Russell’s Majestic 149
100 Years Ago: 18-21 July 1925
Day 1
Lord’s: Army v Royal Navy
Gore Sinks Navy
ROYAL NAVY 119 (A E Evans 21, E L D Bartley 25; A C Gore 8/46, P H Davies 2/36). ARMY 319/4 (W A C Wilkinson 21, E S B Williams 106, C L S Tudor 27, R E H Hudson 96*, G J Bryan 62, E L Armitage 2*; R A D Brooks 2 wkts).
This match looked rather unbalanced from the start, as the Army have a very strong side, while the Navy have some top players unavailable. The pitch was good when the Navy won the toss, but unfortunately for them the wind was perfect for the bowling of the Army paceman Lieutenant Adrian Gore. He was able to swing the ball in very late from the off and make it dip, and the Navy were quite unable to handle him. He took four of the first five wickets that fell for 28 runs, and eight altogether, bowling through the innings for 20.3 overs to take eight wickets for 46 runs.
The Navy had no bowler able to match this, although Lieutenant Alexander Cadell bowled well without luck. Their opening batsman Captain Edward Williams played superbly to score a most impressive century in two hours, and by the close Lieutenant Reginald Hudson was close to three figures as well. Godfrey Bryan reached his fifty in only half an hour. There was some excellent wicket-keeping from Edward Bartley, who toured South Africa with M.C.C. last winter.
Southend-on-Sea Festival: Essex v Hampshire
Fine Innings by Russell
ESSEX 355/4 (J R Freeman 90, J O’Connor 35, C A G Russell 149, P A Perrin 52*; G S Boyes 2 wkts). HAMPSHIRE to bat.
Essex made a steady start to their innings, with John Freeman and Jack O’Connor laying a good foundation before lunch. Jack Russell was in fine form right from the start of his innings, playing good enterprising cricket and dominated his third-wicket partnership of 146 with Freeman. Freeman played a solid anchor innings for just under four hours. Then Percy Perrin came in, also in good form and driving powerfully, and these two shared an excellent partnership that left Essex in a strong position by the close. They put on 130 together in less than an hour and a half before Russell was stumped in the final over of the day. He finished with 149 in just over 3½ hours, giving no chances before he was out. Alec Kennedy and the other Hampshire bowlers had little success today, with Kennedy having only the wicket of Freeman, bowled for 90, to celebrate.
Cardiff: Glamorgan v Worcestershire
Worcestershire Poor Batting, Glamorgan Worse
WORCESTERSHIRE 223 (F A Pearson 19, H O Hopkins 43, C F Root 63, H O Rogers 27; T Arnott 3/56, F P Ryan 5/64, W E Bates 2/32). GLAMORGAN 60/4 (W E Bates 21, T E Abel 6*, D Davies 5*; F A Pearson 2 wkts).
This basement battle between the two bottom sides in the County Championship table saw a great deal of poor batting today from both teams. On a soft pitch, Worcestershire owed much to Herbert Hopkins and Fred Root for their moderate score, as the other batsmen for the most part fell easy victims to the left-arm spinner Frank Ryan, who is showing wonderful bowling form at present. Hopkins played an attractive innings, but Root obviously took his responsibilities very seriously, as he put his head down to grind out 70 in three hours before he was eventually the last man out. Ryan bowled 34 overs with 16 maidens, most of them to Root who blocked him out, to take five for 64.
The pleasure Glamorgan probably had from bowling Worcestershire out for 223 evaporated when they began their second innings with their own batting collapse. After his long innings Root was hardly fresh for bowling, but the first four Glamorgan batsmen were all gone for 49 runs, so Worcestershire finished the day with an apparent advantage in any case.
Blackheath: Kent v Surrey
Hobbs On His Way
KENT 281 (C P Johnstone 60, F E Woolley 78, J C Hubble 54, W S Cornwallis 28; P G H Fender 4/100, T F Shepherd 4/80). SURREY 121/0 (J B Hobbs 62*, A Sandham 51*).
Having overcome their Blackheath hoodoo, Surrey played with confidence on this Blackheath ground. It is a very good batting pitch, heavily marled, and neither pace bowlers nor spinners could find any encouragement from it. Surrey therefore did very well to keep Kent down to only 281 runs, especially as Bill Hitch strained a groin muscle and had to leave the field after having Wally Hardinge caught in the slips without scoring; Hitch is probably out of this match at least. Con Johnstone and Bill Ashdown found scoring difficult against very accurate bowling, backed by excellent fielding. After lunch the two left-handers Con Johnstone and Frank Woolley went on the attack and shredded the bowling for a while, until both took a slight risk with an attacking stroke and paid for it, Woolley falling to a brilliant catch at long-on by Stanley Fenley. 100 runs had come in an hour after lunch. The Surrey bowlers stuck to their task, with Percy Fender and Tom Shepherd taking most of the load, and only Jack Hubble, well supported by the captain, Captain Stanley Cornwallis, got going after that. There were three superb fifties in the innings, but fifties were not quite enough.
When Surrey went in for just under an hour and a half, Jack Hobbs and Andy Sandham took the batting to another class. Cornwallis and Charlie Wright worked up some genuine speed when they opened the Kent attack, but these two batsmen treated them like medium-pacers, while they used their feet to Tich Freeman and never allowed him to find his length. Only Woolley was able to keep any control by bowling accurately to a tight field. Their stand was worth 121 by the close, with Hobbs looking ominously set for another century and Sandham looking every bit as good as he.
Manchester: Lancashire v Middlesex (Cecil Parkin’s Benefit)
Hearne and Hendren Again
MIDDLESEX 410 (J W Hearne 78, H W Lee 44, E H Hendren 118, C N Bruce 59, H J Enthoven 45, N E Haig 32*; F B Watson 4/99, R K Tyldesley 3/65). LANCASHIRE 23/0 (J W H Makepeace 18*, J L Hopwood 1*).
Horace Dales and Greville Stevens were both unavailable for Middlesex for this match and they had no opening partner for Harry Lee, so they tried the experiment of sending Jack Hearne in with Lee, and moving Patsy Hendren up to No 3. It worked perfectly, and three of Middlesex’s first four partnerships were of three figures. This might have been very different had Lee not been dropped off an easy chance to the Lancashire captain, Jack Sharp, at short leg off the first ball of the match. Hearne’s batting was a revelation to those who think of him as just a prim and proper accumulator of runs at a slow and steady pace. He played with rare fluency, reaching his fifty in only an hour. Lee was out to the last ball before lunch after a stand of 121 with Hearne, who was out just afterwards for 78 in about an hour and a half.
Then Hearne and Clarence Bruce batted brilliantly to add 107 runs in 50 minutes before Bruce was out after a beautiful graceful innings, which brought in Tom Enthoven, on his championship début, to share a stand of 117 with Hendren, who continued so well that he reached 107 by tea. He was eventually out for 118 in about 2½ hours. The Lancashire bowling and fielding were pretty moderate. After this perhaps the orders were to hit out or get out, with the later batsmen apparently preferring the latter option, apart from Nigel Haig, who at No 7 was left stranded on 32 as the last five wickets went down for 39 runs. Parkin did not particularly enjoy the first day of his benefit match, having a hard dry pitch that did not suit his bowling and failing to take a wicket after that drop off his first delivery. But a crowd of over 16,000 on a warm sunny day and a collection today of £123 will be good for his bank account. The Lancashire openers survived the last 25 minutes of the day.
Northampton: Northamptonshire v Dublin University
Weak University Side
DUBLIN UNIVERSITY 197 (T G B McVeagh 32, M Sugden 36, C E McCausland 21, J R Wills 28; P A Wright 5/45, G W Norris 2/23). NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 173/4 (W W Timms 71, W C Brown 31, N H Bowell 12*, E F Towell 12*).
Northamptonshire are playing largely a reserve side for this match, with only Ben Bellamy and John Murdin on the regular professionals in the team. Last year when Dublin University came over for a similar match Northamptonshire won by an innings, so this time the county probably wanted it to be more competitive, and included three debutants. George McVeagh and Mark Sugden batted well to put on 75 in an hour for the University’s second wicket, but after that the innings declined gradually and fell short of 200. Most of their players batted attractively but did not appear to be of genuine first-class standard.
Wilfrid Timms and William Brown put on 63 for Northamptonshire’s first wicket, and by the close they were 24 runs behind the University with six wickets in hand. The University bowling and fielding were not particularly impressive. For a curiosity, Norman Bowell and Edgar Towell were the not-out batsmen at the close with 12 each.
Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire (George Gunn’s Benefit)
Four Fifties for Yorkshire
YORKSHIRE 386 (H Sutcliffe 20, E Oldroyd 54, M Leyland 39, W Rhodes 57, R Kilner 90, E Robinson 58*, G G Macaulay 36; F Barratt 2/70, T L Richmond 4/87, H Larwood 2/79). NOTTINGHAMSHIRE to bat.
Yorkshire made good use of winning the toss, while Nottinghamshire did not make up for losing it. Percy Holmes was bowled by Fred Barratt in the first over without a run on the board, but Nottinghamshire dropped Herbert Sutcliffe early on, which was not too expensive, and Edgar Oldroyd on 6, and that had a big effect. Holmes and Sutcliffe had gone for 27, but Oldroyd stuck in with Maurice Leyland to take the score to 112 before he was out, brilliantly run out by Willis Walker. At 122 for four Nottinghamshire had recovered some lost ground, but then they lost their grip as the all-rounders Wilfred Rhodes and Roy Kilner shared an excellent partnership of 151 for the fifth wicket. Rhodes reached his thousand runs for the season, but he will not complete another double this season as he has done too little bowling.
Again the two men involved in a good partnership were out in quick succession, but there was more batting to come, as Emmott Robinson played well and George Macaulay smacked up 36 runs in a 53-run partnership with him in 40 minutes. Robinson made more good runs before he ran out of partners. Yorkshire almost reached 400, with four fifties as their best scores; of these, Kilner’s was the most entertaining, his 90 taking about 90 minutes to score and being notable for his superb timing. Harold Larwood was the most dangerous of the bowlers, working up a good pace and making the ball lift. Len Richmond took the most wickets, but he was expensive. There were about 15,000 spectators at the ground on a beautiful sunny day to boost George Gunn’s benefit fund.
Weston-super-Mare Festival: Somerset v Derbyshire
Somerset Top 300
SOMERSET 321 (A B Bligh 28, J C White 67, R A Ingle 89, G F Earle 26, W T Greswell 46; S W A Cadman 2/35, B S H Hill-Wood 2/66, L F Townsend 3/24). DERBYSHIRE 4/0 (J Bowden 4*, G M Lee 0*).
There was heavy overnight rain, but with no sun it was quite lifeless today and Somerset were able to score runs without much trouble. They did not begin well, losing their openers to Basil Hill-Wood for 37, and Jack White and Reggie Ingle both made good fifties. They put on 75 for the fourth wicket, White being unusually enterprising in scoring 67 in 100 minutes. Guy Earle smashed 26 in 18 minutes off 25 balls, and then Bill Greswell stayed in to add 99 with Ingle in an hour for the seventh wicket, both batsmen hitting out well, though Greswell was missed twice in the field. Rain cut play short by an hour and a quarter.
Derbyshire are severely handicapped by having both Bill Bestwick and Jim Horsley missing through strains. They had only five minutes to bat in the evening, scorned to use a night-watchman, and the openers survived.
Eastbourne: Sussex v Warwickshire
Bates and Tate
WARWICKSHIRE 239 (E J Smith 36, L T A Bates 104, F R Santall 32; M W Tate 6/69, A F Wensley 3/71). SUSSEX 51/1 (E H Bowley 27*, J H Parks 19, T E R Cook 0*).
Does Arthur Gilligan make much difference to the Sussex team? He certainly appeared to do so today, even though he cannot bowl at present, and if it had not been for a superb century from Len Bates Warwickshire would have been in real trouble today. Maurice Tate did not bowl at his best this morning, and Warwickshire reached 132 before the third wicket fell. But Sussex under the charismatic Gilligan seem to be getting back to their old enthusiasm and brilliance in the field, and Tate finished off the later batsmen quite quickly. Tiger Smith, not at his best, and Reg Santall, batting very well, were the only other batsmen to pass 29 as Maurice Tate ripped through the tail.
Tate’s figures for his final spell were 9-5-11-5. Bates batted for almost three hours for his century, remarkably his first for three years, and Bert Wensley gave Tate good support with the ball. Sussex batted out the day, until bad light stopped play, for the loss of Jim Parks’s wicket.
Day 2
Lord’s: Army v Royal Navy
Army’s Innings Victory
ROYAL NAVY 119 and 136 (A R Cadell 32, A E Evans 22; P H Davies 2/29, G C S B Cooke 4/39, E L Armitage 3/39). ARMY 374/7 dec (R E H Hudson 110, E L Armitage 26; R A D Brooks 4/114). Overnight score was: Army (1) 319/4 (Hudson 96*, Armitage 2*).
The start of play was delayed by rain, after which the Army continued their innings. Lieutenant Reginald Hudson completed his century and the declaration came at the luncheon interval. The Navy again batted poorly and lost by an innings in two days. They have talent, but did not make the best use of it, looking out of practice.
Southend-on-Sea Festival: Essex v Hampshire
Hampshire Follow On
ESSEX 486/6 dec (P A Perrin 91*, C T Ashton 85; G Brown 2/85, G S Boyes 2/96). HAMPSHIRE 181 (L H Tennyson 33, A S Kennedy 37, C P Brutton 38; G M Louden 4/28, M S Nichols 3/43) and (following on) 73/3 (R Aird 44*, H A W Bowell 10*; G M Louden 2 wkts). Hampshire are 232 behind Essex with seven second-innings wickets in hand. Overnight score was: Essex (1) 355/4 (Perrin 52*).
Essex continued to dominate this match very strongly today. In the morning Claude Ashton, on one of his occasional appearances for Essex, played some superb attacking strokes and was on course for a possible century before lunch before he was out for 85, scored in just over an hour. He shared a partnership of 130 with Percy Perrin, who began slowly, and this may have cost him, as he was on 91 when rain interrupted play. Johnny Douglas then declared, wanting to get Hampshire in on a drying pitch.
This proved to be good policy, as George Louden took advantage of the conditions with a fine spell of bowling that led to Hampshire’s first four wickets going down for 29 before some bluff hitting by Lionel Tennyson temporarily revived the situation. Then came another slump, to 101 for seven. Louden then had to leave the field for a while due to a finger injury. The eventual total was 181, with Stan Nichols finishing off the innings, and Douglas was able to apply the follow-on, with Hampshire 305 behind. Louden was back and immediately got among the wickets again, with Hampshire losing their first three wickets for 22. Phil Mead was twice out during the day, for 4 and 3. Ronnie Aird fought back well before the close, but Hampshire appear to be doomed to defeat unless there is some remarkable play tomorrow.
Cardiff: Glamorgan v Worcestershire
Arnott Keeps Glamorgan in the Match
WORCESTERSHIRE 223 and 193/9 (C V Tarbox 29, H O Hopkins 26, G E B Abell 21, M K Foster 30, H O Rogers 6* overnight; F P Ryan 5/71, J C Clay 3/20). GLAMORGAN 185 (T Arnott 60, J Mercer 29, F P Ryan 38; C F Root 5/57, F A Pearson 4/42). Worcestershire lead by 221 runs with one wicket in hand. Overnight score was: Glamorgan (1) 60/4 (Abel 6*, D Davies 5*).
The morning’s cricket was fascinating for its swings of fortune. Glamorgan began disastrously, losing three more wickets in the first five minutes; in fact, it was almost four wickets, as Maurice Foster missed a chance at fine leg from Jack Mercer that would have given Fred Root a hat-trick. Mercer responded in typical fashion by hitting 29 in good time, taking the score from 61 for seven to 105 for eight. His partner was Trevor Arnott, who then found another determined partner in Frank Ryan, the two putting on 90 for the ninth wicket. So well did those three bat that Glamorgan finished only 28 runs behind on the first innings.
Worcestershire, batting again, laboured as they tried to build a match-winning total. Nine men reached double figures, but none passed 30 and wickets fell steadily. Once again Ryan was at the centre of the action, helped by Johnnie Clay. By the close they were still short of 200 with nine wickets down, and will probably have scored enough runs to win the match. Glamorgan will need at least 222 runs to win, and with their fragile batting they will have to do very well to reach that.
Blackheath: Kent v Surrey
Hobbs and Shepherd Put Kent to the Sword
KENT 281. SURREY 547/5 (J B Hobbs 105, A Sandham 88, A Jeacocke 80, T F Shepherd 207*, M Howell 33; C P Johnstone 2/40). Overnight score was: Surrey (1) 121/0 (Hobbs 62*, Sandham 51*).
Two bursts of rain cut today’s play by an hour and a half, but Surrey found quite enough time to show Kent how to make the best use of a very placid pitch. The first achievements of the day were accomplished by Jack Hobbs, who first completed 2000 runs for the season, the first batsman to get there, and then reached his 125th first-class century and his 12th of the season; he now needs just one more to equal the great record of W G Grace. He reached three figures after 2½ hours, but soon afterwards was rather controversially given out caught at slip. He was quickly followed by Sandham; they had put on 199 for the first wicket together.
Alfred Jeacocke and Tom Shepherd then took over the crease, with Jeacocke playing a brilliant innings of 80 in 100 minutes after an uncertain start. Shepherd batted with ominous certainty, scoring steadily and with increasing hard hitting and some brilliant strokeplay. He reached his double-century just before the close in about 3½ hours. This is his second double-century at Blackheath; he scored 210 not out in 1921. The Surrey batting today shows how determined they are to show that the ghosts of their Blackheath past have now been truly and permanently laid. To their credit, throughout their ordeal the Kent bowlers and fielders never lost heart and maintained a good standard all day. They all bowled at least five overs except for the wicket-keeper Jack Hubble, and the tenth bowler used, Con Johnstone, was the only one to take two wickets, removing Miles Howell and Percy Fender (1) in quick succession not long before the close of play. If Kent can bat as courageously as they bowled and fielded, they can still avoid defeat tomorrow.
Manchester: Lancashire v Middlesex (Cecil Parkin’s Benefit)
Haig Harasses Lancashire
MIDDLESEX 410 and 211/5 (H W Lee 20, E H Hendren 35, C N Bruce 47, N E Haig 65*, H J Enthoven 17*; C H Parkin 2 wkts, J Iddon 2 wkts). LANCASHIRE 238 (J W H Makepeace 21, J L Hopwood 22, J R Barnes 84, J Sharp 34, R K Tyldesley 24, G Duckworth 24*; N E Haig 6/70, J W Hearne 2/55). Middlesex lead Lancashire by 383 runs with five wickets in hand. Overnight score was: Lancashire (1) 23/0 (Makepeace 18*, Hopwood 1*).
Unless Lancashire turn in a remarkable performance tomorrow, they seem doomed to a third defeat in this Big Six match against Middlesex. Rain last night made the pitch play rather awkwardly in the morning and Nigel Haig took full advantage of it. He soon dismissed Harry Makepeace, and three more batsmen after that, to reduce Lancashire to 55 for four. John Barnes, however, stood firm with Jack Sharp and they fought back to add 60 together in an hour. Dick Tyldesley scored 24 with some good hits, but nine wickets went down for 174. Barnes had batted very doggedly, taking over 2½ hours to reach his fifty. Cecil Parkin, after taking no wickets, further celebrated his benefit match with a duck as he tried to hit a half-volley from Tom Enthoven out of the ground. The last man George Duckworth then provided Barnes with the stubborn support he needed, while he began to hit hard and took Lancashire’s score to 238 before he was finally bowled by Haig for a very good 84 in just over three hours.
Lancashire did not save the possibility of following on, finishing 172 behind, but Frank Mann decided to bat again. The Middlesex second innings was not very inspiring, with both openers out for 39 this time. Patsy Hendren and Clarence Bruce again hit well together for a while, but five wickets were down for 142. Haig, having been promoted to No 5, hit boldly while Tom Enthoven again kept his end up until the day closed with Middlesex leading by 383 runs in a very strong position.
Northampton: Northamptonshire v Dublin University
Hat-Trick as University Slump
DUBLIN UNIVERSITY 197 and 143 (C E McCausland 20, J P M Pigot 50; P A Wright 3/7, R Wooster 5/54 including hat-trick, G W Norris 2/20). NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 396 (N H Bowell 48, E F Towell 59, P A Wright 83; M Sugden 3/98, W J A McMahon 2/92, J R Wills 2/54, A W B Kelly 3/29). Northamptonshire won by an innings and 56 runs. Overnight score was: Northamptonshire (1) 173/4 (Bowell 12*, Towell 12*).
The reserve Northamptonshire eleven completed a simple two-day victory over Dublin University by an innings today in a match that really does not deserve first-class status; the University is not up to first-class standard at present by any means. The national press also ignored this match. The overnight partnership of Bowell and Towell added exactly 100 runs for the fifth wicket. Philip Wright treated the bowling with contempt as he hit up 83 in 55 minutes.
James Pigot was the only batsmen to score more than 20 in the University second innings, which included a hat-trick that sent the score down to 56 for five at this point. The bowler was a debutant, Reginald Wooster, who did not realize his feat until later as it was split between two overs. Pigot’s innings did enable the total to reach 143, but they could not save the innings defeat.
Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire (George Gunn’s Benefit)
Good Nottingham Challenge
YORKSHIRE 386 and 24/1 (P Holmes 11, H Sutcliffe 11*). NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 312 (W W Whysall 81, A W Carr 53, W Walker 74, W A Flint 46; G G Macaulay 2/69, A Waddington 3/81, W Rhodes 4/60). Overnight score was: Yorkshire (1) 386 all out.
Nottinghamshire became the first team this season to score 300 runs in an innings off the Yorkshire bowling attack — although they still fell 74 runs behind on the first innings. They made a poor start after a short delay from overnight rain. George Gunn, in his benefit match, scored only a single before George Macaulay trapped him lbw, while his brother John was caught at the wicket off Emmott Robinson for 7; two down for 26. There were four Yorkshire fifties yesterday, but today Nottinghamshire could offer four scores of over 45. Two of these were scored by the next pair, Dodger Whysall and Arthur Carr, the latter as aggressive as ever, scoring 53 out of a stand worth 91. Then Whysall and Walker added 81 for the fourth wicket, so Nottinghamshire reached 198 before the fourth wicket fell. Whysall fought a fine battle to score 81 in 3½ hours, while Walker batted particularly well. After that, though, only Bill Flint could handle the bowling for long, but he was able to take the score past 300 with the last man Len Richmond in with him.
Wilfred Rhodes, after having his bowling brought almost out of mothballs when the Gentlemen and Players match took Yorkshire’s two top bowlers against Essex, was again given more bowling to do, and responded well with four wickets, including that of Carr. Yorkshire had a lead of 74 on the first innings and in 35 minutes’ batting this evening added another 24 runs, with Percy Holmes out in the last over of the day. Herbert Sutcliffe was dropped first ball in the slips by Arthur Carr off Harold Larwood. Unlike most of Yorkshire’s opponents this season, Nottinghamshire will go into the final day’s play with a reasonable chance of securing a draw, which should be of benefit to George Gunn tomorrow.
Several newspapers on Saturday claimed that Johnny Douglas, after he and his team were at one stage during the order recent match at Bramall Lane, been barracked by a section of the crowd, said that he would not play at Sheffield again until the crowd there learned to control its feelings. However, Douglas has denied that he made any such statement, adding that he had never said when and where he would play at any time, whether at Sheffield or elsewhere.
Weston-super-Mare Festival: Somerset v Derbyshire
Two Centuries as Derbyshire Lead
SOMERSET 321 and 1/0 (A E S Rippon 0*, C C C Case 0*). DERBYSHIRE 367 (G M Lee 113, L F Townsend 22, G R Jackson 105, B S H Hill-Wood 33, E F Loney 36; J C White 4/72, W T Greswell 3/110, G E Hunt 2/47). Overnight score was: Derbyshire (1) 4/0 (Bowden 4*, Lee 0*).
The pitch remained easy at the Clarence Park ground today, and Derbyshire had the rare experience of celebrating two centuries in the same innings. The former Nottinghamshire opening batsman Garnet Lee played a very solid innings of just over five hours without giving a chance, anchoring the innings very well, except that he did too often allow poor deliveries to go unpunished. The captain, Guy Jackson, played much more aggressively, batting less than half that time for almost as many runs, and the pair put on 162 together. The rest of the batsmen did not come through very strongly, except for Basil Hill-Wood and Escott Loney who came together at 294 for eight and took Derbyshire into the lead with a partnership of 64 in 42 minutes. Jack White bowled 43 overs for four wickets and only 72 runs, the batsman generally making it their policy to block him out and score their runs at the other end.
Eastbourne: Sussex v Warwickshire
Gilligan and Tate Take Sussex Ahead
WARWICKSHIRE 239 and 130/7 (L T A Bates 43, A J W Croom 29*J Fox 8*; G R Cox 4 wkts, J H Parks 2 wkts). SUSSEX 300 (E H Bowley 47, G R Cox 32, A E R Gilligan 66, M W Tate 73*; R E S Wyatt 3/38, F R Santall 2/46). Warwickshire are 69 runs ahead with three second-innings wickets left. Overnight score was: Sussex (1) 51/1 (Bowley 27*, Cook 0*).
Arthur Gilligan again made his presence felt strongly on the field today. Rain yesterday had made the pitch a little awkward, and although Ted Bowley made 47, out to a ball that rose more than he expected, the rest of the early Sussex batsmen did not stay long, and five wickets were down for 108. Then Gilligan marched in and took charge, launching into the bowling with such powerful hitting that he scored 37 runs in his first 13 minutes at the crease. Altogether he made 66 in three-quarters of an hour. George Cox at the other end played a steady supporting innings, as he did also for Maurice Tate when he came in. After Cox went more wickets fell, but the last man, Francis Browne, held his end up sturdily until the total reached 300, a first-innings lead of 61.
Warwickshire struggled from the start when they went in again, although it was Browne and Parks opening the bowling to rest Tate after his 73 not out. Len Bates batted well again, but the first six wickets went down for 87. The gentle but skilful slows of Cox seemed to perplex all the batsmen. Arthur Croom played steadily, but by the close Sussex were well on top with Warwickshire only 69 runs ahead.
Day 3
Southend-on-Sea Festival: Essex v Hampshire
Innings Victory for Essex
ESSEX 486/6 dec. HAMPSHIRE 181 and (following on) 224 (R Aird 53, H A W Bowell 27, C P Brutton 41, W H Livsey 36*; G M Louden 4/54, A B Hipkin 3/43). Essex won by an innings and 81 runs. Overnight score was: Hampshire (2) 73/3 (Aird 44*, Bowell 10*).
Hampshire appeared to have a hopeless task this morning, and so it proved, as there were only pockets of resistance. Ronnie Aird and Alex Bowell briefly continued their overnight partnership, which eventually added 70 runs in an hour, but the middle order failed and seven wickets were down for 131. Then came some resistance, as Charles Brutton and Walter Livsey added 67 together by aggressive batting in 40 minutes for the eighth wicket. Livsey batted through unbeaten to the end of the innings, but Essex won by a large margin before lunch. George Louden bowled very well in both innings to take eight wickets in the match. With the defeat of Kent, Essex move back into sixth place in the County Championship table.
Cardiff: Glamorgan v Worcestershire
Root Ensures Worcestershire Victory
WORCESTERSHIRE 223 and 199 (H O Rogers 10*; F P Ryan 5/71, J C Clay 3/20). GLAMORGAN 185 and 172 (D Davies 17, T Arnott 54*, J C Clay 45*; C F Root 7/67, J W Greenstock 2/38). Worcestershire won by 55 runs. Overnight score was: Worcestershire (2) 193/9 (Rogers 6*).
The Worcestershire second innings closed for the addition of 6 runs this morning, which left Glamorgan the difficult task of scoring 228 to win. It is possible that they might actually have got there were it not for the weak batting of the top order, for the second time in the match, against fine bowling by Fred Root.
Root opened with some real pace and moved the ball off the pitch, and the Glamorgan top order crumbled against him. The first five batsmen were all gone for 35, and Dai Davies after a brief fight went at 56. Then Johnnie Clay joined Trevor Arnott, who as in the first innings was batting with a confidence and determination unknown by the top order. Clay hit out boldly to score 45 in less than an hour, while Arnott scored his second fifty of the match and was undefeated at the close after playing fine cricket for 1¾ hours. He scored 114 runs in the match for once out; no other batsman on either side managed more than 77. The top six Glamorgan batsmen scraped together 97 runs for 12 dismissals among them in the match. Root bowled for most of the innings, taking seven wickets, and had match figures of twelve for 124. Frank Ryan for his part took ten for 135 for Glamorgan, another fine bowling haul.
Blackheath: Kent v Surrey
Five for Fender and Fenley
KENT 281 and 197 (H T W Hardinge 74, W H Ashdown 22, F E Woolley 31; P G H Fender 5/63, S Fenley 5/72). SURREY 547/5 dec. Surrey won by an innings and 69 runs. Overnight score was: Surrey (1) 547/5 dec.
Kent, so often favoured by good fortune against Surrey at Blackheath in the past, this time found Lady Luck and Jupiter Pluvius quite against them. There was heavy rain during the night and the sun shone brightly this morning. Even so, no play was possible until after lunch, and when Kent went in for their second innings after Surrey’s overnight declaration, needing 266 to save an innings defeat, they found the ball lifting unpredictably and taking slow turn. In these circumstances Wally Hardinge played a magnificent innings, playing every ball on its merits and making his strokes positively. With help from Con Johnstone and Bill Ashdown, he scored 79 in 1¾ hours, and Kent appeared to be coasting towards a comfortable draw. Then just before tea he was out to a ball from Stanley Fenley that turned and kicked, having him caught at second slip, making the score 120 for two.
Until then Surrey’s bowling limitations had been exposed, but after tea it was Kent’s batting limitations which came to the fore. Fenley removed Bill Ashdown and Arthur Day in the first over after the interval, and Percy Fender brought himself on at the other end. They pitched the ball well up to take maximum advantage of the pitch, but Frank Woolley countered this with his long reach and powerful hits, until Fender trapped him lbw for 31. Most of the later batsmen, not for the first time this season, showed no fight or sense when supposedly playing for a draw, hitting thoughtlessly, and the match was over less than an hour after tea, with Fender and Fenley taking five wickets each. This was a match they might well have saved.
Manchester: Lancashire v Middlesex (Cecil Parkin’s Benefit)
Hearne’s Turn as Lancashire Crash
MIDDLESEX 410 and 265/7 dec (N E Haig 67, H J Enthoven 25, S L Beton 23*, H R Murrell 21*; C H Parkin 3/55, E A McDonald 2/81, J Iddon 2/44). LANCASHIRE 238 and 222 (J W H Makepeace 74, F B Watson 82; J W Hearne 6/66). Middlesex won by 215 runs. Overnight score was: Middlesex (2) 211/5 (Haig 65*, Enthoven 17*).
A bad beginning and a bad ending to the day resulted in a heavy Lancashire defeat. Frank Mann decided that, despite leading by 383 runs overnight, Middlesex would bat on this morning for 40 minutes. The two overnight batsmen were soon dismissed, but Middlesex added another 54 runs while Lancashire dropped three catches off the bowling of Ted McDonald. Lancashire’s eventual target was 438 in 4¾ hours, a very conservative declaration considering that Charlie Hallows and Ernest Tyldesley are both missing from the Lancashire team.
Lancashire lost Len Hopwood for 1 and John Barnes for 10, to be 38 for two wickets. Then came their one good period of the day, as Frank Watson joined Harry Makepeace and the pair batted extremely well to put on 142 for the third wicket in an hour and 40 minutes. They took the score to 180 and Lancashire were well placed to save the match, when a misunderstanding led to Makepeace being run out for 74. Then Jack Hearne came on to bowl. Hearne as a batsman is usually predictable, sometimes boringly so; as a bowler he is very unpredictable. This was one of his brilliant spells. He bowled with remarkable accuracy and considerable spin, and soon trapped Watson lbw for a very good 82. Then he swept through the rest of the batting, which collapsed weakly before him. The last seven wickets went down for 21 runs, six of them to Hearne in six overs for only 8 runs, mostly to very ill-judged strokes — incredibly, three of them in such a situation were stumped. So Lancashire went crashing to their third defeat of the season with more than an hour to spare. It was Lancashire’s first defeat at Old Trafford for two years. Although the crowd today was not good, it is estimated that Cecil Parkin’s benefit should bring him about £2000.
Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire (George Gunn’s Benefit)
Notts’ Narrow Escape
YORKSHIRE 386 and 142/4 dec (H Sutcliffe 50, M Leyland 43, W Rhodes 23*; F Barratt 2/23). NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 312 and 103/9 (G Gunn 49, W W Whysall 11, A W Carr 12; A Waddington 6/59, R Kilner 2/15). Match drawn (Yorkshire 3 pts, Nottinghamshire 1 pt). Overnight score was: Yorkshire (2) 24/1 (Sutcliffe 11*).
Heavy overnight rain so soaked the ground that play was not possible until after an early lunch at two o’clock, when the pitch was rather awkward and became more difficult as the afternoon progressed under the sun. Herbert Sutcliffe and Maurice Leyland batted very skilfully in a third-wicket partnership of 68 and Yorkshire, trying to push for runs quickly, declared at 142 for four wickets, leaving Nottinghamshire in theory 217 to win — or rather themselves an hour and 50 minutes to bowl out the home side, since under the conditions the target was never realistic. The declaration in fact proved to be too conservative.
Nottinghamshire for some reason began their innings with delusions of grandeur, or victory, and rattled up 25 runs in ten minutes before Dodger Whysall was stumped for 11, while Arthur Carr briefly attacked the bowling and made 12; the score reached 64 before the third wicket, Carr’s, fell. After that the batsmen concerned themselves only with survival, and the beneficiary George Gunn appropriately played the leading part. He showed tremendous skill to score 49 in almost an hour and a half, and without him Nottinghamshire would certainly have lost. As it was, his dismissal, bowled by Abe Waddington, left three wickets for Yorkshire to take in 25 minutes. Waddington was bowling superbly, and he took six of the first seven wickets to fall. Determined and desperate defence by the last four batsmen just managed to save the match, with the final pair of Fred Barratt and Len Richmond surviving the last six minutes to deny Yorkshire victory in an exciting finish. The gross takings of the match for Gunn’s benefit were over £1000.
Weston-super-Mare Festival: Somerset v Derbyshire
Lee Leads Derbyshire to Victory
SOMERSET 321 and 202 (A Young 30, R A Ingle 38, W T Greswell 28, G E Hunt 20*; S W A Cadman 3/44, A Morton 3/74, E F Loney 2/24). DERBYSHIRE 367 and 157/7 (G R Jackson 21, G M Lee 57, J M Hutchinson 26; W T Greswell 4/31). Derbyshire won by three wickets. Overnight score was: Somerset (2) 1/0 (Rippon 0*, Case 0*).
There was an exciting finish to this match yesterday, with Derbyshire scraping home to victory by three wickets with just three minutes to spare. The Somerset batting was indifferent, although seven batsmen scored more than 15 runs, none of them reaching 40. Reggie Ingle was the only top-order batsman to inspire confidence as the first six wickets went down for 108, but he took over two hours to score 38. Bill Greswell revived the innings with an aggressive seventh-wicket partnership of 35 with Ingle, and in the end Somerset managed to scrape past 200. This was only thanks to their injured wicket-keeper Mervyn Hill coming in to bat with two sticks and hitting two fours before he was out.
This set Derbyshire 157 to win in two hours and five minutes, and Guy Jackson ordered a charge for victory when the cautious might have decided to play out time and make sure they kept their three points for the first innings. He opened the batting himself with Garnet Lee and they put on 48 together in half an hour. After he left Lee, playing a more enterprising innings, held the innings together with a fine 57 in an hour and a half before he was brilliantly run out by Archie Young at 121 for five. Jim Hutchinson then took over with some good hitting, and finally, with three minutes to spare, Joseph Bowden hit the winning runs, an all-run four.
Eastbourne: Sussex v Warwickshire
Croom Holds Up Sussex
WARWICKSHIRE 239 and 190 (A J W Croom 54, J Fox 19; J H Parks 2/29, M W Tate 2/42, G R Cox 6/46). SUSSEX 300 and 130/1 (E H Bowley 13, J H Parks 56*, T E R Cook 57*). Sussex won by nine wickets. Overnight score was: Warwickshire (2) 130/7 (Croom 29*, Fox 8*).
The influence of their returning captain, Arthur Gilligan, obviously played a major part in Sussex’s return to winning ways at Eastbourne, when they beat Warwickshire convincingly by nine wickets. It took a while for them to break through this morning, though, as Arthur Croom and John Fox continued their stubborn partnership for quite a while. Croom was eventually the last man out, caught as he tried to keep the strike, after batting for over three hours for 54, a very promising innings that shows he is an excellent acquisition and prospect for Warwickshire. George Cox took the bowling honours, as usual bowling innocent-looking deliveries, doing little with the ball off the pitch, but beating the batsmen with his flight, accuracy and guile.
130 in recent matches might have proved a difficult target for the fragile batting of Sussex, especially as Ted Bowley was out for 13. But Sussex are playing with more of their old spirit in this match, and Jim Parks and Tommy Cook both scored unbeaten fifties to take them home without further loss by half-past three, running well between the wickets.
***
Yorkshire have now failed to win two successive matches, but with three points awarded for a first-innings lead this has not damaged their percentage very much and they still have a huge lead in the championship table. They will probably put that right against Northamptonshire this week, weather permitting. In the matches just finished, Essex beat Hampshire, while Kent lost to Surrey, with the result that Essex have now jumped over Kent to sixth position in the table. Very appropriately, these two will meet at Southend-on-Sea tomorrow, which makes this perhaps the most interesting match to follow. Sussex look much improved now that Arthur Gilligan has returned to the team — will they be able to keep up that improvement against Surrey?
WEATHER FORECAST: Rather more rain is expected during the next few days, which is likely to disrupt some of the matches.