Yorkshire in excelsis
100 Years Ago: 19-28 August 1925
Day 1
Southampton: Hampshire v Yorkshire
Percy Holmes dominated a rain-shortened day, scoring two-thirds of Yorkshire’s runs and remaining unbeaten. He survived an early slip chance and punished Hampshire with 25 boundaries—14 through an unguarded deep square leg. Sutcliffe added 57 in a shaky opening stand, and only Robinson offered Holmes meaningful support. Yorkshire stumbled to 153 for six before rain ended play at 3.50. Hampshire’s Walter Livsey impressed with four catches, including a superb effort to dismiss Macaulay. Meanwhile, George Hirst confirmed his return to Scarborough next season, health permitting.
Cardiff: Glamorgan v Surrey
A bitter day for Glamorgan CCC: hoping for a financial boost from crowds eager to see Jack Hobbs, they were thwarted when Hobbs withdrew on medical advice and torrential rain rendered play impossible—despite special trains bringing thousands to the ground.
Manchester: Lancashire v Gloucestershire
Jack Sharp returned to Old Trafford to cheers, but Lancashire’s day quickly soured as Wally Hammond and Alf Dipper unleashed one of the season’s finest partnerships. After Ted McDonald’s fiery burst reduced Gloucestershire to 20 for 2, Hammond steadied the innings and then flourished, scoring at nearly a run a minute. Dipper’s century anchored the stand, and together they added 330 in under four hours—a new third-wicket record at the ground. Hammond reached his maiden double-century and remained unbeaten despite late-order collapses. Neville Cardus, enraptured, likened Hammond to Archie MacLaren—praise of the highest order.
Leicester: Leicestershire v Sussex
Leicestershire struggled on a fast pitch, collapsing to 130 despite a brief stand between Berry and Taylor—the latter the only batter to look assured. Bert Wensley starred with the ball, removing both top scorers and cleaning up the tail. Sussex also wobbled early, losing three for 28, but a dropped catch on 2 let George Cox settle with Tommy Cook. Their unbeaten 88-run partnership swung momentum Sussex’s way by stumps—though fans know better than to relax just yet.
Nottingham: Nottinghamshire v Northamptonshire
Nottinghamshire began steadily, reaching 152 for three before Philip Wright’s burst of three wickets brought Northamptonshire level at 206 for seven by tea. Wilf Payton, still at the crease, found surprise support from young Harold Larwood, who finally delivered with the bat. Their aggressive 151-run stand for the eighth wicket turned the tide, with Larwood making 70 and Payton reaching his century by stumps. Vallance Jupp, unusually, went wicketless.
Taunton: Somerset v Kent
Jack MacBryan starred again for Somerset, steadying the innings after early losses and then dominating with a fluent 92, following his century against Surrey. Acting captain Jack White offered solid support in a 90-run stand before both fell in quick succession. Taunton’s fine weather held until mid-afternoon, when a sudden downpour flooded the ground within minutes.
Worcester: Worcestershire v Middlesex
Middlesex fielded an experimental side, missing key bowlers and relying on newcomers like Walter Robins, Cyril Gray, and Frank Lee. Robins fell for a duck, but Gray and Lee steadied things by stumps. A heavy dew aided bowlers throughout. Worcestershire began well with a 59-run opening stand, but collapsed to 85 for four, with Extras top-scoring on 36. Nigel Haig, despite injury, took five wickets. Middlesex’s reply faltered early, and only Harry Lee held the top order together. At 84 for six, Gray and Sydney Beton rescued the innings with a 76-run stand, nudging Middlesex ahead by a single run before Beton fell.
Day 2
Cardiff: Glamorgan v Surrey
Despite a sodden pitch and sluggish outfield, play began at 2.30 and lasted just under four hours. Knight and Sandham opened steadily in Hobbs’s absence, with Sandham reaching 50 before tea. Jardine anchored the middle order, sharing stands with Holmes and later Fender and Peach, who injected late aggression before bad light ended play early. Glamorgan bowled tidily and fielded well. Off the field, financial concerns loom—480 members haven’t renewed, and the treasurer warns of losses unless support improves, though today’s crowd of 5,000 offered some relief.
Southampton: Hampshire v Yorkshire
Percy Holmes reached 2,000 runs for the season before falling for 159—nearly two-thirds of Yorkshire’s total of 254. A final stand of 24 between Lupton and Dolphin added late value. Jack Newman was Hampshire’s most effective, though the bowling lacked precision. George Brown started brightly in reply but sprained his ankle and was dismissed just after lunch, moments before rain ended play for the day.
Manchester: Lancashire v Gloucestershire
Wally Hammond’s masterful 250 came to an end after five and a half hours, with his final partners departing quickly—two to Ted McDonald. Lancashire, missing Harry Makepeace, batted cautiously on a flat pitch, aiming for a draw. Pewtress and Davies ground out slow innings, while Frank Watson added fluency. Jack Sharp, warmly received, played the most assertive knock. Lancashire fell just short of batting out the day, still needing 37 to avoid the follow-on. A premature light appeal ended play, and with rain looming, they may rue not reaching safety.
Leicester: Leicestershire v Sussex
Sussex won in two days, but their brittle batting nearly cost them. After a promising overnight position, they collapsed from 155 for six to 200 all out, with Gilligan and Watson adding 38 before the final four wickets fell for just seven. Leicestershire’s reply faltered early, but Astill and Fowke steadied things with a 57-run stand. Bert Wensley starred again, taking 10 for 87 in the match. Chasing 81, Sussex stumbled to 54 for six before Holdsworth and Watson calmly saw them home with an unbroken 27-run stand. The match concluded at 6.20.
Nottingham: Nottinghamshire v Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire’s lively 55-minute morning yielded 83 runs before Fred Barratt tore through the middle order, taking seven of the last eight wickets and forcing a follow-on 191 behind. In the second innings, Len Richmond took over, claiming nine wickets—including the first eight—to seal the match. Bagnall offered resistance with partnerships of 34 and 48, but Northamptonshire couldn’t hold out, and Richmond finished with superb match figures of 11 for 93.
Taunton: Somerset v Kent
Rain again disrupted play, with only 1¾ hours possible before a heavy downpour halted proceedings at 1 p.m. Randall Johnson impressed with 65, despite two dropped chances, and shared a 49-run stand with Tom Francis. Young Bunty Longrigg, a promising left-hander from Rugby School, held firm thereafter. With conditions uncertain, an outright result looks unlikely unless the pitch deteriorates tomorrow.
Worcester: Worcestershire v Middlesex
Middlesex secured a comfortable win over Worcestershire, thanks largely to a resilient tail that lifted their total from 84 for six to 274, giving them a 121-run lead. Cyril Gray impressed on debut with a fluent 79, while Frank Lee anchored the innings. Worcestershire’s second innings began promisingly with a 101-run stand between Pearson and Tarbox, aided by numerous extras, but the rest of the batting collapsed. Middlesex chased the modest target of 57 with ease to wrap up the match.
Day 3
Cardiff: Glamorgan v Surrey
Overnight rain again soaked the pitch, but there was hope of making a start this afternoon, until another downpour put an end to that fanciful idea.
Southampton: Hampshire v Yorkshire
Rain once again had the final say, limiting play to just 1 hour and 10 minutes on the last day and resulting in both teams’ fourth no-result of the season. Yorkshire snared Phil Mead with a clever leg-side trap set by Kilner, but Lionel Tennyson survived two chances in one over before rain returned at 2.50. In total, only six hours and ten minutes of play were possible across the match.
Manchester: Lancashire v Gloucestershire
Lancashire avoided the follow-on thanks to Dick Tyldesley, after Jack Sharp fell for 75 with ten runs still needed. The last four wickets tumbled quickly, leaving Gloucestershire 133 ahead. Their second innings was cautious, but rain showers and a thunderstorm at 3 p.m. ended the match prematurely, making a result impossible.
Taunton: Somerset v Kent
On the final day, Somerset couldn’t declare early due to lost time, but Randall Johnson and Bunty Longrigg extended their stand to 147, both reaching milestones—Johnson a century (despite four chances), Longrigg his maiden fifty. Somerset declared after Johnson’s dismissal, giving Kent ten minutes before lunch, during which Jack Bryan survived a chance. Only one over was bowled after lunch before rain ended the match at 3 p.m.
Day 1
Chesterfield: Derbyshire v Lancashire
Despite recent rain, the pitch dried well and proved ideal for batting. Acting captain Alfred Pewtress and Charlie Hallows gave Lancashire a strong start, adding 138 in 2¼ hours, with Hallows passing 2,000 runs for the season. A later 79-run stand between Frank Watson and Tom Halliday was the only other highlight before a 5.30 storm cut play short.
Cardiff: Glamorgan v Leicestershire
Heavy overnight rain left the ground sodden, and the umpires—criticised for excessive caution—delayed play until the afternoon, only for rain to return before a ball was bowled. The washout, especially on a Saturday, dealt another financial blow to Glamorgan. Yet a generous gesture from supporters helped soften the impact: around 2,000 paid for entry despite knowing play was unlikely, and none requested refunds. The club deeply appreciated their loyalty.
Portsmouth: Hampshire v Essex
The United Services ground at Portsmouth was so waterlogged that it was a surprise that it took until 2.45 for play to be abandoned for the day.
Northampton: Northamptonshire v Sussex
On a damp, bowler-friendly pitch, Sussex were sent in and quickly slumped to 15 for three. Promoted to No. 4, Bert Wensley counterattacked with a brisk fifty, supported by Ronnie Holdsworth, lifting the total to 161. Vallance Jupp led Northamptonshire’s bowling with five wickets. The pitch didn’t improve, and Northamptonshire collapsed to 36 for five—four falling to Wensley, who reached 100 wickets in his first full county season. Philip Wright’s 20 was the only resistance before Maurice Tate cleaned up the tail, giving Sussex a 65-run lead. Remarkably, no batsman was dismissed for a duck.
Nottingham: Nottinghamshire v Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire faltered early on a benign pitch, losing six for 84, with only Bernie Bloodworth reaching 20 among the top six. Mills and Wedel briefly revived the innings with a 62-run stand, but it soon collapsed, Larwood proving most effective in Nottinghamshire’s strong bowling unit. In reply, Gunn and Whysall raced to 73 in 40 minutes, though Carr failed to settle. Charlie Parker claimed all four wickets to fall, edging closer to 200 for the season. Payton and Lilley then steadied the innings, pushing Nottinghamshire well ahead by stumps with six wickets still intact—helped by costly drops in the slips.
The Oval: Surrey v Yorkshire
Rain came on during the lunch interval and ended play for the day. By then a huge crowd of about 22,000 had arrived to see Yorkshire and also Jack Hobbs after his record-breaking centuries at Taunton. The conditions were still damp, and Hobbs, after graciously acknowledging a great ovation as he walked out to open the innings with Andy Sandham, caused rather a sensation by driving the first ball of the match, a good enough ball from Emmott Robinson, between bowler and mid-on for four. Two off-side fours followed in the same over, but Robinson was having some trouble with a wet run-up. But the first ball Hobbs faced from Robinson he glanced to leg, but Macaulay had placed Maurice Leyland at leg slip for that and he took a fine catch to remove Hobbs for 19. Sandham struggled against Macaulay, and was brilliantly caught by Robinson at backward point for 2; 24 for two in 70 minutes.
Donald Knight and Tom Shepherd fought for survival for a while, until at 38 the brilliant Macaulay broke through Shepherd’s defence and bowled him out for 7. Knight and Douglas Jardine defied the bowlers then until lunch with dogged defence and stayed together to add 43 runs. The Yorkshire fielding was brilliant — except for Arthur Dolphin at the wicket dropping Knight off Abe Waddington on 25 — and by lunch Yorkshire still seemed to have a hold on the match. But Jupiter Pluvius found a tighter hold, maliciously starting his attack just as the umpires were walking on to the field after lunch, and the entire afternoon’s play was washed out.
Birmingham: Warwickshire v Middlesex
Warwickshire struggled at first as for a short while the pitch helped the bowlers, and Nigel Haig and Jack Durston made the ball lift awkwardly at times. They lost three wickets for 31 runs, but Jack Parsons was still there, and Freddie Calthorpe came in to help him turn the innings round, aided by some good fortune. They added 114 in an hour and a quarter, with Parsons quite matching his captain in run-scoring, and when Calthorpe was out Charles Fiddian-Green took over. Parsons batted three hours and ten minutes altogether for his 106. Reg Santall was the fourth batsman to do well, and by the close Warwickshire had passed 300 and were still going strong. A brief but vivid storm stopped play during the later part of the afternoon, with play continuing for a while to a background of thunder and lightning.
Day 2
Chesterfield: Derbyshire v Lancashire
24 wickets fell during the day for only 151 runs, and overall it was a disastrous day for Derbyshire. Not that Lancashire batted any better at the start, as the overnight pair of Dick Tyldesley and Cecil Parkin added 5 runs before both were out, and the last two batsmen followed suit, all four of them going in a quarter of an hour with the score on 278. Sam Cadman and Les Townsend took two wickets each. The pitch gave some help to bowlers, but nothing like as much as the batsmen of both teams seemed to believe.
Derbyshire reached 40 with only two wickets down, but then the batting collapsed completely. Dick Tyldesley took the first five wickets to fall, and altogether took eight wickets for 40, while Cecil Parkin managed only two wickets, but his 20.1 overs cost only 15 runs. Harry Elliott hit Tyldesley for a six, the only memorable stroke of the innings. When Derbyshire followed on 211 runs behind, Lancashire rested Parkin and Tyldesley, while Frank Sibbles did most of the damage with five wickets. Eight wickets were down for 69 when the players began to leave the field for the tea interval, but shouts from the crowd to play on persuaded them to continue, and the match was soon over. The two Derbyshire innings lasted just over 3½ hours altogether for their 20 wickets to fall. Their highest innings was 20 by the youngster Stan Worthington in the second innings, who hit aggressively. This was Derbyshire’s last match of the season, a sad ending for them. But at least they won five matches and avoided bottom place in the Championship table, unlike last season.
Cardiff: Glamorgan v Leicestershire
More weekend rain left the ground in a wet condition, but it was finally possible to start the match soon after lunch — again local feeling was that the umpires were far too fussy. Glamorgan decided to bat, but the conditions helped the bowlers, especially Ewart Astill and George Geary, who turned the ball sharply off the pitch and made their batsmen struggle all the way. Cyril Walters made a fine effort for 26, but six wickets were down for 69 before the young Trevil Morgan joined Eddie Bates and, more by determined defence than by attack, they took the score to 103. At this stage Geary, unable to bowl Bates out, removed him with a brilliant running catch instead. Morgan batted almost until the end of the innings, when his was the last of the three wickets that fell at 154. The greatest credit though goes to the determined Bates, who has announced that he is retiring from county cricket at the end of the season.
In three-quarters of an hour Leicestershire replied, and could not claim to finish the day with any sort of advantage, as Frank Ryan was quickly brought on and in that time he removed their top three batsmen for only 37 runs.
Portsmouth: Hampshire v Essex
Rain fell for most of the weekend at Portsmouth, leaving the ground today hopelessly unplayable.
Northampton: Northamptonshire v Sussex
The pitch had made a great improvement as far as batting was concerned over the weekend, and Sussex for once flourished with the bat. They began with a dashing 28 from Maurice Tate, opening with Ted Bowley in a stand of 42, and the next few batsmen made useful contributions, with 162 runs coming before lunch. Afterwards Bowley, who had been dropped at 25, reached his century in about three hours in the company of Ronnie Holdsworth, who got over a difficult start and took over the leading rôle when Bowley left. The best partnership that really put the match right in Sussex’s favour was that of 75 in three-quarters of an hour for the eighth wicket between Holdsworth and Arthur Gilligan, who both attacked the bowling powerfully. Tich Cornford saw Holdsworth to his century, and when the innings finally ended, with Holdsworth still unbeaten with 110 after 2½ hours, Northamptonshire were left to face a target of 455.
It was a hopeless task, but at least Northamptonshire seemed to decide that they might as well go down in style, and Claud Woolley and Hamer Bagnall brought up the fifty in only half an hour. Their partnership eventually realized 79 in less than an hour before Tate bowled Bagnall in the final over of the day.
Nottingham: Nottinghamshire v Gloucestershire
This match continued with Nottinghamshire being rather on top throughout and Gloucestershire slowly but steadily falling behind. The pace of Tom Goddard removed the troublesome overnight Nottinghamshire pair of Wilf Payton and Ben Lilley before too many more runs had been added, and after that only Sam Staples had much to offer. Nottinghamshire finished though with a very comfortable lead of 124 runs. Charlie Parker took seven wickets and needs to take three in the second innings to reach 200 for the season.
Batting again, Gloucestershire suffered a serious blow when Fred Barratt dismissed Alf Dipper first ball. Wally Hammond played one of his brief cameos for 26, but the only batsman who caused the Nottinghamshire bowlers any prolonged problems was Reg Sinfield, now batting at No 3. This was largely the fault of the Nottinghamshire slip fielders, who dropped him four times, but he was unperturbed, batting for three hours altogether for 65 and finding a few useful partners but nobody able to stay for a major partnership. The Nottinghamshire bowlers had to work their way steadily through a solid batting line-up.
Nottinghamshire went in to bat needing a reasonably easy 119 runs to win, but soon lost the wicket of Dodger Whysall for 5 in bad light. After 20 minutes, though, bad light ended play for the day.
The Oval: Surrey v Yorkshire
Jupiter Pluvius continued his vindictive destruction of one of the greatest matches of the year. Rain fell throughout last night and for most of the morning, and after a brief break it started up again at two o’clock, when the day’s play was officially abandoned. Unless there is really a rogue pitch tomorrow (and of course no more rain), there is no chance of an outright result in this match, and both teams will be playing for a no-result match to avoid having their percentages reduced.
The Surrey County Cricket Club has decided to open a special testimonial fund for Jack Hobbs, to recognize his achievement in beating W G Grace’s record of centuries.
Birmingham: Warwickshire v Middlesex
Reg Santall chose to play one of his occasional brilliant innings as Warwickshire continued their first innings this morning, and enabled Warwickshire to score over 400 altogether. Santall batted altogether for just under three hours and dominated an eighth-wicket partnership of 79 with Bob Wyatt.
Middlesex had just under half an hour to bat before lunch, and lost Horace Dales without scoring. There was a great downpour during the interval and it was 5.45 before play could be started again for 40 minutes before it was ended by bad light. Middlesex soon got into more trouble with the pitch now difficult, and with Edward Hewetson dismissing Harry Lee (19) and Jack Hearne (8) in quick succession to make the score 33 for three. The dismissal of Hearne, who has a remarkable record of high scoring at Edgbaston, was a major blow. Middlesex finished the day in great difficulty, but Warwickshire may have trouble in bowling them out twice in the remaining time to win this match. Altogether 3½ hours were lost today.
Day 3
Cardiff: Glamorgan v Leicestershire
A very difficult pitch throughout the day and poor batting on it by both teams brought about an exciting finish, with the superb bowling of George Geary for Leicestershire being the most decisive factor overall. Leicestershire continued their first innings this morning, with the bowling of Frank Ryan and Johnnie Clay causing great trouble, the score at one stage going from 70 for three wickets to 86 for eight before a few big hits from Tommy Sidwell took the score past 100, but they fell 32 behind on the first innings. Frank Ryan bowled superbly to take seven wickets, helped by excellent wicket-keeping from Dennis Sullivan, who claimed four victims off him.
Trevor Arnott and Cyril Walters made a fair attempt to build on Glamorgan’s advantage with an opening partnership of 27, but this eventually proved to be almost half the eventual total, as Geary broke through and only Frank Pinch after that was able to stand up against him. The last five wickets fell, four of them to Geary, for just three runs, and Leicestershire were back in the game when they were set 92 to win with 2¼ hours to do it, which should have been plenty of time.
So doggedly did the Leicestershire opening pair of Eddie Dawson and Alan Shipman bat, scoring only 30 runs in the first hour, that time did become a factor after all. They reached 75 before the third wicket fell, and then more wickets began to go down rapidly and signs of panic, Arnott taking three in quick succession. It took a winning partnership of six runs for the eighth wicket to finish the match, with Haydon Smith making the winning hit eight minutes from time, amid great excitement. So Glamorgan, whose batting perhaps froze on the treacherous pitch with the thought of a possible rare victory, sadly lost their great opportunity. Geary finished with match figures of 13 wickets for 98 runs.
Portsmouth: Hampshire v Essex
No result was possible from this match, which finally started today with most likely only three first-innings points to play for — but, as both teams have percentages below 60 in the Championship table, it was an incentive worth going for. The pitch was naturally still very damp and slow, helpful to spin, and run-scoring was not easy. The three Essex batsmen who passed 20 all did so with aggressive play, especially Joe Hipkin, who hit out very well.
When Hampshire batted Lionel Tennyson decided to go in first, no doubt to chase the runs in the remaining time, but he was caught at third slip off the first ball of the innings, from Stan Nichols. There was a good partnership between Ronnie Aird and Phil Mead, but Hampshire were never really up with the clock and lost eight wickets for 70 runs. As Essex maintained a close field, and fielded superbly, Alex Bowell played a very good and cool innings under pressure and Essex failed to take the last wicket.
Northampton: Northamptonshire v Sussex
Defeat for Northamptonshire was inevitable (if the weather held), but at least they lost with spirit, which hasn’t always been the case. The battle was led by Claud Woolley, who scored a fine century in just over four hours. His best partner was Jack Timms, as they added 67 for the sixth wicket. Woolley was out to a fine catch, and just before the end Philip Wright again played an exciting hitting innings, hitting Maurice Tate for 14 runs off four balls, including a six, before being bowled out. Tate took the last five wickets in succession, six altogether, and so became the first bowler of the season to reach 200 wickets. He also recorded the double of 1000 runs and 200 wickets for the third consecutive season, beating the record of Albert Trott, the only other man to do this particular double, which he achieved in 1899 and 1900. The weather today was again cold and cloudy, but at least the rain kept away. This match ends Northamptonshire’s season.
Nottingham: Nottinghamshire v Gloucestershire
It took Nottinghamshire about an hour and a half this morning to complete a comfortable six-wicket victory over Gloucestershire. The overnight pair of George Gunn and Willis Walker took the score to 82 in about an hour with some attractive play before Walker was caught at slip off Charlie Parker, who needed three wickets in this innings to become the first bowler to reach 200 wickets this season. He had Arthur Carr well caught in the deep by Wally Hammond to take his total to 199, but was unable to take another as Gunn and Ben Lilley put on the last 24 runs needed to end the match. Gunn played some superb strokes in his innings without ever forcing the runs. This was Nottinghamshire’s last home match of the season, and it was played almost throughout in gloomy weather.
The Oval: Surrey v Yorkshire
As expected, a dull no-result match was completed today, in dull, cold, windy but dry weather. It was actually remarkable that play started on time after so much rain. The pitch was almost lifeless, although Wilfred Rhodes, the best bowler of the day, did manage to get the ball to lift awkwardly at times. George Macaulay had to leave the field early on with a recurrence of his knee injury. Donald Knight and Douglas Jardine took their overnight partnership to 82, mostly by very cautious batting, before both were out to Rhodes in quick succession. It was a war of attrition, as the batsmen were determined to take no risks, while the bowlers were equally reluctant to try to buy wickets. Errol Holmes and Percy Fender took over, began very slowly, even Fender, and then added 78 together by rather more positive batting. Later on Fender began to hit out, and finally declared when it was as certain as can be that no result would be obtained on the first innings.
Yorkshire batted for an hour before the players probably gratefully went off for bad light, in which time they scored well, especially Herbert Sutcliffe, who reached a fifty in 52 minutes. While the Yorkshire bowling had been fiercely accurate, the Surrey bowling was noticeably less so, and the difference in quality between the two counties’ bowling attacks was very obvious. This non-result, when Surrey needed a victory, means that it is now virtually assured that Yorkshire will win the county championship for the fourth successive season.
Birmingham: Warwickshire v Middlesex
Middlesex had to continue their first innings this morning on a pitch damaged by rain, although slow. In spite of its slowness Edward Hewetson was the most dangerous of the Warwickshire bowlers and soon made inroads into the Middlesex batting. Wickets fell steadily and Middlesex were in real danger at 112 for nine wickets. Then came a last-wicket partnership that possibly saved them the match, as the young Walter Robins, captain of Highgate School, in only his second match for Middlesex, and Jack Durston batted so well together that they added 73 runs in an hour on either side of lunch. Durston survived an early chance in the deep to Arthur Croom, who made several costly blunders in the field today, although he took one brilliant slip catch. These two batsmen finished as the top scorers of the innings.
Middlesex were still 223 runs behind and had to follow on, but there were now only two hours and 20 minutes left for victory and the Warwickshire pace bowlers were tiring. Although Hewetson summoned up enough pace and energy to bowl out Harry Lee for 1, Horace Dales and Jack Hearne had little difficulty in keeping out the bowlers in a second-wicket partnership of 77, and in the end Middlesex were able to save the game quite easily, helped by bad light ending the match just before five o’clock. Warwickshire dropped six possible chances during the day.
Day 1
Swansea: Glamorgan v Warwickshire
Jupiter Pluvius brutally bullied poor Glamorgan again today, with another washout. Drizzle all morning was followed by heavier rain in the afternoon and the players were never able to take the field.
Gloucester: Gloucestershire v Leicestershire
Apart from a half-hour lost to rain in the morning, Leicestershire batted throughout the day to reach the rare heights of a score of over 300. With the third ball of the innings Charlie Parker reached his 200 wickets for the season by trapping Eddie Dawson lbw, but then came a solid 108-run partnership for the second wicket between Alan Shipman, dropped of Percy Mills very early on, and Les Berry, who both scored fifties. The bowlers at this stage were handicapped by a wet ball. Six men were out for 186, but then came their second century partnership as Claude Taylor showing some of his best form along with James Bradshaw, and by the close had put on 126 together. Taylor was however twice missed at the wicket at 46; after that he hit more freely and played some fine strokes. Parker, without George Dennett in the team as his usual partner, had to bowl for most of the day with little support.
Dover Week: Kent v Essex
The Essex team suffered a train delay, so play did not start until 12.30. It was a bright sunny morning and Essex began their innings very well, with John Freeman and Jimmy Cutmore making 56 for the first wicket. The leg-spinners Tich Freeman and Father Marriott put a brake on the scoring, though, with Marriott removing Cutmore and Jack O’Connor in quick succession. John Freeman and Jack Russell both reached steady fifties, though, and at 186 for three wickets Essex seemed on their way to a good first-innings total. Then Claude Ashton was caught in the deep off George Collins and wickets began to tumble quickly. Russell soon followed after a very sound and quietly fluent innings of 71, and the last five batsmen scored just 10 runs between them. Essex actually only batting with ten men, as the eleventh did not arrive at the ground until the innings was over.
Kent continued to swing the balance of the match their way with a good opening partnership between Wally Hardinge and Jack Bryan, who had put on 66 together in an hour without being separated by the close, although Bryan was struggling to find his touch. With Johnny Douglas and Percy Perrin again absent, Frank Gilligan is captaining Essex.
Lord’s: M.C.C. v Yorkshire
The M.C.C. team did not give much entertainment to the crowd of about 3000 today as they took more than 126 overs to score just over 200 runs against very accurate Yorkshire bowling, backed by very tight Yorkshire fielding. Edgar Oldroyd has a chill and so Stanley Douglas, Yorkshire’s recent long-term twelfth man, was given a game. He is a fast-medium left-hand bowler who bowled quite well but with enough luck only to take one wicket. George Macaulay was unexpectedly fit enough to play, but he cut his speed a lot when he bowled and soon picked up the first wicket, that of Charles Titchmarsh lbw for 6.
There were no quick-footed batsmen on the M.C.C. side who might have been able to disrupt the length of the bowlers, so for most of the time it was a hard grind for runs. Norman Riches, opening the innings, tried to be enterprising, but was so pinned down that he took over two hours to score 24. Donald Knight managed to play a few good leg-side strokes before he was tried one across the line to a straight ball from Wilfred Rhodes and was out for 28. Douglas Jardine made a long and boring 39. At last in 131 for six came the former Cambridge University wicket-keeper and present Buckinghamshire captain, Walter Franklin, and he began to find gaps in the field that none of his predecessors could find — mainly off the edge of the bat. The last pair just managed to take the score beyond 200. It took them over five hours and only 9 fours were hit all day. The pitch was slow but never very difficult. The Yorkshire openers had just one over to survive before the close, and Percy Holmes generously (or otherwise) allowed his junior partner to face it.
Taunton: Somerset v Middlesex
The early Somerset batsmen were always struggling against fine bowling from Jack Durston on a lively pitch. He took the first three wickets to fall, all of them bowled out, with only 23 runs on the board, and the seventh wicket went down at 88. Then came a reviving partnership between Bunty Longrigg, the Rugby School captain, and George Hunt, who put on 61 for the eighth wicket. Longrigg showed very good placement of his strokes and was still unbeaten with 44 in 80 minutes when Durston returned to finish off the innings, bowling out the last two batsmen with successive deliveries.
Middlesex took their time in reply. Horace Dales was brilliantly caught at the wicket by Dar Lyon off Raymond Robertson-Glasgow for 4, but then Harry Lee and Jack Hearne dug in to bat very solidly. The pitch was now easy-paced and only Jack White really caused the batsmen any concern, but these two batsmen were content to plod along rather ponderously as they scored 91 together in 1¾ hours, to some barracking from the crowd. White trapped Hearne lbw just before the close, but Middlesex finished the day in a potentially strong position.
Hove: Sussex v Lancashire
Sussex probably regretted their decision to bat first, as the ball popped a lot off the pitch before lunch, and then settled down afterwards, although the bowlers were able to move the ball about all day. The pace bowling of Ted McDonald and Frank Sibbles soon had the batsmen struggling, although Sibbles took the first five wickets himself with his accurate but not too dangerous swingers. Then after lunch McDonald broke through with a hat-trick spread over two overs, his victims being Ronnie Holdsworth, Arthur Watson and Arthur Gilligan, the last-named bowled by his fastest ball. The eighth wicket went down at 68, but with 11 from Tich Cornford and Jim Parks, who ran out of partners at 13, Sussex improved that slightly to 89 all out.
Lancashire batted very doggedly in reply, with only 21 runs scored in the first 45 minutes, against bowling that was not good enough to deserve such respect. The pitch was too damp to suit Maurice Tate. Once he reached the thirties Charlie Hallows decided to be more aggressive, and hit George Cox for a four and a six before he skyed a catch. Lancashire just managed to equal the Sussex score with two wickets down before the early close due to bad light. Their batting was about as dull as the weather.
Worcester: Worcestershire v Nottinghamshire
Heavy rain delayed the start until 1.10. The pitch was rather lifeless, but most of the Nottinghamshire team put up a very poor batting performance. Four wickets were down for 72 before Ben Lilley joined Arthur Carr, who until then had been playing carefully. Carr then decided to hit out, targeting Fred Root in particular, and played many powerful but risky strokes. Worcestershire had entirely themselves to blame for this, as during his innings he was dropped no fewer than seven times — six times Root being the unlucky bowler. He and Lilley took the score to 150 before another collapse occurred, Carr eventually finding a fielder willing to catch him when he had 92 in an hour and 0 minutes. Before the innings closed Len Richmond at No 11 became the second-highest scorer of the innings by slogging 22.
Worcestershire made an even worse start, with Harold Larwood removing both openers for just one run on the board. Four were out for 20, and the first five batsmen to be dismissed all went for single figures. William Shakespeare broke the mould in scoring 31, helped by Harry Rogers, but at the close Nottinghamshire were now in charge with the home side 99 for seven wickets.
Day 2
Swansea: Glamorgan v Warwickshire
It was a surprise that play was able to start today only an hour late, after so much rain. The pitch and outfield were still very soft and wet, but drying under the sun and wind. Glamorgan decided to bat first, figuring that the pitch would be more difficult later in the day. Their batsmen struggled, although Cyril Walters and Maurice Turnbull showed skill and determination. Only the experienced Yorkshireman Eddie Bates really seemed comfortable on the soft pitch, though, batting almost two hours for his 35. Jack Mercer played one of his occasionally successful slogging innings to smash 26 in a quarter of an hour, so 149 was not a bad total considering the conditions.
With Jack Parsons injured, Freddie Calthorpe opened the batting with Tiger Smith for Warwickshire, but was caught off Mercer without scoring. This time it was the Warwickshire Bates, Len, who played the best innings in the difficult conditions, batting over two hours and outdoing his namesake by reaching fifty. Mercer produced some fine bowling to take five wickets, and Warwickshire will have to do well tomorrow if they are to gain a lead on the first innings.
Gloucester: Gloucestershire v Leicestershire
Heavy overnight rain delayed play until two o’clock and left conditions that favoured the bowlers. The last four Leicestershire wickets went down for 22 runs, though Claude Taylor succeeded in reaching his century, but they already had a good score. When Gloucestershire went in they were up against it, apart from Alf Dipper who played a fine defensive innings with little support. Wally Hammond was out for 8 and only two of his partners reached double figures. George Geary made short work of most of them, dismissing six of the top seven batsmen in the order. Dipper was ninth out at 145; the last man Tom Goddard became second-highest scorer as he slogged 30 and was then bowled in the last over of the day. Gloucestershire, 158 behind, just failed to save the follow on and will surely be required to do so tomorrow.
Dover Week: Kent v Essex
There was a close struggle for the first-innings lead today as Kent continued their first innings after a late start due to morning rain. Wally Hardinge was quickly out after an opening partnership of 71, and Frank Woolley briefly looked very dangerous as he scored 17. Jack Bryan and George Collins batted well, Bryan finding his true form in scoring 86 with some very fine strokes. The pitch was not very easy and became more difficult under the sun as the innings went on, which was some small excuse for the poor batting of the later men. Bill Ashdown was in danger of being left stranded as the ninth wicket fell on 209, still three short of the Essex score. Ashdown hit a ball towards the cover boundary that should have been worth only three, but the batsmen went for a very risky fourth to take the lead, and Father Marriott would have been run out with the scores level but for a bad throw. Essex might have taken the lead anyway had not Laurie Eastman, who was bowling well, strained his leg and had to leave the field.
The sun had now gone in and the heavy roller eased the pitch when Essex went in again, but Essex did not take good enough advantage of it. The four batsmen out all reached double figures but failed to convert into anything substantial. Jack Russell was still there at the close, and much depends on him tomorrow if Essex are to set Kent a satisfactory target.
Lord’s: M.C.C. v Yorkshire
So much rain fell overnight that in the morning play at Lord’s looked unlikely all day, but it dried quickly enough for play to start at 3.35. In just under three hours’ play this afternoon Yorkshire showed clearly why they are the prospective county champions. The outfield was heavy and conditions none too easy for batting on a soft and awkward pitch, but their batsmen did not allow themselves to be bogged down like the M.C.C. batsmen had done. However, the M.C.C. bowlers were not as accurate as the Yorkshire bowlers had been, although their best deliveries were very testing, and the fieldsmen not so quick or brilliant.
Percy Holmes continued his love affair with Lord’s, and he has now scored almost 1000 runs in the ten innings he has played there. His judgment in strokeplay and in running were superb. He was still there with 92 at the end of the day, and on a normal outfield would certainly have reached his century by then. Herbert Sutcliffe was out with the score on 28, but Maurice Leyland played an aggressive innings of 33 and Emmott Robinson stayed with him until the close, when they were only 25 runs behind the M.C.C. score with eight wickets in hand. Jack Newman was the best of the M.C.C. bowlers, producing many vicious breakbacks from the pavilion end, but he was quite overbowled. Walter Franklin did a superb job as wicket-keeper, taking many very awkward deliveries extremely well.
Taunton: Somerset v Middlesex
A weather forecast of “Generally dull, with occasional bright spells” might well be applied to the cricket at Taunton today. Heavy rain delayed the start and left a soft pitch. Harry Lee reached his fifty and duly got out after taking 2½ hours over his 51, and there followed a dashing partnership of 50 in 25 minutes between Nigel Haig (mostly) and Patsy Hendren. This partnership was broken at 173 for four, but then came a middle-order slump and eight were out for 193. Walter Robins and Frank Lee then put on an excellent stand of 49 against good bowling and fielding to bring about a total of 244, although Robins had several fortunate escapes, especially against the spin of Jack White, who finally bowled him. Middlesex thus led by 78 on the first innings.
Archie Young and Box Case (14) began the Somerset second innings well with an opening stand of 51, with Young making most of the running, but after Case was out the batting became dull until Randall Johnson and Bunty Longrigg began a brief but enterprising revival in the last period of play.
Hove: Sussex v Lancashire
Overnight and morning rain prevented any play until 3.45. The pitch was quite lifeless as Lancashire continued their innings, but so was Frank Watson’s batting. Don Davies tried to push the score along, but his strokes lacked power. By Watson in particular this was bad tactics, as after an hour or two the pitch began to get more difficult and wickets began to fall. Davies was out at 136 for four and then the batting collapsed, the last seven wickets going down for only 11 runs. Although Maurice Tate took five wickets through beautiful bowling as the pitch quickened, George Cox was the best of the bowlers overall, bowling 26.2 overs for four wickets and only 37 runs — his figures were still very flattering, as he temped the batsmen with numerous half-volleys, and they patted them back politely. Lancashire had a lead of only 58 when they had the chance to do much better.
Sussex also struggled on the pitch when they went in, and they also played some poor strokes to lose four wickets for 33 runs in 35 minutes before the close. Ted Bowley was out for 11 this time, playing no sort of stroke to a fine delivery from Frank Sibbles. This match seems to be a case of whoever bats worst loses, and Sussex have a lot of ground to make up now.
Worcester: Worcestershire v Nottinghamshire
Bowlers continued to dominate at Worcester today, helped by more early-morning rain on the pitch, and by the end of the day the home county had little hope of victory. Harry Rogers continued his gallant innings for them this morning, being last out for 46, and Worcestershire conceded a deficit of 69 runs on the first innings. Harold Larwood bowled very well for his five wickets, four of them being top-order batsmen.
Nottinghamshire in their second innings again batted indifferently, although the pitch was lifeless, and were 84 for five wickets at one stage, with all their specialist batsmen out. Arthur Carr in his innings of 20 passed 2000 runs for the season. They were boosted by a sixth-wicket partnership of 73 between Ben Lilley and Sam Staples, and could eventually set Worcestershire 249 to win, much the highest score of the match. Dick Pearson fought through and survived to the close, but he had lost four partners by then and the team outlook was bleak.
Day 3
Swansea: Glamorgan v Warwickshire
More rain overnight meant that play started an hour late, making the chances of an outright result very unlikely. Glamorgan quickly finished off the Warwickshire first innings by taking their last three wickets for only 8 runs, and so took a first-innings lead for only the second time this season. Jack Mercer bowled superbly to take six wickets for 31.
Batting again, they enjoyed an excellent third-wicket partnership of 94 between Maurice Tate and Eddie Bates, who both scored fifties, before they declared to leave Warwickshire with a target of 191 in less than two hours. Turnbull batted two hours for 68, a very impressive first fifty in first-class cricket. Freddie Calthorpe completed a king pair opening the batting, but Tiger Smith and Len Bates quietly batted out time until bad light stopped play. At least Glamorgan could celebrate the taking of three points in this match, where overall they turned in a good performance in difficult conditions.
Gloucester: Gloucestershire v Leicestershire
Gloucestershire faced a very difficult task, following on 158 runs behind on a pitch which by now had most of the top knocked off. Ewart Astill exploited the pitch perfectly and most of the Gloucestershire batsmen seemed to find him unplayable. Alf Dipper alone of the early batsmen survived long in making 15 in an hour, and seven wickets went down for 33. Then came the only real partnership of the innings, as Captain Douglas Robinson and Percy Mills put on 24 for the eighth wicket, but it was all in vain as Leicestershire enjoyed the rare feeling of celebrating a big victory. While Astill took most of the early wickets, George Geary finished off the innings and took ten wickets for 117 in the match. This was Gloucestershire’s last match of the season.
Dover Week: Kent v Essex
Heavy dew in the morning, rather than rain, meant that the Kent bowlers could get some spin out of the pitch when Essex continued their second innings. Tich Freeman proved to be their key bowler, and his most vital blow was when he made a leg-break spin very quickly and the key batsman, Jack Russell, edged it to be caught by Frank Woolley at slip for 25. The Essex wickets continued to fall, but it says something that eight batsmen reached double figures (and another scored 9), but only two of them reached 20 and none got to 30. Freeman’s fine bowling earned him eight wickets after bowling well without a wicket at all in the first innings.
Kent needed 156 to win. They quickly lost Jack Bryan for 1, very well caught by Joe Hipkin at short leg by a hard hit off Claude Ashton. The medium-paced Ashton used the conditions very well and even troubled Woolley, who came in now to join Hardinge. Generally the Essex bowling was good, but the Kent batting was even better, both batsmen scoring at a good pace as the pitch began to ease, and Wally Hardinge matching Woolley for a while. As victory came into sight Woolley began to hit out more, and survived two difficult chances before they achieved victorious with an unbroken second-wicket partnership of 149.
Lord’s: M.C.C. v Yorkshire
Yorkshire showed once again that they are a worthy champion county elect with a comprehensive victory over M.C.C., despite so much time being lost in the match. Today the weather was warmer and the pitch faster and rather more helpful to bowlers. Percy Holmes began the day on 91 and spent almost half an hour making quite sure of completing his century. After that he hit out with gay, even reckless, abandon and made another 34 in 20 minutes before skying a catch to mid-off off Bill Greswell to end a chanceless innings. By now the Yorkshire players were all going for quick runs, and Alec Kennedy took some stick, but Greswell bowled well and picked up quick wickets in the middle order. The final wicket was a curiosity, as Jack Newman bowled a ball so far outside Major Arthur Lupton’s off stump that the umpire called it a wide. Lupton lashed out at it but overbalanced, and Walter Franklin brought off a very smart stumping. Strangely and incorrectly, the wide was not added to the Yorkshire total.
The brief period before lunch virtually settled M.C.C.’s doom. George Macaulay, returned almost to his full pace, bowled out Charles Titchmarsh with the second ball of the innings, and the next three batsmen to come in scored just two runs between them, Macaulay taking three wickets and Roy Kilner one. Norman Riches looked more comfortable at the other end, but Abe Waddington made a ball lift awkwardly and produce a catch to backward point, which reduced M.C.C. to 28 for five. Newman batted very well amid so many failures by his team, and it was only due to him that the total passed 100 with the last pair together. Macaulay bowled throughout the innings for seven wickets. eleven for 104 in the match, and Percy Holmes and Herbert Sutcliffe then scored the 25 runs Yorkshire needed for a very impressive victory, although it took them almost 20 overs to do so against Greswell and Kennedy. In nine matches he has played at Lord’s, Holmes has now scored 1212 runs with five centuries at an average of 101 — and this includes three ducks!
Taunton: Somerset v Middlesex
A match which had had rather too many dull periods of batting ended in a thrilling finish, as the last Middlesex pair scored the winning runs in the last possible over. Somerset made a good fight, and most of the fighting from the bat came from Dar Lyon, who scored 69 in an hour and a half and was the last man out.
Middlesex had three hours in which to score 172 for victory, which should have been quite enough. They made a bad start, though, and lost their first four wickets for 56. Somerset bowled and fielded superbly, but in the end two vital dropped catches cost them the match. Patsy Hendren was dropped by Lyon at the wicket before he had scored, and Frank Mann by Jack White on 7. They went on to add 62 together for the fifth wicket in 50 minutes, putting Middlesex back up with the clock. After Hendren was out, Somerset fielders took three brilliant catches in succession. The last pair of Frank Lee and Jack Durston came together with three runs still needed for victory. Jack White bowled the last over, and Durston hit the third delivery for four to win the match.
Hove: Sussex v Lancashire
Today’s cricket followed a sadly predictable course for Sussex — another batting failure, leading to a heavy defeat. Only two batsmen were able (or willing) to stand for long against the bowling of Ted McDonald in particular. The Australian adapted his pace very well to the slow pitch, occasionally sending down a very fast ball with deadly effect. He bowled throughout the innings and took six wickets, and ten in the match. Cecil Parkin bowled at the other end unchanged, but was well below his best form. George Cox adopted a policy of passive resistance and, hit frequently on the body, kept his wicket intact to the end for an hour and a half. The only other batsman to cope was Jim Parks, who played the best innings and looked a very capable batsman. For the second time in the match Sussex were bowled out for below 100, on pitches that were not good but neither were they vicious enough to warrant such low scores.
Lancashire were set 29 to win, and this was achieved by Charlie Hallows and Alfred Pewtress in half an hour without loss, although Sussex managed to drop a chance from Hallows before the match was over before lunch. Not many players came out of this match well, especially the batsmen on both sides.
Lancashire were without George Duckworth today; he had to return home after the tragic news that his two youngest sisters had been drowned at Prestatyn in North Wales. Arthur Gilligan readily agreed to allow Harry Makepeace, almost fully fit again, to keep wicket as a substitute in his place.
Worcester: Worcestershire v Nottinghamshire
It took just 35 minutes this morning for Worcestershire to surrender and hand Nottinghamshire an easy victory by almost 200 runs. Defeat was virtually inevitable, but there are ways and means of losing, and the Worcestershire players did not choose a very honourable one. Heavy dew helped the bowlers, but the batsmen simply wilted against the pace of Fred Barratt and Harold Larwood. The last six wickets fell for only 5 runs in only ten minutes. Larwood in particular bowled so fast and well that the batsmen could not play him at all. He took four wickets for only 7 runs this morning, and finished with his best figures of six wickets for 17 runs, and match figures of eleven wickets for only 41 runs.