Tag: All time XIs

All Time XIs: ODI From Before the ODI Era

The Men’s ODI World Cup is now underway (I did not get to catch any of the opener between England and New Zealand yesterday – between 9:30AM when I set out on an extended walk to the bus stop to get the bus to Fakenham before work and 8:25PM when I got home from an evening talk at The Globe Hotel in central King’s Lynn I was at home for less than 20 minutes, in between the two events, though the evidence is pretty conclusive that England either batted badly, bowled badly, or weren’t good enough in either department), with The Netherlands giving a decent account of themselves against Pakistan today. I am marking the start of the tournament with an ODI XI made up exclusively of players who played before ODIs were a thing (I have slightly cheated with one player, who made a duck in his only ODI appearance).

A FURTHER OUTLINE OF THE BRIEF

ODIs are different from T20Is and other very short form games. While the emphasis is still on fast scoring it is also necessary to be able score genuinely big runs to do well in ODIs, whereas a collection of lightning fast 20s, 30s and 40s will do very nicely in T20. Thus, at least at the top of the order one cannot simply select super fast scorers with no regard for the size of their scores.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Bert Sutcliffe (New Zealand, left handed opening batter). The possessor of the two highest FC innings ever played in New Zealand (385 and 355), and noted for the speed of his scoring – that 385 came in a total of 500 all out, and the opponents, Canterbury, managed only 382 off the bat in their two innings combined. One account I have read of that innings said that he “dominated the Canterbury bowlers and dominated his partners”.
  2. Victor Trumper (Australia, right handed opening batter). At Old Trafford in 1902, knowing that Bill Lockwood would be dangerous once the pitch and the run up area had dried sufficiently for him to be risked, Trumper scored a hundred before lunch on the opening day, by which time Australia were 173-1. Lockwood was indeed difficult after lunch, and even with Joe Darling smashing a rapid half century by way of a counter Australia only managed 299. They won the match by three runs, after England had reached 92-3 in pursuit of 124 in the final innings and then collapsed, and with that victory secured retention of The Ashes.
  3. Charles Macartney (Australia, right handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner). Against Nottinghamshire in 1921 he scored 345 in less than four hours at the crease, still the highest score by a member of an Australian touring party in England. Five years later at Headingley, after Warren Bardsley fell to the first ball of the match, he emulated Trumper’s 1902 feat of having a century on the board by lunch on the first day of a test match. His bowling feats included a ten-wicket match haul in a test match.
  4. Graeme Pollock (South Africa, left handed batter). One of the greatest batters ever to play the game, and known for seriously rapid scoring.
  5. Garry Sobers (Nottinghamshire, West Indies, left handed batter, left arm bowler of every type known to cricket). The most complete player ever to player to play the game.
  6. +Les Ames (Kent, England, right handed batter, wicket keeper). Over 1,100 FC dismissals, including an all time record 418 stumpings, and over 100 FC hundreds, 75 of which were scored while in possession of the gauntlets (at the start of his career he had to wait for John Hubble to retire before getting the keeping gig, and lumbago in the later stages of his career meant that he had to yield the gloves to a young Godfrey Evans. He twice won the Lawrence trophy for the fastest FC century and once when Kent were set 219 to win in 90 minutes Frank Woolley was asked if they could do it and replied “yes, if Les fires”. Les did fire on that occasion, and with Woolley himself also contributing handsomely Kent achieved their outlandish chase.
  7. *Gilbert Jessop (Gloucestershire, England, right handed batter, right arm fast bowler, captain). The holder of the record for the fastest test century ever scored for England, a record he has held since 1902 (it has been challenged a couple of times recently, but stands for the moment). In FC cricket he scored the second and third fastest hundreds ever made against serious bowling (i.e not bowlers who were giving runs away in an effort to induce a declaration), in 40 and 42 minutes respectively. The latter became the fastest ever FC 150 (63 minutes) as well, and ended in a score of 191 in 90 minutes. He was also a useful fast bowler, habitually taking the new ball for his county, and a gun fielder.
  8. Alan Davidson (Australia, left arm fast bowler, occasional left arm orthodox spin bowler, left handed batter). 186 test wickets at 20.53, a test match HS of 80 (in test cricket’s first ever tie – his four contributions being 5-135, 44, 6-87, 80). He was also a brilliant fielder, nicknamed ‘the claw’ on account of his ability to hold barely believable catches.
  9. Billy Bates (Yorkshire, England, off spinner, right handed batter). A superb all rounder, the first ever to score a 50 and take a 10 wicket haul in the same test match. He was also extremely economical as a bowler, on one occasion bowling a spell of 17 (four ball) overs from which just eight runs accrued.
  10. Alfred Shaw (Nottinghamshire, Sussex, England, right arm medium, right arm slow bowler, right handed batter). Possibly the most economical bowler ever to play the game – he bowled more FC overs than he conceded runs. He took just over 2,000 FC wickets at 12 a piece, including 186 at 8.54 in his best season.
  11. Sydney Barnes (Warwickshire, Lancashire, England, right arm fast medoiujm bowler, right handed batter). 189 wickets in just 27 test matches at 16.43. Although he fared a lot better against South Africa, who were often fairly hapless with the bat than he did against Australia, his record against the latter was still mighty fine – 106 wickets in 20 appearances, 77 of those wickets in 13 matches down under. Although his position at number 11 is justified he did once produce a crucial 38* in a test match, helping the last wickets to score the 73 needed for England to win.

This side has massive batting depth – even Barnes at number 11 was far from being a bunny, while there are seven top line batters, and two bowling all rounders at eight and nine. The bowling, with Barnes, Davidson, Shaw, Bates, Jessop, Macartney and Sobers is similarly replete with both depth and variety.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

There are far too many of these for a full listing, and many would fully justify places in this XI. I particularly regretted not being able to accommodate leg spinning all rounder Percy Fender. I look forward to seeing reader suggestions.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

The next few pictures were taken inside The Globe Hotel.

All Time XIs – England Not The Best In Their Own Family

In this post I select an all time England XI who were not the best players in their own families. Some of my choices are undoubtedly controversial but I believe I can defend them all.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. EM Grace (Gloucestershire, England, right handed opening batter, lob bowler). In the early 1860s, before WG, seven years his junior, overtook him he was the acknowledged cricketing marvel of the age. His sole England appearance came in the first test on English soil in 1880, and even then, at the age of 39 and long past his best he was able to contribute to an opening stand of 91 with WG in the first innings. The test that led to the creation of The Ashes may well have gone the other way had he been in the team instead of AN ‘Monkey’ Hornby – WG would have undoubtedly captained the side better than did Hornby, whose tinkering with the batting order in the final innings contributed to England’s defeat, and EM, even at 41, would probably have been better value with the bat than Hornby, who was never comfortable against Spofforth. I have explained in previous posts how under arm could be relegalized without danger of a repeat of the Trevor Chappell incident – simply rule that a ball that rolls (or is rolled) along the deck has bounced an infinite number of times and call it ‘no ball’.
  2. Chris Broad (Gloucestershire, Nottinghamshire, England). His England career ended when he decamped on the last ever rebel tour of apartheid South Africa in 1989, but while nowhere near on a par with son Stuart he had a very respectable England career, including an away Ashes series in which he scored 487 runs at 69 including three successive centuries.
  3. Michael Vaughan (Yorkshire, England, right handed batter). Although at a casual glimpse his test record reads the best of the three members of his family to have played at that level (he is related to Johnny and Ernest Tyldesley of Lancashire and England many years ago), I have noted that Johnny Tyldesley’s record was better than it looked due to him playing the vast majority of his cricket before WWI, generally on wickets that favoured bowlers, while Ernest got surprisingly few England caps for so prolific a county scorer, so I have (with Neville Cardus doubtless backing me from beyond the grave) opted to rate Johnny the best of the three and therefore select Michael Vaughan and Ernest Tyldesley in this XI.
  4. Ernest Tyldesley (Lancashire, England, right handed batter). The only Lancastrian ever to score 100 FC hundreds. See my comments re Vaughan for the justification of his inclusion.
  5. KS Ranjitsinhji (Sussex, England, right handed batter). One of two members of the ruling family of Nawanagar to play for Sussex and England, and I have decided that the other, his nephew KS Duleepsinhji, outranks him and so included him in this XI.
  6. Richard Hutton (Yorkshire, England, right handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler). Good enough to be selected for England as an all rounder, but unquestionably outranked by his father Leonard.
  7. *David Bairstow (Yorkshire, England, wicket keeper, right handed batter). The best wicket keeper in the Bairstow family, but outranked overall by his son due to the latter’s batting.
  8. Maurice Tremlett (Somerset, England, right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). The most talented of his family, but was sadly messed up by well meaning coaches, meaning that he was outachieved by his grandson Chris.
  9. Tim Tremlett (Hampshire, right arm medium pace bowler, right handed batter). Never selected for England, but 450 FC wickets at 23.99 each shows that he was a good county bowler, and he also managed a first class hundred.
  10. *James Lillywhite junior (Sussex, England, left arm orthodox spinner, left handed lower order batter, captain). The fact that his uncle William Lillywhite, “The Nonpareil” was regarded as the greatest bowler of his era, a distinction never conferred on the nephew, enables to me to include England’s first ever captain in this XI. His two tests, the first two such games ever played, yielded him 8 wickets at 15.75. In first class cricket, where the sample size is much larger, he took 1,210 wickets at 15.23, including 96 five wicket innings hauls and 22 ten wicket match hauls. His best innings figures were 10-129. He also scored 5,530 runs at 14.30 with a best of 126*.
  11. Dean Headley (Kent, Middlesex, England, right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). His grandfather George was one the game’s all time greats, which enables me to select him in this team (his father Ron also played test cricket). In 15 test matches he managed a very respectable 60 wickets at 27.85, while in all first class cricket he took 466 wickets at 28.52.

This team has a powerful top five, a genuine all rounder at six, a keeper who can bat, and four high quality front line bowlers. The spin bowling is a bit light, with only Lillywhite a front liner in that department. For all that none of these players were on my reckoning the best in their own families I would expect this combination to give a good account of itself.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

GF Grace might have had to slot I gave to Richard Hutton, but I preferred to accommodate an extra family. The Cowdrey and D’Oliveira families missed out because in each case the principal cricketer in that family was the only one worthy of inclusion (picking Brett D’Oliveira as an opening batter would also have given me a leg spin option, but in truth he is not good enough in either department). John Langridge was a contender for the right handed openers slot I gave to Chris Broad, being definitely outranked as a player by James Langridge, but still very fine. While there is reasonable evidence to support the view that Gubby Allen was actually the son of Plum Warner and not of Walter Allen I could not accommodate Plum in this XI, and while Gubby Allen’s extra pace would have been welcome he has to outrank his alleged father as a cricketer and was thus ineligible. A possible leg spin option was Archie Lenham of Sussex, currently definitely outranked by father Neil and possibly by grandfather Les, but more than likely to eclipse both before he is done. Claude Woolley (Northamptonshire) was undoubtedly outranked by brother Frank, but was IMO not good enough to warrant selection in this XI. Second choice keeper for this XI would be Leslie Compton (Middlesex), outranked in cricketing terms by brother Denis, and possibly by two of Denis’ grandsons, Nick and Ben. In football, Denis and Leslie both played for Arsenal, and it would be Denis in that sport who would rate as not the best in his own family.

PHOTOGRAPHS

I have a huge photo gallery to share with you…

A green bug on a green leaf.

All Time XIs – All Rounders v Specialists

An ‘All Time XIs’ clash between a side of multi-skilled players and a side of specialists, plus two large photo galleries.

Today I set up a contest between an XI of great players known for being multi-talented and an XI of guys who would only ever have been picked for one particular skill. The latter side has the six batters, one keeper, four bowlers balance used by the West Indies under Clive Lloyd and Australia under the captaincies of Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh, each of which sides were the best test sides of their respective eras.

ALL BASES COVERED XI

  1. WG Grace (right handed opening batter, right arm bowler of various types through his career, excellent close catcher, vice-captain). In his best decade, the 1870s, he averaged 49 with the bat, while the next best were around the 25 mark. He was also a top of the range bowler.
  2. Frank Woolley (left handed batter, left arm orthodox spin bowler, ace close fielder). The only cricketer ever to achieve the career treble of 10,000 FC runs, 1,000 FC wickets and 1,000 FC catches, and the only non-wicket keeper to achieve the latter milestone.
  3. Wally Hammond (right handed batter, right arm medium-fast bowler, excellent fielder). One of the greatest batters ever to play the game, a regular new ball bowler for his county and a useful fill-in seamer at test level, and a superb catcher.
  4. Denis Compton (right handed batter, left arm wrist spinner). An all-rounder in more than just a cricketing sense – he and brother Leslie were important members of the Arsenal FC sides of their day, with Leslie a full international at that sport and Denis winning wartime international caps. Only one batter reached 100 FC hundreds in fewer than the 552 innings it took him – Don Bradman. He developed his bowling after being impressed by ‘Chuck’ Fleetwood-Smith.
  5. Garry Sobers (left handed batter, left arm bowler of every type known to cricket, gun fielder). Cricketers don’t come more multi-skilled than this man was.
  6. Aubrey Faulkner (right handed batter, leg spinner). Arguably the most genuine all rounder in test history – he alone among takers of at least 50 test wickets finished his career with a batting average above 40 and a bowling average below 30.
  7. *Imran Khan (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter, captain). He had a spell when he played purely as a batter, but his overall career record is slightly tilted in favour of bowling – a batting average of 37.69 is very respectable but not outstanding, whereas a bowling average of 22.69 per wicket bears comparison with any of the specialist bowlers to play for Pakistan in his career and is ahead of most of them.
  8. Wasim Akram (left arm fast bowler, left handed batter). This slot was a toss up between him and Alan Davidson, a similar type of player though not quite as fast a bowler.
  9. Billy Bates (off spinner, right handed batter). A fine all rounder in his day, and the first England bowler to take a test match hat trick (part of a match performance in which he scored 55 and took 14 Australian wickets).
  10. Ray Lindwall (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). A great fast bowler, and a handy lower order batter, scorer of two test tons in that capacity.
  11. +Alan Smith (wicket keeper, right handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler). I have selected him for this role in this side because while many regular keepers have turned an arm over on occasion this man actually took 131 first class wickets at 23.46 a piece with a best of 5-32. On one occasion, in a game in which he was playing as keeper and captain and injury crisis led to him taking the new ball, and at one point in the innings in question his figures were 6-6-0-4 including a hat trick! 428 first class matches yielded him 715 catches and 61 stumpings, and also 11,027 runs at 20.92, including three first class tons. Who would stand in with the gloves if he were to have a bowl? Well, WG did the job twice in test matches, and Hammond and Sobers would both likely be capable of doing so as well.

This side has a deep batting line up and a dazzling array of bowling options at its disposal, with a fine keeper.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

I mentioned Alan Davidson in connection with Wasim Akram’s place in the line up. Keith Miller was a rival for Imran Khan’s slot, with Mike Procter also deserving a mention. The ‘Kirkheaton twins’, Wilfred Rhodes and George Hirst also have to be mentioned. Gilbert Jessop as an ‘X-factor player’ would have appealed to some. Three subcontinental all rounders whose bowling speciality was left arm spin must also be acknowledged: Mulvantrai ‘Vinoo’ Mankad, Ravindra Jadeja and Shakib Al Hasan. Sri Lankan leg spinning all rounder Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva has had most of his best moments in limited overs cricket. This is by no means an exhaustive list.

PHOTO GALLERY ONE

I have lots of photos to share, hence two galleries in this post…

THE SPECIALISTS XI

  1. Jack Hobbs (right handed opening batter). The Master, one half of test cricket’s greatest ever opening pair along with…
  2. Herbert Sutcliffe (right handed opening batter). The ultimate ‘big match’ player, as shown by the progression of his averages – 52.02 in FC cricket, 60.73 in test cricket, 66.85 in The Ashes.
  3. *Don Bradman (right handed batter, captain). In test cricket only a handful of the best of the rest to have played 20 or more matches are even within 40 runs an innings of his 99.94. He was also an excellent skipper.
  4. Brian Lara (left handed batter). The only player to have twice set the world test record score, and one of only two to simultaneously hold the individual scoring record in test and FC cricket (Bradman between 1930 and 1933 with 452* and 334 being the other). Left handers are supposed to be vulnerable to off spin, but he once scored 688 in a three match series in Sri Lanka with the latter’s bowling spearheaded by Muthiah Muralidaran.
  5. Sachin Tendulkar (right handed batter). Only one player has scored 100 international centuries, and only one player has scored as many as 50 test centuries – Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
  6. Allan Border (left handed batter, vice captain). For much of his career he was carrying a very moderate batting line up, but a few years at the end he got to experience being part of a winning combination.
  7. +Adam Gilchrist (left handed batter, wicket keeper). A fine keeper, and one who altered expectations of what keepers could be expected to do with the bat (a questionable legacy given e.g. the shameful treatment of Ben Foakes by the England selectors).
  8. Malcolm Marshall (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). An all time great fast bowler.
  9. Shane Warne (leg spinner, right handed batter). The reviver of an almost forgotten art (save for Abdul Qadir the 1980s did not see a leg spinner of true test class).
  10. Bill Johnston (left arm fast medium bowler, left arm orthodox spin bowler, left handed tail end batter). Australia’s leading wicket taker in several series in the immediate post WWII era, it was not unknown for him to go straight from spinning the old ball to swinging the new one.
  11. Glenn McGrath (right arm fast medium bowler, right handed tail end batter). The fast bowling spearhead of Australia’s dominant test side of the 1990s and early 2000s.

This side has a powerful top seven batters, five front line bowling options, courtesy of big Bill Johnston being two types of bowler and a quality keeper.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS AND LIKELY OUTCOME

Steve Smith of Australia is probably the biggest batting miss, while Curtly Ambrose is probably the biggest bowling miss, although there were many candidates in both categories. My own feeling is that the multi-skilled XI would be favourites – although it is a daunting task to get through it there is a visible end to the specialists batting resources, whereas the multi-skilled team really does bat all the way down. Similarly, the specialists don’t have a vast number of bowling options, whereas the multi-skilled team will always have someone to turn to in any given situation.

PHOTO GALLERY TWO

We end with a second photo gallery…

All Time XIs – Duplicated Initials

An all time XI of players whose first two initials are identical and a large photo gallery.

In this post I create an XI of players who each have two forenames that begin with the same letter of the alphabet. While CCC ‘Box’ Case (Somerset) did not do enough to qualify there is one completely alliterative player in the team. I have shown due regard for team balance, and as you will see a few serious players missed out.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Tamsin Tilley Beaumont (England Women, right handed opening batter). Tammy Beaumont as she is better known is an outstanding opening batter. Her double century in this year’s Women’s Ashes saw her join the club of players to have scored centuries in all three international formats. Also as a result of that innings she has 40+ averages in both Tests and ODIs.
  2. Conrad Cleophas Hunte (West Indies, right handed opening batter). His impressive test record looks better still when considered in light of the fact that he was never part of a settled opening pair.
  3. Ramnaresh Ronnie Sarwan (West Indies, right handed batter). Averaged 40 in test cricket at a time when WI as a whole were struggling.
  4. Walter William Read (England, right handed batter). An aggressive stroke maker, and good enough to be only the second English batter after WG Grace to score a first class triple century. He also had a test century, a remarkable 117, scored from number 10 in the order, with William Scotton stonewalling at the other end.
  5. *Warwick Windridge Armstrong (Australia, right handed batter, leg spinner, captain). In test cricket he scored 2,863 runs at 38.68 and took 87 wickets at 33.59, while at first class level his figures were 16,158 runs at 46.83 and 832 wickets at 19.71. He also averaged a catch a match in the field in spite of his considerable bulk. Added to this he was a shrewd and ruthless skipper, the first ever to lead a side to victory in every match of a five match series (the 1920-1 Ashes).
  6. Robert Richard Relf (Sussex, right handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler). He was originally picked for his bowling, but an innings of 210* (he would add two further FC double centuries to that before the end of his career) as nightwatch earned him a permanent move up the order and his bowling took second place thereafter. His best innings bowling was 8-79. He never earned an England call up, but he did once score 73 for the Players against the Gentlemen.
  7. +Cyril Clairmonte Depeiaza (wicket keeper, right handed batter). He preferred his middle name Clairmonte to his first name Cyril. He had one of cricket’s more interesting nicknames, based on that surname “Leaning Tower”. His career was very brief, but his only FC century came in a test match (as part of a seventh wicket stand of 347 with Denis Atkinson, who made 219), and he averaged over two dismissal per game at that level (7 catches and four stumpings in five appearances), while he made 40 dismissals in his total FC career of 16 matches.
  8. George Gibson Macaulay (England, off spinner, right handed batter). Only eight test appearances, which yielded him 24 wickets at 27.58, and 112 runs at 18.66 with an HS of 76. In FC cricket he took 1,837 wickets at 17.65 with a best of 8-21 and scored 6,055 runs at 18.07 with an HS of 125* (one of three FC centuries). When he first came to the Yorkshire nets he bowled fast but he acted on advice from George Hirst to slow his pace and develop spin instead.
  9. Wesley Winfield Hall (West Indies, right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter). A great and lion hearted fast bowler.
  10. John James Ferris (Australia, England, left arm swing bowler, left handed lower order batter). Nine tests, one of them a game on a privately organized tour of South Africa elevated to test status in retrospect (his “England” appearance) yielded him 61 wickets at 12.70 each, while his 198 FC matches, including a spell at Gloucestershire, yielded 812 wickets at 17.54.
  11. Jasprit Jasbirsingh Bumrah (right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter. One of the best contemporary pacers in the game, currently coming back from an injury layoff. He has already done enough to secure his place, including claiming membership in the select club of visiting pacers to have terrorized the Aussies on their own pitches (his test best came there, 6-27 at the MCG in 2018).

This side has a well equipped though not sensational batting line up, and a wonderful bowling attack. Bumrah, Hall and Ferris to bowl pace, swing and seam, with Relf as fourth seamer if needed, and a spin pairing of Macaulay and Armstrong, with the latter to captain them amounts to serious riches in that department. In other words this side is a bit like 1930s Yorkshire or 1950s Surrey – the batters will more than likely score enough for the bowling unit to capture 20 wickets.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

I have already mentioned the overall grand champion of alliterative initials, CCC ‘Box’ Case, and the fact that his record falls just short. Two early Aussie openers, HH Massie and JJ Lyons might have had Beaumont’s slot, though in each case the sample size is small. Both had one things going for them – they were very attacking in approach, which would make them a good contrast to Hunte. A side picked for limited overs would feature Moeen Munir Ali (England), attacking batter and useful off spinner, but his long form record does not justify selecting him, especially with Macaulay, a far superior off spinner, inked in for a slot. At least three classy pace options had to be overlooked – WW Davis and WW Daniel (both WI) and JJ Bridges (Somerset, 685 wickets at 25.71 in FC cricket). Readers may well have their own suggestions.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off – it has been unpleasant for much of today, but I got out early enough that I caught only the warning signs of unpleasantness to come, in the form of an ominously stiffening wind…

I am reasonably confident that this (two pics – next one a little closer up) is a Ruddy Darter.

All Time XIs – The Game’s Old Testament

An XI picked from cricket’s early history and a huge photo gallery.

This exercise looks as the title suggests at cricket’s early history. I have allowed myself one cricketer who played test cricket but otherwise these players are all of pre-test vintage.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. *WG Grace (right handed batter, right arm bowler of various types, excellent close catcher, captain). The sole test cricketer in the XI, but although he played test cricket over a period spanning almost 19 years he was past his absolute prime by the time he debuted in that format in the first test on English soil in 1880.
  2. John Small (right handed batter). John Nyren in his book about Hambledon (his father Richard was closely involved with the club) waxes lyrical about Small. Small’s most remarkable effort was a 138* that was spread over three days play.
  3. James Aylward (left handed batter). Only eight years after John Minshull scored the first recorded century in any cricket match this man set the Hambledon all time record with an innings of 167.
  4. Nicholas Wanostrocht aka Felix (right handed batter). He played his cricket (for Kent among others) under the assumed name ‘Felix’ because he worked as a schoolmaster and felt it would damage his professional reputation to play under his own name. He was also author of ‘Felix on the Bat’.
  5. Fuller Pilch (right handed batter). Recognized as the best batter of the 1830s and 1840s. He used a bat with a long blade and a comparatively short handle.
  6. Vyell Walker (right handed batter, slow bowler). One of seven brothers from Southgate – the cricket ground there is still known as Walker’s Ground. A Middlesex regular, and along with Grace one of only two players to have scored a century and taken all ten wickets in an innings in the same first class match.
  7. +Tom Box (wicket keeper, right handed batter). He played every Sussex game from 1832 to 1856 inclusive, a remarkable achievement. He often batted in the top half of the order for them, and was clearly an excellent keeper.
  8. William Clarke (right arm leg spin bowler, right handed batter). An extraordinary wicket taker, and not the worst batter. He also created the All England XI, a professional touring XI who played all round the country. Over the next 30 years a number of other such teams were created, but in the end a potential schism was averted when WG Grace threw his lot in with the MCC. ‘Old Clarke’ has left the modern game one great legacy – it was he who bought the Trent Bridge Inn, enclosed some adjoining fields and turned them into a cricket ground.
  9. James Broadbridge (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). One half of cricket’s first acknowledged great bowling partnership, along with…
  10. William Lillywhite (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). ‘The Nonpareil’, regular bowling partner of Broadbridge.
  11. David Harris (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). The first authentically great bowler, his method is splendidly described by Nyren in his book.

This XI has a good batting line up and a strong, varied bowling attack – three great pacers, two great and contrasting spinners and Grace as sixth bowling option. It also has an excellent captain and a great keeper.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

The nearest overseas player to making the cut was Gideon Elliott, the Victoria fast bowler whose handful of first class matches yielded 48 wickets at less than five a piece. I picked Walker for the all rounders slot over Alfred Mynn, ‘the Lion of Kent’ for reasons of balance, which also ruled out either Osbaldeston or Lambert. I regretted not being able to find a place for John Wisden, the diminutive fast bowler who created Wisden’s Almanac. Julius Caesar, the remarkably named Surrey batter who toured Australia in 1863-4 deserves a mention, and also Heathfield Harman Stephenson, performer of the original hat trick, in a match at Hyde Park, Sheffield – the name coming about because someone in the crowd passed their hat around to collect money which was presented to Stephenson in honour of his feat. Two early Yorkshire greats, Ephraim Lockwood and Louis Hall might have their advocates. Three fast bowlers who I have not yet mentioned who had fine achievements to their credit were Sam Redgate, John Jackson and George Tarrant. George Freeman of Yorkshire was also close to selection.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

The sun was exactly in the wrong position for this shot, and it took a lot of editing to render it usable.
A closer up edit of the dragon fly shot.

All Time XIs – Colours

An all time XI, an auction announcement and a large photo gallery.

I cannot claim that the XI that forms the body of this post is an absolutely stellar one, but I have a specific reason for this piece of whimsy which I will explain later in the post.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Jack Brown (Yorkshire, England, right handed opening batter). A very successful opening batter for his county, and played two legendary innings in games of higher standard than county – a match and series winning 140 in the last match of the 1894-5 Ashes series and a spectacular 163 which helped the Players to chase down 501 against the Gentlemen at Lord’s in 1900.
  2. Bill Brown (Australia, right handed opening batter). A successful opening batter after the retirements of two other Bills, Ponsford and Woodfull and before the rise of Barnes and Morris pushed him out of the side.
  3. George Brown (Hampshire, England, right handed batter, ). A tough competitor, especially noted for his play against fast bowling.
  4. +Ben Brown (Sussex, Hampshire, right handed batter, wicket keeper). A little high in the order, but a very fine batter and keeper at county level.
  5. Cameron Green (Australia, right handed batter, right arm fast bowler). A splendid all rounder.
  6. *Freddie Brown (Surrey, Northamptonshire, England, right handed batter, leg spinner, right arm medium pacer, captain). He was the youngest member of the 1932-3 Ashes tour party, and didn’t play much on that trip. His next visit to Australia came 18 years later as captain (Norman Yardley and George Mann were both unavailable for business reasons, and England weren’t quite ready for a professional captain, so Brown who had done well as skipper of Northamptonshire ended with the job, and had a respectable series as player and even in a well beaten side was acknowledged to have done a good job as captain. In first class cricket he scored over 13,000 runs and took over 1,200 wickets.
  7. Gordon White (South Africa, right handed batter, leg spinner). His test stats look fairly ordinary, but he was an important part of the SA teams of his day, and his FC averages were the right way around – 27.70 with bat, 20.05 with ball.
  8. Dougie Brown (Warwickshire, Scotland, right handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler). A good county all rounder, his presence at number eight gives the batting depth. His FC averages, like those of Gordon White are the right way round – 30 with the bat and 28 with the ball in his case. I have placed him below the South African because batting was easier in the 1990s than it had been nine decades earlier, which more than makes up for him having a higher batting average.
  9. Jack ‘Farmer’ White (left arm orthodox spin bowler, right handed batter). One of Somerset’s finest cricketers, and his accuracy and stamina were crucial to England’s comprehensive triumph in the 1928-9 Ashes. At Adelaide in that series he toiled through 124 overs across the two Aussie innings and emerged with 13-256 in the match.
  10. David ‘Butch’ White (Hampshire, England, right arm fast bowler, left handed tail end bat). The reason for this XI making its appearance. Part of a new ball pairing with Derek Shackleton which was instrumental in the winning of Hampshire’s first ever County Championship. Unplayable on his day, he took over 1,100 FC wickets at 23 a piece, though he gained only two England caps.
  11. George Brown (Sussex, Hampshire, fast bowler, right handed tail end batter). He played in the 1820s, and his speed was the stuff of legends – one story which clearly grew in the telling was of a dog walker walking close to the boundary behind the stumps when one of Brown’s rockets beat everyone including the keeper and was racing directly towards the dog, the dog walker attempted to stop the ball with their coat and the ball burst straight through the coat and killed the dog.

This XI is undoubtedly a little light on batting, though the number of all rounders there, highlighted by Dougie Brown being at number eight, is somewhat of a mitigating factor, and the bowling attack is superb. Butch White and George Brown the bowler opening, with Dougie Brown third seamer, Cameron Green fourth seamer, and Farmer White, Gordon White and Freddie Brown spin options (I can’t think of situation in which Freddie’s seam or George Brown the batter’s occasional quick stuff could be required by this team) make this team a serious bowling force.

A SPORTING MEMORABILIA AUCTION COMING UP

On September the 26th James and Sons will be having an auction of various items of sporting memorabilia, including some very old football programmes and a range of items of cricketana. The latter includes three balls with which Butch White performed great bowling feats and which have silver plaques affixed to them detailing the feats in question. Catalogues can be viewed here or here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Now for my usual sign off…

All Time XIs – Barbados Born

An all time XI of Barbados born players, highlighting the immense talent produced by that tiny coral island down the years. Also a photo gallery.

I have mentioned in some of my previous all time XIs posts the remarkable number of amazing cricketers produced by the tiny coral island of Barbados. Now I select an XI specifically to showcase the extent of the talent produced by this island with a population of under 300,000.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Gordon Greenidge (right handed opening batter). One half of the greatest opening pair the West Indies have ever had, and both hail from this island.
  2. Desmond Haynes (right handed opening batter). The other half of that legendary opening pair.
  3. *Frank Worrell (right handed batter, left arm medium fast bowler, captain). The total number of West Indies captains to truly overcome inter island rivalries totals two – this man and Clive Lloyd of Guyana. Worrell was a classy batter who scored his test runs at an average of 49, and his appointment as skipper ended one of cricket’s nastier shibboleths – the view that a mainly black team needed a white man to lead them.
  4. Everton Weekes (right handed batter). One of the most powerful stroke makers ever seen, but a firm believer in keeping the ball on the ground – he rarely hit sixes. He averaged 58.61 in test cricket, including a sequence at that level of five centuries in successive innings.
  5. Clyde Walcott (right handed batter, occasional wicket keeper, occasional medium pacer). Like Weekes a ferocious hitter of a cricket ball, and a colossal scorer even at test level (average 56). Additionally he once shared fourth wicket stand of 574 for Barbados with Frank Worrell, at the time an FC record for any wicket, though it was beaten only a few years later when Gul Mahomed and Vijay Hazare got to work for Baroda against Holkar, also for the fourth wicket, and that in turn was beaten by Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara for Sri Lanka against South Africa, when they put on 624 for the third wicket.
  6. Garry Sobers (left handed batter, left arm bowler of every type known to cricket). The most multi-skilled player ever to play the game.
  7. +David Murray (wicket keeper, right handed batter). Barbados’s finest ever keeper, and good enough to play for the West Indies.
  8. Malcolm Marshall (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). One of the greatest fast bowlers ever to play the game and a more than useful lower order batter.
  9. Wes Hall (right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter). A legendary fast bowler of the late 1950s and early 1960s and a good enough lower order batter to score a first class century.
  10. Joel Garner (right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter). An awkward proposition because of the immense height from which he released the ball (above the height of many sightscreens), and capable of useful runs at need.
  11. Manny Martindale (right arm fast bowler, right handed tail end batter). Not many test appearances, as he belonged to the early days of West Indies test history, but he took his wickets at that level at 21 each, and over a larger sample size at FC level paid 25 each for his wickets.

This side has a stellar top six, a keeper who could bat and four great fast bowlers, most of whom had at least some capability with the bat as well. The spin bowling is weak, with Sobers the only front line option in that department, but that reflects the fact that conditions in Barbados have generally favoured fast bowlers and not spinners. Still not many places with similar populations could offer up an XI that would come close to challenging this one.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Some my chosen XI moved away from Barbados, but all played for the West Indies. Four Barbadian born cricketers moved to England and have played for their new country: Roland Butcher (right handed batter), Gladstone Small (right arm fast medium bowler), Chris Jordan (right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter and ace fielder) and Jofra Archer (right arm fast bowler). Of these four the only one who might challenge for a place is Archer, and his injury history counts against him. Having covered that I now deal with a player who I regard as deserving a paragraph to himself in this section…

CONRAD CLEOPHAS HUNTE

The third of the three unequivocally top of the range test openers to come out of Barbados. I left him out, because although I have little doubt that considered in isolation he outranks Haynes, and maybe even Greenidge I felt that proven effectiveness of Greenidge and Haynes as an opening combination meant that I had to pick them, which meant that I could not accommodate Hunte.

The spin bowling issue is problematic – leg spinning all rounder David Holford is not worth a place in either department, and the best specialist spinner that Barbados has produced, Sulieman Benn, has a very ordinary test record. One possible solution to getting a second front line spinner into the XI is to drop Martindale, drop Murray and the three remaining quicks a place each down the order and select Hayley Matthews, an off spinning all rounder with a great record for Barbados and West Indies women’s teams at number seven.

There are a stack of fast bowlers who could not be accommodated who would be instant selections in many another team: Wayne Daniel, Sylvester Clarke Herman Griffith and Charlie Griffith the four most obvious specialists plus a trio of all rounders – Jason Holder, Franklyn Stephenson and Ottis Gibson.

Some of you will have ideas of your own about players who could have been mentioned or selected – fire away with your comments.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

All Time XIs – Closed Underground Stations

An all time XI all whom connect to defunct London Underground stations. Also a large photo gallery.

The main feature of today’s post is an all time XI every player of which can be connected back to a former London Underground station. In each case I elucidate the connection. Unfortunately a major rain interruption prevented the T20I between the England and Sri Lanka women’s teams providing as much news as seemed likely. England won by 12 runs on the DLS method, after SL’s innings was reduced to six overs (rain had reduced the match to 17 overs per side, and then 3.1 overs into the SL response more rain fell). The DLS adjustment, helped by England having scored incredibly fast in their innings, left SL needing 45 off 17 balls on the resumption and they never looked like getting them.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. *WG Grace (right handed opening batter, right arm bowler of various types, captain). His case for inclusion on cricketing grounds needs no stating. He gets in by dint of his first given name, William, which links to King William Street, the first northern terminus of what was then the City & South London Railway, which was abandoned in 1900 when the line was extended northwards.
  2. Frank Hayes (right handed opening batter). He scored 13,000 runs at 35 in FC cricket, though barring a debut century his test record was very ordinary. Between 1883 and 1885 the Metropolitan District Railway as it then was ran services to Windsor, and one of the intermediate stops was Hayes.
  3. Ernie Hayes (right handed batter, leg spinner). A fine all rounder whose Surrey career lasted three decades. His closed station is the same is that of Frank Hayes.
  4. Clem Hill (left handed batter). At the time his test career ended he had scored more runs at that level than anyone else, and was also an athletic fielder. One stop west of Ealing Broadway in the days of District services to Windsor was a station known by two names in its brief history with that line, Castle Hill, another which we will see later in this piece.
  5. Marcus North (left handed batter, occasional off spinner). He averaged 35 at test level and 40 in FC cricket with the bat and had his moments with the ball. North Weald station was on the Epping – Ongar section of the Central line, which became part of London Underground post WWII and closed in 1994.
  6. Paul Winslow (right handed batter). A notable big hitter in his day. In the days the expansionist Edward Watkin the Metropolitan Railway was extended many miles northwest of London. Beyond Aylesbury was a junction at Quainton Road, with one branch leading to Verney Junction by way of Granborough Road and Winslow Road, the latter of which gets him in. We will see the other branch later.
  7. +Gil Langley (wicket keeper, right handed batter). A great keeper in his day. Langley was on the Windsor branch referred to earlier in this piece.
  8. Charlie Dean (off spinner, right handed batter). An excellent spinner and a useful lower order batter. The other name by which Castle Hill was known in that period between 1883-85 was Ealing Dean.
  9. Wes Hall (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). A legendary fast bowler for the West Indies. Blake Hall was on the Epping-Ongar branch of the Central line, though it closed over a decade before the rest of the branch due to being so lightly used.
  10. Mark Wood (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). A very fine and very fast fast bowler. Wood Siding was one of the stations on the Duke of Buckingham’s private railway, which Edward Watkin bought for the Metropolitan Railway, of which it remained part from 1899 to 1935. The terminus of this line, Brill, is 51 miles from Baker Street, the furthest from central London any of the lines now part of London Underground have ever extended (Amersham, the current record holder, is a mere 27 miles out).
  11. Esmond Kentish (right arm fast medium, right handed batter). A fine bowler, but a genuine number 11. South Kentish Town, which gets him into this XI, was on what is now the High Barnet branch of the Northern line. In the 1920s strike action closed Lots Road Power Station temporarily, and that caused services on various lines not to be able to run. When services resumed South Kentish Town did not reopen.

This XI is not too bad given the criteria – a good top five, a great keeper and an excellent bowling attack – Wood, Hall and Kentish to bowl seam, Dean and Ernie Hayes to bowl spin, and Grace and North as back up options.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

All Time XIs – England Every Decade

A quirky all time XI and some photographs.

Welcome to another quirky take on the all time XIs theme. This time I pick an England XI (plus twelfthy) in which every decade of test history is represented at least once.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Jack Hobbs (right handed opening batter, 1900s-1930s). At the time of his retirement he was the leading run scorer in test history, and he still holds the England records for Ashes runs (3,636) and centuries (12).
  2. Herbert Sutcliffe (right handed opening batter, 1920s-30s). The only England batter to finish a career that spanned at least 20 test matches with an average above 60 (60.73).
  3. *WG Grace (right handed batter, right arm bowler of various types through bhis career, captain, 1880s-1890s). Made his debut for England in the first ever test match on English soil in 1880, and although he was already 32 by then he remained a formidable opponent for the next 19 years.
  4. Ken Barrington (right handed batter, occasional leg spinner, 1950s-60s). Averaged just short of 59 with the bat, including a career best of 256 against Australia.
  5. Wally Hammond (right handed batter, right arm medium fast bowler, ace slip fielder, 1920s-1940s). The first ever to score as many as 7,000 test runs. In the 1928-9 Ashes he scored 905 runs at 113.125, four years later he was joint leading run scorer for the series with 440 at 55.00, a performance followed up by scoring 227 and then 336* in two tests in New Zealand.
  6. +Les Ames (wicket keeper, right handed batter, 1930s). He averaged over 40 with the bat in test cricket and was also a top notch wicket keeper. Late in his career lumbago prevented him from keeping wicket, but he played on for Kent as a specialist batter, with Godfrey Evans maintaining the succession of great Kent keepers, going back to Tylecote in the 1880s.
  7. Ian Botham (right handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler, ace slip fielder, 1970s-1990s). I have placed him in the position from which he scored both of his legendary centuries in the 1981 Ashes. His last bow at international level was the 1992 World Cup – he retired from all competitive cricket part way through the 1993 home season when he realized that England would not be picking him again.
  8. Jim Laker (off spinner, right handed lower order batter, 1940s-50s). Perhaps the greatest of all orthodox off spinners, most famous for his destruction of the 1956 Australians. It is also noteworthy, especially in view of the generally awful record of English off spinners down under, that he took 15 economical wickets for a thoroughly beaten England in 1958-9.
  9. Syd Barnes (right arm fast-medium bowler , right handed lower order batter, 1900s-1910s). 189 wickets at 16.43 in just 27 test matches makes its own case for his inclusion.
  10. Hedley Verity (left arm orthodox spinner, right handed lower order batter, 1930s). Even in a decade of doped pitches and Bradman’s batting he claimed 144 test wickets at 24 each, while in FC cricket he was an absolute destroyer, paying less than 15 a piece for his wickets.
  11. James Anderson (right arm fast medium bowler, left handed lower order batter, 2000s-2020s). England’s all time leading test wicket taker.
  12. George Ulyett (right handed batter, right arm fast bowler, 1870s-1880s). The fast bowling all rounder was part of the earliest period of England’s international cricket history and could replace anyone save Ames without massively weakening the side – he once scored 149 in a test match, opening the batting, while his best bowling figures at that level were 7-36.

This side has a powerful batting line up, and a strong and well varied bowling attack. There is no front line leg spinner, and no left arm quick bowler, and no genuinely fast bowler, but nonetheless it is a pretty good side.

PHOTOGRAPHS

A two part photo gallery today…

We start with some images from work yesterday – lots 638-43 inclusive in the October auction.
We finish with pictures I have taken while out and about yesterday and today.

From The Archives – U to X

A look back at the all time XIs I produced for the letters U, V, W and X last year, the last of them OTD last year, with some extra comments and one change. Also a fine photo gallery.

One of the things I have been doing on this blog lately is looking back at the cricketing trip through the alphabet that I took this time last year. In this post I look back at four of the posts on that journey.

THE LETTER U

In retrospect I should have mentioned left arm medium pacer Jaydev Unadkat. His very ordinary international record means he deserves no more than an honourable mention, but he deserves that much. I did give Andrew Umeed, an opening batter and occasional leg spinner, an honourable mention, and although Somerset as a whole struggled in the One Day Cup, never coming close to qualifying for a knockout slot, he had a quite superb tournament, scoring 613 runs with the bat. If he gets a county championship place in the strength of this and delivers in that competition as well he will represent a genuine threat to Imam Ul-Haq or Taufeeq Umar, but for the moment he has justified my giving him a mention. The XI in batting order remains: Taufeeq Umar, G Ulyett, Imam Ul-Haq, Inzamam Ul-Haq, *Misbah Ul-Haq, PR Umrigar, +Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Umran Malik, DL Underwood, M Ur Rahman. Please read the full post before commenting on my selections.

THE LETTER V

No new information has come to light relating to this letter, and I remain happy with my selections. I admit that the batting looks precarious with Vaas at seven, but point out that while sides who are powerful in bowling and not quite so strong in batting have been big winners (1930s Yorkshire, 1950s Surrey etc) very few sides have been big winners with batting but a lack of bowling. This XI in batting order is: M Vandort, J Vine, *MP Vaughan, GR Viswanath, DB Vengsarkar, +K Verreynne, C Vaas, AE Vogler, H Verity, W Voce, V Van der Bijl. The full post can be viewed here.

THE LETTER W

I regard the 2023 Ashes, yet another away series in which D Warner did not deliver with the bat, as full vindication of my decision not to pick. I should have given Chris Woakes an honourable mention, but I still prefer Woods in the number seven slot. Everyone I selected deserved their places, though Willis and Walsh are a toss up for the no11 slot – I wanted Bill Whitty with his left arm to give the attack extra variation. The XI in batting order remains: FE Woolley, *FMM Worrell, E de C Weekes, CL Walcott, SR Waugh, +BJ Watling, SMJ Woods, SK Warne, JH Wardle, WJ Whitty, RGD Willis. The full post can be viewed here.
Footnote: Wasim Akram was in the As XI, and the Ys had greater need than the Ws, so Waqar Younis was held back for that letter.

THE LETTER X

This XI has changed since I created it OTD last year – Kiwi off spinner Xara Jetly has emerged in no uncertain terms, and she replaces MaX Waller in the number slot. The XI thus reads: MaX O’Dowd, MaX Holden, ER DeXter, *AF KippaX, SJE LoXton, AXar Patel, XC Balaskas, RK OXenham, +T BoX, MaX Walker, XC Jetly. The original post can be viewed here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Time for my usual sign off…

This is one of a large number of Hornby and other railway models that will be going under the hammer in James & Sons October sale.