Tag: Insects

All Time XIs: England Record Setters

Today I pick an England XI each of whom have their place or places in the record books. Several excellent candidates missed out because I could only accommodate 11 players, but I think my XI has a good mix of quirkiness and class.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Herbert Sutcliffe (right handed opening batter). Not just an England record, an all comers record: the only player to have played 20 or more test matches and never had a batting average below 60 at that level. I have previously mentioned how the progression of his averages shows him to have been the ultimate big game player.
  2. Alastair Cook (left handed opening batter). His feat of scoring a 50 and a century on test debut and finishing his career in the same way 12 years later is one of multiple ways in which he qualifies: England’s leading run scorer, England’s leading century maker, scorer of more runs from number two than any other England player.
  3. Walter Hammond (right handed batter, ace slip fielder, right arm medium fast bowler). More runs from number three than any other England batter, most runs in a series for England (905 at 113.125 in the 1928-9 Ashes), unique sequence of over 700 runs in the space of four test innings (101 and 75* in the last test of the 1932-3 Ashes, 227 and 336* in the two innings he played in New Zealand on the way home from that tour), twice scorer of back to back test double centuries (251 and 200 in the 1928-9 Ashes as well as the NZ runfest already detailed).
  4. Joe Root (right handed batter, occasional off spinner). Leading run scorer among current England batters, by a long way, leading career aggregate for any England right hander.
  5. Eddie Paynter (left handed batter). Has the best average of any left hander to have played 20 or more test matches for England – 59.23. His record includes double centuries against Australia and South Africa, but his most famous innings was 83 at Brisbane in the 1932-3 Ashes when he defied nurses advice and rose from his sick bed to bail England out of a crisis.
  6. +Les Ames (right handed batter, wicket keeper). Uniquely in this line up, because I required a keeper who was also a top class batter, I have used first class records to get him – more career stumpings than anyone else in history, three of the four “keeper’s doubles” (1,000 runs and 100 dismissals in first clas matches in the same season) stand to his credit.
  7. *Aubrey Smith (right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter, captain). The only player to captain England in his only test, and since England won the match comfortably a rare England skipper with a 100% winning record in the job.
  8. Jim Laker (off spinner, right handed lower order batter). Most wickets in an Ashes series (46 in 1956, a haul that included a first class record 19 in the match at Old Trafford).
  9. Syd Barnes (right arm fast medium, right handed lower order batter). 189 wickets in just 27 tests for an average of seven per match. Two thirds of those wickets came overseas – 77 in 13 matches in Australia and 49 in just four matches in South Africa (in the last series before WWI).
  10. James Anderson (right arm fast medium, left handed lower order batter). England’s all time leading wicket taker, closing on 700 test scalps.
  11. Charles ‘Father’ Marriott (leg spinner, right handed tail end batter). 11 wickets in his only test appearance, the most by any one cap wonder. One of the select club of players to have taken more first class wickets than he scored runs.

This XI contains a very powerful top six, and although Smith and Laker are both probably a place too high in the order both could handle a bat – the latter had a test best of 63. Also a bowling attack that has Anderson, Barnes and Smith as front line seam/swing/pace options plus Hammond as fourth seamer if needed and Marriott and Laker as a contrasting spin pairing is not going to need as many runs behind it as some attacks would.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

There are quite a few of these, so I am going to divide them up into categories.

Opening batters: Len Hutton (test record score for England, 364 at The Oval in 1938), Jack Hobbs (a record 12 centuries for England against Australia), John Edrich (highest score by an England left hander, 310* v NZ) and Graham Gooch (most runs by an batter in a single test match – 456 (333 and 123 v India at Lord’s in 1990) are all definite candidates, and some would also include WG Grace, the only player to twice hold the England record score (152 and 170, both v Australia, at The Oval in 1880 and 1886).

Middle order batters: RE Foster (highest ever score by a debutant and still the highest for England in Australia, 287 at Sydney in 1903), and the only player to captain England men’s teams at cricket and football and KS Ranjitsinhji (150+ scores on debut in two countries – 154* at Old Trafford in 1896 and 175 at Sydney in 1897) are the most obvious.

All rounders: Ian Botham reached the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in an all comers record 21 matches, and 2,000 and 200 in 42 matches before falling away later in his career. Billy Bates took England’s first hat trick, part of a performance that saw him become the first ever to score a 50 and take 10 wickets in the same test match.

Pace bowlers: George Lohmann has the cheapest career average of any bowler to have taken 100 or more test wickets – 10.75. Frank Tyson is the only post WWII England bowler to finish a test career of more than 10 matches with a bowling average below 20 – 18.56. Kent left arm quick Fred ‘Nutty’ Martin still has the record for most wickets by an England debutant – 12.

Other bowlers: Derek Underwood took the most test wickets of any England bowler of below medium pace – 297 with his left arm slow medium. Graham Swann was the leading career wicket taker among England off spinners.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

County Championship Round Three

A look back at round three of the 2023 County Championship (mainly Somerset v Lancashire, plus the closing stages of Middlesex v Nottinghamshire) and a bumper photo gallery.

Just before 7PM yesterday Nottinghamshire foozled what should have been an easy run out, allowing Middlesex to complete a four wicket victory with one over scheduled to be played and another round of county championship fixtures was at an end.

SOMERSET V LANCASHIRE

Somerset had a depleted bowling attack (Overton and Davey both out injured), and the Taunton pitch was very flat. Somerset batted first, and while I was at work on Thursday they got off to a shocking start, being 80-4 at low water mark. At that point 19 year old James Rew joined skipper Tom Abell, and by the close of play the fifth wicket pair were still together, both with centuries to their name. The stand was broken early on the second day, but Abell went on to a new career best, and the tail wagged more than a bit, meaning that Somerset eventually totalled 441 in their first innings. This score was soon put in perspective by the Lancashire top order and at one point it looked like a total of 800 was on (and Lancashire, as revealed by their captain, were thinking in such terms). However, on day three Keaton Jennings was hit and hat to retire hurt on 189, and then wickets fell. Eventually Lancashire had to settle for a lead of 113 on first innings.

The Somerset second innings again began poorly, but the Rew/ Abell pairing again shared a good partnership before Abell was bowled. Rew rode his luck somewhat this time round, including benefitting from James Anderson, a man who was taking top level wickets before Rew was even born, dropping an absolute dolly catch. When Rew was sixth out Somerset were far from safe, but another youngster, Kasey Aldridge, scored his maiden first class 50, while Lewis Gregory played a very solid innings at the other end, and once the second new ball failed to work any magic for Lancashire the draw was secure. After a token over from Colin de Grandhomme Lancashire acknowledged as much and hands were shaken. By that stage only one other championship game was still active…

…MIDDLESEX V NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

Nottinghamshire had had rather the better of the opening three days at the world’s most overrated cricket ground (the one in St John’s Wood in case you had any doubts), but rain struck on day four, and Nottinghamshire faced with one session in which 40 overs were scheduled decided to gamble on their advantage of 248 being enough (remember that this was not officially a limited overs game, so there were no fielding restrictions and no ultra tide wide regulations) and invited Middlesex to go for victory. Middlesex took up the gauntlet that Nottinghamshire had thrown down and went for the runs. At the point I joined the coverage they needed under 100 at just below five an over and were only two wickets down. Although they lost four further wickets in the pursuit these were all given rather than being taken and the only thing that might have baulked Middlesex in the end was fading light. Nottinghamshire exaggerated the difficulty with the light, and put Stuart Broad on in the closing stages in the hope that the umpires would decide it was too dark for the England quick to be bowling. The finale was a moment of pure craziness – Middlesex went for a run that was never on and Nottinghamshire made a mess of the attempted run out, allowing the winning run to be scored.

PHOTOGRAPHS

I have a bumper gallery for you today…

A floating home for moorhen and chicks.

A Combined Lancashire/ Somerset XI

A Composite Lancashire-Somerset all time XI in honour of the game I am following in this round of championship fixtures and a fine photo gallery.

It is day four of the current round of county championship fixtures, and as has been my habit so far this season I will present a composite all-time XI for the two counties involved in the match to which most of my attention has been devoted. My individual XIs for the counties concerned can be found here and here.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Marcus Trescothick (Somerset, left handed opening batter, excellent slip fielder, occasional medium pacer). Somerset’s second leading scorer of FC runs in history, and had an excellent test record as well.
  2. Archie MacLaren (Lancashire, right handed opening batter, excellent slip fielder). Still holder of the record first class score by an English cricketer, 424 for Lancashire against Somerset at Taunton in 1895. His greatest moments at international level came on the 1897-8 tour of Australia.
  3. Johnny Tyldesley (Lancashire, right handed batter). One of the best bad wicket players in the game’s history, and a fixture in the Lancashire 1st XI from his debut in 1895 to the outbreak of war in 1914. Post WWI he turned out for the county only on an occasional basis at times of great need.
  4. James Hildreth (Somerset, right handed batter, occasional medium pacer). One of the unluckiest of all non-international cricketers – not many scorers of 18,000 FC runs at an average in the mid-40s have failed to attract the notice of the national selectors.
  5. Neil Fairbrother (Lancashire, left handed batter). Never quite cracked test cricket, though he was a fine ODI player for a time, but his record for Lancashire speaks for itself. Career highlights include the highest ever FC score at a London venue (366 v Surrey in 1990).
  6. Len Braund (Somerset, right handed batter, leg spinner, excellent slip fielder). One of the relatively few Somerset players to attain the status of an England regular. Played a key role for Somerset in a famous 1901 victory at Headingley over then dominant county Yorkshire, and then won a match against the same awesome opposition virtually single handed the following season – he took 15 wickets in the match and made the highest individual score on either side.
  7. *Sammy Woods (Somerset, right handed batter, right arm fast bowler, captain). Captain for a long period when Somerset often struggled to get 11 players together. Sydney born, but settled in Somerset and was genuinely devoted to the county.
  8. Wasim Akram (Lancashire, left arm fast bowler, left handed batter). After two genuine all rounders comes a bowling all rounder, and our official overseas player, one of the two best in history in his particular role (Alan Davidson of Australia being the other).
  9. +George Duckworth (Lancashire, wicket keeper, right handed batter). Many would opt for a keeper who was better with the bat, but I reckoned that with two genuine all rounders and one of the greatest of all bowling all rounders in the XI I could afford to pick the best keeper of those available, and for me Duckworth was that.
  10. Jack ‘Farmer’ White (Somerset, left arm orthodox spinner, tail ender). One of the finest of his type to play the game, his stamina and unrelenting economy were crucial to England’s 4-1 win down under in 1928-9. At Adelaide in that series he bowled 124 overs across the two Aussie innings, claiming 13 wickets and conceding at just a tick over two runs an over.
  11. Sydney Barnes (Lancashire, right arm fast medium bowler, tail ender). The consensus pick for the greatest bowler of all time, though his county experience was fairly limited as he preferred Lancashire League, where the money was better. 189 test scalps at 16.43 a piece in 27 appearances at that level (i.e an average of seven wickets per match) is some testament to his skills against even the best around. He was offered a place on the 1920-1 tour of Australia but would only go if his wife was allowed to accompany him, and the powers that be foolishly refused him. Had they agreed to his request a) England would almost certainly not have been beaten 5-0 and b) He would probably have beaten Warne by over 80 years to becoming the first to take 100 test wickets in a country other than his own (he had 77 in 13 matches in Australia).

This XI has a powerful batting line up and a superb and wonderfully balanced bowling attack – Akram and Barnes to share the new ball, Woods as third pacer and two contrasting spinners in White and Braund. It would take a fine side to challenge them.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Besides the two I picked there were three openers who merited serious attention: Harold Gimblett, Cyril Washbrook and Mike Atherton in that order of precedence.

Of non-overseas middle order batters Ernest Tyldesley was the unluckiest to miss out.

My preference for having bowlers or bowling all rounders as overseas players and my decision to restrict myself to one overseas player meant that Sunil Gavaskar, Greg Chappell, Viv Richards (all Somerset) and Clive Lloyd (Lancashire) could not be accommodated. Similarly Faroukh Engineer’s wicket keeping credentials did not enter the equation

Andrew Flintoff was obviously a candidate for the fast bowling all rounders slot, but I wanted Woods as captain, and also Woods was outstanding for many years, whereas Flintoff pre-2004 was a player with great potential and post 2006-7 Ashes was basically a spent force, whereas Woods was outstanding for many seasons.

Johnny Briggs was a rival to White for the left arm spinner’s slot, and I might also have given that slot to an off spinner in Brian Langford or indeed have opted for Cecil Parkin’s all sorts.

The biggest controversy is undoubtedly in the pace bowling department, where neither of the two bowlers after whom the ends at Old Trafford are named made the cut. The reason for my not selecting either is that with an envisaged new ball pairing of Akram and Barnes whichever of them I selected would have had to be third pacer, and giving that role to Woods meant that I got his captaincy and the opportunity to pick the best keeper rather than selecting a batter-keeper such as Steven Davies or Craig Kieswetter. The other great fast bowler to miss out was Ted MacDonald, the Aussie ace who opted for Lancashire league and ultimately the county.

Matt Parkinson may yet establish himself as a great leg spinner, but whereas Braund was a genuine all rounder and superb in the field Parkinson is a genuine number 11 with the bat and nothing special in the field.

I end this section with a look to the future: James Rew is playing for Somerset in the current match, and at the age of 19 already looks a very fine cricketer. He may yet force his way into the reckoning.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Time for my usual sign off…

All Time XIs: Greenery

A ‘greenery’ XI and a photo gallery in two parts.

As my photo galleries indicate I enjoy spending time in and around greenery, so for today I am creating an XI of cricketers whose names connect with greenery in some way, shape or form.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. John Berry Hobbs (right handed opening batter, outstanding cover fielder, occasional right arm medium pace bowler). More commonly known as Jack Hobbs, aka ‘The Master’, but it is that middle name ‘Berry’ that qualifies him for this XI.
  2. Les Berry (right handed opening batter). A long and distinguished career for Leicestershire, though typically for a player at an ‘unfashionable’ county scant recognition from the England selectors.
  3. *Andrew Flower (left handed batter, occasional wicket keeper, occasional off spinner, captain). At the height of his career the world number one ranked batter. Also had a distinguished coaching career, albeit England’s rise to number one in the test rankings under his stewardship was accompanied by a number of the players suffering in terms of personal well being.
  4. Grant Flower (right handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner). A fine batter and a useful bowler, well worth his place in this side.
  5. James H Parks (right handed batter, right arm slow medium bowler). The only cricketer ever to score 3,000 runs and take 100 wickets in the same first class season. I have included his middle initial to distinguish him from his son James M Parks, a batter/ keeper.
  6. Cameron Green (right handed batter, right arm fast bowler). Still young, but the tall Aussie is very rapidly establishing himself as a multi-format star.
  7. Wilfred Flowers (right handed batter, off spinner). A good enough all rounder to have done the season’s double five times in the course of his career and to have had a respectable test record.
  8. +Dick Lilley (wicket keeper, right handed batter). A long serving England keeper of the late 19th and early 20th century and a useful lower order batter. Although the plant is spelt differently it is of course the lily that gets him in.
  9. William Lillywhite (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). The ‘nonpareil’, one of the first masters of ’round arm’, the bowling style that developed from under arm and led to over arm, along with his county colleague James Broadbridge. Again it is the lily that gets him in.
  10. Dennis Lillee (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). The lily gives the side another great opening bowler.
  11. Eric Hollies (leg spinner, right handed batter). Our line up is completed with a leg spinner, using the fact that his surname looks like the plural of ‘holly’.

This XI has a powerful line batting line up and a varied bowling attack – Lillee, Lillywhite, Green and Parks to provide pace, seam and swing, and Hollies, Flowers and G Flower providing a full range of spin options

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Graham Rose, the Somerset bowling all rounder, was a clear candidate. James M Parks, like his father James H would have his advocates, but I preferred the finer keeper in Lilley. Had Grant Flower not had a place already then left arm spinner Holly Colvin, a former world cup winner for England Women, would have been up for consideration. Another Holly who some might have considered was Aussie Women’s pacer Holly Ferling. Arthur Bush, Gloucestershire wicket keeper in WG Grace’s early days (and best man at the latter’s wedding as well), was not quite good enough to displace Lilley. New Zealand women’s seamer Lea Tahuhu could have been included by way of her first name – lea is a poetic word for meadow.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off comes in two parts because today was a Just a Cuppa Autism Acceptance morning at King’s Lynn Library. As an autistic person, a founder member of the West Norfolk Autism Group and a big library user I enjoy these mornings hugely – my preferred activity during them is lego architecture…

Now for my regular pictures…

All Time XIs: All Captains

An all time XI of great former test skippers and a huge photo gallery.

For today’s blog post I have selected an XI made up entirely of players who captained their country in test cricket. I required players with excellent playing records – no passengers for me, and also who had been successful as captains.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Mark Taylor (Australia, left handed opening batter, ace slip fielder). Second link in a chain of four successive very successful Aussie skippers. He succeeded Allan Border who had inherited a rabble and passed on the best side in the world. Taylor kept Australia at the top of the world pecking order, in its own way as impressive an achievement as his predecessor’s feat of dragging them to the top in the first place.
  2. *Frank Worrell (West Indies, right handed opening batter, left arm fast medium bowler, occasional left arm spinner). He averaged 49 with the bat, which confirms that he was worth his place as a player. I have named him as captain of this side of captains because as well as being a superbly successful skipper he was one of genuinely historic importance – his appointment represented the end of a particularly unpleasant captaincy fetish, since he was the first black man to be appointed West Indies captain.
  3. Don Bradman (Australia, right handed batter, outstanding outfielder). The most prolific batter there has ever been, with a test average of 99.94, and a superb captain. In the 1936-7 Ashes he turned a 0-2 deficit after two matches into a 3-2 series win. In 1948 he led the Australians through an unbeaten tour of England.
  4. Clive Lloyd (left handed batter, outstanding cover fielder and later a fine slip). The pioneer of the ‘four fast bowlers’ strategy that propelled West Indies back to the top of the world game after a difficult period in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
  5. Steve Waugh (Australia, right handed batter, occasional right arm medium fast bowler). The third link in the chain of Aussie skippers I referred to earlier, and he built on the earlier achievements of Border and Taylor give an acknowledged best side in the world an aura of total invincibility.
  6. Imran Khan (Pakistan, right handed batter, right arm fast bowler). A great all rounder and a great skipper. Maybe in a few years time Stokes will challenge him for this slot – he has made an outstanding start as skipper, and an Ashes triumph this summer would help to cement his reputation in that role, but as things stands he has no challenger.
  7. +Rodney Marsh (Australia, wicket keeper, left handed batter). A bit of a cheat as he never actually captained his country, but keeper-captains in test cricket are few and far between, and successful keeper-captains at test level are in the ‘hens teeth’ category of rarity, and he would have been a better choice than Kim Hughes to skipper the 1981 Ashes touring party.
  8. Wasim Akram (Pakistan, left arm fast bowler, left handed batter). His greatness as a player is unquestioned and he was a fine skipper as well. Not too much should be read into the acrimonious end to his tenure in the top job – Pakistan skippers rarely go gently into the night.
  9. Richie Benaud (Australia, leg spinner, right handed batter). The first cricketer to achieve the test career double of 2,000 runs and 200 wickets. His captaincy highlights include regaining the Ashes in 1958-9, defending them in 1961 and again in 1962-3, and captaining Australia in the classic 1960-1 tied test series against the West Indies when his opposite number was Frank Worrell.
  10. Bishan Singh Bedi (India, left arm orthodox spinner, left handed tail end batter). One of the greatest ever masters of his craft and a successful skipper in somewhat difficult circumstances.
  11. Courtney Walsh (right arm fast bowler, right handed tail end batter). The first bowler ever to take 500 test wickets, and a respectable captaincy record in spite of the fact that the job is generally reckoned tough for specialist fast bowlers and the West Indies were on the way to crashing down from the heights of the Lloyd/ Richards eras by the time he got the job.

This side has a powerful batting line up, a great keeper, and Walsh, Wasim Akram and Imran Khan as front line bowlers, Benaud and Bedi as front line spinners and support bowling available from Worrell and Waugh. It is a side to be reckoned with in every department.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

I regarded Frank Worrell as having the right handed openers slot under wraps, and I preferred my other opener to be left handed. Taylor’s chief rival for this slot was Andrew Strauss (England), who led his side to the top of the world rankings. Worrell’s presence also meant that I had to leave out WG Grace, a superb skipper as well as the best cricketer of the 19th century. I could not accommodate Border alongside Lloyd without having a huge surfeit of left handers, and I regarded the West Indian’s achievements as captain as being the greater. The fourth in that chain of successful Aussie skippers, Ricky Ponting, cannot be said to be unlucky – a) he was up against Bradman for the number three slot and b) when the greats he had inherited from his predecessors departed the scene he was shown up as a fairly ordinary skipper and one given to inappropriate outbursts – his rant on being run out by Gary Pratt and his infamous stand off with umpire Dar six years later being two examples. Another Aussie, Steve Smith, rendered himself ineligible by being caught up in a cheating scandal while captain. If you feel I have been unfair to your favourite feel free to comment. None of the England skippers I have witnessed in action have massively impressed me save Stokes, who I have mentioned as a potential future captain. Alec Stewart, who could have been used as a solution to the keeper-captain problem failed two grounds in my book: keeping was not his best role and he was a very poor skipper to boot.

PHOTOGRAPHS

I have a bumper photo gallery for you…

The County Championship 2023 Round Tw0

A look back at the second round of fixtures in the 2023 County Championship and a photo gallery.

Just a few minutes before seven o’clock yesterday evening Leicestershire and Derbyshire shook hands on a draw and the second round of 2023 County Championship fixtures was at an end. I look back at a round that featured several fine matches.

SURREY V HAMPSHIRE

The county of my birth, Gloucestershire, had their match rained out without a ball being bowled, so after Thursday, a work day and hence one on which I cannot follow cricket my focus was on the first class county in which I have lived the longest, Surrey. For three innings this had all the makings of a magnificent contest, with only 16 runs between the lowest and highest team totals in those innings – Hampshire 254 and 258, Surrey 270. When Surrey started batting a second time just before lunch on day four with 243 to chase a great finish was in prospect. It was a splendid fourth innings, but it was never a contest – Surrey were in charge almost from the start, with openers Burns and Sibley achieving the first task when they reached the lunch interval still together. Burns’ dismissal fairly early in the afternoon session brought Ollie Pope to the crease, and the Hampshire bowlers neither had, nor looked like having any further success, as Pope batted brilliantly and Sibley looked utterly secure in the supporting role. Pope completed the century he had missed out on in the first innings, the only individual three figure score of the match. Shortly after that he took his match aggregate to 200, and then, facing the start of a new over with just eight more needed and his own score 110* he finished the match in the grandest of styles, hitting successive sixes to give Surrey a nine wicket win…

…OTHER MATCHES

Warwickshire were in charge for most of such play as the elements permitted in their match against Kent, but were thwarted by a rearguard action involving Joey Evison and Conor McKerr, which almost secured Kent a draw. McKerr was ninth out having completed a ‘Den-tury’ (100 balls survived, named after another player with Kent connections whose surname begins with “Den” and who was notable for doing precisely this during his spell as an England player) from number 10, and young Joey Evison was last to go, having come in at number eight and missed a century by one run. Worcestershire were attempting to hold out for a draw against Durham, and it looked like fading light might help to save them but Aussie left arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann ensured that justice was done when he bowled Dillon Pennington to end the match. As that was his fifth scalp of the innings he may just also have earned himself a place in the upcoming Ashes. That left Leicestershire and Derbyshire the only sides still in action, with their game long since reduced a scrap for bonus points. In the closing stages Derbyshire passed 250 and Leicestershire took their wickets tally to seven. All of this consigned Yorkshire to bottom of the second division after two rounds of fixtures.

PHOTOGRAPHS

With the weather properly spring like I have a fine photo gallery for you…

A Combined Surrey/ Hampshire XI

A combined Surrey/ Hampshire XI for the ages and a substantial photo gallery.

With the match I am following between Surrey and Hampshire heading for a great finish I pick a combined Surrey/ Hampshire XI for the ages. Because I want to showcase both counties I have shown a little bias towards players associated with both. My XIs for each county individually can be seen here and here.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Jack Hobbs (Surrey, right handed opening batter, occasional medium pacer). The Master has an irrefutable case for selection.
  2. John Edrich (Surrey, left handed opening batter). Those who remember my original Hampshire XI (or who have followed the link in the introductory paragraph to check it out) will have noted that the opening slots were the toughest to fill for that county, whereas I was spoiled for choice in this area when it came to Surrey. Only Yorkshire, with Herbert Sutcliffe and Len Hutton, and possibly Gloucestershire with WG Grace in their historic ranks would be able to claim this slot in a combined XI with Surrey.
  3. CB Fry (Hampshire, right handed top order batter). When I originally selected my county all time XIs I assigned him to Sussex, but after Sussex he spent a few years with Hampshire, and since his FC career began at Surrey and he was born in southwest London I felt it appropriate to include him here.
  4. Phil Mead (Hampshire, left handed batter). He failed to impress Surrey, and moved south to Hampshire in consequence. He ended his career as the fourth leading scorer of both FC runs and hundreds, and the leading scorer of both for any one team.
  5. Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire and Surrey, right handed batter, occasional off spinner). Had an outstanding record, though his departure from Hampshire was as acrimonious as his earlier departure from Nottinghamshire had been. The fact that he had associations with both counties got him the nod over Peter May who also had a formidable record.
  6. +Ben Foakes (Surrey, wicket keeper, right handed batter). A shoo-in for this slot – a superb keeper and a genuine front line batter.
  7. *Percy Fender (Surrey, leg spinner, right handed batter). His approach to batting would make him an ideal choice for number seven in an XI of this nature and he was a fine bowler and a very astute captain.
  8. Malcolm Marshall (Hampshire, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). Even at test level as he was almost good enough with the bat to be considered an all rounder, and Hampshire treated him as such. Probably the greatest fast bowler of the great age of West Indies fast bowling, and an obvious choice for the overseas slot.
  9. Jim Laker (Surrey, off spinner, right handed batter). Possibly the greatest of all off spinners. His peak came in 1956 with 46 Ashes wickets at 9.60 in the five test series and an all-ten for Surrey v The Australians in a tour match.
  10. Derek Shackleton (Hampshire, right arm medium fast, right handed batter). Only one bowler ever took at least 100 first class wickets in each of 20 successive seasons, and that bowler was Derek Shackleton. Only Wilfred Rhodes who achieved the feat 23 times in his extraordinary career has managed 100 wickets for the season more often than Shackleton. He played the inaugural season of the John Player League, and with in the year of his 45th birthday managed to bowl 80 overs for just 168 runs in this 40 overs per side tournament.
  11. Tom Richardson (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). Between the start of the 1894 season and the end of the 1897 season the fast bowler claimed 1,005 wickets, including a then season’s record tally of 290. The 88 wickets he claimed in 14 test appearances provide the proof that he could do it against the best opposition around.

This side has a formidably powerful batting line up, a great keeper and a very strong and well balanced bowling attack – there wouldn’t be many runs available against Marshall, Richardson, Shackleton, Laker and Fender on any surface.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

I refer folks to my honourable mentions sections for each individual county for full detail, and add the following:

Ken Barrington, Robin Smith and Peter May were the unluckiest of the batters who I picked for their individual county XIs but not this one, with Graham Thorpe also worth a mention here.

No keeper for either county could challenge Foakes.

Among the seamers two giants of the game with the forename Alec were the biggest misses: Bedser of Surrey and Kennedy of Hampshire. Bill Lockwood and George Lohmann, both Surrey, were also huge names to leave out.

For the spinners two left armers, Tony Lock (Surrey) and Stuart Boyes (Hampshire) were the big misses. Laker was a lock for the off spinners place, and in view of my desire to have Fender captain and the fact that the best leg spinner to have played for either county, Shane Warne, was an overseas player and could not displace Marshall no leg spinner could be accommodated.

PHOTOGRAPHS

I have a fine photo gallery for you…

An Ecclesiastical XI

In view of some of the players and one of the commentators involved in the match I am currently listening to in the county championship I have created an ‘ecclesiastical eleven’. Plus the usual photo gallery.

With the match between Hampshire and Surrey in the current round of county championship fixtures featuring a Pope and two Abbotts (Sean for Surrey, Kyle for Hampshire) plus Mark Church in the commentary box I decided to select an ecclesiastical XI. These are players whose names have ecclesiastical connections. I have not picked any players who had ecclesiastical roles as well as being cricketers.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Imam-ul-Haq (left handed top order batter). Averages just short of 40 in test cricket. An Imam is an islamic preacher.
  2. Jack Parsons (right handed top order batter, occasional right arm medium pacer). A superb player for Warwickshire either side of WWI, he averaged in the high 30s with the bat for over 10,000 FC runs. He was also a notably aggressive player.
  3. Ian Chappell (right handed batter, captain, occasional leg spinner). A superb captain, and had a fine record as a test match number three.
  4. Greg Chappell (right handed batter, occasional leg spinner, occasional medium pacer, ace slip fielder). One of the game’s all time greats with the bat.
  5. Ollie Pope (right handed batter, occasional wicket keeper). Has a superb county record and is beginning to establish himself as England’s number three. He scored 91 for Surrey in their first innings of the current match.
  6. +Rachel Priest (right handed batter, wicket keeper).
  7. George Pope (right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). Averaged 28 with the bat and 19 with the ball for Derbyshire in a distinguished career which was disrupted by WWII. Like so many of that county’s fine players he received scant recognition from the England selectors.
  8. Charlie Dean (off spinner, right handed batter). Our front line spinner, starting to make a name for herself in the England women’s team. A dean is a church official.
  9. Ian Bishop (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). A great fast bowler before injuries ruined his career, and also a useful batter.
  10. Kyle Abbott (right arm fast medium bowler). An excellent bowler who broke in to the South Africa side only after he had already agreed a Kolpak deal with Hampshire. His decision to honour that Hampshire contract ended his international career, but his record for the county has been superb.
  11. Harry Dean (left arm fast medium bowler). Only three test matches for him, in the 1912 Triangular tournament, but he took his first class scalps at 18 a piece. The fact that he bowled with his left arm lends the attack extra balance.

This XI has a powerful top five, a keeper batter at six, an all rounder at seven, two bowlers who bat at eight and nine and two tail enders. The bowling attack is strong and well balanced, and I would expect this side to give a good account of itself in most conditions.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

The ecclesiastical figure who came closest to making the XI was the reverend David Sheppard, scorer of three test centuries, but the top order batting available to me was strong, and he was not the greatest of fielders. Australian leg spinner Lloyd Pope has a decent but not outstanding record in limited overs cricket and a dreadful one in red ball cricket, so I could not accommodate him. Sean Abbott missed out as I rated Kyle the superior bowler of the two Abbotts, and I wanted the front line spinner, the extra pace of Bishop and the left arm of Dean. Kevin Dean had a respectable record for Derbyshire, but not enough to challenge his namesake Harry. I await reader suggestions with interest.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

The County Championship: Cricket’s Great Survivor

A look t the many challenges and changes the County Championship has faced and survived in its long history. Also a large photo gallery.

Today would be the second day of the second round of county championship matches of the 2023 season, except that there is so much rain around the country that no matches are currently playing as I type this, hence I am listening to commentary on today’s IPL game. In this post I look back at the many challenges that the county championship has overcome.

A TURBULENT PRE-BIRTH

Although matches between teams bearing the names of counties have been happening for over three centuries (teams dubbed ‘Kent’ and ‘Surrey’ did battle in 1708), it wasn’t until the mid 1860s that anyone had the idea of ranking county sides, and not until 1891 that a properly organized county championship took place (so many sometimes conflicting authorities assessed counties between 1864 and 1890 that there are no fewer than seven different listings of ‘Champion Counties’ from that period. In 1845 The All England XI played it’s first match, and was to continue to exist as a travelling XI playhing matches against the odds (opposition sides of more than 11 players – 15, 18 and 22 were common numbers) for some 30 years. A split led to the formation of the United All England XI, and subsequent to that the United North of England and United South of England XIs were established. At one point it seemed that English cricket might suffer a rugby type split, with the professionals playing games against the odds in their travelling XIs and the amateurs playing 11 v 11 matches, but such was averted – the key figure of WG Grace threw his lot in the with the MCC, though he also continued to turn out for the United South of England XI – his price for supporting the establishment and thereby ensuring that English cricket would continue to be run from Lord’s and would not split was that he be allowed to make a mockery of the principles of amateurism. In the end the travelling XIs withered on the vine, and by the early 1880s the last of them had ceased to exist. Matches against odds lasted longer – England tours of Australia featured such matches for many years to come.

PROFESSIONAL LIMITED OVERS CRICKET

From 1891-1962, although the there were many changes in how the championship was calculated and who played in it (just eight counties played the first few, six more were promoted to first class status in 1895, Worcestershire in 1899, Northamptonshire in 1905 and Glamorgan in 1921), the championship stood alone. Between the 1962 and 1963 seasons two major decisions were made: the distinction between amateur and professional was abolished (there were precious few amateurs left, and even fewer whose amateur credentials would have stood up to any sort of scrutiny) and henceforth all first class cricketers would be professionals, and the first professional limited overs competition, the Gillette Cup was launched, starting in 1963. In 1969 the John Player League, matches of 40 overs per side, to be played on Sundays (the shorter allocation of overs meant the games could start in the afternoon) was introduced, and the county championship programme was reduced to 20 matches per season (28 had been standard). It was increased back to 22 and then 24. Then, four day championship cricket was introduced, Durham were given first class status, and a for a few years 17 four day matches (each of the 18 counties playing the other 17 once) became the standard. England continued to struggle, and after much controversy and debate, two more big changes happened in the year 2000, in the wake of England sinking to the bottom of the world test rankings: The County Championship was split into two divisions with promotion and relegation, and ECB central contracts were introduced, giving England control over the top players. England’s fortunes rose rapidly. Overall, although Duncan Fletcher’s policy of effectively using a central contract to bar holders of such from playing county cricket took things too far both these moves have been successful.

EVEN SHORTER FORM CRICKET

In 2003 the ECB introduced yet another competition, with innings of just 20 overs per side. Players took a while to get to grips with the approach required by this format, but it proved extremely popular.

15 years later, the ECB decided that yet another competition was needed, and opted for a quirky new format of innings comprising 100 balls each bowled in sets of five, with players allowed to bowl two sets back to back, but no more. This competition was called The Hundred, and one of its effects was to push the County Championship, now a mere 14 matches per season, further towards the margins of the season as it now ‘owns’ August, with a One Day Cup of much reduced stature taking place alongside it. The Hundred has brought much greater prominence to women’s cricket, but I do regret the ever increasing concentration of County Championship matches at the beginning and end of each season, with few games happening in high summer. However I have no worries about the future of the County Championship – it was born facing challenges, and has faced challenges at many points of its life so far, and it is still here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

I have a bumper gallery for you today:

All Time XIs: One Player Per County

An XI in which each player represented a different county. Also a large photo gallery.

With the second round of county championship 2023 fixtures starting tomorrow I set myself a little challenge for today’s blog…

THE BRIEF

The rules I set myself for this particular XI were: every player must represent a different county and all players must be England qualified. I do not for one instant claim that this team contains the 11 best cricketers produced by the counties down the years, or even that every chosen player would be described as their county’s all time number one, though all are unequivocal greats of the game.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. *WG Grace (Gloucestershire, right handed opening batter, right arm bowler of various types, excellent close fielder, captain). Cricket’s first superstar, absolutely dominant in his absolute pomp in the 1870s, and still capable of outstanding performances for many years after his pomp – his third and last first class triple century was scored in 1896 at the age of 48, while his last FC century was scored on his 56th birthday.
  2. Jack Hobbs (Surrey, right handed opening batter, outstanding cover fielder, occasional medium pacer). The Master. Almost half of his vast tally of first class hundreds were scored after he had turned 40.
  3. Johnny Tyldesley (Lancashire, right handed batter). One of the best bad wicket batters ever to play the game. In the first decade of the 20th century only two professionals were sufficiently accomplished willow wielders to be picked for England purely on the strength of their skill in that department, the other being David Denton of Yorkshire.
  4. Philip Mead (Hampshire, left handed batter). Most runs and most centuries for a single team of anyone (48,809 and 135), 4th leading run scorer overall in FC history and 4th leading centurion as well.
  5. Patsy Hendren (Middlesex, right handed batter, superb fielder). The second leading scorer of first class centuries (170) and third leading scorer of FC runs (57,611) in history. 74 of his centuries were scored at Lord’s, the most at single ground by anyone.
  6. George Hirst (Yorkshire, right handed middle order batter, left arm fast medium bowler, outstanding mid off fielder). He achieved the season’s double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets 14 times, including ten times in a row. In 1904 and 1905 he had 2,000 runs to go with his 100 wickets, and in 1906, uniquely in first class history he managed the ‘double double’ – 2,385 runs and 208 wickets. This included the only ever instance of a cricketer scoring centuries in each of his sides’ innings and taking five-fors in each of the opposition’s. His Yorkshire skipper, Lord Hawke, reckoned him the greatest of all county cricketers. It was a common tactic in his day for bowlers to rub the ball in the dirt to remove the shine and make it easier to grip. Hirst, one of the pioneers of swing and cut, was also the first to make a point of shining the new ball so that it would do more.
  7. +Les Ames (Kent, right handed batter, wicket keeper). Over 100 FC centuries, and over 1,100 FC dismissals, including an all time record 418 stumpings. His approach to batting, exemplified by the fact that he twice won the Lawrence trophy for the fastest first class hundred of the season makes him an ideal number seven in a very strong line up.
  8. Vallance Jupp (Sussex, Northamptonshire, right handed batter, off spinner). It was after he moved north from Sussex and qualified by residence for his new county that his career took off. In the 1920s he did the double in each of eight successive seasons.
  9. Harold Larwood (Nottinghamshire, right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter). Australians are wont to point out that outside the 1932-3 Ashes (where he claimed 33 cheap wickets) his test stats were ordinary, but his record for his county was outstanding.
  10. William Mycroft (Derbyshire, left arm fast bowler, right handed tail end batter). Over 800 FC wickets at 12.09 a piece.
  11. Eric Hollies (Warwickshire, leg spinner, right handed tail end batter). More wickets taken than runs scored in first class history. Although he did not get to play a huge amount of test cricket he did play his part in that format’s most famous ever duck “…Bradman bowled Hollies 0…bowled Hollies 0…”, which took the little Aussie’s batting average down from 101.29 to 99.94.

The XI has a formidably strong line batting line up (a run packed top five, genuine multidimensional players at six, seven and eight and a number nine who was good enough with the bat to have a test match 98 to his credit. The bowling, with Larwood, Mycroft and Hirst to bowl pace/ seam/ swing, two great and contrasting spinners in Jupp and Hollies and the redoubtable WG as sixth bowling option is if anything even more formidably strong than the batting and it would take a mighty XI to beat this one.

INVITING COMMENTS

This section is usually devoted to honourable mentions, but these would be too numerous to list in this post. I merely remind people of the criteria (ultra harsh judges would disqualify Mead because of his early attempt to make the grade at Surrey) and make my invariable point in this situations: if you have a favourite you want included please consider how their presence would alter the balance of the XI, and if they play for the same county as a current member of the XI with a different skill set how do you replace that person?

PHOTOGRAPHS

I have a splendid gallery for you today…