hours altogether before Middlesex declared when he was 130 not out.
Kent had two and a half hours to bat, and both teams knew to take it easy and make sure nobody did anything stupid enough to bring about a decision on the first innings. Jack Bryan and Con Johnstone did the solid, unenterprising job that both teams expected in the circumstances, and the match ended with Hendren coming on to bowl and taking two wickets, including that of Johnstone to end the match.
The Oval: Surrey v Leicestershire
Astill Fifty but No Result
A fourth no-result match took place — three of them in the London area — at the Oval today, when Surrey and Leicestershire went through the motions of playing when it was dry after a late start. The overnight pair of Ewart Astill and George Geary played out the half-hour pre-lunch session for 18 runs on a damp, lifeless pitch, but Geary was out immediately afterwards, and six wickets were down for 124, putting Surrey in danger of recording an unwanted first-innings lead. But Astill saved the situation for both sides with a fine 67, containing many excellent strokes in its latter part. After he was out the Leicestershire batting stagnated until Major Gus Fowke declared at 175 for nine wickets.
Surrey were left with 80 minutes to bat, which were given to Jack Hobbs and Andy Sandham. Sandham played the more attractive strokes, and Hobbs was out in the final over, caught at slip off the bowling of Frank Bale.
Day 1
Cheltenham: Gloucestershire v Kent
Freeman Spins Out Gloucestershire
The luck of the toss, and the correct decision by the Kent captain, Stanley Cornwallis, is proving crucial in this match. Gloucestershire, put in to bat on a soaked pitch, crumbled against the Kent spinners — the pacemen didn’t even get an over — and were bowled out in an hour and three-quarters. For once Charles Marriott was unable to make an impact, apart from having Wally Hammond lbw without scoring, but Tich Freeman was completely in his element, and later Frank Woolley replaced Marriott and took three wickets. Alf Dipper fought it out to score 17 in an hour and a quarter, but seven wickets were down for 44 before Captain Michael Green and Charlie Parker made some good hits to reach 71. For the most part, though, the Gloucestershire batting was very feeble.
The roller largely flattened out the pitch when Kent went in, and even Charlie Parker could get little out of it now. Wally Hardinge and Jack Bryan put on 41 for the first wicket, and Hardinge was batting in fine form when joined by Woolley. Woolley in fact took a while to find his touch, and Hardinge was his equal in their second-wicket partnership of 112. By the time Hardinge went Woolley was batting in his best form, and was developing another big partnership with George Collins by the close. He never tore the bowling apart as he can do, but with skilful placing of the ball scored smoothly and easily. He reached his century in just under an hour and a half, and Kent finished the day totally dominant, while Gloucestershire had reason to bemoan their ill fortune.
Bournemouth Festival: Hampshire v Leicestershire
Batsmen in Trouble
The heavy rain of the week had left the pitch very soft, and as the sky cleared and the sun shone down hotly today, it turned very treacherous and only four batsmen of the day the 21 wickets that fell during the day reached double figures. Major Gus Fowke, no doubt experiencing the pitch to get worse, made the hard choice to bat first, and Leicestershire lost their first seven wickets for 37 runs to the fine bowling of Alec Kennedy and Stuart Boyes. As so often, it was Ewart Astill who stood up when others couldn’t, and with Tommy Sidwell (9) put on an eighth-wicket partnership of 31. He was still unbeaten when the last wicket fell, his 34 in 80 minutes amounting to almost half the team total of 77. Kennedy finished with seven wickets, and twice took two with successive deliveries; he and Boyes bowled unchanged throughout the innings.
Hampshire decided on dour defence when they batted, perhaps in the hope that the pitch would improve — which it didn’t. After losing Jack Newman without scoring, George Brown and Ronnie Aird ground out whatever runs they could get to take the score to 36, and just before tea reached 51 with only two wickets down. Then after tea George Geary began a superb spell of bowling, beginning by bowling Brown for 35, and seven were down for 54. Herbert Hake (8) and Kennedy (9) scraped together 22 in partnership, but it took the last pair to get Hampshire the first-innings lead, with Walter Livsey 8 not out at the end. Their total of 86 took 63 overs to compile. Batting a second time, it took Leicestershire over half an hour to score 10 runs before Eddie Dawson somehow contrived to get himself stumped off the last ball of the day.
Nelson: Lancashire v Derbyshire
Morton Fine Bowling Before Injury
When the Nelson Cricket Club of the Lancashire League released Ted McDonald to play for Lancashire, the county club agreed to schedule a county fixture for the Nelson ground — and this is it. There were about 9600 spectators today, but unfortunately the wet weather of the past week made the pitch very sticky as the sun shone warmly all day. However, this did serve to show what a great batsman Charlie Hallows is at his best, as he was today. While the other batsmen struggled and scraped, with occasional slogs, Hallows batted beautifully against the fine bowling of Derbyshire, and in particular Arthur Morton, who bowled exceptionally well with his medium-paced off-breaks throughout the innings. For the third time this season Hallows carried his bat through the innings, batting today for two hours and 20 minutes, hitting 3 sixes and 6 fours and without giving a chance. His best partner was Jack Sharp, who hit fiercely for 16 in 20 minutes in a partnership of 30 with Hallows. This was Lancashire’s smallest total of the season.
Derbyshire had four men able to reach double figures against Lancashire’s three, with Garnet Lee batting very well for his 25 when the pitch was at its worst. They lost five wickets for 49, though, but two occasional amateurs in John Crommelin-Brown and Lionel Blaxland played well and at 92 for seven there was a close fight for the first-innings lead. But at this point Morton tried to hit a poor ball from Frank Watson but edged it on to his eye, and the injury was so bad he had to be helped from the field and taken to Burnley Hospital. After this the Derbyshire innings closed 5 runs behind. It will be a bitter blow for them if, as seems likely, Morton will be unable to bowl for them in the second innings. Hallows scored all the 13 runs Lancashire put on the board in 20 minutes of their second innings before the close.
Lord’s: Middlesex v Nottinghamshire
Notts’ Show of Force
Nottinghamshire appeared much the better team of the two on today’s showing, in all departments of the game. The pitch was still soft after much rain and gave some help to the bowlers, but probably not enough to make Frank Mann think of putting Nottinghamshire in when he won the toss. Middlesex were 85 for three at lunch, with the top three batsmen out — Jack Hearne (16) did not dig in as solidly today. The match turned after lunch, as Nottinghamshire took three quick wickets, including the rather foolish run-out of Nigel Haig, and Middlesex found themselves reeling at 97 for six. But Patsy Hendren was still there, and he found good defensive support from the promising young amateur batsman Sydney Beton in a partnership of 66. Then both were out in quick succession and Middlesex were dismissed for 175. There was some superb bowling from Sam Staples, who troubled the batsmen with his accurate off-breaks, although most of his wickets came from his arm ball, including that of Hendren. He bowled 25.4 overs and conceded only 28 runs. Fred Barratt and Harold Larwood also bowled very well at a quick pace in an excellent overall bowling display.
Nottinghamshire did not begin their innings well, as Gubby Allen took two wickets for 35 on the board. George Gunn tried to tease him and the wicket-keeper by walking down the pitch before the bowler delivered, but then he had a fine ball, tried to play the old-fashioned draw and was bowled off his pads for 18, while Willis Walker was bowled by a superb delivery without scoring in the same over. Dodger Whysall kept batting steadily while Arthur Carr as usual attacked the bowling, hitting two massive sixes off Hearne and scoring 54 in an hour and a quarter. By the close Nottinghamshire had almost taken the lead with three wickets down — ‘almost’ perhaps wisely just in case the final two days are washed out and Nottinghamshire would have lost percentage for leading on the first innings!
Taunton: Somerset v Surrey
Hobbs on the Verge
As usual, this Surrey match is dominated in public and press opinion by the question of whether Jack Hobbs will this time equal the record of Dr W G Grace in scoring 126 first-class centuries. As he was 91 not out at the close, the excitement has intensified and the man himself will probably have a rather tense weekend as he awaits Monday when he will be expected to live up to public expectation. Somerset batted first, rather shakily, with only four men reaching double figures. Three batsmen were out for 16 before Archie Young and Randall Johnson, who played one of his classic stylish innings, put on 77 for the fourth wicket, and there was another slump until Reggie Ingle and Jim Bridges made 37 for the ninth wicket, the only two partnerships worth mentioning, as the Surrey pace bowlers took most of the wickets.
Then it was Surrey to bat, and as the spectators watched in tense silence, the great man’s partners played second fiddle quietly to him, as he progressed very cautiously. In a mix-up between the wickets, Donald Knight sacrificed his wicket so that Hobbs did not lose his. Hobbs had almost 2½ hours to play this afternoon to avoid a stressful weekend, but he managed only 91 in that time. He survived a difficult chance and two near run-outswinger early on, but then seemed to settle in more easily, although he took great care against the accurate left-arm spin of Jack White. There will doubtless be a huge crowd on Monday to reach, it is hoped, his target.
Llandudno: Wales v Ireland
Mercer Too Much for Ireland
Ireland had just come from a fine victory over a weak M.C.C. team at Lord’s, which was not first-class, but struggled against a Wales side that consists mainly of Glamorgan players. They reached 84 before the second wicket fell, with their opening batsman John Walton leading the way, but after lunch Jack Mercer had a brilliant spell of bowling, taking the last seven wickets to fall, six of them bowled and one lbw, for just 11 runs in this spell. Only Augustine Kelly with a fine 41 could stand up to him.
Norman Riches and John Bell put on 42 for the Wales first innings, and then Albert Mallalieu put on 139 for the second wicket with the former Glamorgan captain, being out just before the close, when Riches was on the verge of his century. The weather was beautiful and sunny.
Birmingham: Warwickshire v Northamptonshire
Howell Earns Warwickshire Lead
After much recent rain the soft pitch at Edgbaston favoured the bowlers, but Freddie Calthorpe decided to bat, probably expecting that it would get no easier to bat on. Batsmen in fact struggled all day, and the highest individual score was only 30, made by Calthorpe himself, who had to play a more careful game than usual to make them. He and Len Bates took Warwickshire to 90 before the fourth wicket fell; seven men scored at least 14 runs, but the tail went down quickly, apart from Harry Howell, who biffed 17 as last man while his partner Bob Wyatt made 1 not out. 159 was considered quite a useful score under the conditions. Vallance Jupp was the best, although not the most successful, of the bowlers, having the batsmen in difficulties and taking his hundredth wicket of the season.
Howell then starred with the ball, despite the fact that the soft slow pitch was hardly suitable for fast bowling. He took the first four Northamptonshire wickets for 66 runs on the board, and then came back for a second spell to finish off the innings. Four batsmen reached 20, with Claud Woolley and Jupp playing very carefully, but their tail proved even more fragile than Warwickshire’s had done, the last five batsmen making only 14 runs among them. Warwickshire thus finished the day 33 runs ahead.
Bradford: Yorkshire v Sussex
Great Sussex Performance in the Field
This is Yorkshire’s first fixture with Sussex this season, and their last championship fixture at home. There has been no rain in Bradford for several days, yet the pitch was still soft and immediately proved very helpful to bowlers in the sun today as they got the ball to turn and lift. Yorkshire chose to bat and were no doubt surprised to be bowled out for their lowest score of the season, 119. Herbert Sutcliffe was out for 9, caught off a ball from Maurice Tate that lifted sharply; Percy Holmes followed for 10. Edgar Oldroyd took the uncharacteristic course of trying to hit his way out of trouble, and hit 4 fours before being out for 19. Maurice Leyland and Wilfred Rhodes put on 34 for the fourth wicket, and Emmott Robinson and Abe Waddington 25 for the eighth, but no batsman reached 20. Surprisingly Tate was not very effective today, and Bert Wensley in particular, with his dangerous swing, and Francis Browne caused the batsmen most difficulties. Sussex fielded brilliantly, and many said this was the best bowling and fielding performance against Yorkshire this season.
Emmott Robinson soon struck back with the ball for Yorkshire and Sussex lost four batsmen for 37. The veteran Dick Young became the only batsman of the day to reach 20, while Ronnie Holdsworth stayed an hour and a quarter to grind out 11. Roy Kilner bowled brilliantly to shatter the middle order, and by the close Yorkshire had taken a lead of 32 runs on the first innings.
Day 3
Bournemouth Festival: Hampshire v Leicestershire
Day and Jameson in Hampshire Victory
The overnight partnership between Captain Tom Jameson and Harold Day had already put on 52 runs, with another 100 needed for victory. They continued their valuable job this morning, although they had to fight hard against fine bowling from George Geary and Ewart Astill, helped by heavy dew. In the end they added another 63 runs before Jameson was out to a fine catch by Gus Fowke. But he had turned the innings around, and when Alec Kennedy came in to join Day with another 37 runs needed, the seventh-wicket partnership took Hampshire home in style.
Nelson: Lancashire v Derbyshire
McDonald Bowls Lancashire to Victory
It took Lancashire less than half an hour to wrap up the match this morning. Ted McDonald got his revenge for having made a pair with the bat by taking the last three available wickets (with Arthur Morton absent injured) with great pace for only another 18 runs. Joseph Bowden looked set to carry his bat through the innings after batting for just over three hours for his 42, but he hit an easy catch to third man to be last out. Although the crowd today was very small, the match was a good financial success for Lancashire with the gate receipts amounting to over £1000.
Lord’s: Middlesex v Nottinghamshire
Hearne and North make Notts Fight
The depleted Middlesex team did extremely well to force a perhaps overconfident Nottinghamshire team to work hard for their eventual victory. They fought hard with the bat, especially Joe Murrell, who played a good aggressive game for 34 not out until they were all out for 260. This total was scored for the loss of only eight wickets, with Gubby Allen and Jack Durston absent, and in the course of it Nigel Haig sprained his leg, which meant he too would be unable to bowl.
This left Middlesex with only two bowlers as Nottinghamshire went in to get 105 to win — the spin of Jack Hearne and the medium-pace of Ernest North. They both responded superbly, bowling with great accuracy and guile. Dodger Whysall (3) and Willis Walker (4) soon went, but Arthur Carr came in to joined George Gunn and played a well-calculated aggressive game, taking the score to 52 before Gunn went. Carr went for 33, and when Bill Flint was sixth out at 80, the match was still in the balance. However, Ben Lilley, joined by Harold Larwood at 92, was in command of the situation and played a confident innings to take Nottinghamshire home safely.
Taunton: Somerset v Surrey
Two New Records for Hobbs
It seems strange that so much excitement was aroused by the prospect of Jack Hobbs equalling W G Grace’s record of 126 first-class centuries, compared to that of exceeding it. Today the crowd numbered only hundreds, the cinematograph operators had all gone, and Hobbs not only scored his 127th century to win the match, but also became the first batsmen to score as many as 14 centuries in a first-class season. Hobbs himself felt much less pressure this time round and played an innings much more typical of him.
In the morning Somerset continued to fight well with the bat, only Percy Fender’s bowling causing them much concern. George Hunt was the only man to pass 30, though, and he went on to a good 59. The last wicket fell just before lunch, which set Surrey 183 to win.
The obvious question was whether Hobbs would be able to reach his record-breaking century. Hobbs played with due care, but had clearly set his mind on doing so. Andy Sandham proved the ideal unselfish partner, letting Hobbs do most of the scoring while still taking advantage of all reasonable scoring opportunities. Somerset gave nothing away, although at 97 Hobbs survived a stumping chance, and at 4.38 he pushed a single past square leg to set the new record — two new records. This is also the third time he had scored a century in each innings of a match. He gave Sandham the honour of making the winning hit. Back afterwards in the pavement, he was called upon to make a speech, in which he said he was the happiest man on earth and only regretted that he had not accomplished his performance at the Oval.
The former Surrey all-rounder Jack Crawford has just undergone a successful operation for appendicitis, which had at one time been quite serious due to septic poisoning and his life had been in some danger.
Birmingham: Warwickshire v Northamptonshire
Jupp Goes Down Fighting
Northamptonshire, mainly in the person of Vallance Jupp, put up such a good fight today that when Warwickshire took their last wicket to win the match they had only a quarter of an hour to spare. This is Jupp’s first first-class century for Northamptonshire, having moved from Sussex, and in this match he took both his 1000th run and took his 100th wicket of the season, so following Maurice Tate in completing the season double. He batted for just over three hours altogether, and his best partnership was one of 101 for the fourth wicket in an hour and a quarter with Fanny Walden, who contributed only 22. The later batsmen did not come through strongly, although Maurice Fitzroy, the captain, fought hard for 28 not out until he ran out of partners.
Harry Howell took four wickets in the innings, to finish with match figures of eleven for 142. However, he has announced his retirement at the end of the season from full-time first-class cricket and will be taking up a Lancashire League appointment with Accrington. He says the reason is that he can no longer take the strain of playing cricket as a fast bowler for six days a week, although he will be willing to play midweek matches at times for Warwickshire should they wish, with his club’s permission. This is a serious blow for Warwickshire, as Howell is still the best bowler of their rather threadbare bowling attack.
Bradford: Yorkshire v Sussex
The Empire Strikes Back: Macaulay’s Triumph
The great Yorkshire machine triumphed again at Bradford yesterday, although they left it until almost the last minute. At lunch Sussex were on the verge of victory, needing only 40 more runs for victory with six wickets in hand. After lunch they didn’t even get halfway there, as George Macaulay, in a devastating spell of bowling and with no help from the pitch, tore through the remaining batsmen to finish with a haul of seven wickets.
At first Sussex did well, as the overnight pair of Ted Bowley and Tommy Cook put on 81 for the third wicket. There was no dynamic batting as when Maurice Tate was in; safe and steady was the watchword. With George Cox joining him, Bowley reached a fine century, although he was dropped at the wicket on 94. Cox was bowled by Macaulay with the second new ball just before lunch, making the score 223 for four and all the advantage was with Sussex. After lunch Yorkshire’s greatest weapon, Macaulay, came into his own. He took a wicket in each of his first three overs after lunch, and the second of these, that of Bowley, caught at the wicket, was the great blow that settled the match. His magnificent 105 deserved to win a match. Then the tail went down like a pack of cards before Macaulay, who swept them aside ruthlessly in one of his most brilliant spells of bowling. He was backed up splendidly by Roy Kilner at the other end and by superb fielding. The last eight wickets went down for 16 runs, the last six batsmen scored 10 runs among them, Macaulay’s figures in the 35 minutes’ play after lunch read 5.3-1-8-5 and Yorkshire’s unbeaten record stays intact. When Yorkshire’s fighting spirit clashed with the fragile Sussex batting, the end was swift and ruthless — but they left it very late.
Sussex took their defeat, as one would expect with Arthur Gilligan as captain, with gracious sportsmanship. Bowley is only the third batsman to score a century off the Yorkshire bowling this season, following Charlie Hallows and Reg Santall.
WEST INDIES TOUR
Besides Freddie Calthorpe, the captain, the following players have all accepted invitations to join the M.C.C. tour of the West Indies during the coming winter: Lionel Tennyson, Ewart Astill, Tiger Smith, George Collins and Wally Hammond. More names will be announced soon.