Obituaries in 1982

ADAM, GENERAL SIR RONALD FORBES, BT, GCB, DSO, who died on December 26, 1982, aged 97, was President of MCC in 1946. He was the oldest living member of I Zingari, to which he was elected in 1935.

ARKELL, HENRY JOHN DENHAM, died at Oxford on March 12, 1982, aged 83. He played a couple of matches for Northamptonshire in 1921. He also played hockey for the county.

AUSTIN, HAROLD McPHERSON, who died on July 31, 1980, aged 77, was a valuable member of the Cambridge side in 1924, his only year in residence. Coming from Australia, he made his place virtually secure in the first match of the season, against Sussex, scoring 30 not out and 60 against Tate and Gilligan, the England opening pair, and he finished with the useful record of 444 runs for an average of 29.60 and 34 wickets at 23.17. Against Oxford he made 51 and took three wickets. A tall and immensely powerful man, he was essentially an attacking batsman and, with his bat impeccably straight, a fine driver on both sides of the wicket. He was a splendid field and for a man of his size a very fast runner. He bowled slow leg-breaks and top-spinners which, if not always accurate, took many valuable wickets. Returning to Australia he was a member of the Victoria side which toured New Zealand in 1924-25, but he never appeared in the Sheffield Shield.

BADER, GROUP CAPTAIN SIR DOUGLAS, CBE, DSO, DFC, the famous airman, who died on September 5, 1982, aged 72, was captain of St Edward's School, Oxford, in 1928. A good attacking bat and a useful fast-medium bowler, he later played for the RAF and in 1931 made 65, the top score, for them against the Army, a fixture which in those days had first-class status. He gained greater distinction at rugger, and at the time of the accident the following winter which cost him his legs he was in the running for an England cap.

BEARD, DONALD DEREK, who died on July 15, 1982, aged 62, while on a visit to England, was a member of the first New Zealand side ever to win a Test match- against West Indies at Auckland in March, 1956. He made a useful all-round contribution, scoring 31 and 6 not out at No. 9 and taking one for 20 in West Indies' first innings and three for 22 in fifteen overs in the second. New Zealand had waited 26 years and 45 Tests for this success. An accurate, medium-paced right-hand bowler, capable of late swing, and a lively hitter of the ball, in his four Test appearances he scored 101 runs at an average of 20.20 and captured nine wickets at 33.55 apiece. In all first-class cricket (for both Central and Northern Districts) he took 278 wickets (average 21.58) and scored 2,166 runs (average 22.10).

BENNETT, MAJOR GEOFFREY MICHAEL, died in Toronto on July 26, 1982, aged 72. After having a fine all-round record in the Eleven at King's School, Bruton, he had a few trials for Somerset in 1928, the year he left school, and 1929, but it was not until 1932 that he gained a regular place in the side. From then until 1939 he played frequently, at one time acting as vice-captain to R. A. Ingle. His best season was 1934 when he scored 735 runs with an average of 19.86, including 71 and 73 (his highest score for the county) against Gloucestershire at Bath. Another fine innings was against Kent at Maidstone in 1939, when, after seven wickets were down for 47, a brave 72 enabled his side to reach 185. He hit the ball well, especially in front of the wicket, and was a fine field. Little use was made in county cricket of his bowling, though in 1934 he took four for 39 against Nottinghamshire at Taunton. In all he made 2,330 runs for Somerset with an average of 15.33. After the war he emigrated to Canada.

BESSANT, JOHN, who died on January 18, 1982, aged 86, played for Gloucestershire as a fast-medium bowler from 1921 to 1928. In 1921 he took 34 wickets at 25.73, but thereafter could never produce an average of under 30 and, after three seasons as a regular member of the side, had increasing difficulty in keeping his place. One of his competitors was Tom Goddard, who seeing no real future as a fast bowler, altered his style and became a great slow off-spinner. As a bat Bessant, a useful hitter, enjoyed one triumph: against Somerset at Bristol in 1923 he made 50, putting on 131 for the last wicket (still a Gloucestershire record) in just over an hour with W. R. Goldsworthy. Altogether for the county he scored 1,200 runs with an average of 10.26 and took 130 wickets at 35.50. For many years he was groundsman to Bristol University.

BLAGRAVE, HERBERT HENRY GRATWICKE, died on March 21, 1982, aged 82. A member of the Cheltenham Eleven in 1917, he appeared in one match for Gloucestershire in 1922. He was a prominent figure in the horse-racing world.

BRETT, PATRICK JOHN, who died at Hook Heath, Woking, on December 9, 1982, aged 72, was in the Winchester Eleven in 1927 and 1928 and got his Blue at Oxford in 1929. For Winchester v Eton in 1928 he scored 55 and took twelve for 115. As a batsman, at this time he was chiefly an on-side player. He bowled medium-pace right-arm, could swing the ball late both ways and came quickly off the pitch. At Oxford he was given a trial halfway through the term, largely as an opening bowler, but in that capacity was a complete failure. However, in his first match he made 30 and 75 not out against Leicestershire, in the second innings putting on 137 for the first wicket with I. Akers-Douglas. In the next match, against Middlesex, he followed this with 79, adding 143 for the fourth wicket with N. M. Ford. So strong, however, was the Oxford batting that even after this his place was in doubt: he clinched it with innings of 57 and 106 against H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI at Eastbourne, which was for once a strong bowling side. By now he had become a fine driver on both sides of the wicket and particularly good past extra cover. Unfortunately a bad car accident stopped him from playing cricket in 1930 and his first-class career came to an end after one season.

BROUGHTON, ERNEST ALFRED, who died on February 19, 1982, aged 76, played a number of times for Leicestershire from 1928 to 1933. A useful hard-hitting batsman, against Worcestershire in 1932 he made 61 at Worcester and 52 at Hinckley. He did much valuable work for the county in captaining Second Eleven and Club and Ground sides, was on the Committee for many years and a Vice-President, and from 1974 to 1981 was Hon. Treasurer.

BULL, AMY, CBE, who died in Surrey on August 6, 1982, aged 80, learnt her cricket at Roedean, being one of three cricketing sisters, and continued to play as one of the first members of the newly founded WCA. In 1929, she played in the first-ever public match for London & District v Rest of England, making 73 not out and taking three for 31. As a captain, she infected her team with determination and enthusiasm, accompanied by a keen sense of humour. Amy Bull served the WCA twice as Chairman and was twice President of the Association of Headmistresses. Her services to nursing (during the war) and to education brought her the award of the CBE in 1963.

BURNETT, HAROLD JOHN BEVERLEY, who died in Diego Martin, Trinidad, on December 18, 1981, at the age of 66, was, from 1974 till 1981, the efficient and affable Secretary of the West Indian Cricket Board of Control. During this time he had a difficult course to steer over the Packer Affair, which he did with his customary consideration. In 1963 he was assistant-manager of Frank Worrell's West Indian team to England, in his estimation the strongest of all West Indian sides. An outstanding games-player as a schoolboy at Queen's Royal College, Trinidad, he became for several years, as an off-spinner and middle-order batsman, a regular member of the Trinidad team. He also played football for the island.

CHUBB, GEOFFREY WALTER ASHTON, who died in East London on August 28, 1982, at the age of 71, played five times for South Africa against England in England in 1951 and served two terms as President of the South African Cricket Association. At 40 years 56 days he was the oldest South African to make a Test début. It happened at Trent Bridge, and when England went in late on the second day, facing a total of 483, he had Ikin caught at slip with his third ball and finished with four for 146 off 46 overs. He and McCarthy reduced England from 375 for three to 419 all out and gave South Africa the chance to record their first win in England for sixteen years. Chubb's best Test figures came at Old Trafford when he took six for 51 in England's first innings. With 21 wickets in the series at 27.47 apiece, he headed the bowling averages for South Africa. He was also their leading wicket-taker in all first-class matches on the tour, capturing 72 at 26.84 apiece and bowling over 150 overs more than anyone else.

Born in Rhodesia, Chubb began his first-class career as an opening batsman for Border in 1931-32, but on moving to Johannesburg concentrated on his bowling. He worked hard at perfecting his medium-paced seamers and developing a high degree of accuracy. Fair-haired, studious and bespectacled, he was a disarmingly effective bowler and immensely popular. After his retirement in 1951, at the end of his tour of England, he devoted his energies to cricket administration, becoming a national selector and, from 1955 to 1957 and again from 1959 to 1960, President of the SACA. In all first-class cricket he took 160 wickets at an average of 23.91, scored 835 runs (average 18.15) and held twelve catches.

CLARK, EDWARD WINCHESTER, inevitably known as Nobby, who died on April 28, 1982, near King's Lynn, aged 79, possessed every qualification of a great bowler except temperament. With a lovely loose left arm, which almost brushed his ear as it came over, he had a classic action, his right shoulder pointing straight at the batsman. He was at his best really fast and, though he was well capable of bowling, like Voce, to a leg-side field, was probably most effective round the wicket when the ball, swinging in and breaking away, would produce catches in the slips if the batsman was good enough to touch it. But he was a perfectionist and anything outside his control which interfered with that perfection - a dropped catch, an insecure foothold, a tactless word from his captain or one of his companions - was quite sufficient to put him off. It was his misfortune that his county, Northamptonshire, was throughout his career one of the weakest sides that has ever played in the Championship: not only did he have to do more than his fair share of bowling, but perhaps no fast bowler since Buckenham of Essex had so many chances dropped off him. A further annoyance to him was the rate at which his vis-à-vis, that splendid bowler Albert Thomas, got through his overs, an undue proportion of which were maidens, thus robbing Clark of what he considered as a rightful rest. His cricket began and ended with his bowling: neither batting nor fielding did he regard as any business of his.

Though he was born near Peterborough, it was success in league cricket in Yorkshire, where he was an engineering apprentice, that brought him to the notice of the Northamptonshire authorities and he made a promising start in 1922, heading the averages with twenty wickets at 17.10. There followed two or three seasons of varying fortune, but in 1925 he came right to the front with 84 wickets at 17.79 and began to be talked of as a Test match prospect. He played in the Test trials in 1927, but in 1928, handicapped by injury, he had a poor season and he had to wait till 1929 for his first Test, against South Africa at The Oval, where he was criticised for overdoing leg-theory. A row with Northamptonshire, whom he left temporarily for league cricket, spoiled his chances of playing against the Australians in 1930. However, he returned to the county in 1932, and in 1933 he played at The Oval and Old Trafford against West Indies, bowling well without spectacular success. That winter he had a successful tour in India under D. R. Jardine and in 1934 was picked at Old Trafford and again at The Oval against Australia. At Old Trafford he bowled well without any luck, but in the second innings at The Oval he took five for 98, his victims being Ponsford, Brown, McCabe, Kippax and Chipperfield, while he twice failed by only the narrowest margin to bowl Bradman. This was his last Test, but he continued to bowl with success until 1936. In 1937, handicapped by injury, he had a poor season and dropped out of the county side, but he returned in 1946 to bowl with at least some trace of his former greatness. A few matches in 1947 concluded his career. In all first-class cricket he took 1,203 wickets at 21 runs each.

CLOVER-BROWN, CHARLES, who died on October 6, 1982, aged 75, captained Harrow in 1927, his third year in the Eleven. Later, working in Colombo until the war, he represented All Ceylon and against D. R. Jardine's side to Australia in 1932, though he himself made only 15, helped W. T. Brindley to put on 79 for the first wicket, a record for Ceylon in these matches. Against G. O. Allen's side in 1936 he made 31. While on leave in England he appeared with some success for Buckinghamshire. He was a solid and consistent opening batsman and in club cricket a useful leg-spinner.

CONIBERE, WILLIAM JACK, who died early in September, 1982, aged 59, had a trial for Somerset as an amateur in 1950. A fast-medium left-armer, who batted right-hand, he took six wickets against Warwickshire but met with little success in his three remaining matches.

CORNWALLIS, THE RIGHT HON. WYKEHAM STANLEY, 2ND BARON, died at his home, Ashurst Park, Kent, on January 4, 1982, aged 89. A genuinely fast bowler with an easy, if slightly low and slinging action, he played for Kent from 1919 to 1926, captaining them in his last three seasons. At a time when there was a desperate shortage of fast bowling, not only in Kent but in the country as a whole, he might have been a great asset had he remained sound. But he was 27 when his first-class career started and since leaving Eton, where he was not in the Eleven, had been a regular soldier with only limited opportunities of playing (and none in the last five years): his muscles had not had the work and training to enable them to stand the strain of county cricket. He was constantly breaking down, and during his three years as captain could bowl only 560 overs in all. What he could do when sound he had shown at Tonbridge in 1920 when he took five for 40 against the strong Lancashire batting side, his victims including Makepeace and Ernest Tyldesley, both clean bowled, and he bowled well next year at the start of the Australian innings at Canterbury. He was a good field and, not normally regarded as a batsman, enjoyed one triumph, against Essex at Canterbury in 1926. When he came in, Kent, facing a total of 267, were 189 for seven and Collins had retired ill. Cornwallis helped Hardinge to put on 130 and then added another 77 with Collins, who had returned: he himself made 91, largely by carefree off-side hitting, the total reached 413 and Kent won by an innings.

Later, besides holding a number of directorships, he was tireless in public life in Kent, of which he was for years Lord-Lieutenant, but interest in the game never flagged. In 1948 he was President both of Kent and MCC, and only a week or two before the commencement of his last illness he was watching IZ, of which he was a Freeman, playing Lavinia, Duchess of Norfolk's XI at Arundel, as full of life and of cricket reminiscences as ever. A man deservedly popular wherever he went and a great public servant, he will be widely missed.

COULSON, SYDNEY SAMUEL, died at Gainsborough on October 3, 1981, aged 82. After a good trial for Leicestershire in 1923, he was a regular member of the side in 1924 and 1925, showing some promise as a steady bat who could, if wanted, open the innings. Unfortunately this promise was never fulfilled, and after a few matches in 1926 and 1927 he dropped out of the side. His highest score was 80, against Derbyshire at Leicester in 1925, when he hit eleven 4s and put on 99 for the sixth wicket with Geary. In all matches for the county he scored 1,094 runs with an average of 12.43. Later he was for some years professional and groundsman at Gainsborough.

CRABTREE, HARRY POLLARD, MBE, died at Great Baddow, Essex, on May 28, 1982, aged 76. A Yorkshireman by birth, he came south as a schoolmaster to Westcliff-on-Sea, where he was a prolific scorer in club cricket. He had made a stray appearance for Essex in 1931, but most of his cricket for the county was played in the summer holidays of 1946 and 1947. In 1946 he made 793 runs with an average of 49.56, including three centuries. In 1947, though he scored 117 against the South Africans, he was less successful and he did not appear for the county after that year. A sound opening bat, he had an impeccable technique and was especially strong on the leg side. For many years he served on the Essex Committee. He will be particularly remembered for the work he did to encourage cricket coaching in state schools and as the instigator of the MCC's highly successful group coaching scheme. His friendliness and enthusiasm reassured and inspired many a young cricketer.

CRUTCHLEY, EDWARD, who died in a nursing home at Guildford on October 18, 1982, aged 60, was a stylish batsman who made 115 for Harrow against Eton at Lord's in 1939. This was in the first innings when he and G. F. Anson came together at 102 for four, with the match hanging in the balance, and added 117 in an hour. Crutchley was at the wicket in the second innings when the winning run was scored to give Harrow a historic victory, their first in the match since 1908 when his father, G. E. V. Crutchley, was in the Harrow Eleven. In 1940 Crutchley was again in the Harrow side, but for such a good player he had a disappointing season. He played in war-time matches for Oxford before service in the Army, but apart from two appearances for Middlesex against the Universities in 1947 he played little cricket after the war.

DE KLERK, THEO, who died in Durban on July 2, 1982, aged 75, was a useful all-rounder who scored 791 runs at an average of 17.57 and took 89 wickets for Western Province in 33 matches between 1925 and 1936. He made his first-class début in 1925-26, for Western Province against Orange Free State, making what was to remain his highest first-class score, 79, in Western Province's first innings. His best season was 1931-32 when his 33 wickets cost 16.42 apiece. In later years he became one of South Africa's leading racehorse trainers, saddling over 1,000 winners. A versatile sportsman, he also played first league rugger and first league soccer. He had a vivid personality and was a sought-after speaker.

DE SILVA, J. A. ( BERTIE), who has died in Sri Lanka at the age of 84, was one of his country's best all-rounders between the wars. Coming up to Oxford in 1924, he played twice for the University, once that year and once in 1925, without getting a Blue. A left-handed batsman, he was 14 not out when Oxford beat Kent by six wickets in The Parks in 1924. The Kent side included Chapman, Freeman, Woolley, Ashdown and Hardinge.

DUNDAS, SIR ROBERT WHYTE MELVILLE, BT, died on October 10, 1981, within three weeks of his 100th birthday. He was captain of an unbeaten Glenalmond Eleven in 1899. At the age of 90 he caught, at cover-point, while playing for Comrie, an opponent 70 years his junior.

FELTON, ROBERT, died after a long illness on October 5, 1982, aged 72. He made many runs for St Paul's, where he was four years in the Eleven, and, after proving himself a valuable member of the Middlesex Second Eleven, played a number of times for the county between 1935 and 1948, scoring in all 496 runs with an average of 27.56. He played one outstanding innings of 171 against Cambridge at Fenner's in 1937, reaching his hundred in 110 minutes and putting on 138 with Hulme for the fifth wicket in just over an hour. Altogether he batted for 160 minutes. He had a beautiful pair of wrists and was a particularly good cutter. For years he was a heavy scorer in club cricket around London.

FEWIN, HENRY, who died on August 25, 1980, aged 84, played one game for Queensland (against Victoria) in 1929-30 as a right-hand batsman. He fell in each innings to Ironmonger, for 7 and 11.

FITZMAURICE, DESMOND MICHAEL JOHN, who died on January 19, 1981, aged 63, played twice for Victoria in 1947-48 as a medium-paced bowler. He toured India in 1949-50 with a strong Commonwealth team, opening the bowling in two of the five unofficial Tests, and played for a while as a professional in the Central Lancashire League. He also took a coaching appointment in Kimberley, South Africa. In all he played in seventeen first-class matches, scoring 272 runs at an average of 17 and taking 28 wickets at 28.50 apiece. He was the younger brother of D. J. A. Fitzmaurice, who also played for Victoria.

FORD, REGGIE GILBERT, who died in Bristol in October, 1981, aged 74, played in 57 matches for Gloucestershire between 1929 and 1936. At the outset of his career he was expected to develop into a sound bat and, as a medium-pace right-armer, was often given the new ball. But as his final record for the county was 496 runs, with an average of 10.55 and a highest score of 37 not out, and as his ten wickets cost him 49.30 runs each, he can hardly be said to have fulfilled his promise.

FORDHAM, MICHAEL, who died suddenly from a heart attack at Miami, Florida, on February 7, 1982, aged 53, had just delivered the copy and corrected the proofs for his statistical contributions to Wisden, Playfair Cricket Annual and The Cricketer Quarterly. A local government officer, his early involvement in statistics was in association with the late Roy Webber, on whose death in 1962 he took over as chief statistician for the Playfair publications. He provided the statistical background for a great variety of publications - biographies, brochures and magazines - and his biographical notes and career records of current county players in the Playfair Cricket Annual were a regular feature of each season, providing invaluable up-to-date information for all those interested in cricket. He led and organised the team of statisticians for The Cricketer Quarterly from its inception in 1973, and had looked after the records section for Wisden since 1979. Fordham was a founder member of the Association of Cricket Statisticians and was frequently consulted in connection with its publications and the vexed question of the definition of first-class matches. In addition to his statistical work he acted as scorer for sound radio and BBC TV. He was a member of MCC and all seventeen first-class counties, but never had any pretensions as a player. - B.M.

FRANCOIS, HUGH AUGUST, who died in Johannesburg on July 17, 1982, aged 77, played sixteen times for Border from 1923 to 1928, scoring 484 runs at an average of 18.61 and taking 26 wickets at 41.26 apiece. Born at Tsolo in Transkei, he was one of three brothers to play first-class cricket, the others being C. M. and S. H.. (C. M. played in all five Tests against England in 1922-23.) A middle-order batsman and off-spin bowler, H. A. turned in several useful performances for Border: his top score was 61 against Orange Free State, his best bowling analysis seven for 79, also against the Free State, two seasons later. In his last first-class match, against R. T. Stanyforth's MCC side, he made a top score of 40 and in an MCC innings of 362 for five declared claimed the wickets of Holmes, E. Tyldesley and Dawson for 114 runs.

FRANKLIN, RONALD CHRISTIAN, who made one appearance for Essex in 1924, died at Prestwood, Buckinghamshire, on September 28, 1982, aged 78. A medium-pace right-arm bowler, he was younger brother of H. W. F. Franklin, of Oxford University and Essex.

FRANKS, BRIAN MORTON FORSTER, died on May 6, 1982, aged 71. A member of the Eton Eleven in 1929, he was a steady fast-medium bowler who had some life off the wicket.

GILLESPIE, DEREK WILLIAM, who died on August 21, 1981, aged 64, was captain of Uppingham in 1936 and gained the last place in the Cambridge side of 1939. Though he was a useful, solid batsman, who made 60 in three hours against the Free Foresters, he owed his Blue largely to his bowling. Starting the season as a fast-medium opener, he changed in June to slower off-breaks and, Cambridge being desperately short of spin, was picked for Lord's. However, he met with little success in the match. His best performance was to dismiss four of the first five Warwickshire batsmen at Birmingham, where he finished with four for 48.

GRACE, COLONEL HUGH RAYMOND, OBE, who died at Crundale, near Canterbury, on February 2, 1982, was in the Marlborough Eleven of 1929. A staunch supporter of Kent, he was their Librarian for some years and President of the county in 1979.

GREENWOOD, LEONARD WARWICK, who died at Astley, near Stourport-on-Severn, on July 20, 1982, aged 83, was a good opening bat in the Winchester Eleven in 1916 and 1917. In 1917 he played a fine innings of 141 against Harrow. In 1919 he played for Oxford against the Gentlemen of England (the first first-class match to be played after the Great War), but failed to get a Blue. However, he represented Somerset against the University in 1920 and between 1923 and 1926 appeared three times for Worcestershire without much success. For many years he was a master at Abberley Hall, near Worcester.

GRIFFITHS, JOHN VESEY CLAUDE, died a Wedmore, Somerset, on February 18, 1982, aged 50. A left-hand bat and a slow left-arm bowler, he had a number of trials for Gloucestershire between 1952 and 1957 but met with little success and failed to secure a regular place in the side.

GROVE, CHARLES WILLIAM, who died at Solihull on February 15, 1982, aged 69, did much good work for Warwickshire between 1938 and 1953. He showed promise before the war, but then came an eight-year gap and he did not resume his place in the side till 1947 when, with 98 wickets, even if they were somewhat expensive, he showed himself a very useful member of the attack. Again in 1949 and 1950 he topped 90 wickets and in 1950 had much to do with Warwickshire being the only county to beat the West Indians, taking eight for 38 in the first innings. However, it was in his last three years for the county that his best work was accomplished. In 1951, his benefit year, with 110 wickets at 18.52, he played a big part in Warwickshire winning the Championship, and he followed it with 118 at 17.53 in 1952 and in 1953 with 83 at 18.50. A big man, he was an extremely accurate fast-medium opening bowler, who could move the ball both ways, and a useful tail-end hitter, whose big performance was an innings of 104 not out in 80 minutes against Leicestershire at Leicester in 1948. Leaving Warwickshire, the county of his birth, at the end of 1953, he played in 1954 for Worcestershire with only moderate success and then went into the Birmingham League. In his first-class career he took 744 wickets at an average of 22.67. From 1974 to 1981 he was the Warwickshire scorer.

HAVEWALLA DADY RUSTOMJI, who died in Bombay on July 21, 1982, aged 70, was a big-hitting left-handed batsman. His innings of 515, including 32 6s and 55 4s, for the BB and CI Railway against St Xavier's College in the Times of India Shield in December 1933, was for a long time a record in any class of Indian cricket. He was always keen to derive the utmost enjoyment from his tenure of the crease and was very popular with the crowds. C. G. Macartney's tribute to him when he scored a rapid 71 against Ryder's Australian team in 1935-36 was fulsome. I can truly say, wrote the great Australian, that I have seldom seen finer hitting than that by Havewalla. Another notable effort was his 106 in 93 minutes for the Maharaja of Patiala's team against Lord Tennyson's at Patiala in 1937-38. This effort earned him a place in the Indian team for the fourth and fifth unofficial Tests at Madras and Bombay. In the Madras match, which India won by an innings, he made 44, the second highest score for the side. Havewalla played for Bombay in the Ranji Trophy from 1934-35 to 1941-42, his best score being 103 against Western India in 1935-36. He had started his career as a left-arm medium bowler, and took 27 wickets in the Ranji Trophy.

HELE, GEORGE, who has died in Australia at the age of 91, umpired sixteen Test matches between 1928 and 1933, ten of them between England and Australia. He stood in all five Tests in the 1932-33 Bodyline series, subsequently expressing his disapproval of the leg-theory tactics employed by some of the English fast bowlers. Himself one of the best umpires produced by Australia, his father, Andy, was also a first-class umpire, as was his son, Ray.

HENDERSON, ERNEST JAMES, DSO, MC, who died on March 29, 1982, aged 91, was a legendary figure in club cricket in Surrey. Having joined Sutton in 1905, he captained them from 1927-37, 1947-50 and again, at the age of 65, in 1957, their centenary year. Despite a limp, the result of being wounded in the Great War, he was a fine fielder and a powerful hitter. He was President, up to his death, of the both the Sutton Cricket Club and the Sutton Rugby Football Club.

HILL-WOOD, DENIS JOHN CHARLES, MC, died on May 4, 1982, aged 75. Never in the Eleven at Eton, he got a Blue at Oxford in 1928, owing his place to the need for finding a solid rather than a stroke-playing opening partner for A. M. Crawley, and, though the side's batting that year was so strong that the Nawab of Pataudi failed to get in, he fully justified his choice. In his first match he helped Crawley to put on 197 against the Free Foresters, of which his share was 44, and at The Oval they put on 153. His contribution at Lord's was a useful 23 in each innings. Altogether he made 286 runs with an average of 26, his highest score being 62 against Essex at Colchester. In both 1928 and 1929 he appeared for Derbyshire without success. In 1928 he was also a member of the Oxford soccer side and since 1959 had been Chairman of the Arsenal. He was one of four brothers (three of them Blues) who had played for Derbyshire: their father had captained the county.

HOOKER, JOHN EDWARD HALFORD ( HAL), died in Sydney on February 12, 1982, aged 83. A right-arm medium-paced bowler, capable of swinging the ball both ways, he was regarded by many as one of the best bowlers never to play for Australia. He made his first-class début for New South Wales against Victoria in Melbourne in 1924-25 and in his seventeen first-class matches, including one Test Trial, took 63 wickets at 29 apiece. He is best remembered for having partnered Alan Kippax in what still stands as the world record tenth-wicket partnership of 307 against Victoria at Melbourne in 1928. He joined Kippax late on Christmas Eve, when New South Wales were 113 for nine in reply to Victoria's first-innings total of 376. On Christmas Day a sparse crowd gathered to see Victoria capture the remaining wicket and enforce the follow-on. But by lunch Hooker was still there, on 18, and by tea he had advanced to 22. When eventually, on Boxing Day morning, he was dismissed for 62 ( caught Ryder bowled A'Beckett) he had batted for 304 minutes, New South Wales had scored 420 and Kippax was 260 not out. The match was drawn. A month later, the return match was played at Sydney, and again Hooker made a remarkable contribution. Batting first New South Wales declared at 713 for six; Victoria were then dismissed for 265, Hooker finishing off the innings with a hat-trick ( Ebeling, Gamble and Ironmonger). When Victoria followed on Hooker took a wicket ( Austin) with his first ball, thus becoming the only person ever to have claimed four wickets with consecutive balls in Sheffield Shield cricket. Three of his victims were bowled, the other caught and bowled. Hooker had one other claim to cricketing fame. After a long and unsuccessful stint, bowling at Ponsford, he complained light-heartedly to the umpire that Ponsford's bat exceeded the legal width. The bat, when measured later, was found to be fractionally in excess of the regulation size of four and a quarter inches. On his retirement from first-class cricket Hooker worked for almost twenty years as a sporting commentator for the Australian Broadcasting Commission.

HORSFIELD, GORDON CAMERON, who died in Sydney in September 1982, aged 69, was a left-handed batsman who played five times for New South Wales between 1934-35 and 1941-42, though with modest success.

HUSKINSON, GEOFFREY NEVILLE BAYLEY, died at Hinton Waldrist on June 17, 1982, aged 82. In the Oundle Eleven from 1915 to 1917, he did not get a Blue at Oxford but played for Nottinghamshire in their first two matches in 1922 and in the second made 33 against Glamorgan. He also appeared a number of times for Nottinghamshire Second Eleven, occasionally acting as captain. He was a useful bat and a good field at slip or cover and was related by marriage to the great Richard Daft. A member of the county Committee from 1943 to 1958, he was President in 1959 and 1960 and a Vice-President from 1961. At his home, Langar Hall, he used to grow cricket bat willows. He had also been a first-class rugger player, and, when advancing years forced him to give up cricket, he made himself into a good enough croquet player to represent Nottinghamshire at that game too.

HUSSAIN, SYED MAHMUD, who died at Hyderabad on July 2, 1982, at the age of 80, was a sound and attractive stroke-player who proved himself against three visiting teams. He scored 90 against the first official MCC team to visit India in 1926-27 at Madras, 73 for Moin-ud-Doela's XI against Ryder's Australian team at Secunderabad in 1935-36, and in 1937-38, for the same team, 55 against Lord Tennyson's team, also at Secunderabad. About his performance against Ryder's team, C. G. Macartney wrote: The best innings of the day was played by Hussain, who had the misfortune to be run out when his valiant display deserved the coveted century. Hussain played in one unofficial Test against Ryder's team at Calcutta, but failed on a rain-affected pitch. He was a member of the Indian team to England in 1936, when his best effort was an innings of 55 against Worcestershire. He was captain of Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy from the start in 1934-35 to 1941-42 and had the distinction of leading the side to its only championship victory in 1942-43. He belonged to the landed classes.

HUTTON, NORMAN HARVEY, who died in Adelaide on June 7, 1980, aged 67, was a member of a well-known cricketing family. As a fast-medium bowler he played twice for South Australia in 1934-35. His father, Percy, had played for the state in 1905-06, as did his two brothers, Maurice and Mervyn, in 1928-29 and 1930-31 respectively.

INGLIS, RUSSELL, who died of a heart attack at Chester-le-Street on April 28, 1982, aged 45, was a sound right-hand batsman who played 140 games for Durham between 1956 and 1973, when a severe illness caused his premature retirement. His total of 6,626 runs for Durham remains a record for the county. Inglis appeared in three first-class matches - for the Minor Counties against the South Africans in 1965, the Pakistanis in 1967 and the West Indians in 1969, his best score being a sound 43 out of 134 against the South Africans at Jesmond. His club cricket was played for Durham City and Chester-le-Street.

INNES, GERALD ALFRED SKERTEN, who died in Cape Town after a long illness on July 19, 1982, aged 50, was a widely respected and much-liked figure in South African cricket. Born in Cape Town, he was educated at Diocesan College, Rondebosch, and the University of Cape Town. An outstanding schoolboy cricketer, he captained the Bishop's Eleven in his last two years at school, as well as the Western Province Nuffield Shield side, which he had the rare distinction of representing for four consecutive seasons. He also captained the South African Schools representative side. In January, 1951, he was given a trial for that year's South African tour to England, batting competently for 49 but failing to make the team. After a fine season for Western Province in 1951-52, in which he completed his first first-class hundred, 139 against Eastern Province, he toured Australia with J. E. Cheetham's side in 1952-53. His best score was 109 against Victoria at Melbourne. Although he never played in a Test match, he was chosen by the South African Cricket Annual as one of its cricketers of the year in 1958-59, having made hundreds for Western Province against both Natal and Transvaal. In 1959 he assumed the captaincy of Western Province. Having transferred to Johannesburg in 1963, he played for Transvaal in 1963-64, making 140 not out against Natal at Durban. After retiring from first-class cricket in 1965, he became a Transvaal selector, and upon returning to Cape Town he served Western Province in the same capacity. His warmth, friendliness and good humour made him popular wherever he went and with cricketers of all ages.

JACKSON, KENNETH LESLIE TATTERSALL, who died on March 21, 1982, aged 69, was captain of the Rugby Eleven in 1932 and got a Blue at Oxford in 1934. A right-arm fast-medium bowler, with a good high action, and a useful bat in the lower half of the order, he was preferred at the last moment to J. H. Dyson, a slow-left-armer who had been in the side as it was originally chosen, but, overbowled on unresponsive wickets, had lost his effectiveness. Jackson failed to keep his place in 1935. He was well known as a Scottish rugger international. On coming down from Oxford he became a schoolmaster.

JENKINSON, CECIL VICTOR, died late in 1980 at the age of 89. Keeping wicket for Essex on a few occasions in 1922 and 1923, he created a favourable impression and might have been invaluable had he been able to play more frequently, as the side at that time lacked a reliable wicket-keeper until Frank Gilligan was available in August.

JORDAN, CORTEZ, who died in Barbados on September 8, 1982, aged 61, umpired in 22 Test matches between 1953 and 1974. He was the only man to no-ball Charlie Griffith for throwing in a first-class match. It happened on the day when, playing for Barbados against the Indian touring team at Bridgetown in 1962, Griffith had inflicted serious injury on Nari Contractor, the Indian captain, whom he hit over the right ear with a bouncer. Jordan's appointment to the Georgetown Test of 1964-65 between West Indies and Australia broke new ground. Until then no umpire had stood in a Test match in West Indies outside his home territory. In protest at this new departure, the local umpire, Cecil Kippins, who had been appointed to stand with Jordan, was ordered by the British Guiana Umpires' Association to withdraw from the match. This led to Gerry Gomez, a former Test player and then a West Indian selector, having to officiate. Although the holder of an umpiring certificate, Gomez had not previously stood in a first-class match. Quiet and efficient, Jordan always umpired in a white panama hat and dark glasses.

LANCASHIRE, WALTER, died on July 7, 1981, aged 78. A Yorkshireman by birth, he played in eighteen matches for Hampshire, as an amateur, between 1935 and 1937, scoring 471 runs with an average of 16.82. His most notable performance was against Essex at Southampton in 1936, when he followed a first innings of 32 with 66 out of 83 in the second innings, made in 50 minutes and containing a 6 and ten 4s. Later in the season he made a valuable 54 against Middlesex at Lord's.

LEE, FRANK STANLEY, who died suddenly on March 30, 1982, was the youngest of three brothers who attained distinction in first-class cricket. The eldest, Harry, went in first for Middlesex for years. Jack and Frank, seeing no opening in Middlesex, migrated to Somerset, where they opened the innings together for several seasons and on one occasion put up a hundred together thrice in four days. Jack was killed in action in Normandy. Frank had a couple of trials for Middlesex in August 1925, but although in his first innings he scored a valuable 42 in two hours against Worcestershire, was not persevered with. He started to play for Somerset in 1929 and within a few weeks had shown his value with innings of 62 and 107 against Hampshire. He finished the season with 852 runs and an average of 19.81. After a disappointing year in 1930, he got his thousand runs for the first time in 1931: indeed, the three Lees provided the first instance of three professional brothers achieving the feat in the same season. It was in that year, too, that Luckes, the regular wicket-keeper, being out of action, Frank Lee, always a good fielder, took over his position and emerged from the ordeal without discredit. His great season was 1938, when he became the first Somerset player to score 2,000 runs in a summer and also the first to make three hundreds in successive innings: his final figures were 2,019 runs with an average of 44.86. His highest innings for the county was 169 against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in 1946. Somerset went in 209 runs in arrears, but Lee, batting for six hours, averted any danger of defeat. One of his best performances was against the Australians in 1934, when he went in first and carried his bat for 59 out of a total of 116 against O'Reilly on a damp wicket. In 1947 he had a record benefit for the county, but his own form was poor and he retired at the end of the season.

He and his brother were, apart from Braund and A. Young, almost the first professionals to play for the county mainly as batsmen, but they were certainly not in the adventurous Somerset tradition. Frank was a solid rather than an entertaining left-hander, but, as his record shows, there could be no doubt about his value. In his first-class career he scored 15,310 runs with an average of 27.93, including 23 centuries. Not normally regarded as a bowler, he took five for 53 against Warwickshire at Taunton in 1933 and in the next match was given the new ball. He bowled right-arm medium-pace. From 1948 to 1963 he was a first-class umpire and quickly became recognised as one of the best and most respected on the list, standing in 29 Tests. He will be especially remembered for his fearless no-balling of Griffin, the South African in the Lord's Test in 1960, the first time a member of a touring team had been no-balled in England.

LITCHFIELD, ERIC, was in the process of completing his first Protea Cricket Annual of South Africa (formerly the South African Cricket Annual) as editor when he died in Cape Town in July, 1982, at the age of 61. A good footballer and useful wicket-keeper, Litchfield moved from England to South Africa after the Second War. He wrote cricket for the Rand Daily Mail from 1949 to 1970 and at the time of his death was also the cricket correspondent of the Cape Times. He wrote Cricket Grand Slam, an account of South Africa's last triumphant Test series against Australia in 1969-70, and collaborated with D. J. McGlew in Six for Glory.

LLOYD, NEIL, who died at Wakefield, of an unidentified virus, on September 17, 1982, aged 17, was a left-handed batsman of great promise. He had played for three years for Yorkshire Second Eleven and barely a fortnight before his death had gone in first for Young England against Young West Indies in the third of last season's Test matches. He was awarded his Yorkshire Second Eleven cap posthumously.

LOWNDES, WILLIAM GEOFFREY LOWNDES FRITH, died at Newbury on May 23, 1982, aged 84. A member of the Eton Eleven in 1915 and 1916, he got a place in the strong Oxford batting side of 1921, of which he was the last survivor. He was a late choice. Playing for the Free Foresters against the University in the last match but one of the term, he scored 29 and 21 took three wickets, with the result that he was picked for the next match against the Army. An innings of 88 secured him a further trial and he clinched his place by making 52 at Hove and 216 against H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI at Eastbourne, where he and H. P. Ward put on 218 in just over 90 minutes. Though he failed at Lord's, he finished second in the University averages. He first appeared for Hampshire in 1924, but played little more first-class cricket until he was persuaded to succeed the Hon. L. H. Tennyson as captain of the county in 1934. Though the side, then in a state of transition, did not meet with great success, he was a popular captain and had no reason to be dissatisfied with his own efforts. He made three centuries, the most notable being 140 against the 1934 Australians. On this occasion he reached his hundred in 75 minutes and with Mead added 247 in under three hours for the fourth wicket. In 1935 he made 118 before lunch against Kent in two hours on the first day of the season, but scored very few runs thereafter and resigned at the end of the year. In fact, he found a full season's cricket rather more than he wanted, and in neither of his years as captain did he play in more than two-thirds of the matches. He was a natural cricketer: an attacking batsman and a particularly fine driver, at his best on fast wickets; a useful fast-medium away-swinger, who sometimes took the new ball and might perhaps have used himself more; and a good mid-off. In his attitude to the game he was typical of the amateur of his own and earlier periods - to him it was fun and he tried to make it fun for others.

LUCKES, WALTER THOMAS, who died at Bridgwater on October 27, 1982, aged 81, kept wicket for Somerset from 1924 to 1949. When he first appeared, the bulk of the'keeping was done by M. D. Lyon and M. L. Hill, and it was not till 1927 that Luckes (pronounced Luckies) gained a regular place. Hardly had he done so than his career was nearly terminated by ill-health. In 1929 and 1930 he could play little, in 1931 not at all, and it was not until part way through 1932 that he was fit to resume his place. Condemned then by the doctors to bat at No. 11, he came second in the batting averages, mainly owing to fifteen not out innings. However, one of these was 58 against Yorkshire. As far back as 1927, an innings of 45 against McDonald at his best had shown what he could do, and later, in his benefit year, 1937, being allowed for some reason to go in at No. 5 against Kent at Bath, he made 121 not out, driving in great form. For the most part, however, he had to resign himself to causing unwelcome delay to the opposition just when they thought the innings was as good as over. As a wicket-keeper he ranked high, higher indeed than the general public ever realised. Quiet in method and, except in appealing, wholly undemonstrative, he made the job look so easy that only the experts or those out in the middle could see how often he brought off as a matter of course what was in fact a brilliant catch or stumping. To others he might seem only one who seldom made an obvious mistake. Fortunately, after 1932 he suffered no interruptions on account of his health and it was only in 1949, when he was 48, that he made way for Stephenson. His first-class cricket was confined to Somerset, for whom he caught 586 batsmen and stumped 241, besides making 5,640 runs with an average of 16.02.

MACKAY, KENNETH DONALD, MBE, who died on June 13, 1982, aged 56, was one of the best and most popular cricketers ever produced by Queensland. As a left-handed middle-order batsman, he possessed a highly distinctive style, this endearing him to crowds which otherwise might have found his rate of scoring unendurably slow. At the crease he stood impassively, cap at a rakish angle, knees slightly bent, chewing compulsively. He employed negligible backlift and was an uncanny judge of line, often leaving balls that seemed to make the bails quiver. When a stroke was required, his most prolific were a deflection wide of cover-point's right hand and a type of shovel shot past mid-wicket. He was more often a match-saver than a match-winner. Very occasionally he would play an innings of remarkable and unexpected aggression and unorthodoxy, one such being at Lord's against Middlesex in 1961 when he made a whirlwind 168. As a right-arm medium-paced bowler, he became in the early sixties a useful member of the Australian attack, possessing the ability to contain batsmen for long periods and often taking good wickets. He had a stealthy, almost apologetic approach to the wicket, but the innocuous appearance of his deliveries masked subtle variations of pace and swing.

Slasher MacKay first played grade cricket in Brisbane at the age of fifteen. By 1946 he had won a place in the Queensland side, the start of a first-class career that lasted for eighteen years and included 100 appearances for his state and 37 for Australia. He became captain of Queensland in 1954-55 and in 1956 toured England with Ian Johnson's side. He made his Test début at Lord's, in the only Test won by Australia that summer, batting for more than seven hours in the match, yet scoring only 38 and 31. In his second innings, which lasted for 264 minutes, he fulfilled what was to become a familiar sheet-anchor role while Benaud played a brilliant innings of 97. MacKay's performance in the next two Tests threatened his international career: at Headingly he made 2 and 2, at Old Trafford Laker dismissed him for a pair. He was dropped for the last Test at The Oval and was not an original selection for Ian Craig's team to tour South Africa in 1957-58. However, he was added to Craig's side at the last moment and, with Test scores of 3, 65 not out, 63, 32, 52 not out, 83 not out and 77 not out, he justified his selection.

MacKay's best Test performances were achieved on a tour of Pakistan and India in 1959-60. On a matting wicket at Dacca he helped Australia to gain their first Test win in Pakistan, recording in the second innings the remarkable bowling figures of 45-27-42-6. Against India at Madras he made his highest Test score, 89 - ended, somewhat surprisingly, when he was stumped. His best-remembered Test innings must have been against West Indies at Adelaide in 1961, the series of the tied Test. With 100 minutes of the game remaining Australia, trailing by many runs, lost their ninth wicket. As Lindsay Kline joined MacKay a West Indian victory seemed assured. However, dour defence by both batsmen frustrated all the efforts of Worrell's side and the game ended with Australia's last pair still together, MacKay undefeated with 62, made in almost four hours. He played his last Test against England at Adelaide in January, 1963, and not long afterwards announced his retirement from first-class cricket, his final appearance being for Queensland against Victoria in 1964. In affection and gratitude, the people of Brisbane contributed some £20,000 to a bob in for Slasher campaign, conducted by the city's morning paper. For fifteen years after his retirement MacKay was a state selector, and in 1977 he was appointed state coach for Queensland. In 1962 he was made an MBE for his services to cricket.

MACKLEY, ALAN, who has died in Perth, aged 69, was the first Western Australian to stand in a Test match, officiating in the fourth Test between England and Australia at Adelaide in 1962-63. He became, subsequently, a member of the Western Australian Cricket Association Appeals Board and also of the Umpires Appointments Board.

MEHER-HOMJI, KHURSHED RUSTOMJI, who died in Bombay on February 10, 1982, aged 70, toured England as a wicket-keeper with the Maharaj Kumar of Vizianagram's Indian team in 1936, playing in the second Test match at Old Trafford. That was his only appearance for India. At home he played for the Parsis in the Bombay Tournament and for West India and Bombay in the Ranji Trophy. His uncle, Rustomji Meher-Homji, toured England with the 1911 All-India side.

MILES, ERIC VICTOR, who has died at the age of 83, represented Border in twelve matches between 1920 and 1930. A left-handed batsman and right-arm bowler he scored 419 runs in first-class cricket, took four wickets, and held four catches. His highest score, 69, was made against Eastern Province in 1925-26. Against S. B. Joel's English touring team in 1924-25 he made top score in each innings, 44 and 33. His brother, Lawrence, had a longer career in provincial cricket. Once, after spending the night in Cathcart, before a league match, they turned up at the ground to find themselves the only members of the Whittlesea team present, the others having been delayed by a river in flood. Unabashed, they went in to bat, and when their team-mates arrived had made a century apiece and were still going strong.

MUNCER, BERNARD LEONARD, died suddenly on January 18, 1982, aged 68. When he left Middlesex in 1946 at the age of 33 after thirteen seasons, his career seemed a failure. Nor had a spell on the Burma-Siam Railway, as a prisoner-of-war, improved his prospects. He had played fairly regularly in 1934 and 1935 with moderate success, but since then he had failed to keep his place: his highest score was 85 against Northamptonshire in 1937 and his 23 wickets had cost over 28 runs each. Yet when he retired in 1954 after eight seasons with Glamorgan, he had five times taken over 100 wickets, once being the first in England to reach that target, he had made four centuries, he had had much to do with his county winning the Championship in 1948, and in 1952 he had done the double. Moreover, at one period some regarded him as the best slow spinner in England and in 1948 he had played for the Players at Lord's. The main reason for this dramatic development was that he had switched from leg-breaks and googlies to off-breaks. With these, besides the cardinal gifts of length, flight and spin, he had the rarer virtue of making the batsman play six balls an over. To add to his value he was a good slip. His highest score was 135 against Somerset at Swansea in 1952. Later the emergence of McConnon, also an off-spinner, restricted his opportunities and, having been awarded a benefit in 1954, he left the county at the end of the season and returned to Lord's, where he eventually became Head Coach. A cheerful, friendly man, he was deservedly popular.

NASH, PHILIP GEOFFREY ELWIN, CBE, died at Old Basing on December 8, 1982, aged 76. A good bat and a slow-medium opening bowler, he was captain of the St Paul's Eleven in 1925 and later did useful work for Berkshire.

NEWMAN, GEORGE CHRISTOPHER, who died on October 13, 1982, aged 78, had the unusual experience of getting into the Eton Eleven so late in his last year at school, 1923, that he played two innings only, against Winchester and against Harrow. He owed his selection to the advice of R. A. Young, then master-in-charge of cricket, who had spotted, beneath a style which did not wholly conform to the strict Eton canons of orthodoxy, possibilities of a fine attacking batsman. His judgement proved, as so often, right: Newman, after making 22 at Winchester, did at Lord's exactly what was wanted - going in No. 9, he hit some erratic Harrow bowling all over the ground to score 82 not out. This early success was typical of his later career, even though it did not secure him any kind of trial in The Parks during his first two years at Oxford. He had to wait till his third year when, given a chance on the tour, he made his place secure with an innings of 66 at The Oval, where he helped C. H. Taylor to add 141. He failed at Lord's, but in 1927, after starting with 92 against the full bowling strength of Lancashire, that year's champions (an innings described as one of the best played in The Parks since the war), he came second in the Oxford averages with 481 runs at an average of 40.08. Again he failed at Lord's and so it came as a surprise to many when, given a trial by Middlesex in 1929, he played a brilliant innings in his third match, 112 out of 168 in just over two hours against Gloucestershire at Lord's. He should have been stumped off Parker first ball, but immediately retaliated by hitting Goddard for two 6s off consecutive balls with pulled drives towards the Tavern. The match was, in fact, otherwise notable as the occasion on which Goddard, taking thirteen for 120, first demonstrated that an indifferent fast bowler had in one season's absence from county cricket changed himself into a great slow off-spinner. Newman made two more fine centuries in 1930, against Warwickshire and Essex, and continued to play for the county until 1936, though never regularly; indeed after 1931 for a match or two a year only. In 1937 he captained an MCC side in Canada. A tall man, who made full use of his reach, he was a fine striker of the ball in front of the wicket, but also a good cutter and a glorious off-side fieldsman with a beautiful return. He was a natural athlete who had represented Oxford in the high jump and the low hurdles and been President of the OUAC. He had also played in the first two squash matches against Cambridge. In later life he did valuable work on the MCC Committee and had been one of the club's Trustees since 1970. He was also, from 1963 to 1976, President of Middlesex.

NICHOLSON, FRANK ( NIPPER), who died in Port Elizabeth on July 30, 1982, aged 72, kept wicket four times for South Africa against Australia in 1935-36. From 1927 until 1947 he represented Griqualand West, captaining them for several seasons. A neat wicket-keeper and more than adequate batsman, he accounted for 64 victims and scored 2,353 runs at an average of 24.76 in a first-class career of 52 matches. His highest score of 185 was made against Orange Free State. His best season was 1933-34 when, in four Currie Cup matches, he scored 353 runs for an average of 44.12, caught seven batsmen and stumped 15. On the death of H. B. Cameron he took over briefly as South Africa's wicket-keeper, in a losing series against Australia. With K. G. Viljoen he established what still stands as the third-wicket record for Griqualand West- 212 against Western Province in 1929-30- and his total of 54 wicket-keeping victims for Griqualand West in Currie Cup matches is unsurpassed.

NITSCHKE, HOLMEDALE CARL ( JACK or SLINGER), who died in Australia on September 29, 1982, aged 77, was an attacking left-hand batsman who played twice for Australia against South Africa in 1931-32, scoring 6 in the first Test and 47 in the second. For several years he made enough runs for South Australia to have been chosen considerably more often for a weaker Australian side, but his best years coincided with those of Bradman, Ponsford, Woodfull, Jackson, McCabe and Kippax. In 1932-33, in two matches for South Australia against D. R. Jardine's MCC side he scored 67, 28, 38 and 87 with a dash and confidence which caused the Englishmen to believe he would have done better in the Test matches than some of those who played. For four successive seasons he scored centuries for South Australia against New South Wales, carrying his bat in the last of them, at Sydney in 1933-34, for 130 out of a total of 246. In 1934-35 he was one of four batsmen - the first four in the order - to score centuries for South Australia against Queensland in Adelaide, the others being V. Y. Richardson, Lonergan and Badcock. In all first-class cricket he scored 3,320 runs (average 42.03), including nine centuries. He became, after his retirement, an outstandingly successful race-horse breeder.

PARRINGTON, WILLIAM FERGUSON, who died at Northallerton on May 7, 1980, aged 90, played a few matches for Derbyshire as a bat in 1926, his highest score being 47 against Warwickshire at Derby. He had been in the Rossall Eleven in 1907 and 1908 and in 1914 had appeared for Durham, the county of his birth.

PARTRIDGE, NORMAN ERNEST, who died at Aberystwyth on March 10, 1982, aged 81, was an outstanding schoolboy cricketer. For Malvern in 1918 he scored 514 runs with an average of 102.80 and in 1919 took 71 wickets at 12.98. In 1919 he and G. T. S. Stevens of University College School were both asked to play for the Gentlemen, Stevens at Lord's and Partridge at The Oval. They are believed to have been the first schoolboys so honoured since R. A. H. Mitchell in 1861. Stevens played, but, the match being in term-time, Malvern refused leave to Partridge, just as Eton had to Mitchell. Going up to Cambridge, Partridge duly got his Blue in a very strong side, but, though his final record of a batting average of 25 and 38 wickets at 21.60 was respectable, he hardly achieved as much as had been hoped of him. This was his only summer in residence, but between 1921 and 1937 he played for Warwickshire, for a few seasons frequently but later seldom for more than a match or two. Yet he generally did something either as a batsman or a bowler that showed what a loss it was that he could not play regularly. In all he scored 2,352 runs for the county with an average of 18.52 and took 347 wickets at 22.27. His highest score and his only century was 102 against Somerset at Edgbaston in 1925, made in 100 minutes: he and R. E. S. Wyatt put on 138 in an hour and a half for the seventh wicket. Bowling fast-medium in-swingers, he had, like many of his type, a rather ugly action which, though he was never no-balled, was regarded by some as slightly suspect. It is said that a batsman whom he had comprehensively bowled said indignantly to Tiger Smith behind the wicket, He threw that. Yes, said Tiger. And bloody well too.

PEARCE, THOMAS ALEXANDER, died in hospital at Tunbridge Wells on August 11, 1982, aged 71. He was three years in the Charterhouse Eleven and, after playing a number of matches for Kent in 1930 and 1931, won a regular place in the side in 1932, when he scored 581 runs with an average of 24.13, his highest score being 83 against Northamptonshire at Tunbridge Wells: he and Ames put on 194 for the seventh wicket by brilliant cricket. At the end of the season he went out to join his father's business in Hong Kong, but reappeared in the county side when home on leave in 1937 and 1946. Captured in the siege of Hong Kong, he spent the rest of the war as a prisoner, and it was therefore no mean performance when in his third match in 1946 he made 106 in two and threequarter hours against Northamptonshire at Northampton. This was his only hundred in first-class cricket. A natural games-player, who had been in the rackets pair at school and a scratch golfer, he relied largely on the typical rackets player's off-side strokes and county bowlers soon found ways of keeping him relatively quiet, though he was a prolific scorer in club cricket. To Kent his main value was his glorious fielding in any position, a more important consideration than it would be in these days when the average age is so much lower. He was for many years a leading figure in cricket in Hong Kong and after his retirement to England he served on the Kent Committee and was President in 1978. Altogether for Kent he scored 1,177 runs with an average of 17.05

PEARSE, ALAN A., who died on June 14, 1981, aged 67, played occasionally for Somerset from 1936 to 1938 as an amateur. In nine matches his batting average was 5.79 and his highest score 20 against Kent in his first innings for the county.

PEDEN, MRS MARGARET, who died in 1981, was a founder member of the Australian Cricket Council. In 1937 she captained the first Australian team to tour England, and she maintained her interest and support for the game, especially in her home state of New South Wales, until her death.

PILKINGTON, THOMAS ALEC, who has died at the age of 74, was a member of P. F. Warner's MCC side to South America in 1926-27. A notable all-round sportsman, he played for Eton in 1925, though not against Harrow.

POLLARD, MARJORIE, OBE, who died on March 21, 1982, aged 81, was a foremost figure in the fight for the establishment and recognition of women's team games. She was a founder member of the Women's Cricket Association, the first official reporter of women's cricket in the national press and the first woman radio commentator on the game. For twenty years she produced and edited the magazine Women's Cricket. She was herself a fine all-round player and a shrewd captain. Her OBE, awarded in 1965, was for services to sport.

POWELL, ADAM GORDON, who died at his home in Sandwich on June 7, 1982, aged 69, was regarded by some good judges as one of the outstanding English wicket-keepers of his time. A pupil of Strudwick, to whom he always acknowledged a great debt, he stood up to all but the fastest bowlers and was so neat and quiet, making the whole job look so simple, that it was easy to underestimate him. He was also a useful attacking bat: with beautiful wrists, a lovely cover drive and an effective golf-shot over mid-on, he was particularly good against fast bowling. When Essex beat Yorkshire at Southend by an innings in 1934, he contributed 62 not out and had an unfinished partnership of 133 in 90 minutes with Peter Smith for the ninth wicket. In the next year he scored 47 against Larwood and Voce: on this occasion his partner, an England batsman, was inclined to leave to him the playing of Larwood.

After three years in the Charterhouse side he went up to Cambridge, but got his Blue only in his third year, 1934: many thought he should have had it earlier. Between 1932 and 1937 he played frequently for Essex and in 1935 went as one of the two wicket-keepers with E. R. T. Holmes's MCC side to Australia and New Zealand: unfortunately he missed much of the tour with a sprained ankle. His county career ended when in 1937 the doctors forbade him to play serious first-class cricket. In 1939 he appeared for Suffolk and captained them in 1946 when they won the Minor Counties Championship for the first time. He continued for many years to play club cricket and also to represent MCC and Free Foresters in first-class matches. He was a member of the MCC sides to Canada in 1937 and 1951 and also toured Egypt with Hubert Martineau's XI.

PULLE, JOHN, who has died at the age of 70, represented Ceylon against the Australians, who were on their way to England, in both 1934 and 1938. A forthright opening batsman and a good captain, he spent much of his life in England.

REDDICK, TOM BOCKENHAM, died in Cape Town on June 1, 1982, aged 70. Born in Shanghai, he had a varied and unusual career as player and coach, spread over half a century. After showing unusual promise as an all-rounder while on the staff of G. A. Faulkner's cricket school in London, he appeared twice for Middlesex in 1931, while still in his teens; but although his Championship appearances extended over nearly two decades he had only two full seasons of county cricket. Both were for Nottinghamshire, whom he joined in 1946 as player-coach after was service with the RAF. One of the mainstays of a weak side he scored more runs (994) in 1946 than anyone except Keeton and Harris, playing one specially good fighting innings of 131 against Lancashire. In the following year he made 1,206 runs: captaining the side for the first time, against Kent, he scored 139, sharing in a fifth-wicket partnership of 244 with Winrow. After that he spent almost all his cricketing life in South Africa, appearing for Western Province in the Currie Cup and making a great reputation in the coaching field. After returning to England for two summers as chief coach to Lancashire, he settled permanently in the Cape, where his flair as a teacher of the game unearthed and developed the talents of countless young players who later made their mark, Basil D'Oliveria among them. A main reason for Reddick not having played more first-class cricket in England was his engagement by Sir Julien Cahn, for whom he played from 1930 to 1939, scoring over 1,500 runs in three successive seasons in a competitive environment. A man of charm, modesty and wit, Reddick for many years wrote a weekly column for the Cape Times. In 1979 he had published an autobiography, Never Cross a Bat.

ROBINSON, RAY, who died at the Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, on July 6, 1982, two days before his 77th birthday, was one of cricket's most prolific and felicitous writers. He had to steel himself to be critical of those about whom he wrote. Born in Victoria, he started his career in journalism with the Melbourne Herald, in 1925, before becoming chief cricket writer for the Melbourne Star in 1930. The first of his many overseas tours was to England with Woodfull's team in 1934. Moving to Sydney, he joined the Sydney Daily Telegraph during the Second War, after which he worked for the Sydney Sun, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Sun-Herald. He had a namesake, for whom he was sometimes mistaken, who played once for Australia.

Robbie, as Ray Robinson was called by all who knew him, loved cricket. His industry was remarkable, his conscientiousness unquestioned. He was read with pleasure throughout the cricket world, his sentences being as full of facts as they were of happy phrases. He left technical analysis to others, realising that that was not his forte and being respected for doing so. His strength lay not in saying how, for example, Bill Edrich may have had a technical weakness on the off side, or why, but in writing about his background, his appearance, his war record, the weight of his bat and the most carefully catalogued statistics of his innings. No cricket writer was ever more reticent about entering a dressing-room than Robinson; none less likely to be shown the door. The players knew they could trust him implicitly. He was a copious maker of seemingly illegible notes, as often as not in the margins of a newspaper. In recent years, owing to fading eyesight, he watched a day's play glued to his binoculars, sometimes fighting to keep awake. He had a soft voice, with a Scottish lilt, and he never took a taxi when there might be a bus on the way. The remarkable success of his first book, Between Wickets (1945), he put down, with characteristic modesty, to the post-war enthusiasm for cricket. He also wrote From the Boundary (1950), Green Sprigs (1954), The Wit of Sir Robert Menzies (1966), The Wildest Tests (1972) and On Top Down Under (1976). The last of these, a detailed study of all Australia's Test captains, won him the Cricket Society's Silver Jubilee Literary Award. - J. W.

SANDHAM, ANDREW, who died in hospital on April 20, 1982, aged 91, might, had things turned out differently, have been for years a regular and successful Test match batsman. It was his misfortune that, slow to develop, owing partly to the great pressure for places as batsmen in the Surrey side, partly to the Great War, he was over 30 when he first came into serious consideration, and by then his rival as Hobbs's partner was Sutcliffe. By the time Hobbs retired from international cricket Sandham was too old to be his replacement. And so he will be remembered as a wonderful servant of Surrey and as Hobbs's partner for the county for fifteen years.

His career began as long ago as 1911 when in his first match he made 53 against Cambridge and in his second 60 against Lancashire, creating a great impression. None the less in 1912 he had only one match for the county. In 1913 he scored 196 against Sussex, adding 298 with Harrison for the sixth wicket, and one might have supposed that this would have made his place secure, but a month later he was dropped for D. J. Knight, who had just left Malvern, and in 1914 he appeared in only five matches. Even in 1919 he was dropped for some matches, but an innings of 175 not out against Middlesex at the beginning of August at last ensured him a regular place, which he retained until 1937 when, having made a century against Sussex at Hove in the last match of the season, he left it to the Surrey Committee to announce his retirement. By then he had made in all first-class matches 41,284 runs with an average of 44.83, including 107 centuries. Twenty times he had exceeded a thousand runs, two of these occasions being on tours abroad, and his 219 for Surrey in 1934 is still the highest score made for a county against the Australians.

His first Test match was against Australia at The Oval in 1921, when he made a useful 21 at No 5. In 1922-23 he went to South Africa, where he played in all five Tests as an opener, but did little, although taking the tour as a whole he was the most consistent bat on the side, and in 1924 he played twice against South Africa, scoring 46 in his only innings. That winter he was a member of Arthur Gilligan's side in Australia. Hobbs and Sutcliffe were now in their prime as an opening pair and Sandham in his two Tests, going in lower down, met with no success. Finally in 1929-30 he went to West Indies and played innings of 152 at Bridgetown and 325 at Kingston. These matches were classified as Tests only at a later date: at the time they were called Representative matches and in fact only one of the English team played in the Tests in England with Hobbs. To Surrey, Hobbs and Sandham meant what Hobbs and Sutcliffe did to England. They put up 100 for the first wicket 63 times, their highest partnership being 428 against Oxford University in 1926. Sandham was the ideal partner, content to stay there and let Hobbs take the applause and as much of the bowling as he wanted. When, against Somerset at Taunton in 1925, Hobbs, having equalled W. G.'s number of centuries in the first innings, had a chance of beating it in the second, Sandham saw to it that he got the bowling, thus sacrificing a possible hundred for himself. He was the least selfish of players.

He had formed his style in his early days by watching Tom Hayward, much of whose skill on the leg side he had inherited, and he perfected it by association with Hobbs. Like many small men he was quick on his feet and a fine and fearless hooker: this, with his mastery of the cut, in which he always made full use of such height as he had, made him a particularly good player of fast bowling. Of his other strokes perhaps the best was a square drive. He was also a magnificent outfield with a fast and low return, whose value was even greater in the days when the whole area of The Oval was used more often than it is now.

His services to Surrey did not end with his playing career. From 1946 to 1958 he was their coach and then for another twelve years their scorer. An Honorary Member at the Oval since 1961 and a Vice-President since 1979, he continued to watch the play there till the end of his life. He was also an Honorary Member of MCC. A quiet man with a great sense of humour, who set himself and expected of others a high standard of behaviour, he was much respected.

SEALY, JAMES EDWARD DEREK, who died in Trinidad on January 3, 1982, aged 69, was something of an infant prodigy. When he first played for West Indies, against England at Bridgetown in 1929-30, he was 17 years 122 days, at the time the youngest-ever Test cricketer. He still is the youngest to have played for West Indies. He was to become more than a very good, quick-footed batsman, occasionally bowling effectively at medium pace and twice (against England in 1939) keeping wicket in Test matches. He epitomised the natural cricketing ability of so many West Indians, his cap at a rakish angle, the bat seeming to be an extension of himself, often smiling, always friendly. As a boy, in his first Test match, he was placed in the order between Headley and Constantine and scored 58 against an England attack which included Voce, Rhodes and Stevens. In Australia in 1930-31 he had a disappointing tour and was not chosen to go to England in 1933. In 1934-35, by when he was 22, he averaged 45 in the four Test matches against R. E. S. Wyatt's England team, only Headley, with whom he added 202 for West Indies' third wicket at Kingston in the fourth Test match, doing better. In England in 1939 he made his highest first-class score, 181 in three and a half hours against Middlesex at Lord's, although more was expected of him as a batsman than he achieved. Sealy, wrote Wisden, not unlike Headley in appearance at the wicket, and somewhat similar in forcing tactics, showed less ability to score when playing back, but he gave some attractive displays. In 1941-42, for Barbados against Trinidad in Bridgetown, he had a large share in a remarkable record, taking eight wickets for 8 runs as Trinidad were bowled out for 16 on a sticky wicket. After the war, having moved to Trinidad, he made no particular impact on West Indian cricket. He continued, however, to bring happiness wherever he went. In eleven Tests he scored 478 runs (average 28.11), with a highest score of 92 against England at Port-of-Spain in 1934-35, and took three wickets for 94 runs. His overall first-class record was 3,831 runs at an average of 30.40 and 63 wickets at 28.60 apiece.

SEVERN, DR CLIFFORD BRILL, who died in California in February, 1981, aged 90, was a pioneer of cricket in Southern California. One of the founders, in 1931, of the Hollywood Cricket Club, he was an Honorary Member of MCC. For more than half a century he worked hard to keep cricket in America alive.

SIEDLE, IVAN JULIAN ( JACK), who died in Durban on August 24, 1982, aged 79, was South Africa's oldest surviving Test cricketer at the time of his death. He had the unique distinction of scoring the first century on a turf pitch in South Africa in both a Currie Cup match and a Test match. The first, 114 for Natal against Border at Durban, was in December, 1926. The second was at Newlands in Cape Town in 1930-31 when he and Bruce Mitchell shared a record first-wicket partnership of 260 against England, Siedle making 141, his one Test century. A right-handed opening batsman, solid and watchful, he made his first-class début for Natal on the day after he turned nineteen, scoring 6 and 8 against the 1922-23 MCC team. In 1924-25 he appeared in three unofficial Tests against S. B. Joel's English team, scoring 52 in the final match. In 1926-27 he and J. F. W. Nicolson shared in a first-wicket stand of 424 for Natal against Orange Free State at Bloemfontein, a record to this day. Nicolson scored 252 not out, Siedle 174. Siedle's 265 not out, also for Natal against Orange Free State, in 1929-30 was the highest score made in the Currie Cup until J. E. Cheetham's 271 not out for Western Province against Orange Free State in 1950-51, a figure passed within five days by E. A. B. Rowan (277 not out for Transvaal against Griqualand West). Siedle's first Test match was against England at Durban in 1927-28, but he was dropped after scoring 11 and 10 as H. W. Taylor's opening partner. Selected for the 1929 tour of England, he finished second in the batting averages, totalling 1,579 runs at an average of 35.88 with centuries against Leicestershire and Yorkshire. He missed two of the five Tests through injury. In his first full home series, against England in 1930-31, he scored 384 runs (average 42.66). Unavailable for the 1931-32 tour of Australia, he made his second trip to England in 1935, starting in fine form and becoming the first member of the side to reach 1,000 runs, these including three successive hundreds - against Surrey, Oxford University and MCC. In the third of them he carried his bat for 132 not out in a total of 297. He was less successful in the Tests, one of which he missed through injury. Against the all-conquering Australian team in South Africa in 1935-36 he was second to A. D. Nourse in both Test average and Test aggregate. That was the finish of this Test career, and at the end of the 1936-37 season, after successive scores of 105, 111 and 207, he retired. His seventeen first-class centuries included three of over 200. In all first-class matches he scored 7,730 runs with an average of 40.05. In eighteen Tests he made 977 runs at an average of 28.73. He was a fine all-round fielder and had a wide range of strokes. His son John (J. R.) hit a century on his début in first-class cricket, for Western Province against Eastern Province in 1955-56.

SINCOCK, HAROLD, who died in Adelaide on February 3, 1982, aged 74, played twice for South Australia as a leg-spinner and forceful batsman in 1929-30, the first of his appearances being against A. H. H. Gilligan's visiting MCC team. In his nine overs in the match he took four wickets for 72 runs. His son, David, played three times for Australia as a left-arm wrist spinner. Another son, Peter, also made five appearances for South Australia.

SKINNER, ALAN FRANK, who died in the West Suffolk Hospital on February 28, 1982, aged 68, did much useful work for Derbyshire between 1931 and 1938. Captain of the Leys School side in 1931, he had trials for the county that year and the next without achieving much, but in 1933, his second year at Cambridge, who had not yet given him a match, he scored 788 runs with an average of 28. Next year he did have a trial for Cambridge but failed to get his Blue: however, in all first-class matches he made 1,019 runs with an average of 27.54, including the only century of his career, 102 for Derbyshire against Gloucestershire at Gloucester. From 1935 to 1938 his opportunities were more limited, but in 1935 his 550 runs and an average of 36.66 suggested what he might have done had he been able to devote his whole time to the game. Though he watched the ball carefully, he was a good stroke-player and could be the most attractive bat on the side, equally prepared to open or to go in lower down. He was also a fine slip. On a number of occasions he captained the county. After the war his first-class cricket was confined to one match for Northamptonshire in 1949. Later he was for many years Clerk of the West Suffolk County Council. His younger brother, David, captained Derbyshire in 1949.

SMITH, EDGAR FRANK, who died in hospital at Slough on December 16, 1982 was a past President of the Club Cricket Conference.

STEPHENSON, LT-COL. JOHN WILLIAM ARTHUR, DSO, died at his home at Pulborough on May 20, 1982, aged 73. If there were more cricketers like him, there would always have been fewer empty grounds. There could never, when he was in action, be a dull moment; nor, as far as he was concerned, would there be a slow over-rate. Whatever he was doing he was the very personification of energy and enthusiasm. Bowling brisk fast-medium seamers with a high action and a full follow-through, he seemed almost to hurl himself down the pitch after the ball. He could move it both ways, making it come off the ground at a remarkable pace. He was a serviceable attacking batsman in the lower half of the order and, as R. C. Robertson-Glasgow put it, ran three when the book said two and was dangerous for a partner with short legs or a weak heart. A brilliant and untiring field, he never took a rest whether bowling or not, and he was popularly supposed to go to bed with his fingers wrapped round a cricket ball.

Originally playing for Buckinghamshire, he started to appear for Essex in 1934 and his first big performance was against the South Africans at Southend in the following year when, deputising for H. D. Read, who was resting for The Oval Test, he took seven for 66 and three for 44. But the feat for which he will always be remembered was to take nine for 46 in the first innings for the Gentlemen at Lord's in 1936, one of the most notable bowling performances by an amateur in the history of the match. After this he must have been a serious candidate for G. O. Allen's team to Australia in the following winter and there were those who thought that he should have been preferred to Copson, who, with Allen himself, Farnes and Voce in the side, was really superfluous. Stephenson continued to play when his military duties allowed until 1939, and in that year he was one of three amateurs who shared the Essex captaincy between them. The war virtually ended his serious cricket, though he did play one match for Worcestershire in 1947. He would never have lingered on once he found his energy and activity gradually abating. In later years he played much golf in a style peculiarly his own, giving equal enjoyment to himself and his friends, putting one-handed back-hand from any part of the green and holing, if not a proportion that would have satisfied a champion, at least as many as more orthodox players in his own class. It was no surprise to learn from tributes after his death what a splendid and inspiring leader he had shown himself in the war and how much his men had liked him. In all first-class cricket he scored 2,582 runs with an average of 21.34 and took 311 wickets at 23.99.

TOLHURST, EDWARD KEITH, who has died in Melbourne, aged 86, played first-class cricket for Victoria as a batsman in 1930-31, his best score being 63 against G. C. Grant's touring West Indians. In 1930 he toured Canada and the USA in a team captained by Arthur Mailey and which included Bradman. He was closely connected with the Melbourne Cricket Club, finally as an Honorary Life Member.

TOMKINS, ERIC FELTHAM, who died on July 20, 1980, had a few trials for Northamptonshire as a batsman in 1920 and 1921, his highest score being 50 not out against Leicestershire at Leicester in 1920. He was better known as a hard-working halfback in the strong Northampton Town football team before and after the Great War. By profession he was a schoolmaster at Rushden.

TRUMPER, VICTOR (JUN.), the only son of his legendary father, died in Sydney on August 31, 1981, at the age of 67. A fast out-swing bowler, with few pretensions to batting, he played for New South Wales in 1940-41, though not in the Sheffield Shield, which was suspended for the duration of the Second World War.

VARACHIA, RASHID, who died in Johannesburg on December 11, 1981, aged 66, had been President of the South African Cricket Union since its formation as the non-racial controlling body of South African cricket in September, 1977. A highly successful businessman, born in Bombay, he was previously President of the South African Cricket Board of Control (SACBOC), administering Indians and Coloureds. Latterly he had worked under the handicap of a heart condition but had travelled the world, frail of body but intensely sincere of purpose, putting South Africa's claims for a return to international cricket. He withstood many rebuffs and was even amused when, because of his connection with South African cricket, the Australian government refused him a visa to visit Sydney where his son lived. At first he was frustrated not so much by his lack of success in approaches to the ICC but by the ignorance of South Africa shown by representatives of some member-countries and by their unwillingness to learn more about it or even discuss it. His last rebuff, in July 1981, was a heavy blow for one of fragile health to bear.

VAULKHARD, DENIS HENRY, a member of the well-known midland cricketing family, who died at Nottingham on May 19, 1982, aged 73, played for Sir Julien Cahn's XI from 1924 to 1929 and also appeared for Nottinghamshire Second Eleven. He was a useful bat and medium-pace bowler. From 1949 to 1960 he was a member of the Nottinghamshire Committee.

WATTS, EDWARD ALFRED, was found dead in his home at Cheam on May 2, 1982. He was 70. Coming out for Surrey as an amateur in 1933, he immediately showed how valuable he was going to be if he could play regularly, scoring 318 runs with an average of 39.75 and taking 28 wickets at 24.85. In 1934 he joined the staff and with 928 runs and 91 wickets made it clear that he had not been over-estimated: moreover, against the powerful Yorkshire attack at Bradford he made 123 in under two hours, with four 6s and fourteen 4s. His only other century for the county, 116 not out against Hampshire at Bournemouth in 1936, also took less than two hours. He continued as an essential member of the side up to the war, heading the bowling averages in 1938 with 114 wickets in county matches at 17.69 and in 1939 taking ten for 67 in the second innings against Warwickshire at Edgbaston. After the war he was less effective, but continued to give useful assistance when required. He retired at the end of 1949, having received a benefit. Later he ran a sports shop. A strongly built man, he bowled fast-medium, could swing the ball both ways and got plenty of life off the wicket: to these gifts he added a shrewd bowling brain. He was a good striker of the ball, particularly through the covers, and a reliable slip. He was a brother-in-law of Alf Gover. All told he scored 6,158 runs at an average of 21.41 and took 729 wickets at 26.06 apiece.

WEST, LESLIE HAROLD, who died suddenly on November 12, 1982, aged 77, at a cricket dinner, had a trial for Essex as a professional in 1928. A stylish batsman, he made many runs later in club cricket, first for Ilford and then for Wanstead, and after his retirement he did wonderful work in coaching and inspiring young players.

WESTLEY, ROGER BANCROFT, who was master-in-charge of cricket at Haileybury, died on May 12, 1982, aged 35. In 1969, when his brother, Stuart, got a Blue, he played in five matches for Oxford without success. The two provide one of the comparatively few instances of twins appearing together in first-class cricket. They were educated at Lancaster Grammar School.

WHEATLEY, JACK BRIAN, who died at Sellescombe, Sussex, on April 29, 1982, aged 78, appeared for Middlesex against Oxford University in 1925 and then in 1928 played in seven matches for the county, making 62 against Worcestershire at Lord's in the first of them but doing little later. A batsman who played straight and was a good driver, he was also a useful slow left-arm change bowler. He had been in the Eleven at St Paul's School but did not get a Blue at Oxford.

WHITAKER, EDGAR HADDON, OBE, who died at his home at Roehampton on January 5, 1982, was editor of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack from 1940 to 1943. He was Chairman of J. Whitaker and Sons, publishers of Whitaker's Almanack and from 1938 to 1978 of Wisden.

WILSON, ERNEST FREDERICK, who died on March 3, 1981, aged 73, was one of several professional batsmen who might have made a name with other counties but were unable to secure a place in the tremendously strong pre-war Surrey batting sides. Having played an innings of 240 in three and a half hours for the Second Eleven against Devon at The Oval in 1928, he was given a trial for the county at Northampton and scored 99. Surrey declared at 530 for nine. The Northamptonshire bowling, never at that period strong (it was the first of three consecutive innings in which they fielded out to totals of over 500), was in the absence of Jupp, Thomas and Clark, so perhaps Wilson's success was not taken very seriously. At any rate, it was his only game for the side that season. In 1929 he had a good trial and scored 660 runs with an average of 25.42, his outstanding performance being 110 against Kent at Blackheath, the only century of his career, in the course of which he put on 154 in 95 minutes for the fifth wicket with P. G. H. Fender. Afforded another fair trial in 1930 he was disappointing and for the next few years appeared only spasmodically, playing occasionally a good innings but never really fulfilling his promise. Some had seen in him the successor to Sandham. He watched the ball well, had a good defence and scored mainly in front of the wicket. Perhaps his fielding did not help: he had a safe pair of hands, but was a slow mover. His last appearance was in 1936. In all matches for Surrey he made 2,516 runs with an average of 23.30.

WILSON PETER, who died at Palma, Majorca, on October 5, 1981, aged 68, was for many years Sports Columnist of the Daily Mirror, in which capacity he wrote occasionally, and usually affectionately, of cricket. His father, F. B. Wilson, who captained Harrow and Cambridge at cricket, wrote about numerous games for The Times. His son is Julian Wilson, the horse-racing commentator.

WOODMAN, REGINALD GEORGE, died on May 20, 1980, aged 84. He played two matches for Gloucestershire in 1925 as a batsman, but without success.