Tag: cricket

Best Partnerships For Each Wicket – England

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.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Australia 1946-62

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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).
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. *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).
  10. +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.
  11. 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.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Three muntjac and a hare.

Australia Interwar Years XI

A look at Australia’s best cricketers of the interwar years and a photo gallery.

Today I look at the best Australian cricketers of the period 1919-39. Australia were strong for much of this period, although English desperation to atone for the perceived sins of the 1932-3 Ashes contributed to their excellent Ashes record – Larwood never played another test match after the end of that series, Voce was not picked at home in 1934, though he did tour in 1936-7, while the last pre-WWII Ashes series in 1938 was halved, with one game washed out without a ball bowled, two high scoring draws, Australia narrowly winning a thriller at Headingley and England totally bossing the last match at The Oval.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Bill Woodfull (right handed opening batter). One half of Australia’s best opening pair of the period.
  2. Bill Ponsford (right handed opening batter). The first megascorer, possessor for almost three years of the two highest scores in FC history, 437 for Victoria v Queensland in 1927 and 429 for Victoria v Tasmania in 1922. He had two other triple centuries in FC cricket and achieved a unique double in test cricket of scoring centuries in each of his first two test matches and in each of his last two.
  3. *Don Bradman (right handed batter, captain). Quite simply the most consistent run scorer the game has ever known. It was he who topped Ponsford’s individual FC record with 452* for NSW v Queensland. He also had two test match triple centuries and a 299* v South Africa when his last partner was run out trying to get through for the crucial run. Australia lost only two Ashes series with him in the side – 1928-9 when he was trying to establish himself and was actually dropped for the second match of the series, and 1932-3 when Jardine’s strategy halved his usual output.
  4. Charlie Macartney (right handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner). His batting hit the heights in the first seven years after the war – in the 1926 Ashes at the age of 40 he hit three centuries in successive test matches, while in 1921 he blasted Nottinghamshire for 345 in 232 minutes at the crease, still the highest FC score for a member of an Australian touring party.
  5. Stan McCabe (right handed batter, right arm medium fast bowler). Two of the most famous of all Ashes innings, his 187* at Sydney in the face of fast leg theory as conceived by Jardine and bowled by Larwood in the first match of the 1932-3 Ashes and the 232* he scored at Trent Bridge in 1938 when Bradman called the rest of the Aussie team out on to their balcony to watch the action because “you will never see anything like this again”.
  6. Warwick Armstrong (right handed batter, leg spinner). A dominant force in both of the first two Ashes series after WWI, and undoubtedly Australia’s best all rounder of the period.
  7. Jack Gregory (right arm fast bowler, left handed batter, ace slip fielder). Under the captaincy of Warwick Armstrong he and Ted McDonald provided the first example in test cricket of a bowling side opening their attack with express pace from both ends – received wisdom had been to open with one fast and one slow bowler, though in 1911-12 and at home in 1912 Sydney Barnes and Frank Foster, both above medium pace, had opened the bowling for England with considerable success.
  8. +Bert Oldfield (wicket keeper, right handed batter). One of the greatest keepers ever, I believe he still holds the record for men’s test stumpings (52).
  9. Bill O’Reilly (leg spinner, left handed batter). 144 wickets in 27 test matches, bowling at something above medium pace and possessing a superbly disguised googly.
  10. Ted McDonald (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). He played the first two post-war Ashes series before decamping to play Lancashire League cricket and ultimately to turn out for Lancashire and bowl them to several championships with Cecil Parkin and Dick Tyldesley in support.
  11. Clarrie Grimmett (leg spinner, right handed batter). He had to cross one national border and two state boundaries to find cricketing fulfillment, and still managed to become the first ever to claim 200 test wickets (216 in 37 test matches). Even 80 odd years after the end of his career he probably ranks second among cricketers born in New Zealand (Sir Richard Hadlee being #1).

This XI has a powerful batting line up, though left handers are under represented. The bowling is also strong, with Gregory and McDonald an outstanding new ball duo, O’Reilly, Grimmett and Armstrong being three very dissimilar leg spinners, McCabe a handy medium pacer and Macartney sometimes useful with his left arm spin.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Warren Bardsley, the left handed opener I selected in the prewar Aussie XI, played on until 1926, but a remarkable 193* at Lord’s that year apart he was a fading force, and therefore I felt I could not break the Woodfull/ Ponsford pairing for the sake of balance. No Australian middle order left handed batter of this period was good enough to merit selection.

Vic Richardson was a remarkable all round athlete and grandfather of two Aussie test skippers, but his test batting record was quite ordinary. Arthur Richardson, a middle order batter who bowled off spin, was not good enough in either department to merit more than an acknowledgement.

There were two other candidates for the number six slot I gave to Armstrong, Jack Ryder and Hunter ‘Stork’ Hendry, forceful batters who bowled right arm fast medium.

This period featured the tail end of Hanson Carter’s career as a keeper, but he was not the equal of Oldfield. The one Aussie to play FC cricket in this period who probably was a match for Oldfield as keeper and a better batter, Don Tallon, did not make his test debut until after WWII, so I felt I could not pick him.

Other than Gregory and McDonald, who came as a partnership the only other Aussie fast bowler of the era who might have demanded selection was Thomas William Wall, usually known as ‘Tim’ Wall, whose record suffered from the fact that he was often the only quick in the side. Ernie McCormick, ‘Bull’ Alexander, Jack Scott and Laurie Nash were all quick but erratic, while Eddie Gilbert never played test cricket.

The only Aussie specialist finger spinner of the period with a really good test record was Bert Ironmonger, and he was never selected for a tour of England, possibly because of fears that his action would not stand up to the scrutiny of English umpires. Left arm wrist spinner Leslie ‘Chuck’ Fleetwood-Smith was too expensive to merit a place, while Arthur Mailey was unlucky in that Grimmett was clearly ahead of him as a conventional leg spinner and O’Reilly’s distinctive method and provenly effective partnership with Grimmett qualified him for a place. Hans Ebeling’s seam bowling did not qualify him for a place, but he deserves a mention because the 1977 Centenary Test Match, which Australia won by the same margin, 45 runs, as they had won the inaugural test match 100 years earlier, was his brainchild.

PHOTOGRAPHS

The weather here continues to be dull and grey, but I do have a photo gallery to share…

Should Bairstow Keep Wicket For England This Summer?

A detailed answer to a question posed by talk sport radio on twitter this morning in the form of a look at the resources available to the England test team at the moment plus a photo gallery.

Another English cricket season is around the corner (some pre-season warm up fixtures are already taking place), and it is a biggie – the Aussies will be touring later this summer. My title comes from a question that talk sport radio put out on twitter this morning, and I am using this post to give it a detailed answer – the brief answer is the single word “no”.

ENGLAND’S RESOURCES

Since Ben Stokes took over the captaincy the England test team has fared exceedingly well, and the side’s unprecedented 3-0 sweep of the series in Pakistan plus the subsequent 1-1 draw in New Zealand (with the second game lost by one run, Stokes going uncompromisingly for the win rather than shut the game down to secure the series) were both achieved without Bairstow. The only real vacancy in the batting order is at the top, where Crawley’s returns continue to be utterly inadequate for a test match opening batter. Foakes, the current keeper, played important roles with the bat in several of the wins and is without any shadow of a doubt well clear of Bairstow as a keeper. The bowling is also strong, although the spin department remains a concern. Even there, with Rehan Ahmed showing positive signs in Pakistan, the trend is upwards.

BAIRSTOW IN TEST CRICKET

While in the period immediately before injury forced his withdrawal from the side Bairstow was in absolutely white hot form with the bat, his test history, which dates back to 2012, is of blowing hot and cold, with the latter more frequently the case. He is apparently not happy with the notion of opening in test cricket, though he does so in both forms of limited overs cricket. For me the middle order is strong with the question being who to leave out. One way to accommodate Bairstow is to have Stokes, who certainly has the technical wherewithal to do so move up to open the batting, creating a middle order slot for Bairstow (WG Rumblepants suggested this on twitter in response to the talk sport radio query). None of Pope, Root, Brook or Stokes are dispensable, and I regard the notion of dropping Foakes, already on the receiving end of scurvy treatment from England selectors since his international debut in 2018, as an outrage.

THE ENGLAND TEST SIDE GOING FORWARD

With the powerful batting outlined above, plus Foakes as keeper, a slew of fine seamers available, plus outright pacers in the form of Wood, Archer and possibly Stone in the wings, and Leach and Ahmed available to bowl spin, plus Will Jacks on the fringes as a batter who bowls spin on the side, and a few county players knocking on the doors (a good start to the season for Ben Compton would certainly force the selectors to sit up an take notice to name but one) the truth is that the England test side does not need to perform mental gymnastics to find a way to accommodate an ageing middle order batter with a history of inconsistency at the highest level – they would do better to move forwards without him.

PHOTOGRAPHS

To put it mildly the weather these last few days has been less than ideal for photography, but I do have a small gallery of recent captures to share…

Photographed through the window of a bus, a pair of goldfinches using a cable (obviously very well insulated) as a perch.

Australia Prewar XI

A look at Australia’s best test cricketers of 1877-1914 and a large photo gallery.

Having just finished a brief look at England men’s test cricket through the ages I now turn England’s oldest adversaries in international cricket, Australia. I start with the best players of 1877-1914 inclusive.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Warren Bardsley (left handed opening batter). Until Don Bradman came along and blew all such records out of the water he had scored more FC centuries than any other Australian batter and more than half of those centuries were scored on tours of England (compare and contrast a left hander of much more recent vintage in David Warner). At the Oval in 1909 he became the first ever to score a century in each innings of a test match.
  2. Victor Trumper (right handed opening batter). One of cricket’s immortals. In the wet summer of 1902 he scored 2,570 FC runs for the tour including 11 centuries. In the Old Trafford test of that series, where an Australian win by three runs ensured that they kept the Ashes he reached a century before lunch on day one.
  3. *Billy Murdoch (right handed batter, captain). In 1880 at The Oval he won a sovereign from WG Grace by scoring 153* in Australia’s second innings to top the bearded Doctor’s 152 on the opening day of the match. Four years later at the same ground he scored test cricket’s first ever double century, 211.
  4. Clem Hill (left handed batter). Until Hobbs overhauled his tally he held the record for test career runs. He amassed eight test tons in total, including the only century of the only test ever played at Bramall Lane, Sheffield in 1902. He also had a unique sequence of near misses in the 1901-2 series, making 99, 98 and 97 in successive knocks.
  5. Charlie Macartney (right handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner). He had only just begun his rise to the top before WWI, but did enough, including taking his one and only match haul of ten wickets, to claim his spot in the XI.
  6. George Giffen (right handed batter, off spinner). Australia’s first great all rounder. In the 1894-5 Ashes he scored 475 runs and claimed 34 wickets.
  7. +Jack Blackham (wicket keeper, right handed batter). The ‘Prince of Wicket Keepers’, and enough of a batter to have been the first keeper to score two fifties in the same test match. He played in each of the first 17 test matches ever contested, before missing one due a dispute over pay, and then returning and playing on until the 1894-5 Ashes.
  8. Hugh Trumble (off spinner, right handed batter). Good enough in his secondary department to have done the season’s double on the 1899 tour of England and to have been Australia’s highest individual scorer at The Oval in 1902. He took 141 test wickets all against England, including doing the hat trick twice in his career. His 141 wickets against England remained a record for almost eight decades after his retirement, until Dennis Lillee overtook him at Headingley in 1981.
  9. Fred ‘Demon’ Spofforth (right arm medium-fast). A master of changes of pace, he took the first ever test hat trick, and it was his bowling that won the 1882 match at The Oval that led to the creation of the Ashes.
  10. Charlie ‘Terror’ Turner (right arm medium fast). He succeeded Spofforth as leader of Australia’s attack, and reached the milestone of 100 test wickets in just 17 matches.
  11. Ernest Jones (right arm fast). Australia’s first authentic test match quick bowler. He once sent a ball through WG Grace’s beard. Like the later Harold Larwood of England he was a miner before establishing himself as a cricketer.

This side has a powerful top five, an all rounder at six, a keeper who could bat and four formidable front bowlers. The bowling is also very powerful, though it lacks either a left arm seam option or a leg spin option.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Charles Bannerman missed out on an opening slot partly because of being right handed – Trumper had to be picked and I felt that left handed Warren Bardsley was a better foil for him than Bannerman. Two other specialist batters who could not be accommodated were Joe Darling and Syd Gregory, the latter playing more test matches than anyone else whose entire career happened before WWI.

I could have got around the leg spin problem by naming Warwick Armstrong as the all rounder, but I felt that Giffen’s case was unanswerable. Monty Noble was the other candidate for the all rounder’s role and would have been a natural for the captaincy had I gone for him. Frank Tarrant never played test cricket, otherwise he would have been a shoo-in (England toyed with the idea of picking him based on his years at Middlesex but felt that such a move would cause problems with the Aussies, who don’t appear to have ever considered picking him).

There were two other keepers of the era of something approaching comparable stature to Blackham, Jim Kelly and Hanson Carter.

The nearest any left arm bowler who actually played for Australia came to claiming a place were Jack Ferris, Turner’s regular new ball partner, and Jack Saunders, but neither quite did enough.

Frank Laver and Albert ‘Tibby’ Cotter were right arm seam/ pace bowlers who came close.

Australia only had one specialist leg spinner of note before WWI, Herbert Hordern, and his career was brief.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

The five images, starting with this one are of a present from my parents who have recently been in Florida. It hangs just inside my front door, on the left side.

England XI 1963-83

A look at the best England players of 1963-83, including a mention of the rebel tour of Apartheid SA in 1982, since I refused to pick any of the players involved in that for my XI. A large photo gallery.

I continue my mini-series looking at England men’s players through the ages with a post covering 1963-83. This will end this series as I from that point on we are dealing with cricketers from my time following the game, and I covered that era here. Also, this post will be regarded as very controversial in some quarters – the first rebel tour to Apartheid South Africa happened in 1982, and I refuse to select any of the participants in that disgraceful venture.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. John Edrich (left handed opening batter). Had a fine test record, with a best of 310* vs New Zealand and scores of 175 and 164 against the old enemy among his other successes.
  2. *Mike Brearley (right handed opening batter, captain). Has the least impressive playing record of anyone selected in one of these XIs, but he was a splendid captain, and three of the best England openers to play in this period were involved in the rebel tour mentioned in the introduction (Amiss, Boycott and Gooch) which means that this slot was going to go someone not quite in the top bracket as a batter, so I might as well secure an excellent captain.
  3. Ted Dexter (right handed batter, right arm medium fast bowler). A fine attacking batter and one at home in a slot that has often caused England problems over the years.
  4. Ken Barrington (right handed batter, occasional leg spinner). Statistically one of England’s best ever, with an average of almost 59 for 6,800 test runs. His highest test score was 256 at Old Trafford in 1964.
  5. David Gower – left handed batter. When he first started, before a long term shoulder problem made itself felt, he was one of England’s finest fielders as well. He scored 58 on test debut, racked up hist test century later that same summer, scored his maiden Ashes century at Perth on that winter’s tour, hit 200* v India at Edgbaston in 1979 and confirmed his arrival among the great with a match saving 154* at Jamaica in 1981 against the most powerful bowling unit in the world at that time, that of Clive Lloyd’s West Indies. He played on for another nine years after the end of the period under discussion and might well have gone on a good while longer had the England selectors of the early 1990s treated him decently.
  6. Tony Greig (right handed batter, right arm medium fast bowler and right arm off spinner). He averaged 40 with the bat and 32 with the ball in test cricket, and the fact that he could bowl spin as well as seam got him this slot over the alternative candidate.
  7. Ian Botham (right handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler). The period under discussion includes the earliest and best years of his international career, either side of an ill-starred spell as captain. The Ian Botham of 1977-83 was unequivocally one of the greatest cricketers ever to play the game. Thereafter he had occasional great moments but was largely a fading force.
  8. +Bob Taylor (wicket keeper, right handed batter). Made more dismissals than any other wicket keeper though his test appearances were limited by the presence of Alan Knott (who went on that rebel tour and who I therefore regarded as unavailable). He was also a much better batter than he was often credited with being, with his 97 at Adelaide in the 1978-9 Ashes a clearly defined match winning knock.
  9. Philippe-Henri Edmonds (left arm orthodox spinner, left handed lower order batter). With Greig able to bowl off spin (and England’s best specialist off spinner of the period ineligible as a rebel tourist) I wanted my specialist spinner to turn the ball the other way, and England had no class leg spinners in the period under discussion and the best left armer, Underwood, was another rebel tourist. Therefore Edmonds, whose test record places him next in line gets the slot.
  10. John Snow (right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter). A fine overall test record, highlighted by his stellar performance on the 1970-1 tour of Australia, when he joined Larwood (1932-3) and Tyson (1954-5) in the select club of England quicks to have blitzed Australia on their own pitches.
  11. Bob Willis (right arm fast bowler). A man whose career nearly ended in 1981 but who became England captain in 1982 such was the extent to which he revived his cricketing fortunes. The key moment came at Headingley in 1981, when with Australia seemingly cruising to a victory target of 130 Brearley brought him on at the Kirkstall Lane end, with an early breakthrough required to save his career. By lunch, courtesy of a sharp bouncer that accounted for Trevor Chappell (a misguided selection – he resembled a proper test match number three in name only), a slip catch by Botham that got skipper Hughes and a catch at short leg by Gatting to account for Yallop had turned 56-1 into 58-4 and suddenly the match was revitalized. Australia continued to implode after the interval, and one stage they were 75-8, before Lillee and Bright added 35 in four overs, but then Lillee miscued a drive and was well caught by Gatting and Willis found a yorker to polish off Bright. England had won by 18 runs and Willis had taken eight of the last nine wickets to fall giving him innings figures of 8-43.

This side features one great opener, one ordinary one who compensates by being an extraordinary captain, a powerful 3-5, a batting all rounder at six, a bowling all rounder at seven, a great keeper who was better with the bat than he was given credit for being, a left arm spinner who could bat a bit and two fine fast bowlers to round out the order. A bowling unit of Snow, Willis, Edmonds, Botham, Greig (either as fourth seamer or second spinner depending on conditions) plus Dexter and Barrington as back up options if needed should not struggle to take 20 wickets either.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Firstly there is a person who merits a paragraph to himself:

BASIL D’OLIVEIRA

Had he been able to play international cricket for his native land when in his mid 20s instead of finally getting the opportunity in his mid-thirties after moving halfway round the world to find cricketing fulfillment I have little doubt that he would have been one of the game’s all time greats. As it was he averaged 40 with the bat and had moments as a medium pacer without doing enough in that department to be classed as a test all rounder (which is why Greig got the number six slot).

OTHER HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Colin Cowdrey played a lot of his cricket in the period under discussion, but having included him in the XI for the earlier period I felt able to leave him out, and as you will have noted, even with the rebel tour creating problems there was no shortage of batting options available to me. Tom Cartwright and Geoff Arnold, two very fine seamers who played in this period would have their advocates. Had I need an off spinner the only option of sufficient class not rendered ineligible by rebel touring was Ray Illingworth (Geoff Miller’s record looks respectable at first glance, but he only took an average of two wickets per match, which counts against him). Derek Randall had his moments for England, especially against folks in baggy greens, but his overall test record falls short of the required standard. Allan Lamb who became eligible for England near the end of the period under discussion made a fine start to his test career, but he was never comfortable against spin, and for all his southern hemisphere birthplace he never delivered away from home. Mike Hendrick and Chris Old were stalwarts for England in the late 1970s and early 1980s but while acknowledging their qualities I preferred the extra pace of Snow and Willis for my specialists.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

England XIs: WWII – 1962

A look at the best England men’s cricketers of the immediate post war era and a large photo gallery.

I continue my look at the England men’s cricket team through the ages with a look at the immediate postwar era. I have chosen 1962 as the endpoint because the 1963 season was notable on two grounds: it was the first season in which players were not divided between amateurs and professionals (or “Gentlemen” and “Players”) and it also saw the first staging of the first professional limited overs tournament, the Gillette Cup, and from these beginnings limited overs cricket, and subsequently very limited overs cricket in the form of T20 would come to play an ever increasing role in professional cricket.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. *Leonard Hutton (right handed opening batter, captain). In 1938 at Trent Bridge Walter Hammond became the first officially appointed England captain to have played cricket as a professional. In the very first England XI he led out on to the field was the man who would become the first to be appointed official England captain while still playing as a professional, Leonard Hutton. Hutton was comfortably England’s best batter of the immediate postwar years (the only remotely credible challenger, Denis Compton, actually wrote in one of hs books that Hutton was the greater batter of the two). What makes Hutton’s performances between 1946 and 1955, which stand among the greatest of anyone in the game’s history in any case, even more extraordinary is that as well as having lost six years of cricketing development to the war he had suffered a training accident which left him with one arm shorter than the other.
  2. Cyril Washbrook (right handed opening batter). The best of Hutton’s various opening partners. In 1956 after Hutton had retired, Washbrook, then a 41 year old selector, was chosen for the third test of the series against Australia and scored a crucial 98, paving the way for further successful recalls for David Sheppard (4th test, century from number three) then Bishop of Woolwich and Compton (5th test, having had his right kneecap surgically removed and fought his way back to fitness, 94).
  3. Colin Cowdrey (right handed batter, ace slip fielder, occasional leg spinner). The first cricketer to earn 100 test caps and by the end of his career scorer of 22 test centuries, at the time a joint England record with Hammond.
  4. Denis Compton (right handed batter, occasional left arm wrist spinner). Even with a long term knee injury, ultimately necessitating the removal of the kneecap he achieved some outstanding performances for England, including a century in each innings at Adelaide in the 1946-7 Ashes, four centuries against the visiting South Africans in 1947, two against Bradman’s 1948 Invincibles and a 278 against Pakistan at Trent Bridge in 1954.
  5. Peter May (right handed batter). In test cricket’s slowest scoring decade this naturally aggressive batter averaged 46.77, including a 285 not out that effectively terminated Sonny Ramadhin as an effective bowling force (Ramadhin ended up toiling through 98 overs in that innings, as West Indies, having led by 288 on first innings ended up clinging on for a draw with seven wickets down in their second innings).
  6. Trevor Bailey (right handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler). A genuine all rounder.
  7. +Godfrey Evans (wicket keeper, right handed batter). One of the greatest keepers of all time and a good enough batter to have scored two test centuries.
  8. Jim Laker (off spinner, right handed lower order batter). 193 wickets at 21 a piece in 46 test appearances. In 1956 he claimed 46 wickets in the Ashes series at 9.6 a piece, including the best match haul in first class history, 19-90 at Old Trafford (9-37 in the first innings, 10-53 second time round).
  9. Johnny Wardle (left arm orthodox spinner, left arm wrist spinner, left handed lower order batter). 102 test wickets at 20.39. He was often passed over in favour of Tony Lock, and his career came to a premature end after he expressed forceful opinions about Yorkshire’s choice of captain in 1958. His robust late order hitting was also of value to England more than once.
  10. Fred Trueman (right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter). The first bowler of any type to claim as many as 300 test scalps, 307 in 67 matches.
  11. Brian Statham (right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter). 252 test scalps at 24 a piece, most of them bowling from the less favourable end as either Trueman or Frank Tyson (in the 1954-5 Ashes) had first choice of which end to bowl from.

This XI has a powerful top five, a genuine all rounder at six, a legendary keeper, two of the greatest spinners of all time and two great fast bowlers who were moreover a regular combination at test level.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

I start this section with two name checks as the players concerned deserve more than a standard honourable mention:

BILL EDRICH

A fine right handed batter and a useful right arm fast medium bowler. However I could only accommodate him in one of two ways: play him as an opener in place of Washbrook, or class him as an all rounder and give him Bailey’s slot, and neither of those seemed right to me.

ALEC BEDSER

For the first few years after the war he carried England’s bowling almost single handed, and at the time of his retirement he was test cricket’s leading wicket taker with 236 scalps. However I wanted two spinners, and considered the claims of the fast bowlers Trueman and Statham to be unanswerable, so I could not accommodate him.

OTHER HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Although Ken Barrington and Ted Dexter both played for England during this period I considered them to belong more properly to the next. No other keeper of this period was close to Evans with the gloves, though the more determined members of the “look at the batting first” school of thought might opt for James M Parks (his father James H Parks, a batting all rounder, also played for Sussex and England), a quality batter, but several classes below Evans with the gloves.

The brilliant but meteoric Frank Tyson might have had a fast bowling slot. Tony Lock’s bowling action for most of his England career was to put politely of dubious legality, and he could bowl only finger spin, whereas Wardle could also bowl wrist spin. Leg spinner Doug Wright could be devastating on his day (he claimed a record seven first class hat tricks), but when things weren’t going his way he was often very expensive. I end this section with one of cricket’s ultimate ‘might have beens’: Maurice Tremlett of Somerset (father of Tim, grandfather of Chris) who had a dream first class debut, claiming eight wickets in the match and then playing a splendid cameo innings to see his side over the line by one wicket against the team who would be that season’s champions, Middlesex. Unfortunately he fell victim to well meaning coaches who tried to turn a fast-medium who liked to give the ball a wallop into a genuine fast bowler and succeeded in destroying his confidence and interest in bowling, and within a few years he was playing for Somerset as an exciting middle order batter who was occasionally used as a partnership breaker with the ball.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

These eight pictures come from a ‘just a cuppa’ morning for autistic adults at King’s Lynn library .

England Interwar Years XI

A look at England’s best cricketers of the interwar years, a piece of railwayana and a large photo gallery.

Last time out I created an XI of England cricketers from before WWI. Now I look at the next period – the interwar years, well covered by Gerald Howat in “Cricket’s Second Golden Age”. In this period England had immense batting strength with the result that some huge names miss out. The bowling was by no means weak either.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Jack Hobbs (right handed opening batter). The Master. At Melbourne in 1929 he became the oldest ever test centurion at the age of 46 – the last his 12 Ashes centuries.
  2. Herbert Sutcliffe (right handed opening batter). His entry into first class cricket was delayed by WWI (he was already 24 when that conflict ended in November 1918) while the outbreak of WWII in 1939 marked the end of his FC career (his test career had ended in 1935, but his performance in FC cricket in 1939 was excellent even at the age of 44). He was the ultimate big occasion player as shown by the progression of his averages: 52.02 in all FC cricket, 60.73 in all test cricket and 66.85 in the cauldron of The Ashes. He and Jack Hobbs were the greatest of all test match opening combinations, averaging 87.81 per partnership.
  3. Walter Hammond (right handed batter, ace slip fielder, useful right arm medium fast bowler). Had Hammond like the older Sutcliffe allowed WWII to end his career he would have bowed out with a test batting average of 61.75 (6,883 runs), but he attempted a comeback post war, which dragged his average below 60.
  4. Eddie Paynter (left handed batter). Going by career batting averages England’s most successful ever left hander, averaging 59.23 at test level, including double centuries against Australia and South Africa. His career was truncated at both ends, by the immense strength of Lancashire’s batting when he first started to come through and by the outbreak of WWII.
  5. Patsy Hendren (right handed batter). Only Hobbs scored more FC centuries than Hendren’s 170, and his test record was also impressive.
  6. *Frank Woolley (left handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner, excellent fielder and my chosen skipper). At Lord’s in 1921 when everyone else was helpless in the face of Jack Gregory and Ted McDonald he scored 95 and 93. I have named him as skipper even though as a professional of that era he never actually had the job because I believe his tactical nous, illustrated in his book “King of Games”, would have served him well in the role, and Hammond, the conventional choice of captain for this XI, appears to have not actually been even a good skipper.
  7. +Les Ames (right handed batter, wicket keeper). The first wicket keeper to average over 40 with the bat at test level and a destructive stroke maker, he is the ideal number seven for a side like this.
  8. Maurice Tate (right arm fast medium bowler, useful lower order batter). In the ill-fated 1924-5 Ashes series he claimed 38 wickets for a well beaten side. In 1926 he was one of the stars of a successful Ashes campaign, and he was involved in both the 1928-9 and 1932-3 tours when England won 4-1 each time.
  9. Harold Larwood (right arm fast bowler, useful lower order batter). In the 1932-3 Ashes he was unplayable, claiming 33 wickets before hobbling off injured in the final match (made to wait until Bradman was out by skipper Jardine).
  10. Hedley Verity (left arm orthodox spinner, useful lower order batter). In a career that lasted less than a decade he took 1,956 wickets at 14.90 a piece. At test level, where he encountered Bradman, he was less devastating, but 144 wickets at 24 is still a fine record, and I defer to the judgement of the Don himself who only acknowledged facing one bowler as an equal: Hedley Verity.
  11. Bill Voce (left arm fast medium bowler, lower order batter). This slot was the toughest to fill, but I opted to give Larwood his most regular bowling partner and rely on two other left armers, Verity and Woolley for the spin.

This side has a formidably deep batting line up, and Larwood, Voce, Tate, Verity, Woolley and Hammond can hardly be considered a weak bowling combination.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Although Denis Compton and Bill Edrich had both played for England by the time WWII broke out both played their best cricket after the war, so I held them back for then. Leonard Hutton scored his England record 364 in 1938, but that Oval pitch was a featherbed, Australia were short of bowling, and I felt that the proven Hobbs/ Sutcliffe combination at the top was a better bet in any case. Hutton, like the Middlesex “twins” will feature in the post-war version of this post. Phil Mead missed out – one of he or Paynter had to be unlucky and I preferred the Lancastrian. Ernest Tyldesley was another casualty of England’s immense batting strength in this period. Maurice Leyland of Yorkshire was another unlucky one in this regard. Several fine wicket keepers missed out – Herbert Strudwick, EJ “Tiger” Smith and George Duckworth being the most notable, while advocates of batter-keepers might have considered Paul Gibb. Vallance Jupp did the double eight times in successive seasons in the 1920s, but his England appearances were sporadic, so the off spinning all rounder missed out. Ted ‘Nobby’ Clark, a left arm fast bowler, was a candidate for the slot I gave to Voce. Three leg spinners, ‘Tich’ Freeman, Ian Peebles and Tommy Mitchell all had moments at the highest level but not substantial enough records at that level to claim a place. Two right arm medium-fast bowlers who were unlucky to be squeezed out were George Geary and Alec Kennedy, both outstanding at FC level and in Geary’s case also proven in test cricket. Tom Goddard, the best off spinner of the interwar years, was as he often was in real life, unlucky – the only way to include him would have been in place of Tate, relying on Hammond as third seamer. Finally, although Verity’s selection is incontrovertible several notable left arm tweakers missed out in consequence: Charlie Parker (treated scurvily by the selectors of his era, to end up as a one-cap wonder at test level while taking over 3,000 FC wickets), JC ‘Farmer’ White and Roy Kilner.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Before moving on to the main photo gallery, James and Sons’ March auction took place on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, and was a considerable success. In amongst the stuff going for big money I secured an interesting little piece of South African railwayana for a modest £12 – it was featured on the back cover of the printed catalogue, and online bidders saw these two images:

and…

Here are some images of the item taken since I took possession of it…

Before housing…
…and in the display folder.

I also took a high resolution scan of the item itself…

The scan before editing.

The scan after cropping and editing.

Now for my regular photo gallery…

Appropriately enough given the nickname of King’s Lynn Town FC and the fact that this was taken in King’s Lynn I think this is a linnet.

All Time XIs – England Before WWI

A look at England’s resources in the early years of test cricket and a large photo gallery.

Today is the third anniversary of my first ever All Time XIs post, about Surrey and I am varying the theme today with a look not at an all-time XI but an XI for a particular period of cricket’s history – England before WWI, so picked from players who appeared in the first 37 years of test cricket.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. *WG Grace (right handed opening batter, right arm bowler of various types and captain). WG’s test record looks fairly modest, but he was already 32 by the time he made his debut at that level and almost 51 by the time of his last appearance. He also did twice hold the England record individual score at that level, with 152 on his debut at The Oval in 1880, which lasted six years, and 170 at the same ground in 1886 to reclaim his record from Arthur Shrewsbury after one match. This latter stood until the 1894-5 Ashes series when Stoddart topped it with 173. Had test cricket been established a little earlier than it was Grace’s record would have been a lot better – in the 1870s he averaged 49 in FC cricket when no one else in England could do more than half as well.
  2. Jack Hobbs (right handed opening batter). Included in this XI as well as the one for the inter-war era out of deference to his own expressed wish to be remembered for how he batted before WWI – he was actually firmly established as the best in the world before the outbreak of WWI although his main record breaking years were after that conflict.
  3. Johnny Tyldesley (right handed batter). It was a choice between this man and David Denton of Yorkshire for the number three slot (both filled it with distinction) and I opted for the Lancastrian due to the fact that his brother misses out on a place in the inter-war XI because of England’s immense batting strength in that era.
  4. KS Ranjitsinhji (right handed batter). 989 test runs at 45 including two 150+ scores. One of the great geniuses of batting.
  5. FS Jackson (right handed batter,right arm medium fast bowler, vice captain). He never managed an overseas tour due to work commitments (he was a genuine amateur in terms of his cricket), but he still managed five test centuries against Australia in home matches. His peak came in the 1905 Ashes, when he won all five tosses, led England to victory in the only two matches to have definite results and topped both the batting and bowling averages for the series.
  6. Len Braund (right handed batter, leg spinner). The all rounder of the side, and an excellent slip fielder to boot.
  7. Frank Foster (left arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). His career was cut short by a motorcycle accident, but in the few years he was around he did enough to claim his place, including playing a key role in a 4-1 win down under in 1911-2.
  8. +Augustus “Dick” Lilley (wicket keeper, useful lower order batter). The longest serving of England’s prewar keepers, and with an excellent record.
  9. George Simpson-Hayward (under arm off spin, right handed lower order batter). Selected for historical significance as the last specialist under arm bowler to feature at test level (and he did well in the five matches he got to play btw). He would need a law change (see here for a suggestion of how such a change could safely be made) to be able to play today.
  10. SF Barnes (right arm fast medium bowler, right handed lower order batter). That official ‘right arm fast medium’ is about as complete a description of Barnes the bowler as ‘artist’ is of Leonardo da Vinci – it tells a tiny fraction of the story of someone who could bowl every type of delivery known to right armers of his day and whose special weapon was effectively a leg break at fast medium.
  11. Wilfred Rhodes (left arm orthodox spinner, right handed lower order batter). Although Rhodes’ brief period as an England opening batter happened just before WWI I have selected him for his bowling – he started and ended his career as a specialist bowler with two spells as an all rounder and in the middle a spell as a specialist batter and I have put him in the slot from which he helped George Hirst to knock of the the 15 required when they came together at The Oval in 1902 and from where he helped RE Foster to add 130 for the last wicket at Sydney in 1903.

This XI has powerful top order, all rounders at six and seven, a fine keeper who could also bat at eight and three master bowlers to round out the order.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Other than my actual choices the main contenders for opening slots were Archie MacLaren and Arthur Shrewsbury. Reginald Foster has two places in the record books – his 287 at the SCG in 1903, at the time an all comers test record remains the record for someone playing their first test innings, and he is the only person to have captained England men at both cricket and football, but other than that amazing debut performance he only topped 50 once more in his career and that was an innings in which he benefitted from good fortune. Many would have expected CB Fry to be a shoo-in but his test record was not nearly as good as his FC record, and with WG inked in for the captaincy, and FS Jackson a more than able deputy his leadership skills were hardly required. Allan Steel might have had the all rounders slot I gave to Braund (like the latter he bowled leg spin). George Hirst may well have been as his Yorkshire skipper Lord Hawke was wont to claim the best ever county all rounder, but his performances for England were overall not that great, though he did have his moments.

George Lohmann was probably the biggest bowling omission but I felt he was too similar to Barnes to be able to pick both. The side also lacks a really fast bowler. The obvious candidate would be Tom Richardson, with 88 wickets in his 14 test matches, and if I were to be debarred from selecting Simpson-Hayward then Richardson would take his place, but I prefer the greater variety that Simpson-Hayward’s presence brings. Schofield Haigh’s England successes were limited for all that he was outstanding for Yorkshire. There were a stack of left arm spinners I could have picked: Johnny Briggs, Bobby Peel and Colin Blythe being the three most notable other than Rhodes in this period, while George Dennett never actually got an England cap, but 2,151 wickets at 19.82 in FC cricket provide proof of his greatness.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

All Time XI – Minor Counties

Revisiting the all time XIs theme with an XI of the greatest cricketers to have been born in minor counties. Also a huge photo gallery.

Today I revisit a theme I started exploring in earnest when Covid-19 meant that there was no live cricket for a while – all time XIs.

THE BRIEF

This XI is based on birthplaces – players who play their whole careers for minor counties cannot really be considered great whatever their records. Every player in this XI was born in a county in mainland Britain but one which is not a home to first class cricket.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Jack Hobbs (Cambridgeshire). The right handed half of an all East Anglian opening pair, both of whom played their FC cricket for Surrey and England, indisputably among the games all time greats, with more FC runs and more FC hundreds to his name than anyone else.
  2. John Edrich (Norfolk). One of five members of this Norfolk family to play FC cricket, he amassed over 100 FC hundreds in a long and distinguished career.
  3. Bill Edrich (Norfolk). Another of the Norfolk Edriches, an older cousin of John. In spite of losing six years of his cricketing prime to WWII he amassed 86 FC centuries in total and also had his moments bowling right arm fast medium.
  4. Ken Barrington (Berkshire). An average of almost 59 at test level, including 20 centuries. His career best FC score, 256 v Australia in 1964, came in a test match. That 256 was his first century in a test match in England, his previous nine having all come overseas.
  5. *Peter May (Berkshire). The captain of this side. Although he retired from top level cricket at the young age of 30 he had amassed 85 FC centuries by that point. In the low and slow scoring 1950s this attack minded batter managed to average 46 at test level, with a best of 285* against West Indies at Edgbaston in 1957.
  6. Tom Graveney (Northumberland). A member of the ‘100 first class hundreds’ club, and with a fine test record as well. His test best of 258 came against the West Indies, and he was also part of an extraordinary turn around against them at The Oval in 1966 when England slipped to 166-7 in reply to WI’s 268 before Graveney (165) and Murray (112) completely turned the match upside down. Their heroics inspired numbers 10 and 11, John Snow and Ken Higgs to such an extent that both scored 50s of their own boosting England to a final total of 527. West Indies, understandably demoralized by this, were never at the races in their own second innings and England won by an innings margin.
  7. Ian Botham (Cheshire). For five years (1977-82) he was unarguably among the greatest all rounders ever seen, for another five he had occasional great moments before finally tailing off altogether. Between the five years of undoubted greatness and the five years in which he had some great moments he set some astonishing records. When he came on the scene only two players had scored a century and taken five wickets in an innings of the same test match more than once, Mushtaq Mohammad and Garry Sobers who each achieved the feat twice. Botham did it five times, including the first time a male player scored a century and took 10 wickets across the two bowling innings of the same test match, against India in 1980 (Enid Bakewell had achieved this for England Women against West Indies Women a few months earlier). Since Botham’s retirement one other player has done it more than twice: R Ashwin of India has achieved the feat three times.
  8. +Bob Taylor (Staffordshire). More FC dismissals than any other keeper in history – 1,649 of them (1,473 caught, 176 stumped). His England career was limited by the fact that he overlapped with Alan Knott, whose better batting usually got him the nod. However Taylor was far less negligible in this latter department than this often leads people to think – his six hour 97 at Adelaide was undoubtedly crucial to England securing that series which was actually much harder fought than the final 5-1 scoreline suggests.
  9. Syd Barnes (Staffordshire). Rated by many as the greatest bowler in the history of cricket. He reached the landmark of 100 test wickets in his 17th match at that level, a figure beaten only by George Lohmann who got there in 16, and then so dominated the remainder of his test career that he finished with 189 wickets in just 27 test matches, an average of seven per match. He played in less than half of the test matches that England played between the start and end of his career due to a less than harmonious relationship with the powers that be. Although he never played for England after WW1 he was a formidable bowler even then in Lancashire League and Minor Counties cricket, taking a nine-for in a Lancashire League match at the age of 59. As late as 1930 there were those who thought a recall for Barnes might be the answer to Donald Bradman (Bradman confounded those who doubted his ability to score in England that summer by having a tour aggregate of 2,960 at 98.66 including 974 at 139.14 in the five test matches).
  10. ‘Old’ Jack Hearne (Buckinghamshire). The fourth leading wicket taker in FC history with 3,061 scalps. He didn’t play a vast number of games for England but even at that level his record was respectable.
  11. Peter Such (Dunbartonshire). When the Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Essex off spinner gained international recognition in 1993 he started in fine style, taking 6-67 in his first bowling innings at test level. Unfortunately that was as good as it got for him at the very highest level, and he emerged with 37 wickets at 33.56 from 11 test appearances (the emergence of Robert Croft, a bowler of similar type and quality and a much better lower order batter was a major factor against him) but his FC record was impressive.

This side is strong in batting. The bowling, with Barnes, Hearne, Botham and Such as full timers and Bill Edrich’s fast medium, Barrington’s leg spin and Hobbs’ medium pace as back up options is also impressive.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Tom Hayward (Cambridgeshire) scored over 100 FC centuries, but I felt that John Edrich’s left handedness gave him an edge. David and John Steele (both Staffordshire) were two gutsy left handed batters who both bowled a bit of spin on the side, but neither really make the grade, though if I wanted an extra back up spin option I might put David Steele at three in place of Bill Edrich. Alec Bedser is by far the biggest name to miss out, but I feel Jack Hearne is a better support act to Barnes than Bedser was. Alec’s twin brother Eric Bedser, a batter and off spinner was simply not a good enough batter to deny Graveney, the only way I could have got him in. Ian Peebles (Aberdeenshire) was a fine leg spinner, but with Barnes greatest weapon being effectively a leg break delivered at fast medium and with Barrington available as well I felt that Such as an off spinner was a better fit for the role of front line spinner. The side contains no bowler of express pace. There are two potential options, Olly Stone (Norfolk) and George “Tear ‘Em” Tarrant (Cambridgeshire), either of whom could replace ‘Old’ Jack at number 10, and possibly if the pitch was such that no front line spinner was deemed necessary both could be included by also dropping Such. Tom Dollery (Berkshire) was a fine middle order batter, even finer skipper and an occasional wicket keeper for Warwickshire, but he was not quite good enough to claim a front line batting slot in this XI and I would laugh outright at any suggestion that he might get the gauntlets ahead of Bob Taylor.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

These pictures are not clear enough to be certain but I think that the bird in this and the next picture is a redshank.