Wisden
SecondTest match

England v West Indies 1928

Played at MANCHESTER, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, July 21, 23, 24. England won by an innings and 30 runs. Although winning the toss on this occasion, the West Indies team fared no better than in the Test match at Lord's, little play on the third day being required to finish off the game in favour of England by an innings and 30 runs. As in the contest at headquarters, their batsmen failed them badly and again, curiously enough, after a promising start. Lunch time on the opening day found them with 94 on the board and only one man out, but subsequently nineteen wickets went down for an aggregate of 227 runs. For this sorry collapse, moreover, no explanation in the shape of exceptionally fine cricket on the part of the Englishmen could reasonably be offered. Few of the home team performed particularly well with either bat or ball, and generally speaking, the fielding on Saturday lacked smartness. So little in the game at any time called for a big effort that the moderate quality of the home team's play was not altogether surprising.

The England side underwent three changes from that which had met the West Indies men at Lord's. Hobbs, having recovered from a strain, of course came into the eleven, and places were given to J. C. White and Elliott, the Derbyshire wicket-keeper, the players standing down being Hallows, Larwood and H. Smith, the Gloucestershire wicket-keeper. The tourists left out Small and Fernandes in favour of Hoad and Scott. Little rain having fallen for a long time, a hard wicket appeared certain, but in expectation of a continuance of the bright weather, the pitch had been heavily watered. Unfortunately for anticipations, there came no sunshine for a day or two with the result that the wicket on the opening day remained so slow and lifeless that no bowler could get much pace off the ground. For four hours and a half West Indies kept their opponents in the field, yet batted in such restrained fashion that at the end of that time their total was no more than 206, the rate of scoring being only 46 an hour.

Under the easy conditions which prevailed they should have fared much better than this, but a marked tendency on the part of the batsmen to get in front of the stumps, and faulty judgment in running lost them half their wickets. Sent in with Challenor, Roach proved to be the most successful of the visitors, withstanding the Englishmen's attack for more than two hours and making 50 of the first 100 runs. He was painfully slow at one period, his score remaining at 14 for three-quarters of an hour, but he finished in quite bright style. Challenor - let off at slip by Chapman, and escaping from a chance of stumping - helped to raise the score to 48, and then Martin and Roach put on 46 more runs before lunch. Such a change came over the game on resuming that three wickets fell for the addition of 19 runs, and, Jupp disposing of Hoad and Constantine--the latter out third ball-there were six wickets down for 133. Browne hit up 23 out of 25 and Scott, last man out, made 32 out of 48, but no one could do much with Freeman who, after going on at 133, took the last four wickets in eleven overs and four balls for 22 runs. When England went in for the last sixty-five minutes of the day, the tourists fielded very keenly, but some of the bowlers developed such a habit of going over or outside the crease that no-balls were numerous to a degree. Of the opportunities thus furnished, Hobbs and Sutcliffe made capital use, and so brightly did they play that at the drawing of stumps there were 84 runs on the board.

On Monday morning England early on experienced something of a shock. To begin with Hobbs, although giving a chance at short leg, looked to be in great form when at 119, dashing down the pitch, he gave a catch to St Hill running in from long on. Not only did he, after sharing with Sutcliffe in their tenth three-figure first-wicket partnership in Test matches, thus throw away his wicket, but Sutcliffe, 5 runs later, reached out to a wide off-ball and snicked it into the wicket-keeper's hands. Up to this moment Sutcliffe's cricket had been quite free from blemish. The departure of the Yorkshireman was speedily followed by the dismissal of Tyldesley, three wickets falling for the addition of only 47 runs. For the moment the position was almost one of anxiety, but Hammond and Jardine played themselves in steadily, and not only passed the West Indies score, but altogether put on 120 runs in two hours and twenty minutes. Exercising much restraint for a considerable time, Hammond was beginning to play a game more natural to him when at 251 he fell to a brilliant catch. In the course of the next few minutes Chapman, straining himself in making a run, had to abandon his innings, and Tate, when only 1, gave a chance to mid-on. Tate proceeded to hit hard, but in not responding to a call from Jardine, he led to the latter being run out at 285. Unlucky in losing his wicket in this way, even if Constantine got in a brilliant return, Jardine had, perhaps, been rather fortunate with his score at 26, when treading on a stump at the end of a stroke he was given not out. Very properly cautious at first, Jardine played masterly cricket for two hours and forty minutes, showing special skill in his strokes to leg. The batting after he left was of indifferent quality, but with White let off when 3, the last four wickets produced 66 runs. England's innings, which extended over five hours and three-quarters, closed on the fall of the ninth wicket at 351. The tourists did a lot of good bowling, and their ground fielding was very smart, but they returned poorly to the wicket, and in the course of the day they missed four catches.

When West Indies, 145 in arrear, entered upon their second innings, an hour's cricket before bad light put an end to the day's play practically determined the issue of the match. Challenor and Roach were sent back in the course of three overs, the second wicket falling with the score at 2 and, although Martin and St Hill put on 55 runs by well-varied strokes, there were four men out for 71 at the close of play. Thus, on Tuesday morning the tourists, with six wickets to go down, wanted 74 more runs to escape an innings defeat. The task, even if a little rain had fallen during the night, should certainly have been accomplished, but in such sorry fashion did the batsmen shape, that the six wickets fell in fifty minutes for 44 runs, the side being all out for 115. Freeman's bowling was the big factor in this summary termination of the game, the Kent man, with five wickets for 39, making his record for the match ten wickets for 93. Quite a feature of the brief spell of play on Tuesday was the fielding of Hammond, who disposed of St Hill with one brilliant catch at slip, and got rid of Griffith first ball with another. In the absence of Chapman, White captained the England team.

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