Wisden
1982

Obituaries in 1981

ALLEN, BASIL OLIVER, who died on May 1, 1981, aged 69, rendered great service to Gloucestershire from 1932 to 1951 both as a player and as captain. Rather slow to develop, he was not outstanding at Clifton, though he was in the XI, and it was only in his third summer at Cambridge, 1932, that he attracted attention by his consistent scoring for the county during the vacation. Next summer, 71 for the University against Yorkshire in two hours in his second match more or less assured him of his Blue, and with 53 he was top scorer for his side at Lord's. Playing regularly for Gloucestershire in 1934, he reached his 1,000 runs for the first time, but for the next two seasons little was seen of him. In 1937 and 1938 he played regularly and captained the side; in 1938 he was picked for the Gentlemen at Lord's. In 1939 and 1946 he acted as vice-captain to Hammond, but resumed the captaincy in 1947 and continued to hold it till 1950. He played a few matches in 1951, but then dropped out.

A left-hander, he was an adaptable player. His usual place was in the middle order, but he was always prepared to open if wanted. He was a remarkably consistent batsman and primarily a solid one, but he had an ample range of strokes for use when runs were wanted quickly. His highest score, 220 against Hampshire at Bournemouth in 1947, took just under six hours. He had three notable partnerships with Hammond, 233 against Leicestershire at Leicester in 1935, 269 against Worcestershire at Cheltenham in the fourth innings in 1937, which brought about an unexpected victory, and 246 against Somerset at Bristol in 1946. Altogether for Gloucestershire he scored 13,265 runs with an average of 29.47 and made fourteen centuries. Moreover he was a fine field, particularly in the close positions on the leg side, which the new lbw law, introduced during his career, made so important. He was President of the Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, 1978-80, and with his wife, Joint-Master of the Mendip.

Amir Elahi, who died on December 28, 1980, aged 72, could lay claim to two unusual distinctions: he was one of only twelve cricketers to have played for two different countries and one of the twenty oldest cricketers to have played in a Test match. He appeared once for India, against Australia at Sydney in 1947, and five times for Pakistan, all in India in 1952-53. In his last Test match, at Calcutta, he was 44. Having begun life as a medium-paced bowler, he turned to leg-breaks and googlies, and it was in this latter role that he was best known. On his first tour, to England in 1936, he met with limited success (seventeen wickets at 42.94). In Australia, too, in 1947-48, he found wickets hard to come by (eight at 65.87), as, indeed, he did when, after partition, he went with Pakistan to India (thirteen at 38.76). In the Ranji Trophy, however, he was a prolific wicket-taker (193 wickets, 24.72), mostly for Baroda, whom he helped to win the competition in 1946-47, shortly before becoming a Pakistan citizen. His finest hour with the bat (he was most at home at number eleven) was when he shared a last-wicket partnership of 104 (a Test rarity) with Zulfiqar Ahmed for Pakistan against India at Madras. Amir Elahi's share was a surprising 47. To meet him and talk about his cricketing days was always a pleasure.

ASHTON, GILBERT, MC, who died at Abberley, Worcestershire, on February 6, 1981, was the eldest and also the last survivor of three brothers who played together for Cambridge and captained the University in three successive years, a record they share with the Studds. All three were soccer Blues ( Gilbert captained Cambridge and the youngest, Claude, was a full international) and both Hubert and Claude were hockey Blues as well. A still older brother, Percy, was good enough to play for Essex after losing an eye in the Great War. Can any other family equal this record? Gilbert was in the Winchester XI in 1914 and 1915, when he was captain, and then went into the Royal Field Artillery, where he won the MC and was later wounded. No-one in after years watching from the boundary would have realised that he had lost his left thumb: neither in his batting nor his fielding could one detect any trace of this handicap. He got his Blue as a freshman in 1919, retained it in 1920 and was captain in 1921. This 1921 side is often spoken of as the best University side of this century, though it could be argued that the 1920 side was as strong, but in neither was Gilbert's right to a place in any doubt. He bent low over his bat in his stance, but was a fine, aggressive stroke-player and a particularly good cutter and hooker. He was also a beautiful cover-point.

Almost as soon as he went down he had, in a crisis, to take over the Headmastership of Abberley Hall, which he retained for 40 years and which was under him one of the most sought-after preparatory schools in England. For some years he used to play when possible for Worcestershire in the holidays and did enough to show what a difference he would have made could he have played regularly: his last appearance was in 1936. In 1922 he made 125 and 84 against Northamptonshire at Worcester. But probably his most notable performance was at Eastbourne in August, 1921, when A. C. MacLaren's XI (of which he was the last survivor) inflicted their first defeat on Armstrong's great Australian side. Dismissed for 43 and going in again 131 down, MacLaren's side at once began to lose wickets and it was Gilbert who, in a brilliant little innings of 36, showed for the first time in the match that the Australian bowlers were not invincible. He paved the way for the splendid partnership of 154 between his brother Hubert and that great South African cricketer, Aubrey Faulkner, which made possible a sensational victory by 28 runs.

In addition to his work as a schoolmaster, he was a magistrate and took a considerable part in public life in Worcestershire, but he never lost his interest in cricket and in particular served for years on the committee of the County Cricket Club, being its President from 1967 to 1969.

BARBER, WILLIAM HENRY, died in hospital in Coventry on July 23, 1981, aged 74. A fast-medium bowler and useful batsman from Nuneaton, he played five times for Warwickshire, as a professional, between 1927 and 1933. Opening the bowling against Glamorgan in 1933 he took three for 81.

BARRINGTON, KENNETH FRANK. This Obituary will be found in the feature section of the Almanack.

BEDSER, ALEC, who died in June 1981, aged 33, in a motor accident in Johannesburg, was a right-arm medium-paced bowler who played for Border in the Currie Cup in 1971-72. Like his twin brother, Eric (they were named after the famous English cricketing twins), Alec was a distinguished all-round sportsman. Another car accident, several years earlier, had curtailed his cricket career.

BERENS, HERBERT CECIL BENYON, who died at Bentworth Hall, Hampshire, on October 27, 1981, aged 73, played for Kent Second XI in 1930. A fast-medium left-arm bowler, he had been three years in the Wellington XI and was for many years one of the mainstays of the West Kent Cricket Club's bowling.

BILLHAM, FRANK DENIS, who died at Sudbury on November 16, 1980, aged 84, played twice for Essex in 1924, against Nottinghamshire and Sussex, as a slow left-arm bowler, without taking a wicket. The first of these matches was at Ilford, for whom he played for many years. He was also on the council of the Club Cricket Conference, on which he was an Honorary Vice-President.

BODEN, THE REV. CECIL ARTHUR, died at Hamstead Marshall, near Newbury, on May 31, 1981, aged 90. Educated at Christ's Hospital, where he was in the XI, and Leeds University, he showed promise for Leicestershire in 1911. In his first match he made 40 against Nottinghamshire and with Albert Knight put on 56 for the first wicket. A fortnight later against Yorkshire he helped C. J. B. Wood in a stand of 87 for the third wicket, his own share being 39, and had much to do with his side, aided by the weather, gaining a surprising victory in a low-scoring match by an innings and 20 runs. He played a few times more in 1912 and 1913, but did not repeat his success. He was the last surviving Leicestershire player from before the Great War.

BORWICK, ERIC GEORGE, who died in Sydney on August 1, 1981, aged 85, was one of the best known of all Australian umpires. He stood in three Ashes series - 1932-33, 1936-37 and 1946-47 - and 24 Test matches, the first at Brisbane in 1931-32 and the last at Adelaide in 1948. Among his most consequential decisions, other than allowing England's bowlers to pursue, with such relentlessness, their body-line tactics in 1932-33 (no law then existed concerning the systematic use of fast, short-pitched bowling), was the one which gave Bradman not out at Brisbane in 1946-47, when England claimed a catch at slip. Borwick ruled that it was a bump ball. Bradman, 28 at the time, went on to make 187.

BUTLER, GUY MONTAGUE, who died at St Neots on February 22, 1981, aged 81, was two years in the Harrow XI. In 1916 he showed promise as an opening bat, but in 1917, when he was captain, he never ran into form. Becoming one of the greatest of quarter-milers and later a noted athletics coach, he played little cricket in later life but was a member of I. Zingari and Free Foresters. His father, a Cambridge Blue, and his grandfather, a famous Headmaster of Harrow, had also been in the XI.

CAREW, DUDLEY CHARLES, died in Cuckfield Hospital on March 22, 1981, aged 77. Educated at Lancing where he was not in the XI, he became well known as a cricket journalist and was author of two books on the game, England Over and To the Wicket. The Times, on whose staff he had been, wrote, He was certainly one of that company who tried to raise descriptions of matches from mere reporting to literature.

CLARK, THOMAS HENRY, died in hospital at Luton, his birthplace, on June 15, 1981, aged 56. After heading the Bedfordshire batting averages in 1946, he moved to The Oval, but though he made 74 not out against Oxford University in 1947 on his first appearance for Surrey and for three seasons scored heavily for the Second XI, the county's batting was so strong that it was not till 1950 that he was given a proper trial in the side. That year he made 175 not out against Cambridge University in five hours. In 1952 he scored 1,000 runs for the first time and was awarded his cap, and until 1959 he remained an essential member of the side, normally opening the innings. His highest score was 191 against Kent at Blackheath in 1956, when he put on 174 in two hours with Peter May for the third wicket. Quite early, however, he began to be troubled by arthritis, and after 1959 he was no longer able to stand the strain of three-day cricket, though he continued for two more seasons to make runs for the Second XI. He was primarily a front-of-the-wicket player and a fine driver; as increasing stiffness stopped him from getting his front foot right out he took to driving the ball successfully on the rise, a stroke which calls for not only much natural ability but also an impeccably correct technique. He was, too, a useful off-spinner who in 1952 took five for 23 against Middlesex at Lord's, but with Laker and Eric Bedser in the side his opportunities were limited. In all first-class cricket he scored 11,490 runs, with an average of 26.39, including twelve centuries, and took 75 wickets at 30.85 each. Before deciding to concentrate on cricket, he had played professional football for Aston Villa and Walsall.

CLARKE, ROBERT WAKEFIELD, died suddenly at Sherborne on August 3, 1981, aged 57. A fast left-armer, he did much useful work for Northamptonshire between 1947 and 1957, without ever quite fulfilling expectations. Coming into the side just as the great Nobby Clark, also a fast left-armer, was retiring, he must have seemed the answer to prayer, and when in his third season he took 88 wickets his prospects seemed good, even though they cost 28 runs each. Three disappointing seasons followed, but in 1953 he took 97 wickets at just under 25 runs each and hopes were revived. However, that was almost the end of his success: he became more and more expensive and finally dropped out in 1957.

His failure was certainly not due to want of trying: shortish and stocky, he was prepared to bowl all day and was indeed in temperament a complete contrast to the volatile Nobby. But, though he could at times unleash that beautiful ball which pitches on the leg stump and whips across to the off, the real genius was lacking. He was also handicapped by cartilage trouble. Despite some fine performances, thirteen for 190 against Surrey at Northampton in 1950 and eight for 26 against Hampshire at Peterborough in 1951, his career figures of 484 wickets at 34.60 runs apiece tell their own tale. Apart from his bowling he was a useful, if unorthodox, tail-end hitter and a good fielder near the wicket. Later he coached successively at the RNC, Dartmouth, Christ's Hospital and Sherborne.

CLAUGHTON, HUGH, who died in October 1980 at the age of 88, played once for Yorkshire in 1914 and three times (including the Roses match) in 1919 as an all-rounder. For some years he was the professional at Baildon Green.

COOK, BRUCE, has died in Sydney, aged 66. Born in Bathurst, New South Wales, he played first-grade cricket for Manly-Warringah from the age of sixteen. A left-hand bat, he represented New South Wales during the time of McCabe's captaincy. A fine player of both Rugby Union and Rugby League football, he was for many years a Trustee of the Sydney Cricket Ground.

CRAPP, JOHN FREDERICK, who died at his home in Bristol on February 15, 1981, aged 68, had forty-two years' association with first-class cricket, broken only by the Second World War. He played for Gloucestershire from 1936 to 1956, fifteen seasons of cricket, in only one of which did he fail to make his 1,000 runs, and then for 21 years, until ill-health caused his retirement after 1978, he was a first-class umpire, several times officiating in Tests.

A solidly built left-hander, he was a reliable rather than a spectacular bat and in his early years was sometimes criticised for being too unenterprising - not that in a side containing Hammond and Barnett there was much danger of getting behind the clock. But with experience he learned to use with discretion his natural powers of hitting, and in the latter years of his career he was quite capable of forcing the pace when required. He was always a fine field, especially in the slips. In all he scored 23,615 runs with an average of 35.03, including 38 centuries.

Born at St Columb and said to be the only Cornishman ever to have played for England, he qualified for Gloucestershire by residence and at once adapted himself to first-class cricket, passing 1,000 runs in his first season. By 1938 he was already being talked of as a potential England player, but, the war intervening, he had to wait till 1948, when he was 36, for his chance. Then, after making 100 not out for his county against the Australians, he played in the Third Test and followed a valuable first innings of 36 at a crisis with 19 not out in the second. This secured him a place in the two remaining Tests, in which, however, he did little. That winter he was a member of F. G. Mann's MCC side in South Africa where, without achieving anything sensational, he was a distinct success. He played in the last four Tests, his scores being 56, 35, 54, 51, 5, 4 and 26 not out: in the second innings of the fifth Test, some fine strokes at the end just enabled his side to win a match which a few minutes before had looked like a draw. He made centuries against Orange Free State and Eastern Province. Despite this and although he continued to score consistently for Gloucestershire, he never played for England again. He had a benefit in 1951 and in 1953 became the first professional captain of the county. But he did not enjoy the position. It affected his play ( 1954 was the only season in which he failed to score 1,000 runs), and after two years he was glad to hand over to his friend, George Emmett.

CRAWLEY, KENNETH ELIOT, who died on March 10, 1981, aged 75, was in the Harrow XI in 1923 and 1924; captain in 1924. A steady opening bat and a good medium-pace off-spinner, he was brother of L. G. Crawley.

CRAWLEY, LEONARD GEORGE, a member of a notable games-playing family and himself one of the most versatile games-players of his day, died on July 9, 1981, aged 77. Though he was perhaps best known to the general public as for years golfing correspondent of The Daily Telegraph and one of the select body of Englishmen who have won a single in the Walker Cup, in which he appeared four times, he might well have been no less distinguished in the cricket world if he had been able to give the time to the game: in addition he had been first string for Cambridge at rackets and he was a fine shot.

Three years in the Harrow XI, he played a memorable innings of 103 at Lord's in 1921, and, getting his Blue at Cambridge as a freshman in 1923, played three years also for them. In 1925 he was 98 not out at lunch against Oxford, needing only 2 runs to equal the record of his uncle, Eustace Crawley, the only man who had made a century in both the Eton and Harrow and the'Varsity match: unfortunately he was out to the first ball after lunch. In 1922, his last year at school, and again in 1923, he had headed the Worcestershire batting averages, in 1923 actually averaging 86, but Lord Harris discovered that neither he nor the leading Worcestershire professional batsman, Fox, was properly qualified and MCC declared both ineligible for the county. This led to a famous scene in the Long Room at Lord's between Lord Deerhurst, the Worcestershire President, and Lord Harris, with J. W. H. T. Douglas, unseen it is thought by the protagonists, mimicking the actions of a boxing referee in the background.

In 1925-26 Crawley went on an MCC tour of the West Indies, then quite a minor affair, and from 1926 to 1937 played for Essex, though never for more than a few matches a season and sometimes not for that. However, in 1932 he averaged 51.87 for them and was asked whether he would be available to go to Australia that winter if wanted. Again in 1937 against Glamorgan at Pontypridd, on his first appearance of the season, he made 118, including five 6s, two of them out of the ground: no-one else made 20. But the effort left him so stiff that he was unable to take any further part in the match. A few weeks later he featured in a bizarre incident against Worcestershire at Chelmsford. The visiting captain, the Hon. C. J. Lyttelton, seeing him coming out to open and knowing that, given a chance, he would try to drive the first ball over the screen, instructed the bowler, Perks, to give him one slightly short of a length on the middle stump. Perks produced just the right ball and Crawley's bat struck it when its face was pointing straight upwards to the sky. The ball rose vertically to an astronomical height. A. P. Singleton in the gully put his hands in his pockets and said I'm not taking that. Lyttleton looked round in desperation and finally said to Singleton, Sandy, you've got to take it, whereupon Singleton took his hands out of his pockets and held what in the circumstances was a fine catch.

Crawley was one of the greatest drivers, straight and to the off, of his day, good enough to force Maurice Tate in his prime to station a man by the screen. He was also a superb cutter, whether square or late, and if he was deficient in leg-side strokes, it did not markedly affect his ability to score fast, even against high-class bowling. In all first-class cricket he scored 5,227 runs with an average of 31.12, including eight centuries. His highest score was 222 for Essex against Glamorgan at Swansea in 1928.

CRUMBLEHUME, WILFRED DAVIES, who died at Bolton on February 16, 1981, aged 71, had been President of Lancashire in 1979 and 1980.

DALTON, ERIC LONDESBROUGH, who died in Durban on June 3, 1981, aged 74, was one of the finest all-round sportsmen produced by South Africa between the wars. Considered fortunate to have been picked for the 1929 South African cricket tour to England, with only nine first-class matches behind him, in which he had limited success, Dalton, by late-summer, was giving every sign of developing into a very good, attacking, middle-order batsman. Against Kent at Canterbury, towards the end of August, he scored 157 and 116 not out, followed by 102 and 44 not out against Sussex at Hove and 59 against Sir Julien Cahn's XI at West Bridgford. On returning to South Africa, Dalton quickly established himself as an extremely fine cricketer. He was an automatic choice for the South African tour to Australasia in 1931-32, where he averaged 32.41 with the bat, his best score being 100 against Tasmania at Launceston. He played in two Tests in Australia and two in New Zealand, in the first of which, at Christchurch, he made 82. By the end of the 1934-35 season he had become one of South Africa's most reliable batsmen, having averaged 54.76 in first-class matches since returning from New Zealand. His bowling, too, came on tremendously during this period: in 1934-35 he captured 25 wickets at 19.08 each with his leg-breaks.

The value of having taken him to England in 1929, when only 22, was reflected in his performances on his return there in 1935. So well did he play that by the end of the tour he had scored 1,446 runs at an average of 37.07, including his First Test hundred at The Oval. With the wickets of Wyatt and Hammond in England's first innings he also contributed valuably to South Africa's famous victory at Lord's, their first over England in England. Despite a decline in form over the next couple of years, he was back to his best for the visit of W. R. Hammond's MCC side to South Africa in 1938-39, averaging 44 in the Test series, including 102 in the First Test at Johannesburg (the last Test hundred to be scored by a South African at the old Wanderers Ground), and, for good measure, hitting 110 for Natal against the Englishmen at Pietermaritzburg and three times taking the important wicket of Hammond, once in the First Test and twice ( stumped) in the timeless fifth. His ninth-wicket partnership of 137 with A. B. C. Langton, against England at The Oval in 1935, still stood as a record when South Africa last played Test cricket.

After two post-war seasons for Natal, Dalton concentrated on golf, a game which he also played with great distinction for many years, winning the South African Amateur Championship in 1950 and representing them in the first Commonwealth Tournament at St Andrew's in 1954. He had taken to golf in Australia in 1931-32 when, having had his jaw broken in the match after making his hundred against Tasmania, he was unable for some weeks to play cricket. His mentor at the time was Ivo Whitton, who, as an amateur, won a record number of Australian Open Championships. Dalton was also a fine bowls player, hard to beat at both tennis and table tennis, an accomplished pianist and the possessor of a fine baritone voice. He led many a sing-song on board the Kenilworth Castle, bound for England in 1929. A lovable character, he made the most of his many talents.

He scored 5,333 first-class runs at an average of 33.12, with thirteen centuries. His batting average in Tests, from 698 runs, was 31.72.

EVANS, ROBERT GORDON, who died on August 2, 1981, aged 81, opened the bowling for the famous Cambridge side of 1921. A small man, he brought his arm over high, made full use in his action of the muscles in his back, and could keep up a brisk fast-medium for long periods. His record in a season of high scoring, 39 wickets at 24.64, represented much steady and consistent bowling which considerably relieved the pressure on the two main wicket-takers, C. H. Gibson and C. S. Marriott. He was a most accurate bowler who could swing the ball both ways and a shrewd tactician, always seeking a chink in his opponent's armour. Right-arm as a bowler, he was a left-handed bat and, if his average of 27 owed much to seven not out innings, it is safe to say that in most'Varsity sides he would have gone in higher than ten and might almost have ranked as an all-rounder. His bat was meticulously straight and he had all the left-hander's natural strokes. For many years a master at Wellington, where he ran the cricket, he played a little for Berkshire and twice headed their bowling averages. His fine action enabled him to continue bowling to a great age: he was still playing good-class club cricket when over 60 and bowling in the nets to boys at Chichester Prebendal School when well past 70.

FERNANDES, MAURIUS PACHACO, who died in Georgetown on May 8, 1981, aged 84, had the distinction of leading West Indies to their First Test victory - against England at the Bourda Oval, Georgetown, in February 1930. In spite of this, it was the only Test in that series in which he played, the West Indian custom in those days being to appoint a different captain in each match, usually from the colony in which the game was to be played. Fernandes was a right-hand batsman who usually filled a high place in the order. After making a name for himself as a teenager with the Demerara Cricket Club, he captained British Guiana many times between 1922 and 1932, scoring two inter-colonial centuries, 141 against Barbados and 124 against Trinidad. On the first of his two tours to England, in 1923, he scored 110 against Leicestershire, cutting and driving, as Wisden put it, with equal facility ; on his second, in 1928, he batted at number three in West Indies' First Test match, at Lord's. He was an obdurate batsman, and a quietly spoken man, who scored 2,087 first-class runs at an average of 28.20.

FIRTH, JACK, died at his home near Bradford on September 7, 1981, aged 63. He played a few times for Yorkshire, his native county, as a wicket-keeper in 1949 and 1950 but had no chance of displacing D. V. Brennan, although an innings of 67 not out against Gloucestershire in his last match for the county saved his side from collapse and showed that his value was not confined to his'keeping. Moving to Leicestershire, where he replaced Corrall, in 1951 he at once made a name for himself, being especially skilful, indeed almost infallible, at taking the extremely difficult left-arm chinamen and googlies of Walsh. In 1952 he set up a record for the county with 85 dismissals. He had besides Walsh two more-orthodox spinners in Jackson and Munden and thus had plenty of opportunities of standing up. Moreover, in both 1951 and 1952 with an average of just under twenty he helped the batting considerably. After that his batting fell off, though his highest score, 90 not out against Essex, was not made till his last season. However, he maintained his reputation as a wicket-keeper who would not, had the chance arisen, have been out of place in a higher sphere of cricket. In 1958 he was awarded a benefit and retired at the end of the season.

GEARY, GEORGE, who died at the age of 87 on March 6, 1981, after a long period of ill-health, had been in his day one of the best bowlers in the world and was also one of the last survivors of those who were playing regular county cricket before the Great War. A tall, powerful man, he bowled fast-medium well within his strength, with a short run and a beautifully easy action. His stock ball moved naturally form the off and could be deadly if the wicket helped him, as when he ruined his second benefit, against Warwickshire at Hinckley in 1936, by taking thirteen for 43 (the match produced him £10). This was varied by a delivery which came straight through and, a far more dangerous ball, the leg-cutter which pitched on middle-and-leg and left the bat sharply. This was the one which the experts dreaded and which secured the all-important wicket of Bradman, caught at slip for 29, in the Nottingham Test of 1934. Apart from this he could make full use of the shine to swing the new ball. Yet with all these gifts, he will probably be remembered chiefly as a stock bowler who would peg away cheerfully all day if need be, keeping the situation under control whether or not he was getting wickets. As a batsman he never claimed to be a stylist, but he was typically effective: the more runs were needed, the more resolutely he would set himself to get them, not least by punishing ruthlessly anything which fell short of his very high standards of what first-class bowling should be. In his last season, at the age of 45, when an injury prevented him from doing his full share of bowling, he scored three centuries. He was a fine slip, but in fact his vast hands were equally tenacious anywhere: in The Oval Test of 1926, besides two blinding slip catches off Larwood, he caught a brilliant one low at mid-off off Rhodes to dismiss Arthur Richardson.

Making a few appearances for Leicestershire in 1912, he gained a regular place in 1913, and in 1914, when he took over 100 wickets, he was picked for his first representative match, the Centenary at Lord's, the Rest of England against MCC's South African team. This should have given him his one chance of seeing the great Sydney Barnes bowl, but, when he arrived in the dressing-room, he found Barnes urging the others not to play unless they received more money. Wisden says Barnes was prevented from playing by a strain. At this point Geary's career suffered a serious setback. Serving in the Air Force in the Great War, he was lucky not to have his leg severed by a propeller; but the damage was such that, after an unsuccessful season in 1919, he decided that he was not for the moment strong enough for county cricket and went into the Lancashire League. It was not till 1922 that he resumed a regular place in the Leicestershire side.

In 1923 he appeared in a Test trial and in 1924-25 made his first tour abroad, for Lord Tennyson's unofficial side in South Africa, where he was an outstanding success as a bowler. In 1924 he had been picked for his First Test, against South Africa, and in 1926 he played against Australia at Leeds, where Carr put his opponents in with disastrous results. According to Geary his captain's great mistake was taking his batsmen, not his bowlers, out to inspect the wicket. At any rate, when Geary came in the score, in face of a total of 494, was 182 for eight. He and MacAulay added 108, Geary making 35 not out, and, though he could not save the follow-on, he may well have rescued England from defeat. He played again in the final Test at The Oval. That winter he went with MCC to India and in 1927-28 was a member of their side in South Africa, where he took twelve for 130 in the first Test and was reckoned by the South Africans to be, on a matting wicket, the finest bowler of his type since Barnes. Unfortunately, in the Second Test his right arm, which had troubled him intermittently for some years, became so bad that he could not play again until the last match, and further he missed most of the 1928 season. Indeed his career was in jeopardy. He was saved by Lord Harris, who enquired into his case and insisted upon his having the best medical treatment. An operation was performed on his elbow and was so successful that he was not only able to accept an invitation to go to Australia in 1928-29, but, with nineteen wickets at an average of 25, headed the bowling averages in the Tests. At Sydney in the Second Test he followed five for 35 with an innings of 66, and in the final Test at Melbourne he had in the first innings the astonishing analysis of 81-36-105-5. In 1929 he played in the last two Tests against South Africa; in 1930 he played against Australia at Leeds, and in 1934, also against Australia, at Nottingham and Lord's. At Nottingham, coming in at 165 for six, he scored 53, including ten 4s, and helped Hendren to put on 101 in 110 minutes. In 1932 he had gone withLord Tennyson's team to the West Indies and, as he also once took a coaching appointment in South America, he was one of the most widely travelled cricketers of his time.

His last season for Leicestershire was 1938 and then he became the professional at Charterhouse. He showed himself a great coach and in particular was one of the few who could really teach bowling. Feeling that at 65 he would be rash to undertake another three-year contract, he left Charterhouse in 1959 with great reluctance on both sides, but Rugby were desperate for help and persuaded him to come and stand behind their nets. Before the end of the first net he could bear it no longer, had his coat off and continued to bowl for another eleven years.

Few professionals have been more popular and more respected, and deservedly. No-one ever saw him out of temper: he was always cheerful and smiling and had a wonderful sense of humour which made him a splendid raconteur. E. W. Dawson said that, when he took over the Leicestershire captaincy immediately after coming down from Cambridge and utterly inexperienced, he owed everything to Geary, who, though not yet the senior professional, looked after him like a father.

In all first-class matches he made 13,500 runs (including eight centuries) with an average of 19.80 and took 2,063 wickets at 20.03.

Peter May, who was coached by Geary at Charterhouse, writes: George really fired me with the enthusiasm and ambition to play first-class cricket and to get to the top. When he told me of his great experiences in Australia and India and the wonderful friends he had made, I knew that this was something which I really wanted to follow. You will be judged by your scores. Never give your wicket away. I shall always have the happiest memories of this great man.

GULLAND, ROBERT GEORGE, died on October 27, 1981, aged 81. A good bat and an opening bowler, he had a remarkable record at Highgate, where he was in the XI all his four years in the school and captain in the last two, 1917 and 1918. On the strength of an innings of 57 in the Surrey trial match at The Oval, he was asked to play for the county in their first match in 1919. However, he had to refuse, and in fact never did play for them, though he appeared for the Second XI. He did not get a Blue at Cambridge. Later he was for many years a master at Berkhamsted School.

HARFORD, NOEL SHERWIN, who died in Auckland on March 30, 1981, aged 51, played eight times for New Zealand between 1955 and 1958, his double of 93 and 64 in his First Test match, against Pakistan at Lahore, being much his best effort. He was a sparkling (Wisden 1959) driver of the ball, but without a defence to match. He was one of four players to score 1,000 runs on New Zealand's somewhat unsuccessful tour to England in 1958, his 158 in the Parks at Oxford seeing him at his best. He played Plunket Shield cricket for both Central Districts and Auckland. In Test matches he scored 229 runs at an average of 15.26. In all first-class cricket his aggregate was 3,149 runs and his average 27.62.

HIRD, SYDNEY FRANCIS, died in Bloemfontein on December 20, 1980, aged 70. He was one of five brothers, a member of a family that in the 1930s was something of a sporting institution in the Sydney suburb of Balmain. He played first-grade cricket from the age of fifteen and was 21 when first selected for New South Wales. In fourteen first-class games in Australia, he scored 797 runs at an average of 38. He hit two centuries - 101 in just over two hours against the 1931-32 South African touring side (his third first-class match) and 106 against Queensland. As a bowler of leg-breaks and googlies, he took 31 wickets at 30 apiece, his best performance being against the 1932-33 MCC side. In 1934, unable to find employment in Australia, he decided to try his luck in England: when Ramsbottom failed to entice Bradman to the Lancashire League, they signed Hird as their professional instead. For the remainder of the decade, he played cricket in England, an undoubted loss to the game in Australia. He enjoyed much success in the Lancashire League but was only once selected to play for Lancashire, in 1939 in a rain-affected match against Gloucestershire in which there was so little cricket that he had the opportunity neither to bat nor bowl. After the War he moved to South Africa where he lived for the remainder of his life. In 1946 he was chosen to play for Eastern Province and, at the age of 36, made 130 against Griqualand West. In 1947 he was made captain of Eastern Province. Hird ended his cricketing days as a successful coach of Eastern Province and Orange Free State.

HOLLIES, WILLIAM ERIC, who died suddenly on April 16, 1981, aged 68, was almost the last of the long line of leg-break and googly bowlers who played such a notable part for 50 years in English cricket. He bowled, as was then becoming fashionable, a trifle faster than many of his predecessors and turned the ball a bit less: what he lost in spin he gained in accuracy and he could well be used as a stock bowler. Like most of his type, he relied for his wickets mainly on his leg-break and top-spinner. Coached by his father, a well-known bowler in the Birmingham League, he made a modest start for Warwickshire in 1932, but in 1933 gained a regular place, which he retained until his retirement in 1957. By 1934 he had shown such promise that he was picked for the MCC side to the West Indies where, taking seven for 50 in the first innings of the Third Test, he headed the Test match bowling averages. In 1935, when he took 100 wickets for the first time, a feat he accomplished on fourteen occasions, he was picked for the Third Test against South Africa but was forced by injury to withdraw. After this, despite his fine record in county cricket, he was overlooked by the selectors until 1947, when he played in three Tests against South Africa. In 1948, after taking eight for 147 for Warwickshire against the Australians, he played in the final Test at The Oval and performed the feat by which he is best remembered. Bradman, coming in to prolonged applause for his last Test innings, received for his first ball a leg-break, which he played with a dead bat: the second, a perfect googly, bowled him.

But even apart from this Hollies, taking five for 131, fully justified his selection, his other victims being Barnes, Miller, Harvey and Tallon. In 1949 he played in four Tests against New Zealand and in 1950 in two against West Indies, in the first of which he took five for 63 in West Indies' first innings. That winter he was one of the MCC side to Australia and New Zealand, but the pitches did not suit him and his 21 wickets in first-class matches cost him over 40 runs each. However, in 1951 he did much to help Warwickshire win their first Championship for 40 years and he was still bowling with unabated skill in his last season, 1957, when he took 132 wickets at 18.94. Only in 1956, when he had to captain the side, did he fall below his usual standard. When he retired, he had taken far more wickets for his county than any other bowler. His most sensational performance for them was to take all ten wickets, for 49 runs, against Nottinghamshire at Edgbaston in 1946 without any assistance from the fieldsmen: seven were bowled and three l. b. w.. In 1958 he played a few times for Staffordshire, his native county, and he continued to bowl with success in the Birmingham League until he was over sixty. No doubt his short run and easy action helped him to last, but he possessed also one of the greatest assets a bowler, and especially a bowler of his type, can have: an endlessly cheerful temperament.

In all first-class cricket this immensely popular player took 2,323 wickets at 20.94 and scored 1,673 runs with an average of 5.01, his wickets thus easily exceeding his runs. His highest score was 47 against Sussex at Edgbaston in 1954.

HOLLOWOOD, ALBERT BERNARD, Editor of Punch from 1957 to 1968, died on March 28, 1981, aged 70. The son of an ex-Staffordshire professional, he himself played for the county as a batsman frequently before and occasionally after the War. Later he was well known in club cricket in Surrey. He was author of Cricket on the Brain.

HORSFALL, RICHARD, died on August 25, 1981, aged 61. Born at Todmorden, he had played league cricket for them before joining Essex in 1947. In his first season he showed great promise, especially in an innings of 170 against Hampshire at Bournemouth, and in 1948, when he scored 1,407 runs with an average of 31.97, this promise seemed likely to be fulfilled. Unfortunately in 1949 he could play little owing to back trouble and he was still labouring under the handicap in 1950. In 1951 his aggregate was 1,665, his average 35.21, and against Kent at Blackheath he made 206, the highest score of his career, in four and a half hours and added 343 for the third wicket with Paul Gibb, an Essex record. He followed this with an aggregate of 1,560 (average 33.91) in 1952 and in 1953 with 1,731 runs (average 37.63). His five centuries in the latter year included one against Warwickshire at Edgbaston made in eighty-five minutes, which was the fastest of the season. This season was the climax of his career. In 1954 he was again handicapped by his back and the slow wickets did not suit him. In 1955 his form was so poor that he was not re-engaged, and although in 1956 he played a match or two for Glamorgan without success, a career which had been so full of promise ended disappointingly at 36. A fine driver and cutter, he was always primarily a fast-wicket bat, though his play on slow wickets improved as time went on. He was a good field.

JACKSON, HAROLD, who died in Belfast on December 17, 1979, aged 91, played for Ireland against Scotland in 1923, scoring 2 and 63 not out. A dashing left-handed batsman, who once scored a century in thirty-five minutes, he was prominent in Belfast club cricket for over 30 years and appeared for Ulster against the Indians in 1911. His six brothers were all cricketers, one of them, Finlay, who died in 1940, being a cricket and Rugby Union international.

JORDAN, LT-COL. HENRY GUY BOWEN, died in hospital at Tonbridge on October 5, 1981, aged 83. A member of the Marlborough XI from 1914 to 1916, he played as a batsman for Derbyshire against Essex in 1926, but was unfortunate enough to make a pair.

JUCKES, RICHARD HUMPHREY, who died on January 21, 1981, aged 79, was a good club batsman, who in 1924 played for Sussex against Cambridge University. He had been in the XI at King's School, Canterbury. For 25 years he was a master at Cheltenham College, where he was in charge of cricket from 1941 to 1947.

KELLY, GUSTAVUS NOEL BLAKE, died at Castlebar, Co. Mayo, on March 14, 1980, aged 80. A tall, right-hand batsman and fast-medium right-arm bowler, he was educated at Stonyhurst and Clongowes Wood College and made seven appearances in first-class cricket for Dublin University and Ireland from 1922 to 1926, scoring 275 runs, average 30.56, and taking seventeen wickets at 23.35 apiece. He played little cricket after leaving university. His father, G. W. F. Kelly, was an Oxford Blue, while a brother, A. W. B. Kelly, and an uncle, A. D. Comyn, also played for Dublin University and Ireland.

KING, EDMUND HUGH, who died in a car accident near Worcester on November 25, 1981, aged 75, was in recent years an influential administrator of the first-class game. He played a few games for Warwickshire from 1928 to 1932, as a middle-order batsman and a slow off-spinner, and was a notable player on the Midland club scene. He joined the Warwickshire county committee in 1936, became Honorary Treasurer in 1959 and was Chairman from 1962 to 1972. At a national level he was a key figure in the formation and establishment of the Test and County Cricket Board. As a prominent accountant in Birmingham, he was well suited to become Chairman of the Test and County Cricket Board's Finance and General Purposes Sub-committee from 1968 to 1980. A kindly and genial man, he was widely respected and greatly liked.

KNOWLES, ROBERT GEORGE, who died in Auckland on March 13, 1981, aged 61, had been Secretary of the New Zealand Cricket Council for 22 years, and was still in office at the time of his death. Not himself an especially good player - though his first victim in senior-grade cricket was Walter Hadlee - he was one of the game's most efficient and popular administrators. He was President of the Canterbury Cricket Association during its centennial year and twice went to Lord's to represent New Zealand at the annual meeting of the International Cricket Conference. He was also in Bombay, not long before he died, as one of New Zealand's representatives at the Silver Jubiliee Test match between India and England.

LEE, HARRY WILLIAM, for many years a reliable opening batsman for Middlesex, died in hospital on April 21, 1981, aged 90. Born in Marylebone, he had a number of trials for the county between 1911 and 1914 without any notable success, but on the outbreak of war several of the amateurs on whom the county were relying joined the forces and Lee got his chance. He took it with a faultless innings of 139 against Nottinghamshire. As soon as the season was over he joined up and in May 1915 was reported killed in action. Fortunately the report was untrue: he had in fact a badly broken thigh and was a prisoner. A few months later he was repatriated with one leg shorter than the other and was told he would never play cricket again. Happily this too proved wrong and by the summer of 1916 he was playing for MCC against schools and making runs: when first-class cricket was resumed in 1919, no-one watching him bat, bowl or, even more, chase the ball in the field would have known he had been wounded. Meanwhile he had spent eighteen months in India, coaching and playing for the Maharajah of Cooch Behar.

He speedily made his place in the Middlesex XI secure and against Surrey at The Oval scored a hundred in each innings. In 1920, with 1,473 runs at an average of 44.63, 40 wickets at 24 runs each, and a century in the vital match against Surrey at Lord's, he played a considerable part in the county winning the Championship. Against Sussex at Lord's the first four, including himself, all made hundreds, a unique performance, and he took eleven for 68 as well. Consequently he was seriously considered for the MCC side to Australia. In 1921 he was less successful as a batsman - though he played the highest innings of his career, 243 not out against Nottinghamshire at Lord's in rather over six hours - but he had his best season as a bowler, taking 61 wickets at 21.25, including six for 53 against the Australians. Although for years he remained a valuable member of the county team, his best years were now over. Only in 1928, when he averaged 41.64, did he produce consistently his form of the first two or three seasons after the war. In 1929 for the second time he scored two hundreds in a match, on this occasion against the formidable Lancashire attack. His winters he spent usually coaching in South Africa and it was there in 1930-31, when A. P. F. Chapman's MCC side was sorely stricken with illness and injury, that he was roped in to play in the fourth Test, his sole appearance for England. In 1934 he was dropped from the Middlesex side in an endeavour to encourage younger players, but with a hundred for MCC against Oxford University and another which saved the county against Warwickshire, when he was recalled for a match or two in August, he showed that there was still a lot of cricket in him.

With an exaggerated crouch at the wicket and a tendency to score mainly on the leg side, he was not an attractive bat, but there could be no doubt of his value in a team which seldom lacked fast scorers lower in the order. He bowled slow-medium off-spinners and could also float the ball away: at one time he quite often took the new ball. He kept a good length and on a hard wicket got plenty of pace off the pitch. Against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham in 1923 he took eight for 39. From 1935 to 1946 he was a first-class umpire and from 1949 to 1953 coach at Downside. He was also author of Forty Years of English Cricket, an interesting book of reminiscences. Two younger brothers, Frank and Jack (who was killed in action in 1944), after starting with Middlesex did valuable work for years for Somerset. At Lord's, in 1933, the scorecard for Middlesex's first innings in their match against Somerset read H. W. Lee c F. S. Lee b J. W. Lee 82.

LONGFIELD, THOMAS CUTHBERT, died on December 21, 1981, aged 75. Five years in the Aldenham XI, he played for Cambridge at Lord's in 1927 and 1928. In 1927, when his match return of eight for 93 and his second innings of 48 played a considerable part in his side's victory over Oxford, he was second in the batting averages with 504 runs, average 42.00, and third in the bowling with 46 wickets at 30.93. In 1928 he made 519 runs, average 28.83, and took 44 wickets at 29.18. An orthodox, old-fashioned medium-pace bowler, he possessed a beautiful action, kept a good length, and could move the ball both ways. He was a fine field. A good stroke-player who could score quickly, mostly in front of the wicket, he made two centuries for Cambridge: 114 not out against Gloucestershire at Bristol in an hour and threequarters in 1927, and 120 against Leicestershire at Fenner's in 1928, when he and J. T. Morgan put on 214 in two and a half hours for the sixth wicket. Going out to India when he came down from Cambridge, he was available for his county, Kent, only when on leave in England, and so between 1927 and 1939 managed only 29 matches for them. He played some useful innings, with a highest score of 72 against Surrey at Blackheath in 1927, but he was curiously ineffective as a bowler: indeed his 23 wickets cost 66.26 each. He was the father-in-law of E. R. Dexter.

McELHONE, FRANK ERIC, who died on July 23, 1981, aged 94, was the oldest surviving New South Wales cricketer and one of the last to have played with Victor Trumper. He played twice for New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield, both times in 1910-11, his four innings, all against Victoria, being 26, 23, 101 and 34. In the same season he scored 94 for New South Wales against the touring South Africans. In 1911-12 he failed to score in his one first-class match, against P. F. Warner's MCC side. He was a nephew of W. P. McElhone, a founder member of the Australian Cricket Board.

McGREGOR, WILLIAM, died on October 5, 1980, aged 92. He was a wicket-keeper from the Victorian country town of Benalla and, although he never played first-class cricket for Victoria, he was the last surviving member of Sir Arthur Sims's 1913-14 Australian team which toured New Zealand. Others on this tour included Trumper, Noble, Armstrong, Ransford and the Englishman J. N. Crawford. McGregor's share of an Australian total of 922 for nine against a South Canterbury XV at Temuka was 74; Crawford's was 354 (fourteen 6s and forty-five 4s) and Trumper's 135.

MAUDSLEY, PROFESSOR RONALD HARLING, who died in San Diego, California on September 29, 1981, aged 63, was in the Oxford side in 1946 and 1947, played for Warwickshire from 1946 to 1951, and also had Blues for golf and Rugby fives. Yet he was not one of the great natural games-players to whom success comes easily: rather he was one who, typically of his attitude in other walks of life, by study and concentration made the maximum use of the obviously considerable gifts with which he had been endowed. At Malvern, where he was in the XI from 1934 to 1936, he had a comparatively modest record. It was in the Oxford side of 1946 that he made his name. He was the ideal partner for Martin Donnelly, who with him solidly entrenched at the other end could attack the bowling without worrying too much about what there was to come. Maudsley himself would have been the first to acknowledge how much he owed to his partner's help and example. Together they took part in three century stands in successive innings, 171 unfinished against the Indians and 218 and 134 against Lancashire. That year Maudsley came second in the Oxford averages with 719 runs and an average of 35.95 and, though he was afterwards very useful to Warwickshire, he never improved on this form. In 1947 exams kept him out of the Oxford side during the term and he played little part in their season's cricket. In 1948, when already a Fellow of Brasenose, he shared the Warwickshire captaincy with Dollery, taking it over when the vacation set him free. His last first-class match was for Warwickshire against Oxford in 1951 and he finished his career with a hundred, his fourth in first-class cricket and his second for the county.

In all first-class cricket he made 2,676 runs with an average of 24.10 and took 52 wickets at 28.27. He was a medium-pace swinger, with one or two good performances to his credit. Sometimes, in a shortage, he took the new ball for his county and in fact headed their averages in 1947, as he had done the Oxford averages in 1946.

MAYER, JOSEPH HERBERT ( DANNY), who died on September 6, 1981, aged 79, was a fine example of a county servant. Between 1926 and 1939 he played in 333 first-class matches, 332 of them for Warwickshire. Not only was he a tremendous worker: he was a model of consistency. From 1928 to 1939 his highest aggregate of wickets was 126 in 1929, his lowest 70 in 1928, when he missed eight matches through injury. His average varied from 19.09 in 1936 to 24.61 in 1933. Only twice did he reach 100 wickets, but on four other occasions he took over 90 and on three he was in the 80s. In all these seasons he would almost certainly have topped the hundred had a reasonable proportion of slip catches been held. But whether they were held or not, he never ceased to put everything into his bowling and, as throughout his career there was a grave lack of pace bowling to help him, he had to be over-bowled. In all he took 1,145 wickets at 22.15, figures which in the circumstances are not a true index of his class or of his value to the county. As early as 1928 he had shown what he could do when he took eight for 62 in the first innings against Surrey at Edgbaston, dismissing the first seven batsmen - Hobbs, Sandham, Ducat, Shepherd, Barling, Peach and Fender, indeed a notable bag.

Strongly built he bowled fast-medium, kept the ball well up, obtained considerable pace off the pitch and moved a bit both ways. Batsmen had always to treat him with respect. Against Gloucestershire at Edgbaston in 1937 he took thirteen for 70 and in the corresponding match a year later, besides capturing eleven for 78, he scored 52 not out, adding 78 for the last wicket with Hollies. In view of the amount of bowling he had to do, he did not normally trouble much about his batting, but two innings in 1927 showed clearly that he could bat and that, being the genuine cricketer he was, he could adapt his tactics to the situation. Against Surrey at The Oval, going in last, he scored 74 not out, including fourteen 4s, and put on 126 in 75 minutes with Wyatt. In the same season, rain having reduced the home match against Yorkshire to a struggle for first innings points. Mayer coming in last again with 35 needed for the lead presented a dead bat to everything, until his partner, Santall, had scored the necessary runs. He was then caught off his first attempt to score, having been in thirty-five minutes for 0. This against Macaulay, Robinson, Kilner, Rhodes and Jacques was no mean feat.

MORGAN, STANLEY, MBE, who died in Belfast on December 1, 1980, aged 71, was a sound middle-order batsman for the Ulster and North of Ireland clubs. He played once for Ireland in 1930, and in recent years was involved in Unionist politics. His brother, H. R. Morgan, was also an international cricketer.

MURRAY, ATHOL LESLIE, who died on January 10, 1981, aged 79, had a good trial for Warwickshire as a batsman in 1922, but his highest score was only 33 against Surrey and his average 9.47. Educated at St George's, Harpenden, he was better known as a golfer, playing for Oxford in 1922 and again in 1923, when he had the distinction of beating E. F. Storey in the University match.

PALIA, PHIROZ EDULJI, who died in Bangalore on September 9, 1981, aged 71, played twice for India, each time at Lord's, in 1932 and 1936. Having pulled a hamstring in the field in the 1932 match, he batted at number eleven in the second innings in a vain attempt to save the match for India. Palia was a left-hand batsman, wristy and attractive, and a useful bowler of the orthodox slow left-arm type. More was expected of him in England, certainly as a batsman, than he achieved. Despite batting high in the order, in 37 first-class innings his top score was 63 against Oxford University in 1936. His highest first-class score, 216, was in the Ranji Trophy for United Provinces against Maharashtra in 1939-40. After his retirement he kept in touch with the game as a Test selector and radio commentator.

PARKINSON, SIR KENNETH WADE, who died on June 20, 1981, aged 73, was President of Yorkshire from 1974 until the time of his death. Despite having lost a leg when only sixteen, he took an active part in many forms of sport, becoming MFH, a good grouse shot and an accomplished conjuror. A useful opening batsman, he played an innings once for the Free Foresters in which he faced five balls, all against the fast bowling of Philip Utley: the first sped to the boundary and was signalled four runs, the fifth bowled him. In the dressing-room afterwards, four large dents were to be seen in his tin leg. Although he had many commitments, being Chairman of the Yorkshire Post among other things, he was an excellent host at Headingley, where his humility and sense of humour were much appreciated.

PARSONS, THE REV. CANON JOHN HENRY, MC, who died in a Plymouth nursing home on February 2, 1981, aged 90, had a unique career. He played for Warwickshire from 1910 to 1914 as a professional: commissioned in the Great War and continuing in the Army after it, he appeared in 1919 and 1923 as Capt. J. H. Parsons: in 1924 he resumed his professional career, in 1929 he was ordained and from then to his retirement in 1934 he played again as an amateur. But for this almost complete gap of ten years, when he would normally have been in his prime, he might well have played for England. In that dismal season of 1921, when most of the batsmen who did play were cowed by the pace of Gregory and McDonald and when more slip catches were dropped than held, he would have been a strong candidate. A tall man, who made full use of his height, he was a superb driver of fast bowling, which he believed in attacking, and one of the safest slips of his day. By the time he resumed his career, English batting was fast recovering, a younger generation, Hammond, Leyland, Jardine, Chapman, was knocking at the door, and his opportunity was gone.

Born at Oxford and qualified by residence in Coventry, he had a brief trial for Warwickshire in 1910, and in 1911, with 568 runs at an average of 22.72, was a useful member of the side which so unexpectedly won the Championship. After a bad setback in the wet season of 1912, he got his thousand runs in 1913 and in 1914 was picked for the Players at the Oval, then an important match, a sign that he was regarded as potentially more than a mere county player. His few matches in 1919 and 1923 showed clearly what a loss he was and, when he returned to regular cricket in 1924, he did not disappoint expectations. In 1926-27 he was one of the leading batsmen on Arthur Gilligan's MCC side in India, not then a Test country, and in 1927 he had the splendid record for Warwickshire of 1,671 runs with an average of 50.64. This included the highest score of his career, 225 against Glamorgan at Edgbaston. Even this record he surpassed in 1931 when he averaged 63.72 in eighteen matches. In 1930 he had represented the Gentlemen at Lord's, thus joining the select band of those who played on both sides in these matches. The finale came in 1934, and perhaps no cricketer has made a more glorious exit. At Hull, under his captaincy, Warwickshire were dismissed for 45: they had to get 216 in the last innings and, thanks to Parsons who made 94 out of 121 in under two hours with three 6s and twelve 4s, they won by one wicket. It was his last match for the county.

In all first-class cricket he scored 17,983 runs with an average of 35.69, including 38 centuries. Shortly before his death a biography of him, Cricketer Militant, appeared written by Gerald Howat.

PELLEW, CLARENCE EDWARD ( NIP), died in Adelaide on May 9, 1981, aged 87. The last survivor but one of Warwick Armstrong's great Australian side of 1921, which was perhaps the first to set the winning of the Tests above all other considerations, he stood out from the rest as having more the traditional approach of the English amateur. Flaxen-haired and seldom wearing a cap, he was an attacking batsman, a matter of some importance when Tests in England were confined to three days. He was a fine straight-driver and a great exponent of the off-drive played slightly late to send the ball between cover and third-man: he was also a competent player off his legs and a splendid runner between the wickets. But though he made two hundreds in the 1920-21 series and for his career in Sheffield Shield cricket had an average of 39.50, it is as an outfield that he is chiefly remembered. Credited with being able to run the 100 yards in 10.2 seconds and to throw a cricket ball over 100 yards, he might well, after sprinting 40 yards round the boundary save not one run but two or three, so swiftly did he get rid of the ball. In any discussion of the world's greatest outfields, he must be a candidate for a place.

After showing promise for South Australia in 1913-14 and making 97 against New South Wales in 1914-15, he went to the War and it was not until 1919, when he was a member of the AIF side in England, that he really became prominent. Starting with 105 not out against Cambridge University in his first match, he made 1,260 runs with an average of 38, including four centuries. Returning to Australia he made 271 in four and threequarter hours against Victoria, equalling a record set up by George Giffen 30 years before. In 1920-21 he played in four of the five Tests, scoring 115 in just over three hours in the second and hitting brilliantly in the third to get 104 in two hours. After this he was a trifle disappointing as a batsman in England in 1921, failing to reach 1,000 runs, but even so he was never omitted from the Test side. That was the end of his regular first-class career but, reappearing for South Australia in a few matches in 1928-29, he showed what a loss his premature retirement had been. From 1930 to the War, and again from 1958 to 1970, he was South Australia's state coach. Several members of his family had played for South Australia, and it was from one of them, J. H. Pellew, a very useful performer, that he inherited the nickname of Nip.

PILKINGTON, THOMAS ALEC, who died on October 11, 1981, aged 74, played for Eton against Winchester in 1925 as a batsman, but was prevented by mumps from playing at Lord's. In 1926-27 he was a member of the MCC side to the Argentine, captained by P. F. Warner, who had been in the Oxford XI with his father.

POSTILL, RONALD, died on March 24, 1980, aged 73. He had played with some success for Hertfordshire as a fast-medium right-arm bowler in the early 1930s. In four seasons, 1930-33, he took 57 wickets at 17.22. Later he was Headmaster of Victoria College, Jersey.

REDMAN, JACK, died at Salisbury on September 24, 1981, aged 55. Born at Bath, he played for Somerset, first as an amateur and later as a professional, from 1948 to 1953, but only in two seasons, 1951 and 1952, did he appear at all frequently. A fast-medium right-arm swinger, he took in 1951 50 wickets at 33.76 apiece and in 1952 33 at 35.36. It will be seen that, though a whole-hearted trier, he was expensive, and after 1952, deciding that there was no future for him as a professional, he retired and went into business, playing however a match or two as an amateur in 1953. He had enjoyed one day of special glory when, against Derbyshire at Frome in 1951, he took seven for 23 in the first innings. Occasionally he made useful scores in the tail, his highest being 45 against Essex at Brentwood in 1951. Between 1958 and 1964 he made a few appearances for Wiltshire and in 1962 played an innings of 112 against Somerset Second XI.

ROSS-SLATER, ARTHUR, who died at Pershore on February 16, 1981, aged 79, spent his late years scoring for Worcestershire, to whose cricket he was deeply attached. He served on the county committee from 1975 to 1978 and was a Vice-President of the club.

SELLERS, ARTHUR BRIAN, MBE, who died at his home near Bingley on February 20, 1981, aged 73, was one of the most effective county captains of this century. The great Yorkshire elevens of the 1920s, immensely powerful in batting, bowling and fielding, were for the most part weak in captaincy, but strong enough to triumph in spite of this. Sellers came into the side in 1932, without any previous first-class experience - when the official captain, F. E. Greenwood, found himself unable to play as much as he had hoped - and acting as captain in 25 matches he did not lost one. From the first he made it clear that, experienced or inexperienced, he was in charge and that what he said must be done. He could talk to the professionals in their own language and never minced his words, and after some initial dissatisfaction they became attached to him. Moreover other counties, however often they might be beaten, began to enjoy playing against Yorkshire, which had not always been the case. The cricket would be stern and tough but it would be good-humoured, and there were no longer the distasteful incidents arising from indiscipline, which had tended to mar their matches a few years earlier.

Sellers was captain from 1933 to 1947 and in those nine seasons led Yorkshire six times to the Championship. Had he been a better player, he would have made a captain of England in this country: whether he had the tact necessary to captain a touring side is more doubtful. His career figures of 9,273 runs with an average of 23 do not look much, but it needed a crisis to bring the best out of him and crises in his Yorkshire sides were rare. Typically, the first of his four hundreds was against the Australians in 1934, when Sutcliffe had had to retire from the match owing to an injury. Another was against Kent in 1937, when, coming in at 48 for five, he made 109. His highest score was 204 against Cambridge University in 1936. As a fieldsman he was in the top class, especially close to the wicket, and if he was sometimes criticised for placing key players in dangerous positions, he never shunned these positions himself. He played for the Gentlemen at Lord's in 1937.

Between 1938 and 1955 he was several times an England selector, and, until his retirement in 1972, was a leading member of the Yorkshire committee, where, while he rendered great service, his outspokenness also tended to involve him in storms, culminating in a major one in 1971 when Boycott was appointed to replace Close as captain. Seller's father had been a prominent Yorkshire batsman in the 1890s and was later Chairman of the county's selection committee.

SNOWDEN, ALEXANDER WILLIAM, who played for Northamptonshire from 1931 to 1939, died in hospital on may 7, 1981, aged 67. First appearing for the county before he was eighteen, after being in the XI at King's School, Peterborough, he showed promise in the next two seasons, but in 1934 surpassed all he had done before by scoring 105 in three and threequarter hours against the Australians. First in and last out, he gave only one chance. This was the highlight of his career, although later in the season he took part in what may well be some kind of record. At Edgbaston, Warwickshire declared part way through the second morning at 429 for nine and Snowden and Bakewell came out to open at 12.45. They put up 119 but, even so, Northamptonshire made only 164 and they were on the way to the wicket again at 4.30. When they were separated at six o'clock, they had scored 121. Snowden's share of these partnerships was 57 and 42. That year, for the only time, he reached 1,000 runs. He never quite fulfilled his promise.

In the nets at the beginning of 1935 the Northamptonshire captain, W. C. Brown, was injured and, until G. B. Cuthbertson took over in June, Snowden had to captain the side. Although he won the toss in his first ten matches, he was not a success; he had insufficient confidence in himself and the side rather lost confidence in him. The experience had a disastrous effect on his form and in 30 innings his highest score was only 29. Thereafter he played only spasmodically, though his last appearance was not till 1939 and in 1937 he made the highest score of his career, 128 against Lancashire at Old Trafford. In all he scored 4,343 runs for the county with an average of 18.10.

Naturally left-handed, he had originally been a left-hand bat but was forced by a master to change to right-hand because a left-hander wastes so much time. It may be that this helped to restrict the freedom of his strokes. Short and stockily built, he combined an endless patience with a sound defence, scoring mainly on the leg. He also made himself into a fine short-leg. His father had been a considerable benefactor to the county club and was one of those who helped to save it in the financial crisis of 1931.

SPENCER-PARKER, ROBERT, who died in his sleep at his home in Salisbury, Zimbabwe, on October 17, 1980, his 66th birthday, was, with T. E. S. Francis, the Cambridge University and Somerset cricketer and England Rugby international, the founder of the Stragglers - a club known to, and enjoyed by, countless visitors to Rhodesia. He was a tireless worker for cricketers of all ages, both African and European.

SPURWAY, THE REV. FRANCIS EDWARD, who died at Hale, near Taunton, on December 30, 1980, aged 86, played fairly frequently for Somerset as a wicket-keeper from 1920 to 1929. He had been in the XI at King's School, Burton, and several members of his family had played for the county.

TAYLOR, DONALD DOUGALD, died on December 5, 1980, aged 57. Playing for Auckland from 1946 to 1961, he appeared three times for New Zealand in Tests, against England in 1946-47, against West Indies at Wellington in 1955-56, when he made 43 and 77, and in the final match of that series, which produced New Zealand's first Test victory. However, he is best remembered for his opening partnerships of 220 and 286 with Bert Sutcliffe for Auckland against Canterbury in 1948-49, the only instance of two players putting up 200 in each innings of a first-class match. Taylor's own share was 99 and 143. After this he was perhaps unlucky not to be picked for the tour of England in 1949. Instead, he came over and qualified for Warwickshire, but though he played some useful innings for them, notably 90 not out in as many minutes against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in 1951, he could never command a regular place. He returned to New Zealand after the season of 1953. A neat, attractive, stroke-playing batsman, in all first-class cricket he scored 3,734 runs with an average of 23.63.

TOBIN, MARTIN JOHN, who kept wicket for Cornwall from 1946 to 1961 and occasionally later, died at Crowan Praze, near Camborne, on February 4, 1981, aged 60.

TRAVERS, BENJAMIN, the famous playwright, author of the Aldwych farces, who died in London on December 18, 1980, aged 94, made no claims to have been a cricketer himself, but throughout his life he was a devoted follower of the game. For years he was a constant attendant at Lord's, and he spent several winters in Australia, in 1928-29 accompanying A. P. F. Chapman's side for most of their tour. He was a Vice-President of Somerset, and completed, just before his death, some of his cricket reminiscences. These were to have been entitled'94 Not Out'; in view of his death they appeared as 94 Declared.

TRUEMAN, GEOFFREY, who died in Sydney on June 28, 1981, kept wicket for New South Wales and came near to playing for Australia in the early 1950s. Of the 82 dismissals, including 20 stumpings, in which he shared in his three seasons of state cricket, eighteen were off Richie Benaud. He was a member of two Sheffield Shield winning sides - in 1951-52 and 1953-54.

UDAL, GEOFFREY FRANCIS, died on December 5, 1980, aged 72. A fast bowler, he played once for Middlesex in 1932 and twice for Leicestershire in 1946, though without success. In 1946 it was discovered that he had been bowling with a fractured rib. He was a grandson of the Hon. J. S. Udal, who did so much for cricket in Fiji.

VINCENT, SIR HAROLD GRAHAM, KCMG, CB, CVO, who died in a nursing home at Tonbridge on November 5, 1981, aged 89, was the last survivor of the 1914 University match. A member of the Haileybury XI from 1909 to 1911, he scored 54 and 118 not out against Cheltenham at Lord's in 1910, despite which his side was beaten by an innings. Although he did well in the Freshman's match at Cambridge, it was not until 1914 that, mainly through good innings in a crisis against the Free Foresters and Sussex, he got his Blue. At Lord's he only made 19 and 3, but he took four catches in Oxford's first innings. After the Great War a distinguished career in the Civil Service, for which he was knighted in 1953, restricted his opportunities for cricket, though he played a certain amount for the Free Foresters and the Old Haileyburians.

WADE, HERBERT FREDERICK, who died in Johannesburg on November 22, 1980, aged 75, after a long illness, captained South Africa in all his ten Test matches, five in England in 1935 and five against Australia in South Africa in 1935-36. He was made captain more for his qualities of leadership than for his batting ability, though he was one of the most effective South African batsmen of his time. The fact that he had played league cricket in Yorkshire (for whom he played Rugby football) was also a point in his favour when it came to appointing a captain to England in 1935. The previous South African side, to Australia and New Zealand in 1931-32, had been led by H. B. Cameron, a contemporary of Wade's at Hilton College, Pietermaritzburg, and his vice-captain in England. As leader of the first South African side ever to win a Test match in England, Wade's place in South African Test history is secure. His own main contribution to that series, other than as a captain of unostentatious efficiency (A History of Cricket, Altham and Swanton), was his unbeaten 32 at Headingley when England were pressing hard for a victory to level the series. In all first-class matches on the tour he scored 1,042 runs at an average of 28.94, including centuries against Cambridge University, Nottinghamshire and Glamorgan. For the strong Natal side of the 1930s, he was very consistent (1,912 runs, average 44.46), with a highest score of 190 against Eastern Province at Pietermaritzburg in 1936-37. Determined but unassuming, he earned the respect of all his players. His younger brother, W. W. (Billy), played eleven times for South Africa between 1938-39 and 1948-49, besides becoming a Test Umpire.

WAIT, OWEN JOHN, died on April 26, 1981, aged 54. A successful bowler in the Dulwich College XI, he got his Blue at Cambridge in 1949, when he headed the bowling averages. In 1950, suffering from a doubtful leg, he lost his form and his place, but returned to the side in 1951, when he had the splendid record of 44 wickets at 19.65 and against Sussex at Hove took six for 18. In 1950 and 1951 he played a few times for Surrey. Standing 6 ft 4 in tall, he bowled fast-medium with a high action, largely in-swingers. Becoming a schoolmaster, for years he ran the cricket at Mill Hill and was also active in the selection of representative school sides in the holidays. In 1977 he was elected to the MCC committee.

WALL, THOMAS WHEELBOURNE, who died in Adelaide on March 26, 1981, was Australia's fast bowler from 1929 to 1934. In that time he played in nine Tests in Australia, where his 37 wickets cost him 25 runs each, and nine in England, in which he took nineteen at 56 runs each. In fact, in both his tours to England, in 1930 and 1934, he was expensive in all matches, his total for the two seasons being 98 wickets at an average of 30, though it is only fair to say that in 1934 he was handicapped by a bad leg. Doubtless he could get more pace and bounce in Australia: still, it was his ability to swing the ball away that made Bradman pronounce him The finest fast bowler I ever played with the new ball (he was ever prepared to bowl into the wind to help it swing) and one would have expected him to be more effective in England. Apart from his bowling he was a fair short-leg and a number eleven who could take some moving at a crisis.

Standing over 6 ft, he took a run of 27 paces, then regarded as the longest in the world: bowling with a high arm and a good action he was accurate both in length and direction. He was unlucky in not having in Tests a fast bowler as his regular partner at the other end. He first played for Australia in his second season of state cricket, in the last Test against England in 1928-29, when, with five for 66 in the second innings, he had much to do with his side's only victory in the series. At Old Trafford in 1930, coming on for his second spell with 100 up for no wicket, he dismissed Hobbs, Sutcliffe and Hammond for 6 runs in the course of four overs. But perhaps his most famous feat was for South Australia against New South Wales at Sydney in 1932-33, when in the first innings, without any assistance from the pitch but with a strong breeze to help him, he took ten for 36. No bowler had previously taken all ten wickets in the Sheffield Shield: moreover the first four batsmen were Fingleton, Brown, Bradman and McCabe. If he will not be remembered as one of the great bowlers, he was always, however things were going, a whole-hearted trier and in these tempestuous times many will look back nostalgically to one whom Ray Robinson described as the most gentlemanly of all fast bowlers.

WARD, LESLIE MAYNARD, who died at Bideford on January 12, 1981, aged 72, was an off-spinner of slightly more than average pace. He played one match for Warwickshire, against Leicestershire in 1930, his single victim being W. E. Astill. He spent much of his life in Australia.

WARD, MERRIK DE SAMPAJO CECIL, died suddenly on February 13, 1981, aged 72. A hard-hitting left-handed bat and an accurate medium-pace left-arm bowler, he was in the Eton XI in 1926 and 1927 and played occasionally for Hampshire between 1927 and 1929. In county cricket he met with little success apart from an innings of 48 against Kent in 1928.

WAUGH, ALEC, brother of Evelyn, died in Florida on September 3, 1981, aged 83. A great lover of cricket, he was Bobby Southcott in A. G. Macdonnell's England, their England, and for 50 years seldom missed a Test match at Lord's.

WEBB, LT-CDR ARTHUR GEOFFREY GASCOIGNE, Secretary of Leicestershire from 1933 to 1939, died at Oakham on April 6, 1981, aged 84. Born near Sittingbourne, he played for Kent Second XI in 1922 and occasionally for Leicestershire between 1933 and 1938. He had also appeared for the Navy and for Nigeria. A left-hand bat, he could also, if required, keep wicket.

WEDEL, GEORGE, who died on April 16, 1981, aged 80, was a useful bowler for Gloucestershire between 1925 and 1929. In 1926 he showed considerable promise as a leg-spinner, taking 30 wickets at an average of 20.66 and finishing second in the county's bowling averages. His best analysis in that season was four wickets for 4 runs in seven overs against Northamptonshire, against whom, in 1929, he also made his highest first-class score of 53. He was a left-handed batsman. His appearances after 1926 were too infrequent for him to fulfil the hopes he had raised. His first first-class victim was Herbert Sutcliffe. As a bowler he was somewhat after the style of Dick Tyldesley: not much break and came through quick. He was also a very good fielder. Wedel was honorary secretary of the Gloucestershire Gypsies, besides, at different times, being captain, secretary, chairman and president of the Stroud club.

WELLARD, ARTHUR WILLIAM, died peacefully in his sleep on December 31, 1980, aged 77. In a career extending from 1927 to 1950 he scored 12,575 runs with an average of 19.73 and took 1,614 wickets at 24.35 - figures which suggest a valuable county all-rounder. In fact he was more than that. Though he was a good enough opening bowler to be selected in that rôle for a Test against Australia, and once took nine for 117 in an unofficial Test in India, it is as a batsman that he will be chiefly remembered. In the course of his career he hit some 500 6s, thus accounting for a quarter of the runs he made. But he was no mere slogger: he had a sound defence and was, for one of his type, remarkably consistent. His record was not boosted by large innings. He made only two hundreds, his highest score being 112 against Lancashire at Old Trafford in 1936. A tall, strong man, he bowled fast-medium with a vicious break-back, and a large number of his victims were clean-bowled. For variety in a second spell, or when the pitch was taking spin, he could bowl just as efficiently slow off-breaks round the wicket. He was a fine field anywhere close in. Above all, whatever he was doing he was an indefatigable trier.

Born at Southfleet, near Gravesend, he originally played for Bexley and as early as 1921 took six for 21 against Kent Club and Ground. When the sides next met in 1926, he took five for 36. But despite this, and although he headed the Bexley batting and bowling averages for three years, Kent were not interested and tradition has it that, when he asked whether there was any chance of a trial for them, he was told he had much better be a policeman. It was Arthur Haywood, late of the Kent staff and then professional at Taunton School, who suggested that he should approach Somerset and he started to qualify for them in 1927. That year and the next he showed promising form against the touring side, and in his first full season, 1929, he took 131 wickets at 21.38. For the next few years, owing largely to elbow trouble, his bowling was disappointing, but in 1933 he did the double, a feat he repeated in 1935 and 1937. A good example of what he could do was the Hampshire match at Portsmouth in 1933. Coming in when six wickets were down for 38, he made 77 out of 94, took seven for 43, made 60 in the second innings and then took three more wickets for 66. In 1936 he hit Armstrong of Derbyshire, a slow left-armer, for five 6s off consecutive balls: he had already taken nine wickets in the match and his 86 in 62 minutes brought his side a one-wicket victory. In 1938 he again hit five consecutive 6s, this time off Frank Woolley, being dropped just in front of the screen off the sixth ball. On this occasion his scores were 57 and 37 and he took thirteen for 115: so again he had much to do with his side's victory. These feats, at that time unparalleled, were both performed on the small ground at Wells.

In 1937 he played in the Test at Old Trafford against New Zealand without any particular success and in 1938 was in the side against Australia at Lord's. On this occasion he certainly bowled well and in the second innings made 38 vital runs, including a pulled drive for 6 off McCabe on to the grandstand balcony. When he joined Compton at 142 for seven, an Australian victory was possible: when he was out at 216 for eight, the match was safe. This was his last Test, but he was due to go to India in the winter of 1939-40 had war not intervened. He had already been a member of Lord Tennyson's unofficial side there in 1937-38 and had had a successful tour. After the War he continued for another four seasons to be a valuable member of the Somerset side, finally dropping out in 1950.

© John Wisden & Co