Russell’s resolve and Ryan’s record
100 Years Ago: 11 to 14 July 1925
Day 1
Swansea: Glamorgan v Essex
Russell Versus Ryan
The batting of Jack Russell (above) and the bowling of Frank Ryan dominated play today. John Freeman and Jimmy Cutmore made an opening partnership of 38 for Essex, but then Ryan got to work with his left-arm spin and the batsmen struggled. Glamorgan could feel they were on top when five wickets were down for 109, but Russell on 17 gave a stumping chance that was missed — one of several expensive drops during the day — and this proved to be fatal. When Johnny Douglas joined Russell at the crease (and was dropped in the slips on 4), the rot stopped there, as they put on 145 for the sixth wicket in two hours and 40 minutes before Douglas was out. Both chances were off the bowling of Ryan, but for once he kept his cool and continued to bowl well.
Russell batted for just over 3½ hours altogether, an excellent innings, and seemed deliberately to get out in the end through tiredness. Ryan was the only bowler able to cause the batsmen any trouble, and this partnership enabled Essex to take their score to 352 by the close. There was a large sporting crowd of about 6000 and they generously applauded the successful Essex batsmen.
Maidstone Week: Kent v Yorkshire
Wright and Freeman Restrict Yorkshire
After three matches against weak teams at home, Yorkshire now come up against a strong side away. There was good hot weather, but the pitch seemed to have been rather over-watered in an effort to keep it from crumbling, as tends to happen at Maidstone, and did not play very easily. The Kent bowling was superb, well handled by Captain Stanley Cornwallis. Charlie Wright was he first man to make an impact on the game, taking the first three wickets to fall, all bowled out, with excellent deliveries, starting with Percy Holmes before he had scored. Edgar Oldroyd and Maurice Leyland followed, both bowled by leg-cutters, and the score was 32 for three. Wilfred Rhodes now joined Herbert Sutcliffe as they fought back doggedly, but the score had reached only 53 by lunch. Wright and Tich Freeman did most of the bowling and they were unremittingly accurate, while the batsmen waited for the loose balls that rarely came. In the end Sutcliffe lashed out in frustration and was bowled by Freeman for 45 after almost three hours at the crease. Yorkshire were now in some trouble at 109 for six.
More dogged play followed and no later batsman passed 25. They only reached 190 through the grim determination of Emmott Robinson for 1¾ hours. The only batsmen to show much aggression were the two left-handers, Roy Kilner and the captain Arthur Lupton, who found Freeman a little easier to play. Robinson in particular dug in, trying to shield the tail-enders from Freeman especially. There was some barracking from the crowd of about 14,000 at the slow scoring, but much applause for Wright and Freeman, as Yorkshire finished up all out for 190. Wright thoroughly deserved his six wickets, but Freeman’s figures do not do him justice. He bowled 18 maidens in his 30 overs.
Kent had an hour and a half to bat, and they also found scoring difficult against the strong Yorkshire bowling. The openers were dismissed for 34, and Frank Woolley batted for most of the final hour to score 5 runs, perhaps a little fortunately. His partner was Bill Ashdown, who has replaced the injured James Seymour at No 3 and has risen to the extra responsibility very creditably. At 58 for two, Kent cannot be said to have made the most of their bowlers’ efforts yet.
Leicester: Leicestershire v Derbyshire
Solid Leicestershire Batting
Leicestershire made good use of a good batting pitch and sunny weather, and kept Derbyshire in the field all day. Most of their batting was solid rather than sparkling. Alan Shipman, dropped twice early on, and Les Berry opened with a partnership of 112 in just under 2½ hours, and Ewart Astill played well, but the innings began to slide and five were out for 178. Then came the brightest batting of the day, as Sydney Coulson joined George Geary and they added 99 for the sixth wicket in about an hour and a quarter. Coulson reached his first fifty in first-class cricket. This was an impressive performance considering that Eddie Dawson, John King and Tommy Sidwell are all missing through injury.
The Oval: Surrey v Lancashire
Surrey Crash to McDonald
A crowd of over 20,000 people attended this match today in the heat, many of them no doubt eager to see the fast bowler Ted McDonald in action. They were not disappointed in that, although Surrey supporters would not have been happy that he took eight of their wickets. Jack Sharp, after a brilliant run on toss-winning for most of the season before now, has quite lost his form and called wrongly for the third time in succession. The pitch was good, but McDonald turned in a great performance, his first victim being Jack Hobbs, who had scored only 3 when he chose the wrong ball to attack and lost his leg stump. Alfred Jeacocke was soon bowled for 6, but in the meantime Andy Sandham was showing how McDonald should be played — if one had the ability. Now out of the shadow of Hobbs, he played a brilliant innings, scoring one boundary after another off the feared Australian; in his first 34 runs were eight fours. Tom Shepherd followed suit with an aggressive 39 with some frenetic running, while McDonald was resting, before he was out to a careless stroke against Dick Tyldesley at 104. This began a middle-order slump to Tyldesley and McDonald that saw the sixth wicket fall at 130 before Alan Peach joined Sandham and immediately went on the attack.
Sandham continued to bat brilliantly and McDonald’s most deadly balls were wasted on him. In the end the bowler suddenly sent him a fast stump-high full toss that took him by surprise and caused him to pop up a simple catch to Cecil Parkin. He had played a brilliant innings of 89 in 2½ hours with 15 fours. Peach went on to score 50 in 45 minutes, but the innings came to an end at 216. Only three batsmen had made substantial scores, the other eight scoring 34 runs among them, six of them falling rather too weakly to McDonald, silent and inscrutable, who bowled at great pace for most of the time, sending down all but seven of the overs from the pavilion end today. Cecil Parkin has returned to the Lancashire team after being rested for two matches, but he was unable to make an impact and took no wickets. Tyldesley bowled steadily with no help from the pitch; the other bowlers were innocuous.
Surrey’s innings had been good entertainment, but Harry Makepeace and Charlie Hallows no doubt disapproved of this and put together a laborious opening partnership of 63 in an hour and a quarter that had the crowd barracking them noisily. Then Makepeace was out and Frank Watson, taking the unwell Ernest Tyldesley’s place at No 3, soon followed for 4, lbw again, but Peter Eckersley and Hallows pushed the score along rather more quickly until the close, having laid the foundation for what they hope will be a big Lancashire lead. If Lancashire are missing Ernest Tyldesley, Surrey are without Douglas Jardine, who broke his collarbone in a minor match.
Hove: Sussex v Nottinghamshire
Whysall Leads Notts Scoring
There was a very easy batting pitch at Hove today and Nottinghamshire made good use of it after winning the toss. Perhaps George Gunn thought it too easy for him, as he was out lbw to Bert Wensley for 7, trying to hit across the line. Dodger Whysall batted steadily, and after Willis Walker was out for 16, Arthur Carr joined him at the wicket and was soon hitting out in his usual style. There was an interesting battle between Carr and the wily veteran slow bowler George Cox, who set three fielders in and two deep on the off side to frustrate Carr’s off-drives, and succeeded in cutting down his scoring considerably. Carr had an unusual dismissal, as he moved down this point to Cox and was hit on the pad, the ball going to the wicket-keeper Tich Cornford, who fumbled it. For a moment neither batsman nor keeper knew where the ball had gone, and Carr failed to take the precaution of getting back in his crease before Cornford found the ball first and stumped him just in time. Carr had scored 52 in an hour, almost catching up with Whysall, but the skilful field placings allowed him only 6 fours.
Whysall was run out just after reaching his century, but there followed some fluent scoring from the middle order of Ben Lilley, Bill Flint and Sam Staples. Wensley had bowled manfully for 33 overs and thoroughly deserved his five wickets, but Maurice Tate, after all his labours at the Oval for the Players against the Gentlemen, looked rather drained, and his injured arm is still bandaged, although he beat the batsmen at times without luck. Sussex had to bat for the last 20 minutes or so, and decided to keep their one reliable batsman, Ted Bowley, in storage for tomorrow. Lionel Isherwood and Jim Parks batted out the day but were fortunate. Although Frank Matthews has lost form and his place, Nottinghamshire have found a new fast bowler in Harold Larwood, whom The Times states is the smallest fast bowler ever to play first-class cricket, but has remarkable pace. He and Barratt gave the batsmen a hard time, and both survived a difficult early chance to Lilley behind the wicket.
Birmingham: Warwickshire v Hampshire
Smith Leads Consistent Warwickshire Batting
Warwickshire turned in a remarkably consistent batting performance today on an easy-paced pitch. Tiger Smith, opening the innings as usual nowadays, led the way by scoring 80 in 2¼ hours, and Willie Quaife was next best, showing his most skilful wristwork and footwork in making 45 in an hour and a half, which is faster than his usual rate. In fact, all the batsmen reached double figures apart from Jack Parsons, who opened with Smith and was caught off Alec Kennedy for 2. The best partnership was 93 in an hour and a half for the second wicket between Smith and Len Bates, with the latter quite subdued as he is struggling for form. The innings became rather bogged down in the middle order as Arthur Croom, Reg Santall and Bob Wyatt pottered around without enterprise, but the last three batsmen were more lively. Hampshire bowled and fielded very well, and some batsmen probably grew impatient and lost their wickets trying to push the score along instead of building on their good starts. The whole innings lasted almost 125 overs in about 5½ hours.
Kidderminster: Worcestershire v Northamptonshire
Weak Batting in Close Contest
Probably the main virtue of the play in this match today was that it was closely fought. The bowling was good, but not as good as the weak batting on a good pitch made it appear. Dick Pearson held together the early part of the Worcestershire batting after Nobby Clark had bowled out two partners quickly, while George Abell played for aggressively. The middle order made some runs, but nobody went on to make a big score and Philip Wright bowled well to curtail the innings.
Claud Woolley batted very doggedly when Northamptonshire went in, with Fred Root as usual the main threat. He shared a good fourth-wicket partnership of 70 with Vallance Jupp, helped by numerous extras, and the score reached 114 before the fourth wicket fell. At this point Northamptonshire were well placed to take the lead, but Root broke through again, so at the close Northamptonshire were still 5 runs short of the home side, with two wickets left.
Dublin: Ireland v Scotland
Parry and Kidd Big Stand for Ireland
The weather was hot, the pitch perfect for batting and Ireland had the good fortune to win the toss. Their big innings was based on a fourth-wicket partnership of 144 between Matthew Parry, who was an occasional Warwickshire player before the war, and Leslie Kidd, formerly of Cambridge University. Parry was the more aggressive of the two, reaching a maiden first-class century (his previous best was 10) and batting for less than two hours, hitting 2 sixes and 19 fours. Alexander Forrester, a leg-break and googly bowler, was much the best of the Scottish attack. The Scottish team fielded superbly throughout the day, and John Kerr and William Walker made a good start when their turn came to bat.
Day 2
Swansea: Glamorgan v Essex
Glamorgan Fightback
There was some spirited batting from Glamorgan when they went in against the big Essex score of yesterday. Their opening batsman and often stonewaller Percy Morris played well for 30 in his first match of the season — he is an amateur — but two wickets went down for 9 and four for 60. Then came a series of useful innings and partnerships, although nobody was able to play the big innings that would really have lifted the team. Trevor Arnott’s 31 was perhaps the most valuable innings, as for nearly two hours he forsook his usual rôle as a hitter and played steadily to wear down the bowling and stabilize the middle order. Seven wickets were down for 196 with the follow-on not yet avoided, but then came the highest partnership as Johnnie Clay and the furiously-hitting Jack Mercer put on a thrilling 76 for the eighth wicket. Laurie Eastman eventually dismissed both and finished off the innings, but Glamorgan were no doubt glad that their deficit was only 72 runs. Their 280 is their highest score of the season to date.
Mercer quickly dismissed John Freeman when Essex went in again, but before long Frank Ryan came on and took over, taking the next four wickets so that the visitors were reeling at 44 for five. Johnny Douglas brought a bit of stability to the middle order, but nine wickets were down for 86, with Ryan ruling the roost with his excellent left-arm spin. The last man Stan Nichols finally gave Douglas the support he needed and the hundred was passed. If they can break this troublesome stand soon enough, Glamorgan may dare to hope for victory — if their batting can again put up a good performance and score at least 185 runs in the final innings to win.
Maidstone Week: Kent v Yorkshire
Yorkshire Fight Back after First-Innings Deficit
The weather was again brilliant at Mote Park. Two early wickets this morning, including Percy Chapman given out caught at the wicket off Abe Waddington without scoring second ball — he didn’t seem happy about it — reduced Kent to 73 for four wickets, but Frank Woolley was still there. Godfrey Bryan went at 116, but there followed the most significant partnership, as Jack Hubble joined Woolley and they added 55 for the sixth wicket. It was all hard work, and the Southerners have a perhaps grudging admiration for the way all the Yorkshire bowlers always attack the stumps in the traditional way, without recourse to such modern gimmicks as off-theory or leg-theory. Woolley, determined to play for his team, took no risks early on but later blossomed out, although the Yorkshire bowlers never allowed him the scope to play his usual brilliant off-side strokes. He looked well set to score a century, although it was not one of his best innings, but he was unlucky to be out for 81 in 2½ hours, playing a ball on to his stumps from Emmott Robinson. Hubble had played an excellent supporting rôle, but now he took over to play his best innings of the season to date before being last man out with Kent 63 runs ahead. It is only the second time that Yorkshire have fallen behind on the first innings in the County Championship this season, after the Lancashire match at Whitsuntide by 33 runs. Waddington took six wickets, but also some stick at times, but for once George Macaulay was not effective.
In their second innings Percy Holmes and Herbert Sutcliffe gave Yorkshire a fair start with 48 for the first wicket before Holmes chased a ball from Charlie Wright well outside his off stump and edged a catch to third slip. He had just previously put Tich Freeman out of action, as he drove a ball back to him powerfully and Freeman dislocated, or possibly broke, a finger in trying to stop it. Then there was a more serious injury as Sutcliffe let fly at a no-ball from Woolley and the ball hit George Collins at forward short leg on the side of his forehead, knocking him out. He was carried off the field still unconscious and taken to hospital to be treated for concussion. He and probably Freeman are now out of the match, which will deprive Kent of two frontline bowlers, and they will only have nine batsmen in their second innings. Yorkshire at the close are 102 runs ahead with eight wickets still in hand, but despite Kent’s disadvantage they will probably have to push things along tomorrow to leave enough time for a possible victory.
Leicester: Leicestershire v Derbyshire
Leicestershire Build Lead
The rest of the Leicestershire did not last long, as Bill Bestwick bowled well to take the last three wickets cheaply in eight overs, with Sydney Coulson the last man out for a fine 80, scored in two and a half hours. This is Leicestershire’s highest total of the season.
Derbyshire began with a solid opening partnership of 40 in an hour and a quarter between Garnet Lee and Joseph Bowden. Lee played a determined anchor rôle to score 37 in two and a half hours, but only two of the later batsmen reached double figures. Teddy King, standing in for the injured Tommy Sidwell as wicket-keeper, took three good catches in succession, two off the left-arm spinner Frank Bale, who bowled very skilfully with little help from the pitch. Ewart Astill finished off the innings with three quick tail-end wickets.
Leicestershire decided not to enforce the follow-on despite their lead of 177, but their batsmen did not do very well in their second innings, apart from a second-wicket partnership of 50 between Alan Shipman and Astill. Then four wickets fell for 54 runs and six were out for 75. Still, at the close Leicestershire were 277 runs ahead with three wickets in hand, which should usually be enough to win a match against Derbyshire.
The Oval: Surrey v Lancashire
Surrey Fight Back on Bowlers’ Day
On a typical Oval batting pitch 22 wickets fell today for only 291 runs, which was quite ridiculous. At the start of play Lancashire looked well poised to take a lead on the first innings, only for both overnight batsmen to get out almost immediately. Charlie Hallows ran himself out off the second ball of the day when he chanced a second run to Bill Hitch, still an excellent fielder, at third man. Then Peter Eckersley was brilliantly caught by Percy Fender in the slips, off Hitch’s bowling. The middle order began to crumble, none of the batsmen showing much confidence, and three wickets went down at 176 as Percy Fender took them all in four balls. The morning dew had perhaps quickened the pitch a bit, but the Lancashire batsmen had no idea how to handle it, apart from Jack Iddon, who played a sound defensive game. Surrey eventually led by 27 runs as the Lancashire batting crumbled.
Surrey now had the chance of putting together a big second-innings total, but they too put up a poor batting performance. This time Ted McDonald did not make much impact, apart from removing Andy Sandham for 1 this time, beaten by a fine ball that came back from the off. Then Cecil Parkin had Jack Hobbs caught at the wicket for 5 — only 8 runs in the match for him. Alfred Jeacocke and Tom Shepherd responded well to these unexpected mishaps and made a valuable partnership of 57 for the third wicket, and Jeacocke was followed by Miles Howell who played very well for 19 — but none of these batsmen stayed long enough to make the big score Surrey needed. Charles Daily, who has been scoring well for Surrey’s second eleven, played a good innings with the tail and was last out.
This set Lancashire 222 to win, the highest total of the match. Unfortunately they have been depleted by an injury to Hallows in the field, when he fell in trying to save a boundary and ruptured a muscle in his right thigh; he is unlikely to be able to bat and may be out of the team for several matches — as well as the Gentlemen v Players match at Lord’s, for which he has been selected. Lancashire made a disastrous start, four wickets going down for 36 runs in just over an hour. Harry Makepeace and Frank Watson, Lancashire’s only remaining tried and trusted batsmen, were both out for 5. Lancashire seem doomed for defeat tomorrow barring rain.
Hove: Sussex v Nottinghamshire
Devastating Carr Overshadows Tate
There was some brilliant batting at Hove yesterday, although most of the Sussex batsmen declined to join the party. Sussex made a rare good start to their innings before Ted Bowley even came in, as the overnight pair of Lionel Isherwood and Jim Parks put on 62 together, but after Parks was out to Len Richmond Bowley went lbw first ball, uncharacteristically playing across a straight full toss. Then the usual Sussex collapse set in, seven wickets being down for 124. Colonel Arthur Watson with 15 took the score to 149 for eight, with Maurice Tate still there, but the follow-on looked likely. But then Bert Wensley stuck in with Tate, two men played primarily for their bowling doing the batsmen’s job, and they added 96 runs for the ninth wicket in three-quarters of an hour. When Wensley went George Cox stuck in while Tate went past his century before being eventually out for 114, scored in 95 minutes. This reduced the Sussex deficit to 77.
Nottinghamshire, batting again, lost Dodger Whysall for 8, but George Gunn and Willis Walker added 116 together. There was a fine battle for a while between Tate and Gunn, which Gunn won with some fine leg-side strokes that forced Watson to take Tate off; the bowler must have been tired after his century. After Gunn went for 78, Wilf Payton injured his toe and had to retire hurt, but Arthur Carr played a brilliant attacking innings such as is rarely seen. He raced to his fifty in 28 minutes, so Watson tried Tate again, only for Carr to hammer his bowling too as he raced to a century that took him only 48 minutes. This naturally evoked memories of Gilbert Jessop at his best. He was still there at the close, without giving a chance, although when in the eighties he did hit up a skyer that cover point could not reach in time. Generally, though, the Sussex fielding was not up to its usual high standard and seems to be missing the inspiration of the regular captain, Arthur Gilligan.
Birmingham: Warwickshire v Hampshire
Howell Takes Nine, Warwickshire Bat Brilliantly
Rarely has Warwickshire ever had such a dominating day’s cricket as today. There was no sign of that early on, as the first Hampshire pair of Jack Newman and George Brown put on 89 for the first wicket, batting very steadily and well, before Newman was caught off Willie Quaife. Then Harry Howell came on to bowl his second spell and, as sometimes happens on his day, he was devastating. In his first over he had both Brown and Phil Mead out lbw, and altogether took five wickets in 14 balls in 20 minutes before another run was scored off him. Hampshire were 99 for six. He had a break for lunch and then returned to polish off the rest of the innings. Lionel Tennyson made a few hits briefly and Walter Livsey fought well as Howell tired a little in the heat, but Hampshire were dismissed for 140. Howell finished with nine wickets for only 32 runs — nine for 20 in his second spell, and Warwickshire led by 181. At no time did the easy pitch give Howell any assistance; he did the job with sheer pace.
Freddie Calthorpe, no doubt remembering the amazing match between the teams in 1922 when he made Hampshire follow on after bowling them out for 15, and lost the match, was not about to take that risk again. He opted for Warwickshire to take their second innings, and they batted brilliantly, full of confidence. In the 59 overs that remained today Hampshire scored at more than five runs n over and built a lead of 497 with only three batsmen out. Tiger Smith and Jack Parsons began with a partnership of 76 before Smith was out, and the other four batsmen on show all scored fifties. The day finished with an unbroken partnership of 106 between Len Bates and Willie Quaife, and with such a lead Tennyson should certainly declare overnight.
Kidderminster: Worcestershire v Northamptonshire
Brilliant Foster Gives Worcestershire Advantage
Northamptonshire crept to a small first-innings lead of 21 this morning before their innings closed, with Ben Bellamy and John Murdin getting their team over that line in spite of all that Fred Root could do. Worcestershire in their second innings made another bad start, as they so often do, and appeared to be heading for another defeat at 44 for four wickets when their captain, Maurice Foster, came in. Nobby Clark’s left-arm pace was causing the batsmen a lot of trouble. Six were out for 104, but Foster was in the process of transforming the match. He found the support he needed, with John Coventry helping to add 93 for the seventh wicket and Harry Rogers 101 for the eighth. Then Foster himself went at 300, having scored exactly half those runs himself in about three hours, with 22 fours, a brilliant effort that completely transformed the match. He survived two chances when he was well set, a difficult one at 95 and at 148.
Northamptonshire were therefore set 301 to win, and had their first three wickets go down for 51. Unless they can find a batsman to emulate the superb batting of Foster, Worcestershire are likely to gain a rare victory tomorrow. Claud Woolley has gone and their other most likely batsman, Vallance Jupp, seems to have cracked a bone in his thumb attempting a chance from Foster.
Dublin: Ireland v Scotland
Ireland Keeping on Top
Scotland put up a steady batting performance today but for most of the day Ireland kept their noses in front and finished the day with an advantage of 271 runs with five wickets in hand. Scotland lacked a century-maker as Ireland had, despite forties and fifties by four top batsmen. Alexander Stevenson scored 54 in an hour and Andrew Innes scored 40 in 40 minutes. When they reached 190 with two wickets down and 263 with five out, they were doing well, but the tail subsided quickly to the off-spin of Leslie Kidd and they fell 83 runs behind on the innings. Ireland continued to bat well in their reply, with Kidd especially good, and they will hope to force a win tomorrow.
DEVELOPMENTS AT LORD’S
A special general meeting has been held at Lord’s, and two resolutions recommended by the committee were passed. It had been decided that it was necessary to increase the seating at Lord’s for both the members and the public. A new grandstand would be built and roofing put on the northern end of the Mound Stand. This would provide abut 3250 additional seats. The total cost is expected to be about £50,000, and to cover this the committee would elect, in priority of entry, 200 new life members at £200 each.
Day 3
Swansea: Glamorgan v Essex
Glamorgan Challenge Fails
Glamorgan’s fragile batting was not up to the challenge of scoring 199 to beat Essex, and they went down by 38 runs. This morning the last Essex pair of Johnny Douglas and Stan Nichols added another 14 runs before Frank Ryan picked up his seventh wicket of the innings by bowling Nichols for 18, leaving Douglas still unbeaten with 32. Ryan’s match figures were 14 wickets for 165 runs, a magnificent performance and a new record for a Glamorgan bowler.
Glamorgan struggled from the start against a bowling attack and field settings very shrewdly handled by Douglas, with the pitch also now crumbling, and their first four wickets went down for 54 runs. The only time when they looked capable of victory was during a fifth-wicket partnership of 75 between Jock Tait and Trevor Arnott, and when this was broken the rest of the batting could not rise to the challenge. Johnnie Clay tried to make a stand until he was caught going for a big hit as the tail collapsed, and the last four wickets went down for four runs, to give Essex their fourth consecutive victory. Tait had done particularly well to score his fifty while suffering from lumbago.
Maidstone Week: Kent v Yorkshire
Good Day for Woolley but Bad for Kent
It must be said that the injuries yesterday to Tich Freeman and George Collins in the end spoiled this match badly as a contest, as a close and fighting finish may well have taken place had they both been fit. Collins is still in hospital but suffering from concussion only, while Freeman has dislocated instead of broken two fingers. Freeman would certainly have been a key performer in the Yorkshire innings, as the pitch was taking spin. However, Frank Woolley and the nowadays occasional leg-spinner Wally Hardinge did their best to take his place and actually bowled very well, taking seven wickets between them. The Yorkshire batsmen pressed on with their innings at quite a good pace, although their tactics may have been different were Freeman bowling. The third wicket did not fall until 212 after a good partnership of 90 between Edgar Oldroyd and Maurice Leyland, although neither timed the ball very well on this pitch. But even with nothing to lose and everything to gain, Yorkshire did not declare, and when they were all dismissed Kent needed an almost impossible 270 in just over three hours, even with the likes of Woolley and Percy Chapman in the team.
Even though they had only eight wickets to lose, Kent should have made a better effort to force a draw; perhaps they are just not used to playing that way, but they had three first-innings points to lose by defeat. They lost Godfrey Bryan, opening in place of Collins, and Bill Ashdown for 16 runs, and Wally Hardinge went at 46. Percy Chapman hit a very good 32 before being bowled by a superb delivery from Emmott Robinson, and good fluent — rather than defensive — innings from Jack Hubble and Frank Woolley boosted the score. Woolley was the last man out, for his second fifty of the match, five minutes after the tea interval, so in the end Yorkshire won all too comfortably.
Leicester: Leicestershire v Derbyshire
Skelding and Astill Destroy Derbyshire
Leicestershire continued to bat for almost half an hour this morning to add 38 runs, 31 of which came from a good aggressive innings by their stand-in wicket-keeper Teddy King. Then they declared to set Derbyshire 316 to win. It was almost a rout, as Derbyshire were bowled out for 67 in less than an hour and a half, with Alec Skelding and Ewart Astill bowling unchanged to take five wickets each. In particular the hapless visiting batsmen were at a loss as to how to play Astill. Guy Jackson was the only batsman to reach double figures, fighting well for 21 before he was brilliantly caught by Alan Shipman. His seventh-wicket partnership of 18 with Stan Worthington was the highest of the innings.
The Oval: Surrey v Lancashire
Inglorious Defeat for Lancashire
Lancashire continued to play a poor game in their second innings this morning and slid quite easily to their second defeat of the season after an hour and a quarter’s play. With Charlie Hallows injured, they had in effect only five wickets left when play began. The only really notable features were a few big hits from Dick Tyldesley and a stubborn fighting innings from the young all-round Jack Iddon, who could well develop into another reliable batsman for Lancashire. He showed sound defence as he batted an hour and 40 minutes altogether to score 13 runs as he courageously resisted the Surrey bowling. He is naturally a more attacking batsman, but he showed today that he can adapt his game to the circumstances. Unfortunately he was unable to find a durable partner.
This match showed up Lancashire’s weaknesses and the reasons why they are unlikely, unless there is a remarkable change, to take the championship from Yorkshire. They simply do not have enough depth in either batting or bowling to challenge Yorkshire’s great all-round strength. However, for the present they retain second place in the championship table.
Hove: Sussex v Nottinghamshire
Sussex Collapse to Defeat Again
Nottinghamshire continued to bat for 25 minutes this morning, losing two wickets, before Arthur Carr declared, setting Sussex 400 to win in five hours. Carr was soon out for 124, scored in only 70 minutes with 5 sixes and 12 fours. Ben Lilley again batted well, and Nottinghamshire claim that he is the best batsman among all first-class wicket-keepers, except for Tiger Smith of Warwickshire. He is not yet quite as safe behind the stumps, though, as Tom Oates, whom he replaced. Jim Parks bowled his slow-medium very well, but Carr badly damaged the figures he deserved.
Nottinghamshire have a further injury problem in that Fred Barratt was unable to bowl today due to a strain in his right arm, in addition to Wilf Payton’s toe injury. Ironically, for the first time in his worthy career Payton has been invited to appear for the Players at Lord’s in tomorrow’s big match, but has been forced to withdraw for that reason. Barnes was scarcely needed, though, as the pitch was beginning to crumble at one end and Len Richmond was the key bowler. He took the most valuable wicket, Ted Bowley again being lbw to him, this time for 14. Richmond was quickly among the wickets as there was an all too familiar Sussex batting collapse and the first eight wickets went down for 98. Maurice Tate batted for five minutes, in which he scored 18 with a six and 3 fours. Once again the tail batted better than the top, as there was a fine partnership between Colonel Arthur Watson and Bert Wensley, who both just missed a fifty and exactly doubled the score, Watson hitting Richmond out of the attack. Nottinghamshire completed their victory at about three o’clock.
Birmingham: Warwickshire v Hampshire
Tennyson Delays Warwickshire Victory
As expected, Freddie Calthorpe declared Warwickshire’s second innings closed at the overnight total, setting Hampshire 498 to win. This season it could not be declared an impossible target, but certainly it was highly unlikely, and Hampshire fell well short, despite a remarkable century from their captain, Major Lionel Tennyson. The opening Warwickshire attack of Harry Howell and Calthorpe removed two batsmen for 29 runs, but of course the main concern would be Phil Mead, who might not score quickly enough to earn Hampshire a victory, but could certainly bat long enough to force a draw. So they were doubtless greatly relieved to have him well caught off Willie Quaife for 31.
Four wickets were down for 99 when Tennyson strode in and began to attack the bowling, determined that Hampshire should go down with all guns blazing. He hit his way to 139 in two and a quarter hours, a brilliant array of hitting, and helped by the Warwickshire fielders who dropped him four times from straightforward chances — at 39, 44, 46 and 60. He had help from Alex Bowell in a fifth-wicket partnership of 142. He was eventually dismissed for 139 in 2¼ hours, having hit a six and 17 fours, and the innings and match ended soon after that. Harry Howell was not the same inspired threat in this innings, but took three wickets to finish the match with overall figures of twelve for 113. Warwickshire won with almost an hour and a half to spare.
Kidderminster: Worcestershire v Northamptonshire
Timms and Timms Turn Match for Northants
A brilliant century by Maurice Foster had transformed the game for Worcestershire yesterday and made them favourites to win this match today. However, an equally praiseworthy century by Wilfrid Timms again transformed a team’s innings and led to the narrowest victory for Northamptonshire in a thrilling finish. The Northamptonshire situation appeared to be hopeless when Fred Root bowled out Fanny Walden and the injured Vallance Jupp with successive balls with the score on 92, and now with five wickets down. But the unrelated Jack Timms joined Wilfrid and the two knuckled down to play themselves in with great care. Slowly the partnership grew, and Worcestershire’s lack of depth in bowling told against them. Foster used Root and Dick Pearson almost exclusively, and naturally they tired and lost much of their effectiveness. In an innings lasting 116 overs, Root bowled an exhausting 51 and Pearson 43; four other bowlers, including Cliff Wilson, were given only 22 overs among them.
The Timms and Timms partnership eventually added 140 runs for the sixth wicket, and by the time Jack was out at 232 for six Northamptonshire still had some hope of victory, as long as Wilfrid stayed and found good partners. The captain, Maurice Fitzroy, scored 27 and was out at 278 for seven. Wilfrid Timms himself reached his century and must have been dismayed to fall, caught at short leg off Root, just five runs short of victory after a monumental innings lasting almost five hours. He did survive two chances. However, the last pair of John Murdin and Nobby Clark showed great determination and Clark finally made the winning hit for three off Pearson. One can only feel for Worcestershire, for whom victory comes so seldom. Two great innings on the last two days had led to a thrilling finish. This is Northamptonshire’s seventh victory of the season, their best record since the war.
Dublin: Ireland v Scotland
Victory for Ireland
Ireland felt able to make an early declaration thanks to an aggressive 62 not out in 50 minutes by James Ganly, out of an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership of 96 with John Aston. Even so it was a cautious declaration, setting scoring 359 to win in four hours. Fortunately for them, their bowlers were able to do the job within that time, as none of the Scottish batsmen were able to play major innings. They were almost thwarted by a stubborn ninth-wicket partnership of 63 in an hour between the captain, Gilbert Hole, and Alexander Forrester, but the last two wickets fell just in time.
County Championship Leaders: Yorkshire 95.29, Lancashire 80.00, Surrey 78.66, Middlesex 73.38, Nottinghamshire 68.57, Essex 57.50, Kent 54.28, Northamptonshire 51.42, Gloucestershire 46.25.
TOMORROW’S MATCHES (first-class)
County Championship:
Cardiff: Glamorgan v Derbyshire
Southampton: Hampshire v Nottinghamshire
Maidstone: Kent v Gloucestershire
Weston-super-Mare: Somerset v Lancashire
Hove: Sussex v Worcestershire
Coventry: Warwickshire v Leicestershire
Sheffield: Yorkshire v Essex
Other first-class match:
Lord’s: Gentlemen v Players
No matches: Middlesex, Northamptonshire and Surrey.
Yorkshire’s 17th victory, their 13th in succession, and a defeat for Lancashire — it would take a major cataclysm to stop Yorkshire from winning their fourth consecutive County Championship now. Meanwhile four successive victories for Essex have enabled them to break the Big Six barrier and overtake Kent, who were Yorkshire’s latest victims, to go to sixth place in the table.
They will have the chance to show their prowess, if nothing more, when they play Yorkshire at Bramall Lane tomorrow — a weakened Yorkshire, as their four top players have been selected for the Players against the Gentlemen in the biggest representative match of this season at Lord’s. It will enable Yorkshire to try out their reserve strength. One of the most remarkable features of Yorkshire’s recent seasons is the ability of their top players to keep their fitness as well as their form. It is rare that they are unable to play their first-choice eleven, although Arthur Dolphin has missed several matches this season due to injury.
There are no Big Six clashes this week, as the top counties, knowing they are likely to lose top players to the big match at Lord’s, either arranged for their team to have a bye this round or else tried to make sure they played weaker opponents. The matches at Maidstone and Southampton may be interesting ones with Kent and Nottinghamshire both playing weakened teams, which should even the playing field.
The teams for Gentlemen v Players at Lord’s are as follows:—
Gentlemen. — Jack Bryan, Greville Stevens, K S Duleepsinhji, *Arthur Carr, Eddie Dawson, Tom Enthoven, Freddie Calthorpe, Gubby Allen, Percy Fender, Reg Bettington and +Ben Sherwell.
Players. — *Jack Hobbs, Herbert Sutcliffe, Percy Holmes, Frank Woolley, Jack Hearne, Patsy Hendren, Roy Kilner, Maurice Tate, George Macaulay, Dick Tyldesley and +Bert Strudwick.
Douglas Jardine was originally selected for the Gentlemen, but after breaking his collarbone he was replaced by Dawson. Percy Chapman is present as reserve for the Gentlemen, but he will be able to play little cricket this season after his long stay overseas. For the Players, Charlie Hallows and Tich Freeman are also injured, and Hearne and Tyldesley have replaced them. It is remarkable that Hearne should not have been an original choice, but Holmes’s outstanding form this season demanded his selection and the batting talent of the Players is at present exceptional. There are four Cambridge University players in the Gentlemen’s team.
Carr to captain the Gentlemen is noteworthy; should Arthur Gilligan be unfit to captain England against Australia next season, it would appear that Carr may be his replacement. Certainly he is batting well enough to justify a Test place — but then look at the Players’ batting line-up! Yet tradition and snobbery dictate an amateur must captain England rather than a respected professional like Jack Hobbs.
WEATHER FORECAST: Generally hot and dry weather is expected to continue. 1925 is on course to being the best season for weather since 1921.