In view of some of the players and one of the commentators involved in the match I am currently listening to in the county championship I have created an ‘ecclesiastical eleven’. Plus the usual photo gallery.
With the match between Hampshire and Surrey in the current round of county championship fixtures featuring a Pope and two Abbotts (Sean for Surrey, Kyle for Hampshire) plus Mark Church in the commentary box I decided to select an ecclesiastical XI. These are players whose names have ecclesiastical connections. I have not picked any players who had ecclesiastical roles as well as being cricketers.
THE XI IN BATTING ORDER
Imam-ul-Haq (left handed top order batter). Averages just short of 40 in test cricket. An Imam is an islamic preacher.
Jack Parsons (right handed top order batter, occasional right arm medium pacer). A superb player for Warwickshire either side of WWI, he averaged in the high 30s with the bat for over 10,000 FC runs. He was also a notably aggressive player.
Ian Chappell (right handed batter, captain, occasional leg spinner). A superb captain, and had a fine record as a test match number three.
Greg Chappell (right handed batter, occasional leg spinner, occasional medium pacer, ace slip fielder). One of the game’s all time greats with the bat.
Ollie Pope (right handed batter, occasional wicket keeper). Has a superb county record and is beginning to establish himself as England’s number three. He scored 91 for Surrey in their first innings of the current match.
George Pope (right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). Averaged 28 with the bat and 19 with the ball for Derbyshire in a distinguished career which was disrupted by WWII. Like so many of that county’s fine players he received scant recognition from the England selectors.
Charlie Dean (off spinner, right handed batter). Our front line spinner, starting to make a name for herself in the England women’s team. A dean is a church official.
Ian Bishop (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). A great fast bowler before injuries ruined his career, and also a useful batter.
Kyle Abbott (right arm fast medium bowler). An excellent bowler who broke in to the South Africa side only after he had already agreed a Kolpak deal with Hampshire. His decision to honour that Hampshire contract ended his international career, but his record for the county has been superb.
Harry Dean (left arm fast medium bowler). Only three test matches for him, in the 1912 Triangular tournament, but he took his first class scalps at 18 a piece. The fact that he bowled with his left arm lends the attack extra balance.
This XI has a powerful top five, a keeper batter at six, an all rounder at seven, two bowlers who bat at eight and nine and two tail enders. The bowling attack is strong and well balanced, and I would expect this side to give a good account of itself in most conditions.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
The ecclesiastical figure who came closest to making the XI was the reverend David Sheppard, scorer of three test centuries, but the top order batting available to me was strong, and he was not the greatest of fielders. Australian leg spinner Lloyd Pope has a decent but not outstanding record in limited overs cricket and a dreadful one in red ball cricket, so I could not accommodate him. Sean Abbott missed out as I rated Kyle the superior bowler of the two Abbotts, and I wanted the front line spinner, the extra pace of Bishop and the left arm of Dean. Kevin Dean had a respectable record for Derbyshire, but not enough to challenge his namesake Harry. I await reader suggestions with interest.
A look t the many challenges and changes the County Championship has faced and survived in its long history. Also a large photo gallery.
Today would be the second day of the second round of county championship matches of the 2023 season, except that there is so much rain around the country that no matches are currently playing as I type this, hence I am listening to commentary on today’s IPL game. In this post I look back at the many challenges that the county championship has overcome.
A TURBULENT PRE-BIRTH
Although matches between teams bearing the names of counties have been happening for over three centuries (teams dubbed ‘Kent’ and ‘Surrey’ did battle in 1708), it wasn’t until the mid 1860s that anyone had the idea of ranking county sides, and not until 1891 that a properly organized county championship took place (so many sometimes conflicting authorities assessed counties between 1864 and 1890 that there are no fewer than seven different listings of ‘Champion Counties’ from that period. In 1845 The All England XI played it’s first match, and was to continue to exist as a travelling XI playhing matches against the odds (opposition sides of more than 11 players – 15, 18 and 22 were common numbers) for some 30 years. A split led to the formation of the United All England XI, and subsequent to that the United North of England and United South of England XIs were established. At one point it seemed that English cricket might suffer a rugby type split, with the professionals playing games against the odds in their travelling XIs and the amateurs playing 11 v 11 matches, but such was averted – the key figure of WG Grace threw his lot in the with the MCC, though he also continued to turn out for the United South of England XI – his price for supporting the establishment and thereby ensuring that English cricket would continue to be run from Lord’s and would not split was that he be allowed to make a mockery of the principles of amateurism. In the end the travelling XIs withered on the vine, and by the early 1880s the last of them had ceased to exist. Matches against odds lasted longer – England tours of Australia featured such matches for many years to come.
PROFESSIONAL LIMITED OVERS CRICKET
From 1891-1962, although the there were many changes in how the championship was calculated and who played in it (just eight counties played the first few, six more were promoted to first class status in 1895, Worcestershire in 1899, Northamptonshire in 1905 and Glamorgan in 1921), the championship stood alone. Between the 1962 and 1963 seasons two major decisions were made: the distinction between amateur and professional was abolished (there were precious few amateurs left, and even fewer whose amateur credentials would have stood up to any sort of scrutiny) and henceforth all first class cricketers would be professionals, and the first professional limited overs competition, the Gillette Cup was launched, starting in 1963. In 1969 the John Player League, matches of 40 overs per side, to be played on Sundays (the shorter allocation of overs meant the games could start in the afternoon) was introduced, and the county championship programme was reduced to 20 matches per season (28 had been standard). It was increased back to 22 and then 24. Then, four day championship cricket was introduced, Durham were given first class status, and a for a few years 17 four day matches (each of the 18 counties playing the other 17 once) became the standard. England continued to struggle, and after much controversy and debate, two more big changes happened in the year 2000, in the wake of England sinking to the bottom of the world test rankings: The County Championship was split into two divisions with promotion and relegation, and ECB central contracts were introduced, giving England control over the top players. England’s fortunes rose rapidly. Overall, although Duncan Fletcher’s policy of effectively using a central contract to bar holders of such from playing county cricket took things too far both these moves have been successful.
EVEN SHORTER FORM CRICKET
In 2003 the ECB introduced yet another competition, with innings of just 20 overs per side. Players took a while to get to grips with the approach required by this format, but it proved extremely popular.
15 years later, the ECB decided that yet another competition was needed, and opted for a quirky new format of innings comprising 100 balls each bowled in sets of five, with players allowed to bowl two sets back to back, but no more. This competition was called The Hundred, and one of its effects was to push the County Championship, now a mere 14 matches per season, further towards the margins of the season as it now ‘owns’ August, with a One Day Cup of much reduced stature taking place alongside it. The Hundred has brought much greater prominence to women’s cricket, but I do regret the ever increasing concentration of County Championship matches at the beginning and end of each season, with few games happening in high summer. However I have no worries about the future of the County Championship – it was born facing challenges, and has faced challenges at many points of its life so far, and it is still here.
An XI in which each player represented a different county. Also a large photo gallery.
With the second round of county championship 2023 fixtures starting tomorrow I set myself a little challenge for today’s blog…
THE BRIEF
The rules I set myself for this particular XI were: every player must represent a different county and all players must be England qualified. I do not for one instant claim that this team contains the 11 best cricketers produced by the counties down the years, or even that every chosen player would be described as their county’s all time number one, though all are unequivocal greats of the game.
THE XI IN BATTING ORDER
*WG Grace (Gloucestershire, right handed opening batter, right arm bowler of various types, excellent close fielder, captain). Cricket’s first superstar, absolutely dominant in his absolute pomp in the 1870s, and still capable of outstanding performances for many years after his pomp – his third and last first class triple century was scored in 1896 at the age of 48, while his last FC century was scored on his 56th birthday.
Jack Hobbs (Surrey, right handed opening batter, outstanding cover fielder, occasional medium pacer). The Master. Almost half of his vast tally of first class hundreds were scored after he had turned 40.
Johnny Tyldesley (Lancashire, right handed batter). One of the best bad wicket batters ever to play the game. In the first decade of the 20th century only two professionals were sufficiently accomplished willow wielders to be picked for England purely on the strength of their skill in that department, the other being David Denton of Yorkshire.
Philip Mead (Hampshire, left handed batter). Most runs and most centuries for a single team of anyone (48,809 and 135), 4th leading run scorer overall in FC history and 4th leading centurion as well.
Patsy Hendren (Middlesex, right handed batter, superb fielder). The second leading scorer of first class centuries (170) and third leading scorer of FC runs (57,611) in history. 74 of his centuries were scored at Lord’s, the most at single ground by anyone.
George Hirst (Yorkshire, right handed middle order batter, left arm fast medium bowler, outstanding mid off fielder). He achieved the season’s double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets 14 times, including ten times in a row. In 1904 and 1905 he had 2,000 runs to go with his 100 wickets, and in 1906, uniquely in first class history he managed the ‘double double’ – 2,385 runs and 208 wickets. This included the only ever instance of a cricketer scoring centuries in each of his sides’ innings and taking five-fors in each of the opposition’s. His Yorkshire skipper, Lord Hawke, reckoned him the greatest of all county cricketers. It was a common tactic in his day for bowlers to rub the ball in the dirt to remove the shine and make it easier to grip. Hirst, one of the pioneers of swing and cut, was also the first to make a point of shining the new ball so that it would do more.
+Les Ames (Kent, right handed batter, wicket keeper). Over 100 FC centuries, and over 1,100 FC dismissals, including an all time record 418 stumpings. His approach to batting, exemplified by the fact that he twice won the Lawrence trophy for the fastest first class hundred of the season makes him an ideal number seven in a very strong line up.
Vallance Jupp (Sussex, Northamptonshire, right handed batter, off spinner). It was after he moved north from Sussex and qualified by residence for his new county that his career took off. In the 1920s he did the double in each of eight successive seasons.
Harold Larwood (Nottinghamshire, right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter). Australians are wont to point out that outside the 1932-3 Ashes (where he claimed 33 cheap wickets) his test stats were ordinary, but his record for his county was outstanding.
William Mycroft (Derbyshire, left arm fast bowler, right handed tail end batter). Over 800 FC wickets at 12.09 a piece.
Eric Hollies (Warwickshire, leg spinner, right handed tail end batter). More wickets taken than runs scored in first class history. Although he did not get to play a huge amount of test cricket he did play his part in that format’s most famous ever duck “…Bradman bowled Hollies 0…bowled Hollies 0…”, which took the little Aussie’s batting average down from 101.29 to 99.94.
The XI has a formidably strong line batting line up (a run packed top five, genuine multidimensional players at six, seven and eight and a number nine who was good enough with the bat to have a test match 98 to his credit. The bowling, with Larwood, Mycroft and Hirst to bowl pace/ seam/ swing, two great and contrasting spinners in Jupp and Hollies and the redoubtable WG as sixth bowling option is if anything even more formidably strong than the batting and it would take a mighty XI to beat this one.
INVITING COMMENTS
This section is usually devoted to honourable mentions, but these would be too numerous to list in this post. I merely remind people of the criteria (ultra harsh judges would disqualify Mead because of his early attempt to make the grade at Surrey) and make my invariable point in this situations: if you have a favourite you want included please consider how their presence would alter the balance of the XI, and if they play for the same county as a current member of the XI with a different skill set how do you replace that person?
From Thursday to Sunday the first round of fixtures in the 2023 County Championship took place. My main focus was on Lancashire v Surrey, but I caught snatches of two other games as well.
A DRAW WITHOUT DULLNESS
Thursday was a work day, so I missed the first day’s action, in which Lancashire won the toss and put Surrey in. Surrey were well past 300 by the close and had wickets in hand. On the second morning Cameron Steel played magnificently to record his first championship century for Surrey, eventually boosting their total to 442. Lancashire started well enough in reply, and got into the 180s with their fifth wicket pair in residence. Then came a collapse caused by bad batting, on a pitch that never had the slightest hint of menace, which saw them 197-8. Will Williams then came to the crease, and proceeded to produce an effort that should have had some of his team mates feeling decidedly embarrassed, as he helped the ninth wicket to add 81 largely untroubled runs. The tenth wicket stand took the score up to 291, 151 adrift, but to nobody’s great surprise Surrey opted not to enforce the follow on. The feature of their second innings, in which they boosted their lead to 402 before declaring on the third evening, was a magnificent century by Ben Foakes, scored at more than a run a ball, an innings that probably killed off any notion of Jonny Bairstow being given the gloves in the test side. Matt Parkinson claimed five wickets. Lancashire never had any thoughts of anything other than a draw, but Surrey were mostly serious in their attempts to get through Lancashire’s defences. There was a period of frivolity just before the second new ball was due, with Lancashire still only two wickets down. Skipper Rory Burns bowled some off spin, and Ollie Pope bowled his first ever over in first class cricket, purveying a version of leg spin. Then for a brief period serious cricket returned as the Surrey new ball bowlers tried to make inroads into the Lancashire innings, but they did not do enough to endanger the red rose, and the return to the bowling crease of Burns was the signal for hands to be shaken on a draw.
OTHER MATCHES
A significant first innings deficit and a poor batting effort in the second put Somerset in grave danger of defeat at the hands of Warwickshire, but Tom Lammonby and Craig Overton held out together for long enough to see off the danger. The last cricket of Sunday evening featured…
HISTORY AT HEADINGLEY
Headingley is to put kindly not generally a happy hunting ground for Leicestershire – they came into this match having not won a first class match at the ground since 1910, and few would have bet on that stat changing when they entered the fourth innings needing 389 from 87 overs to win. Gradually however they whittled away at the deficit, though they were always a fraction behind the clock – 44 needed off six overs, 23 needed of three. The seamer Ben Coad then very atypically had a nightmare over, and suddenly Leicestershire, with three wickets still standing, needed just five off the last two overs. A four early in the penultimate over brought the scores level, and then another off the fifth ball took Leicestershire over the line.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Not many photos today due to poor weather – though it has improved dramatically while I have been typing this…
A combined Lancashire and Surrey XI in honour of the match I am currently listening to in the 2023 County Championship, and a substantial photo gallery.
With my attention focussed on Lancashire v Surrey in the opening round of the 2023 County Championship I am today picking an all time combined XI for the two counties (tomorrow I will write about this match, when I know the result). In keeping with my policy in the original All Time XIs series of 2020 I am restricting myself to one overseas player. Have a look at the Lancashire and Surrey pieces, noting that since 2020 Foakes has displaced Stewart as keeper in the Surrey XI.
THE XI IN BATTING ORDER
Jack Hobbs (Surrey, right handed opening batter, outstanding cover fielder, occasional medium pacer). The Master, scorer of 61,237 runs in FC cricket including 197 centuries (or 61,760 and 199 if you are a revisionist). Those centuries included 12 in the heat of Ashes battle.
John Edrich (Surrey, left handed opening batter). Edrich’s left handedness enabled him to keep out several contenders for this slot. He is a member of the 100 FC hundreds club, and he had an excellent test record.
Ken Barrington (Surrey, right handed batter, occasional leg spinner). Statisically England’s leading batter to have played exclusively post WWII, with a test average of almost 59 (6,807 runs, HS 256).
Graham Thorpe (Surrey, left handed batter). Another with an excellent test record, and often achieved while he was trying to hold the innings together without adequate support.
Peter May (Surrey, right handed batter). A test average of 46 achieved in game’s lowest and slowing scoring decade, 85 FC centuries in all, and that with a career cut short by ill health.
+Ben Foakes (Surrey, wicket keeper, right handed batter). His only rivals with the gloves would be Duckworth (Lancashire) and Pooley (Surrey), and neither were as good with the bat as Foakes.
*Percy Fender (Surrey, right handed batter, leg spinner, fine fielder, captain). An ideal type of player to have coming in at seven in a very strong line up, and a shrewd skipper.
Wasim Akram (Lancashire, left arm fast bowler, left handed batter). One of the two best ever cricketers of his type (his rival, the Aussie ace Alan Davidson never played county cricket) and there are no other great left arm pacers in the mix, so he was the proverbial shoo-in for the overseas slot.
Johnny Briggs (Lancashire, left arm orthodox spinner, right handed lower order batter, brilliant fielder). He was the first cricketer ever to reach the milestone of 100 test wickets (Charlie ‘Terror’ Turner of Australia got there later in the same match), while in FC cricket he claimed over 2,000 wickets. He was a good enough batter that he scored a test century and had a career tally of over 14,000 first class runs.
Jim Laker (Surrey, off spinner, right handed lower order batter). 193 test wickets in 46 matches at 21 a piece. Two all-tens against Australia in 1956, one for Surrey in the first innings of that match (the county won by 10 wickets) and one for England in the second Australian innings of the Old Trafford test, this latter after having already taken 9-37 in the first innings.
Sydney Francis Barnes (Lancashire, right arm fast medium bowler, right handed lower order batter). 189 test wickets at 16.43 in just 27 matches at that level. He didn’t play a huge number of games for the county, preferring Lancashire League cricket where the terms were more generous, but his status as arguably the greatest of all bowlers demands that he be included.
This XI features a very powerful top five, one of the all time great keepers who also bats well, an all rounder who happens to be a great captain at number seven, a left arm pacer who can bat and who rates as one of the two greatest ever cricketers of that type, two legendary spinners and arguably the greatest of all bowlers at number 11. The pace department is a little under stocked, with Hobbs being the third ranked seamer in the XI but I do not think this bowling unit will struggle to take wickets.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Two Surrey openers with over 100 first class hundreds each missed out: Tom Hayward and Andrew Sandham, while Lancastrians Archie MacLaren and Cyril Washbrook were also fine openers (Atherton’s negative attitude towards county cricket is enough to rule him out in my view).
Barrington’s chief rival for the number three slot was Johnny Tyldesley, but even allowing for the fact that the Lancastrian batted in a more difficult era the gap between their respective records was too wide. I wanted a left hander in the middle order, and with due respect to Neil Fairbrother, Thorpe was the stand out candidate. May at five was rivalled by a member of the 100 hundreds club, Ernest Tyldesley, but there is no question that the interwar period was paradise for batters (16 of the 25 leading scorers of first class runs played some or all of their cricket in this period and there is a reason for that), and May’s career was as I said shortened by ill health. Andrew Flintoff was a candidate for the aggressive all rounders slot at number seven, but I wanted Fender’s captaincy, so even though it meant the pace department being short staffed I went that way. Wasim’s slot was as non-negotiable in my view as Hobbs’ at the top of the order. Laker had no rivals for the off spinners slot (Murali played a bit for Lancashire but I had limited myself to one overseas player). Briggs did have a rival for the left arm spinner’s berth, but Tony Lock’s action was questionable at the height of his career, and besides Lancashire are a little under represented in the final XI. Various excellent seam and pace bowlers missed out: George Lohmann, Tom Richardson, Alec Bedser and Peter Loader for Surrey and for Lancashire Brian Statham and James Anderson. All of these players would adorn any side of which they were part of, but I had only 11 slots available which meant deserving cases missing out. Jack Crossland and Arthur Mold were both quick, but both had highly dubious actions.
Finally, a member of the 100 hundreds club who was NOT unlucky to miss out: Mark Ramprakash had a fine record for Surrey after moving across the Thames from Lord’s, but he was not a big occasion player, a fact emphasized by his poor test record (an average of 27 and a mere two tons from 52 matches), and for me being a big occasion player is one of the criteria for selection in an XI of this nature.
I will undoubtedly have missed some fine players, and feel free to mention them in the comments, but remember if advocating for inclusion to consider how their presence in the XI would affect its balance.
The definitive XI of England men one cap wonders, a petition and a large photo gallery.
Of the 700 or so players to have turned out for the England men’s test side approximately 100 have done so exactly once. This XI is picked from these players. Sidestream Bob commented on yesterday’s post indicating that he wanted to see such an XI, so here it is.
THE XI IN BATTING ORDER
*Edward Mills Grace (right handed opening batter, right arm lob bowler, daring close fielder). Eclipsed by his brother WG and already 39 by the time he made his sole test appearance he still scored 36 in the first innings, sharing an opening stand of 91 with WG. He was towering prodigy in the late 1850s and early 1860s, and it was only near the end of the 1860s that WG, seven years his junior (the same age gap coincidentally as that between Mycroft Holmes and his more gifted younger brother Sherlock – and Conan Doyle was a cricket fanatic and a fine player in his own right) definitely overhauled EM. Test cricket came too late for EM, though he should probably have been picked for the Oval test of 1882 – AN Hornby never delivered against Australia with the bat and his captaincy helped cost England that match, when he held CT Studd, scorer of two centuries against the Aussies that season, back until number 10, and Studd ended up not facing a ball in the innings.
Alan Butcher (left handed opening batter). One solitary test cap was scant reward for a long and productive county career first with Surrey and then with Glamorgan.
Mark Benson (right handed top order batter). He was a regular opener, and scored large numbers of runs for Kent in the course of long career. His one and only test appearance, against India in 1986 yielded scores of 21 and 30.
Alan Wells (right handed batter). His paucity of test caps was partly self inflicted since he signed up for the last rebel tour of South Africa, but he was very successful at county level, and his call up for the last test of the 1995 series against the West Indies was scant reward for so good a career, especially when an Ambrose snorter ensured that his test career would yield no runs.
Paul Parker (right handed batter, excellent fielder). Mike Brearley was told that if he wanted to captain England in the final test of 1981 at The Oval he had to accept an experimental line up. Picking folk for the last test of a series seems silly to me because unless the do something remarkable they are likely to end as one cap wonders. Paul Parker was one of those capped at The Oval in 1981, he did little in the match and was promptly forgotten about by the selectors, though he continued to perform well for Sussex.
Fred Grace (right handed batter, right arm medium pacer, excellent outfielder). In the 1870s only big brother WG did significantly better with the bat than Fred, and he took his FC wickets at 20.06 a piece. His sole test call up, at The Oval in 1880, saw him collect a pair and not do much with the ball, though had the ‘Champagne Moment’ been a thing in 1880 his catch to dismiss the big hitting George Bonnor, held as the batters were crossing for their THIRD run (Frederick Gale chain measured the distance and worked out that Fred Grace was 115 yards – approximately 105 metres – from the bat when he took the catch) would have won it. Fred Grace was not a victim of selectorial caprice – two weeks after this match he caught a chill, which turned into a fatal chest infection.
*Aubrey Smith (right arm fast medium bowler, right handed lower middle order batter, captain). The only person to captain an England men’s test team on his only appearance at that level, there could be no other captain of this XI. He took seven wickets in that one match, the first of two on an early tour of South Africa which were granted test status retrospectively. He was unavailable for the second match, and Monty Bowden took the captaincy. Smith took to acting first on stage and then on screen once his playing days were done, and he founded Hollywood Cricket Club, for whom he turned out even into his eighties.
Arnold Warren (right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter). He did once share a ninth wicket stand of 283* with one J Chapman. His sole test cap came in 1909, and he took 6-113 in the match including an innings haul of 5-57. For Derbyshire he was one half of an excellent though hard to handle new ball duo alongside Billy Bestwick.
+Leslie Gay (wicket keeper, right handed batter). Finding a keeper who was one cap wonder was a challenge, but this guy, who also kept goal for the England men’s football team played the first match of the 1894-5 Ashes and was dropped for Hylton ‘Punch’ Philippson after a poor game, and never got another England cap.
Charlie Parker (left arm orthodox spinner, right handed lower order batter). The third leading wicket taker in first class history, with 3,278 scalps, but just one appearance for England, in which he took 2-32.
Charles ‘Father’ Marriott (leg spinner, right handed lower order batter). A natural number 11 if ever there was one, and an excellent fit for this side. His career as a teacher limited his cricket playing but in the course of an FC career that spanned 17 years he claimed 724 wickets nevertheless, and his sole test appearance, against the West Indies in 1933, yielded match figures of 11-96, the best ever achieved by a one-cap wonder.
This side has decent top six, a bowling all rounder at seven, a bowler who could bat at eight, a keeper who was not a total incompetent with the bat and two genuine tail enders. The bowling, with Smith and Warren to share the new ball, Fred Grace as a back up seam option and C Parker, Marriott and EM Grace as three different slow options is both strong and varied.
EXTRAS
Stuart Law, a one cap wonder for Australia, qualified by residence (he played county cricket for many years, first for Lancashire and then for Essex) for England in 2006, but I felt that given that his sole appearance was for another country it would be a stretch to include him in this XI.
Mike Smith of Gloucestershire and Simon Brown of Durham each got picked on a ‘horses for courses’ basis for test matches at Headingley in the 1990s, and in each case did little and were never picked again. Their overall records are not good enough for them to displace any of my chosen specialist bowlers.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Before my usual sign off I have a petition to share with you. It calls for ‘Swift bricks’ to be a requirement for all new build houses to combat the decline in numbers in the swift population, and is on the cusp of the 100,000 signatures needed for a debate in parliament – if you are a UK citizen you could be the one to send it over the line: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/626737
To mark the start of another championship season I pick an XI of county stalwarts who somehow escaped the attention of the England selectors of their day. I also have my usual photo gallery at the end.
A new county championship season is under way (I have commentary on Lancashire v Surrey on in the background), and in honour of this I am putting together an XI of the best English county cricketers who never got the call up for England. Players whose careers took place before test cricket was played are ineligible.
THE XI IN BATTING ORDER
John Langridge (Sussex, right handed opening batter and excellent close fielder). Over 34,000 FC runs, 76 centuries and hundreds of catches taken in the field but never an England call up for the Sussex stalwart.
Alan Jones (Glamorgan, left handed opening batter). More FC runs than anyone else not to get an England cap, 36,049 of them including 56 centuries. He was selected for the series against The Rest of the World that replaced the South African visit of 1970 when that was cancelled but those games are not officially classed as test matches.
Percy ‘Pete’ Perrin (Essex, right handed batter). Almost 30,000 FC runs at 36, with 66 centuries including an HS of 343* and no England cap. Ironically having been continually passed over as a player he did get to serve as chairman of selectors.
James Hildreth (Somerset, right handed batter, occasional right arm medium fast bowler). Not far short of 20,000 FC runs at an average of 44, but the England call never came.
David Sales (Northamptonshire, right handed batter). I first heard the name when I was listening to a test match commentary and Christopher Martin-Jenkins mentioned that a 17 year old had just scored 210* on FC debut. I thought that he was certain to become an England regular and sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, not only did he not get fast tracked, he never got an England cap, although his FC output was consistently impressive, including a triple century and a 276*.
*Darren Stevens (Leicestershire, Kent, right handed batter, right arm medium pacer, captain). An aggressive middle order batter and a highly successful swing bowler. He missed out partly because in the first part of his career at Leicestershire he hardly bowled and his batting record did not merit selection on its own. He was already in his thirties when at Kent he became a serious bowler, and age always told against him, even though Stevens in his 40s was playing the best cricket of his life.
Ernie Robson (Somerset, right handed batter, right arm medium pacer). He played for Somerset for 28 years (1895-1923), comfortably managed the career double of 10,000 runs and 1,000 wickets in FC games. In his last season, at the age of 53, he hit a six in the last possible over of a match to win it for Somerset. Jack Hobbs rated him one of the most difficult bowlers he ever faced. Incidentally he and Stevens are well matched as bowlers – Stevens’ main weapon was the inswinger, whereas Robson’s specialism was outswing.
+David Hunter (Yorkshire, wicket keeper, right handed batter). A rare example of a top class Yorkshire player being ignored by the England selectors, he made 1,200 dismissals in a long and distinguished career and featured in several important lower order partnerships as well.
Tom Wass (Nottinghamshire, right arm fast medium, right arm leg spin, right handed lower order batter). A magnificent county record in the Edwardian era, but never an England call up.
Don Shepherd (Glamorgan, off spinner, right handed lower order batter). It is telling of the frequency with which England selectors have been unable to see what happens west of the Severn that Glamorgan, home to the leading run scorer never to have played for England also boasts the leading FC wicket taker not to have played for England. Shepherd took over 2,200 wickets at a very cheap average, and was part of the 1969 team which won the County Championship without losing a match.
George Dennett (Gloucestershire, left arm orthodox spinner). 2,151 FC wickets at 19.82. He missed out in part because England were very strong in the left arm spin department during his career – Rhodes and Blythe were ahead of him in the pecking order pre-WWI, and the all round skills of Roy Kilner often got him the nod in the 1920s. Also Frank Woolley, who could bowl left arm spin, was an England regular throughout Dennett’s career.
This team has a powerful top five, two swing bowling all rounders, a great keeper and trio of contrasting specialist bowlers. Between them the available bowlers tick every box save sheer pace. Many an actual England XI would struggle against this side.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Opening batters: Daryl Mitchell of Worcestershire had a fine county record without ever attracting selectorial attention. Chris Dent of Gloucestershire is not yet officially qualified for this team, but if he does not get a call up for England before retiring he will be a challenger to Alan Jones for the left handed opener’s role.
Middle order batters: Edgar Oldroyd of Yorkshire was Perrin’s chief rival for the number three slot – 15,000 FC runs at 36 a piece, and probably as regular number three behind Holmes and Sutcliffe more time spent padded up waiting to bat than anyone else in FC history. Tony Cottey (Glamorgan and Sussex) had an excellent county record and often scored his runs when the team really needed them, and given the struggles of 1990s England middle orders can be considered particularly unlucky to have been overlooked.
All rounders: Two potential imports who England ultimately decided not to pick, Frank Tarrant (born in Australia, played for Middlesex for many years as a left handed batter and left arm slow medium bowler) and Sydney Smith (born in the West Indies, not then playing test cricket, played for Northamptonshire as a middle order batter and left arm spinner), doing the double in his first season for the county and ultimately averaging 31 with the bat and 18 with the ball in FC cricket. Digby Jephson (Surrey) was a very distinctive all rounder, an aggressive middle order batter and a fast underarm bowler, who fell short of international recognition.
Wicket keepers: Wally Luckes (Somerset) and Colin Metson (Glamorgan) are the two most obvious challengers to Hunter.
Fast bowlers: bowlers of genuine pace rarely miss out altogether on selection, though Charles Kortright (Essex) and Billy Bestwick (Derbyshire) both did. William Mycroft (Derbyshire) only just overlapped with the start of test cricket, so I felt I could not include him, while George Freeman’s retirement in 1875 to concentrate on his auctioneering business definitely ruled him out.
A look at the best Australian cricketers of the period 1963-83 and a photo gallery.
I continue my look through Australia’s cricket history with a look at the best men’s cricketers of 1963-83, which brings us into the era covered in this post.
THE XI IN BATTING ORDER
Bill Lawry (left handed opening batter). He averaged 47 with the bat over a long test career, which ended with him being dropped from the team when the Aussie selectors decided they wanted a new captain in Ian Chappell and that they did not think Lawry should play under his successor. This resulted in a first and only test appearance for Ken Eastwood, another dour left hander of similar age to Lawry but possessed of about half his skill.
Bobby Simpson (right handed opening batter, ace slip fielder, occasional leg spinner). He took until his 30th test match to reach three figures at that level. In that first three figure innings he went on to 311, batting until the third morning of a match that Australia only needed to draw to retain the Ashes. Simpson scored nine further test centuries, one of them in the Ashes (a score of 225). He and Lawry also became the first pair of openers to score double centuries in the same test innings, their opening stand against the West Indies being worth 382 on that occasion.
*Ian Chappell (right handed batter, captain, occasional leg spinner). A fine test match number three and a great skipper who took Australia to the top of the cricket world before the rise of Lloyd’s West Indies with their pace battery.
Greg Chappell (right handed batter, ace slip fielder, occasional medium pacer, occasional leg spinner). The best Aussie batter to play his cricket exclusively in this era. Leg spin was his first style of bowling, but he learned to bowl medium pace while playing for Somerset as an overseas player.
Allan Border (left handed batter, occasional left arm orthodox spinner). Although he had another ten years of test cricket ahead of him in 1983 he had done enough by then to warrant his place, and by the time of his retirement he would be remembered as an all time great, the first ever to score 11,000 test runs.
Doug Walters (right handed batter, occasional medium pacer). Averaged in the mid-40s in test cricket, though he never quite cracked batting in England. His career best was 250 against New Zealand, and he also had a match in which he scored 242 and 103. He twice scored 100 runs in a single session of play in test cricket. As a bowler at test level he was mainly used to break awkward partnerships, though he was good enough as a youngster to take a seven-for on FC debut.
+Rod Marsh (wicket keeper, left handed batter). At the time of his retirement he had made more test dismissals than any other wicket keeper and had also scored two test centuries. His departure left a hole in Aussie ranks that took a few years to properly fill, the search for decent test keeper only ending with the emergence of Ian Healy.
Ashley Mallett (off spinner, expert gully fielder, right handed lower order batter). Very valuable in a supporting role when Australia had some serious fast bowling talent in the 1970s.
Dennis Lillee (right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter). 71 test appearances yielded him 355 wickets, including 164 in Ashes matches, breaking a record that Hugh Trumble had held for three-quarters of a century. Lillee’s own tally was beaten in turn by Shane Warne.
Jeff Thomson (right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter). The fastest bowler of the era, and possibly the fastest Australia has yet produced (Shaun Tait and the 2013-14 incarnation of Mitchell Johnson are possible rivals for this one). 200 test wickets in all, in spite of injury problems disrupting his career.
Rodney Hogg (right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter). The 41 wickets he took in his debut series in 1978-9 were at the time an Australian record for an Ashes series. Injuries subsequently spoiled his career.
This side has a powerful top six, most of whom could also contribute something with the ball, a great keeper, a good off spinner and three genuinely fast bowlers.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
The only other opening batter from this period who might have justified breaking the Lawry/ Simpson combo at the top was Keith Stackpole, but although his attacking approach may have made him a better foil to Lawry than Simpson, Simpson had the better record.
In the middle order there were two very near misses, Kim Hughes and Graham Yallop, but good as they were neither could realistically challenge either the Chappells or Border.
The main spin bowling challengers were two leg spinners, Terry Jenner and Kerry “Skull” O’Keeffe, but bearing in mind the spin bowling capacities of my front line batters I wanted on off spinner, and the only close challenger to Mallett on that basis was Bruce Yardley.
The pace bowling department was much more difficult. My decision to go for all out pace, with Hogg accompanying Lillee and Thommo meant that three guys with solid claims all missed out: Graham McKenzie was Australia’s best seamer between the retirement of Alan Davidson and the rise of Dennis Lillee, claiming 246 test scalps. Max Walker, the regular third seamer when Lillee and Thommo shared the new ball was also a candidate. Finally, brought into the picture by the fact that he bowled left arm fast medium which would have added variation and that he would have strengthened the lower order batting there was Gary Gilmour. In the ‘what might have been’ category is Bob Massie, who claimed 16 scalps on test debut, but then had a disastrous tour of the West Indies in which an attempt to generate extra pace led to him permanently losing his ability to swing the ball.
What I consider to be the best partnerships for England for each wicket – not all of them huge, but all of them playing crucial roles in the matches in question, plus a photo gallery.
In this post I look at the best stands for each wicket by English pairs in test cricket – the stands are not necessarily numerically huge, it is what they mean in the context of the match and series in which they happened that sets them apart.
THE PARTNERSHIPS IN WICKET ORDER
1st: 172 by Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe vs Australia at The Oval, 1926. England had not won an Ashes series since the resumption of cricket after WWI, and indeed had won only match in the three series between the old enemies in that period, while Australia had won 12 and drawn two in those three series. The first four matches of the series in 1926 had all been drawn, with the weather intervening frequently, and the powers that be had therefore decreed that this match would be played to a finish. England trailed by 22 runs on first innings and the pitch at the start of their second innings looked a very difficult one. Hobbs and Sutcliffe survived the tough early stages, helped by Aussie skipper Collins trusting the accurate Arthur Richardson over the more expensive but also more dangerous Arthur Mailey. Hobbs reached 100 in front of his home crowd before he was finally dismissed to make it 172-1. Herbert Sutcliffe kept on going, eventually tallying 161, and England reached 436, an advantage of 414. The match, and with it the series, was as good as settled, and a dispirited Australia managed only 125 in the final innings, 49 year old Wilfred Rhodes taking 4-44, while a 21 year old speedster named Larwood claimed three scalps. The final wicket was taken by Leicestershire work horse George Geary. I have rated this stand of 172 ahead of the same pair’s 105 at Melbourne in the fourth innings two and a half years later because although that contributed to a series win down under, even if England had lost that match they would have been 2-1 up with two to play and still favourites for the series, whereas this was a one-shot deal.
2nd: 329* by Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott, Brisbane 2010. It had been 24 years since an England men’s side had won a series down under, and when England trailed by over 200 on first innings in the opening match not many would have bet on this series bucking that trend. Even when skipper Strauss and Cook started the second innings with a stand of 188, England were still behind. By the close of the penultimate day Cook and Trott had put on an unbroken 121, and England had given themselves an opening. When the pair were still in residence by lunch on the final day the match was as good as saved. The partnership was ended when skipper Strauss decided to declare to see if England could claim a few early wickets. In the event the Aussie second innings was a solid effort, highlighted by a rapid 50 from Ponting, which would prove to be his only decent score of the series. England, boosted by their escape in this match won three of the four remaining matches of the series by innings margins.
3rd: 262 by Wally Hammond and Douglas Jardine, Adelaide 1928. England were in a bit of trouble when this pair joined forces in the second innings of this match, although the series was already secure. By the time Jardine was out for 98 England were back in control, and they went on to win the match.
4th: 411 by Peter May and Colin Cowdrey, Edgbaston 1957. England trailed by 288 on first innings and were 113-3 when skipper May was joined by Cowdrey. Sonny Ramadhin with his spinners had been England’s nemesis, and in ten hours this pair not only saved England, they effectively finished Ranadhin as a bowling force – by the time May declared, with himself on 285*, Ramadhin had bowled 98 overs in the innings, still an FC record. West Indies lost seven wickets in their own second innings and ended up grateful to escape with a draw.
5th: 163 by Willie Watson and Trevor Bailey at Lord’s, 1953. England had been set 347 to win, and when wickets started to fall early survival became the order of the day. The pair to arrest a seemingly fatal slide were Watson and Bailey. Watson made 109, Bailey 71 and England saved the match. The series opener at Trent Bridge had been drawn, highlighted by Alec Bedser’s 14 wickets, and the third and fourth matches were also drawn. However at The Oval in the final game England won by eight wickets to claim the Ashes for the first time since Woodfull had wrested the urn back for Australia in 1934.
6th: 119* by Mike Atherton and Jack Russell, Johannesburg 1995. This was the second match of the series, the first having been a very dull draw. SA dominated most of the game and England found themselves with 11 hours to bat and a target of 479. Atherton dug in to lead England’s resistance, but wickets fell regularly at the other end, and when Robin Smith, Atherton’s best partner to that point was fifth out 232 there were over four and a half hours left in the match. At this point Jack Russell, England’s wicket keeper, with 11 catches in the match already, joined Atherton. South Africa did not claim another wicket in the match, Atherton finishing on 185* and Jack Russell 29* (this latter in 274 minutes and 235 balls).
7th: 30 by Gilbert Jessop and George Hirst, The Oval, 1902. This remarkable partnership occupied just eight minutes, but was absolutely pivotal in turning the match – during it Jessop completed his century, an innings that had begun with England 48-5 chasing 263 to win and Hirst established himself. Jessop was out shortly after reaching the landmark, but Hirst, with varying degrees of support from Lockwood, keeper Lilley and Rhodes guided England to a one wicket victory, Hirst 58*.
8th: 13* by Ashley Giles and Matthew Hoggard at Trent Bridge in 2005. The series was tied at 1-1 going into this match, with England having had considerably the better of a draw at Old Trafford in the preceding match. England had scored 477 batting first, Australia 218 in response, and then 387 following on. England needed 129, a target that should have posed few challenges. However, Shane Warne and Brett Lee rattled England, and at 116-7 with genuine tailender Hoggard joining Giles, a bowler who could bat, and Simon Jones injured, things were looking dicey for England. The over that settled it for England was ironically enough bowled by the destroyer Lee – Hoggard somehow wellied a fast full toss through cover for four and took two off the next ball. A few moments later Giles scored the winning run, putting England 2-1 up in the series and meaning that a draw at The Oval would see England regain the Ashes. That draw was duly achieved, with Giles adding to his batting credits by staying with Pietersen for two and a half hours on the final day, putting the target beyond Australia’s reach.
9th: 67 by Ian Botham and Chris Old at Headingley in 1981. England had been made to follow on 227 runs adrift and then slumped to 135-7 in their second innings. Ian Botham, just replaced as skipper by Mike Brearley, was joined by Dilley at that point. The pair added 117 in 80 minutes, but England were still only 25 to the good, and although Chris Old, the new batter, was a decent ball striker on his day few would have expected him to last long against fast bowlers on a dodgy pitch. In the event he helped the ninth wicket to raise 67, and then last man Bob Willis resisted for long enough that Australia needed 130 to win. With Willis, nearly omitted from the England team before the match, bowling for his future Australia succumbed for 111 in the fourth innings, Willis 8-43, to give England victory by 18 runs. England then won the next two matches at Edgbaston and Old Trafford to retain The Ashes.
10th: 76* by Ben Stokes and Jack Leach, Headingley 2019. When Australia could do no better than 179 in the first innings things looked good for England. England themselves then crashed for 67 in response. Australia built a lead of 358. At 286-9, with Leach joining Stokes it looked all over, but Stokes was finding his very best form, and Leach resisted stoutly. As England closed on the target Australia became panicked. Australia sacrificed their last review on an LBW that was never getting overturned – it was obviously pitched outside leg and missing in any case. This proved crucial a few moments later when a much better LBW shout was turned down and Australia were unable to review it. The scores drew level, and then Stokes hit a boundary to complete the Headingley Heist. Leach had scored possibly the most important 1* in cricket history at the other end. There was an earlier rival to this partnership, also involving a left arm spinner batting at no 11, the 15 that Hirst and Rhodes added to give England a one wicket win at The Oval in 1902, but that series was already lost, whereas this one was still live, and indeed it finished level. Also worthy of mention in this context is a third partnership involving a left arm spinner at no11, the Anderson and Panesar act of defiance, holding out for an hour to save the match at Cardiff in 2009.
A look at Australia in the period 1946-62 and some photographs.
Today’s post looks at Australia immediately after WWII (for the significance of 1962 as a dividing year check this post). Please note that in this XI positions 7-10 in the order are flexible – Australia in this era was well equipped with bowlers and keepers who could bat well in the middle and lower order. Australia have not had so many multi-dimensional test players in later eras, and the mighty side of the late 1990s and early 2000s tended to rely on six specialist batters, a keeper and four specialist bowlers.
THE XI IN BATTING ORDER
Arthur Morris (left handed opening batter). Picked by Don Bradman as the left handed opening batter in his all time world XI. His peak series came in England in 1948 when he scored 696 runs at 87.00.
Sidney George Barnes (right handed opener). Like his English near namesake of an earlier era, Sydney Francis Barnes, he often failed to see eye to eye with authority figures, which along with WWII was one reason his appearances at the highest level were limited. In the few appearances he did get to make art the top level he averaged 63 with the bat, with a highest score of 234 at Sydney in 1946.
Don Bradman (right handed batter). Not quite the overwhelming force with the bat that he had been before WWII, but still the best around, albeit he benefitted from a controversial call in the first match of the 1946-7 Ashes when he sent a shoulder high catch to Jack Ikin at second slip, stood his ground and was given not out.
Neil Harvey (left handed batter). The only 1940s test cricketer still alive (95 years old as I write this), he was part of the Invincibles of 1948, on which tour he scored his maiden test century. He scored over 6,000 test and averaged 48 in his career.
Norman O’Neill (right handed batter, occasional leg spinner). His debut was in the Brisbane 1958 snoozefest. In the final innings of that match, immediately after Trevor Bailey had snailed his way to 68 in 458 minutes (428 balls faced, of which 388 were dots) he scored 71* in less than two and a half hours to see Australia to victory. He would average 46 overall in test cricket, and he retained his commitment to playing his shots throughout his career.
Keith Miller (right handed batter, right arm fast bowler, occasional right arm off spinner). A superlative all round cricketer and possibly the best captain Australia never had (Rod Marsh and Shane Warne of later eras are also in the mix for this one).
Ray Lindwall (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). One of the greatest of all fast bowlers, and in an example of how cricket transcends national boundaries he modelled his run up and action on Harold Larwood, Australia’s nemesis in the 1932-3 Ashes.
Alan Davidson (left arm fast bowler, left handed batter, occasional left arm spinner). His greatest match performance came in the first ever tied test match at Brisbane in 1960: 5-135, 44, 6-87, 80, becoming the first male test cricketer to score 100 runs and take 10 wickets in the same match. 186 wickets at 20.53 places him among the greatest ever masters of his type of bowling, and he was also a superb fielder, referred to as ‘the claw’ for his habit of grabbing unlikely catches.
*Richie Benaud (leg spinner, right handed batter, captain). In the first phase of one of the most outstanding careers connected with cricket he was the first player to achieve the test career of 2,000 runs and 200 wickets, and the time of his retirement he was Australia’s leading wicket taker at that level with 248 scalps. He was also a superb skipper, hence why I gave him that job, rather than Bradman who had it for the interwar team. He went on once his playing days were done to establish himself as ‘the Bradman of TV Commentators’ (yes, that far ahead of the rest IMO).
+Don Tallon (wicket keeper, right handed batter). Named by Bradman as keeper in his all time world XI. A combination of selectorial politicking which denied him a place on the 1938 tour of England and WWII meant that he was past his very best by the time he got the opportunity at test level, but his only rival as a keeper in that era was Godfrey Evans of England.
Bill Johnston (left arm fast medium bowler, left arm orthodox spinner, left handed tail end batter). Australia’s leading wicket taker in three series immediately postwar, when he was very effective at sweeping up after Lindwall and Miller had made early inroads. He was injured on the 1953 tour of England, but with the connivance of some his team mates (who when they realized the possibility was there got themselves out to preserve his average) he became only the second person to average over 100 with the bat for a full season in England (102.00, with 16 of his 17 innings being not outs), after Don Bradman’s 115.66 in 1938.
This XI is awesomely strong in batting, with a powerful top five, one of the all time great all rounders at six, and a collection of players in slots 7-10 who while batting was the second string to their bows were all capable of match winning knocks on their day. The bowling has two great right arm fast bowlers, one of the greatest of all left arm fast bowlers, a left armer who could bowl seam or spin according to team necessity, a great leg spinner, and Miller could turn his hand to off spin if needed. This side ticks every box and would take a lot of beating, especially with Benaud captaining them.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Colin McDonald was a gritty right handed opener in the 1950s, and Bobby Simpson made his debut near the end of the era in question. Most of the bowlers who bowled Australia to a 4-0 series win in 1958-9 had dodgy actions, being either throwers, draggers or both of the foregoing, ruling them out of serious consideration. Ernie Toshack did a useful job as a fill-in bowler while Lindwall and Miller were resting in the immediate postwar era. Australia had three other fine keepers besides Tallon in this era: Gil Langley, Len Maddocks and Wally Grout. Ken ‘Slasher’ Mackay, a left handed blocker and workaday medium pacer had a respectable test record but was hardly a challenger to any of those I included. Ron Archer might have become a great fast bowling all rounder, but he suffered a career ending injury in Pakistan in 1956-7 at a very young age.
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