Obituaries in 1990

ALDERMAN, ALBERT EDWARD, who died on June 4, 1990, aged 82, was a member of the Derbyshire side which won the County Championship in 1936 after several years of steady progress up the table. He developed into a reliable, secure opening batsman and a steadying influence when the innings was in its formative stage. Derbyshire's rise from the very depths--in 1920 they lost seventeen out of the eighteen matches in their programme--was largely due to the influence and devoted service of three men: G. R. Jackson, the captain from 1922 to 1930, A. W. Richardson, captain from 1931 to 1936, and Sam Cadman, the former professional and highly respected head coach with a gift for spotting talent. Jackson and Richardson, by firm discipline and positive leadership, engendered a team spirit and efficiency seldom before attained, while Cadman behind the scenes kept bringing forward young players of promise, many of whom went on to successful career. Alderman was a product of the fine work being done in the nursery. He made his first-class début in 1928, and by 1931 was established as a regular member of the eleven when he had a match at The Oval to be proud of, hitting 113 not out, his maiden century, followed by an unbeaten 50 in the second innings. In 1933 Alderman for a second time failed by a narrow margin to reach his 1,000 runs, but from 1934 to 1939 he was comfortably over this particular. Hurdle. Also in 1934 his average exceeded 30 for the first time, and among many splendid performances he batted especially well against Hampshire at Portsmouth in both innings in an effort to stave off defeat. In the follow-on, he resisted for five hours and a half in carrying his bat for a chanceless 124. This sort of situation seemed to bring out the best in him.

In Derbyshire's Championship year in 1936, Alderman's contribution in the outfield received special commendation. At The Oval, when Tom Barling of Surrey swept a ball from Copson to leg and everyone thought the hit was carrying for six, Alderman sprinted fully 30 yards round the fine-leg boundary and brought off a wonderful catch, with his outstretched right hand just above the palings. Wisden pronounced that the catch should live in the memories of all those who were present on the Wednesday. Tendulkar's effort at Lord's in 1990 to dismiss Lamb behind the bowler, if not an exact replica, had many points in common with Alderman's brilliant feat. In 1937 he enjoyed his best summer, with 1,509 runs at 33.53 including three centuries. Against Leicestershire at Chesterfield he made 175, his highest score, and his opening stand of 233 with Denis Smith, in three hours, followed by 149 for the second wicket with Stanley Worthington, was the foundation of a crushing victory by an innings and 199 runs. Smith, the fluent left-hander, and Worthington were aggressive players for whom Alderman was often the perfect foil. He also scored 112 against the touring New Zealanders at Derby. The highlight of his 1938 season was a brilliant catch at Trent Bridge, which he brought off by running at full tilt in front of the startled members in the pavilion, once again taking the ball in his outstretched right hand. The victim was G. F. H. Heane. Alderman may at times have been prosaic and almost anonymous at the crease, but in the deep field he was a start of the first magnitude. He resumed his interrupted career in 1946 without ever really getting into his stride again. He had in the end to be satisfied with 12,376 runs for an average of 25.94. In the course of his career he exceeded 1,000 runs six times, hit twelve hundreds and held 202 catches. In assessing his value to his county, a generous estimate of the number of runs he saved by his brilliant fielding should be put into the equation. Alderman stood as an umpire on the county circuit in the mid-1960s and subsequently was coach at Repton.

ALLEN, GEORGE RAYMOND, who died in Montserrat on September 20, 1990, aged 41, made his début in first-class cricket in the West Indies in 1966 when he was only sixteen. As an off-spinning all-rounder, he played in five matches in the Shell Shield for the Combined Islands, for whom he took eleven wickets with a best performance of three for 9 against Trinidad in 1971-72. In the same year he made his highest score of 53 for Leeward Islands against G. T. Dowling's New Zealand tourists.

ARMSTRONG, NORMAN FOSTER, who died at Bournemouth on January 19, 1990, aged 97, was the second-oldest English first-class cricketer at the time of his death. Armstrong had a most unusual career. Having made one appearance as an amateur for Leicestershire in 1919, he was not seen again until 1926, when he embarked on a highly successful professional career at the ripe age of 33, crossing the divide between good club cricket and the first-class game unusually quickly. Armstrong had made 19,002 runs for his county by the end of the 1939 season at an average of 32.98, reaching his 1,000 runs in thirteen consecutive seasons from 1927 and once exceeding 2,000. It is worth noting that for these years he averaged 1,430 runs per season. He put together 36 hundreds.

Armstrong needed no more than the season of 1926 for the inevitable adjustments to the game, making the most of the excellent coaching and advice provided by Leicestershire at this period. His defence, later to become rock-like, was tightened up, but wisely no attempt was made to interfere with his highly idiosyncratic array of scoring strokes on the leg side, of which the most telling was a species of short-arm hook in front of square. For the rest of his runs, he relied on a variety of pushes, nudges and prods, executed at the last minute just as the frustrated bowler thought he had broken through. The special hallmarks of his batting, courage and concentration when faced with high speed, were demonstrated in an innings of 34 not out, in a total of 92, against Nottinghamshire in July 1927 at Leicester: Larwood and Barrett were in full cry, each taking five for 20, all clean bowled. His first hundred, and undefeated 113 at Northampton, took him all of four and a half hours and was a typically painstaking effort. In 1928, going in at No. 3, the position he was to make his own till the end of his career, he enjoyed the distinction of heading the county averages for the first time, with 1,646 runs at 35.78. This was a remarkable advance, and his increase of skill was underlined by the highest score of his career--an innings of 186 against Yorkshire, during which he was given a thorough examination by Wilfred Rhodes, who bowled 69 overs. Impervious to all his wiles, Armstrong stayed at the crease for 400 minutes. Leicestershire made more than 500 and were able to enforce the follow-on. A year later, he took a hundred off the reigning champions, Lancashire. The better the opposition, the better he played. In 1930 he made 147 against a Surrey attack which included Gover and Maurice Allom, and his five centuries and aggregate of more than 1,500 runs were most impressive in the wet summer of 1932. In 1933, a summer of good wickets and continuous sunshine, Armstrong reached a peak of 2,113 runs for an average of 43.12, becoming the first Leicestershire batsman to score 2,000 runs for the county in a season. In 1934, when he took a hundred off Larwood and Voce at Trent Bridge, and again in 1935 he topped the county averages with impressive figures. No-one enjoyed batting conditions much in 1936, but Armstrong made his 1,000 runs, and in 1937, although he played second fiddle to Leslie Berry, his colleague in many a useful partnership over the years, he none the less had a fine season with more than 1,700 runs, at an average of 42, and five hundreds. He was not far short of his 47th birthday when in 1939 he was his county's leading batsman for the fifth time, showing greater freedom than ever before and producing off-side strokes of rare quality, a revelation to those who knew him best.

Owing to his inflexible determination at the crease, and the frequency with which he rescued a lost cause in a weak batting side, he came to be known as the Valiant Armstrong. But his contribution did not end there: he held 223 catches, mostly in the slips, and was a useful medium-pace bowler who could break a partnership when needed, his 110 wickets costing 40.53 each.

BAINES, LT-COLONEL MICHAEL FITZROY TALBOT, who was a useful right-handed batsman and fast-medium bowler, died at Salisbury on March 9, 1990 at the age of 91. He was a regular soldier and played in one first-class match for the Army, against the University at Cambridge in 1926. He batted at No. 11 in both innings and failed to score, but was once not out; in his eight overs he conceded 39 runs without taking a wicket. He was one of the oldest surviving first-class cricketers.

BRAIN, DESMOND MORRAH, who died at Tumut, New South Wales, on march 1, 1990, aged 80, played for Tasmania in three first-class matches in 1930-31. Against the touring West Indians at Launceston he made 11 and 16, batting at No. 7, and when the west Indians went in, he had the satisfaction of catching George Headley for 3. Brain also played against Victoria at Melbourne, where he scored 93, and altogether he made 156 runs for an average of 26.00.

BRUCE-LOCKHART, RAB BROUGHAM, who died at Burneside in Cumbria on May 1, 1990, aged 73, had made a great reputation for himself as a leg-spinning all-round cricketer at the Edinburgh Academy before going up to Cambridge. Without quoting chapter and verse, it is enough to say that in his five years in the XI he made comfortably more than 2,500 runs for an average of 40 and took more than 100 wickets with his leg-spin at a little more than 12 apiece. He was at the head of both the batting and bowling averages in his last two years, and captain in 1935. Sadly, the high expectations held for him went largely unfulfilled at the University. Loss of form and confidence, a fault in his batting technique, or perhaps lack of subtlety in his bowling may have accounted in one way or another for this disappointing outcome. In the Freshmen's match of 1937, although failing to score, he took six for 34, and a half-century and four wickets for 6 runs for the Perambulators against the Etceteras paved the way for his début for the University, against Nottinghamshire. The match, however, was ruined by rain, and in his second trial, against Middlesex, he made but a few runs in each innings and bowled out Patsy Hendren. His only other first-class game was against Yorkshire in 1938, but again he did not impress. In his three first-class appearances, he scored 32 runs, average 8.00, and his one wicket cost 146 runs. While failing to emulate his father, John, by winning a Blue at cricket, he did follow in his footsteps by playing rugby for Cambridge and Scotland, and by taking up schoolmastering. He was headmaster of Loretto from 1960 to 1976.

COOPER, SIR HENRY, who died in Auckland on September 4, 1990, aged 81, was the manager of first New Zealand team to tour India and Pakistan, under the captaincy of H. B. Cave in 1955-56. Born in Derbyshire, whence his parents emigrated when he was four, he played three first-class games of Auckland in the war years, scoring 99 runs (average 24.75) with a highest innings of 52 against Wellington in 1943-44. Greatly revered as a secondary school headmaster, he had an association with Auckland Grammar School which lasted 68 years, first as a pupil, then on the teaching staff from 1935 to 1953, and later as headmaster from 1954 to 1973. His knighthood was given for services to the community.

COOPER, RICHARD CLAUDE, who collapsed from a heart attack and died near Malmesbury on March 14, 1990, aged 44, made something of a name for himself in West Country cricket circles from 1967 to 1989 by his aggressive, hard-hitting batting for Wiltshire and various club sides. When he made a hundred in each innings for Wiltshire against their Second Eleven at Devizes in 1970, Somerset were sufficiently impressed to offer him a contract. The door was open. Here was the chance to knuckle down, learn the business and show what the West Country Milburn, as he was called, could do at a higher level. For Cooper bore a remarkable resemblance to the former England batsman: he was built on the same generous scale; he had the same natural gifts and a flair for hitting the cover off the ball. The difference between the two men lay in their temperaments. The keen edge of competition brought out the best in Milburn when he went to Northampton, and he soon became a Test player; it seemed to inhibit Cooper, whose period with Somerset from 1972 to 1974 brought him little joy. He preferred the more comfortable environment of his native Wiltshire, for whom, he made nearly 5,000 runs at an average of 30, and he continued to make hay for clubs such as Malmesbury and Chippenham. In 1972 his 95 on a rain-affected pitch for Somerset against Minor Counties (South), in the Benson and Hedges Cup at Plymouth, rescued his side from an embarrassing position and earned him the Gold Award. His one first-class match was against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in 1972 where he made 4 runs in his two innings. It was unfortunate that such a rare talent could not have yielded richer dividends.

COOTE, CYRIL ERNEST, BEM, who died at the wheel of his car at Cottenham on January 24, 1990, aged 80, was one of the best-known and most widely respected groundsmen in the country. Under him the wicket at Fenner's became famous. Coote, no mean player himself, not only understood thoroughly all the stages of pitch preparation, but was convinced that no young player, however gifted, can be expected to develop into a first-class cricketer unless he is given the chance to play his shots on a surface which has both pace and a reasonable bounce. He took over at Cambridge in 1935 and did not finally give up his duties until 1980. During that long period, a whole cavalcade of aspiring undergraduates had the enormous benefit of occupying the crease on his square. May and Dexter, for example, were doubly fortunate in moving on from the pitches at Charterhouse and Radley to the perfection of Fenner's. It was no wonder that they both hit the ball so fluently and with such power. But Cyril Coote was much more than a groundsman: he was also a guide, counsellor and friend to all undergraduates who sought his advice when things were not going well with their game. As a player he would have more than held his own in first-class cricket, if he had bee able to follow that path. However, he had to live with an old soccer injury which left him lame. Minor Counties cricket for Cambridgeshire, with a programme of eight two-day matches per season, made much more sense, and as a left-handed opening bat he made nearly 3,000 runs for them between 1932 and 1939. His best year was 1935, when he made 675 runs for an average of 56.25 and also played in four Minor Counties representatives matches, having most success against the University at Cambridge, where he scored 49 and 46. He captained Cambridgeshire in 1938 and 1939 and from 1946 to 1949, finishing with a flourish by making 200 against Berkshire.

CROOM, LESLIE CHARLES BRYAN, who died on December 20, 1989, aged 69, was taken on to the Warwickshire staff as a professional in 1949 but was not re-engaged. A sound right-handed batsman, he was given four games, but with a highest score of 26, against Essex at Brentwood, and 73 runs in all for an average of 9.12, he made no real impression. Croom returned to the Birmingham League, playing for West Bromwich Dartmouth. He was the son of A. J. W. Croom, who made more than 17,000 runs for the Midland county between the wars.

DUNKLEY, MAURICE EDWARD FRANK, who died at Preston in Rutland on December 27, 1989, aged 75, played as a young professional for Northamptonshire in the last three pre-war seasons. In 36 matches he made 904 runs at an average of 15.06, suggesting in a number of useful innings, especially in 1938, that he might have improved enough to make the grade. The season he hit his highest score of 70 at Scarborough against the prospective champions, Yorkshire, helping his captain, R. P. Nelson, add 102 for the eighth wicket; a week earlier he had made 50 against Sussex at Northampton. An all-round sportsman, Dunkley played soccer for Manchester City, making 51 first-team appearances before and after the war, and Northampton Town. Later in life he became an excellent golfer.

DYER, DENNIS VICTOR, the South African opening batsman, who died at Durban on June 18, 1990, aged 76, was establishing himself in Currie Cup cricket when the Second World War seriously interrupted his career. He had announced himself in the best possible way in the 1939-40 season by making 185 on his first-class début, for Natal against Western Province at his native Durban. When first-class cricket was resumed in the southern summer of 1945-46, with eighteen friendly matches, Dyer made his second century, hitting 117 for Natal against Griqualand West at Pietermaritzburg in what proved to be a low-scoring game. The form he showed a year later in scoring his third and final hundred, 135 against Transvaal at Durban, helped to secure him a place in the team which toured England under Alan Melville in 1947. Melville had planned to open with Bruce Mitchell and Dyer in the Tests, but Dyer was completely out of sorts and was vulnerable to the lifting ball outside his off stump. At the same time it was clear that he was not in the best of health. Nevertheless, picked for the Third Test at Manchester, he made 62 in three hours against an England attack consisting of Edrich, Gladwin, Cranston and, for a few overs, Charles Barnett. He had no further success, although he played at Leeds and The Oval. However, Dyer had probably been carrying a grumbling appendix for some weeks before an immediate operation became necessary; happily he made a swift recovery and was able to sail home with the team. On the tour, he made 673 runs at 25.88, with a highest score of 74 against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham immediately before the Fifth Test. In 1948-49 MCC had a glimpse of him when they played Natal at Durban, but that was his final season and he retired with 1,725 first-class runs to his credit at 37.50, a figure confirming that he was far from his best in England.

EDUN, WILFRED (SONNY), who collapsed and died on June 10, 1990 after addressing a group of young cricketers in Georgetown, Guyana, was a medium-fast bowler in the improving British Guiana teams of the 1950s. He batted in the lower half of the order. In April 1955, playing for British Guiana against an Australian side still smarting from their failure to regain the Ashes from Hutton's team, he was entrusted with the new ball and took on wicket for 78 runs in 22 overs as the tourists ran up 476 for seven declared. Batting at No. 9, he made 17 not out and 6. Early in 1956, he was included in the young side which the West Indies sent to New Zealand to help prepare future Tests players, but he had only two first-class matches, taking six wickets at 12.83 and heading the averages. After he had given up playing, he devoted much of his time to the administration of the game in Guyana.

EVANS, DAVID GWILLIAM LLOYD, who died at Cympengraig Drefach, Llandysul, on March 25, 1990, at the age of 56, was Glamorgan's regular wicket-keeper from 1958 to 1969, when he eventually gave way to Eifion Jones, having played in 270 games for his county. Successor to Haydn Davies, he made himself, by hard work and diligent practice, into one of the best wicket-keepers of his time: O. S. Wheatley, his captain from 1961 to 1966, reckoned that Evans dropped no more than two palpable chances during the whole of those six seasons. Apart from Wheatley himself, Evans had such testing bowlers to take as Jeff Jones, McConnon, Peter Walker, Don Shepherd with his sharp off-cut, and Wilfred Wooller. In 1962, he made six catches against Yorkshire at Cardiff, four in succession in the second innings in a match which Glamorgan won by five wickets. A year later, he had his best season, his 89 dismissals making him the leading wicket-keeper in the country and beating the Glamorgan record; with the bat, his stubborn defence, frequently as night-watchman, brought him more than 400 runs. Altogether he accomplished 503 catches and 55 stumpings, and scored 2,875 runs for an average of just over 10. He was awarded a round-the-world Winston Churchill Scholarship in 1967-68 to study coaching methods and generally to promote the game, with special reference to Australia, and in 1971 he went on the first-class umpires' list, making such a good impression that he stood in nine Tests in the first half of the 1980s. At the time of his death he had just returned to the list after a spell of ill health.

EVE, STANLEY CHARLES, who died on January 27, 1990, aged 64, was educated at Upminster School in Essex, and from the school XI he soon joined the Upminster club, for which he was to become a heavy scorer. Diminutive in stature, he did not allow his lack of inches to curb his natural aggression, and word soon reached the county that Eve they had a promising recruit. He duly made his début in the Championship in mid-May 1949, playing as an amateur and scoring 717 eventful runs in seventeen matches at an average of 27.57. This was a fine performance, but the bare figures give no clue to the vagaries of fortune he experienced. In his second match he hit 120 at Brentwood against Warwickshire in a stay of just over two hours, completely dominating a fourth-wicket stand of 163 with Frank Vigar, whose score was 36. The Essex chronicler in Wisden states that he showed mastery of the drive, cut, glance and hook and hit nineteen 4's. Soon after this, he excelled with an innings of 86 against Northamptonshire at Westcliff, this time sharing in a stand of 146 for the fourth wicket with Peter Smith, and against Leicestershire at Leicester he hit 60 in the first innings, adding 131 for the third wicket with Vigar; he was undefeated with 27 when Essex won by seven wickets. His unbeaten 69 against Surrey at southend on a worn pitch, with Laker and Lock in full cry and Alec Bedser in support, was a plucky and resourceful effort in a losing cause. The next highest score off the bat was 12 as Essex went down by an innings. Finally, he made 109 runs in the match against the touring New Zealanders. Now for the downs. He was bowled by Perks for 16 at Worcester, lbw to Wellard at Bath for 2, and lbw to Wooller at Ebbw Vale for 1. Against Derbyshire at Westcliff he made 9 and 0, being caught behind by Dawkes off Gladwin in the first innings and off Jackson in the second. Later on, at Southend, Alec Bedser bowled him for 0, and against Sussex, on the same ground, he twice fell to James Langridge for low scores. It will be seen that he was the victim of six different Test bowlers, exploiting his keenness to push on from the start of an innings. After the excitements of 1949, being unable to free himself from his business commitments for any length of time. Eve playedintermittingly for Essex in 1950, 1951 and 1957, but did little to add to his reputation. For Upminster, however, he continued to help himself to runs almost at will, and in 1976, when he was 50, he scored more than 1,000. His full first-class record was 1,041 runs for an average of 22.14.

EVERY, TREVOR, who died at Newport on January 20, 1990, just after his 80th birthday, had to contend with a tragedy which brought to an abrupt end his career with Glamorgan as a wicket-keeper-batsman. At the pre-season nets in 1934, he found in his dismay that he was unable to pick up properly the flight of the ball. However, he started the opening match, against Kent at Cardiff, keeping wickets as usual: the scorecard shows that he must have asked for relief about halfway through Kent's first innings; and batting at No. 10 he was bowled by Freeman for 0. He was never to step on to a cricket field again. Within a day or two a specialist pronounced his optic nerve to be deteriorating so rapidly that he would soon be totally blind. Glamorgan made a moving appeal on his behalf, and more than £1,000 was raised to help him adjust to a very different way of life.

Every, who was born at Llanelli, was playing for the local club when he was spotted by some Glamorgan professionals, who recommended him for a trial with the county. In 1929 he played in nineteen matches, sharing the wicket-keeping duties with two other young professionals, and in 1930 he trained on into a first-rate keeper He completed 47 dismissals, a total he equalled in 1932, and his work behind the stumps, standing up to the contrasting spin of J. C. Clay and Frank Ryan, impressed many good judges. His batting also began to pick up, with a maiden fifty against Leicestershire and more than 400 runs to his credit. His 696 runs, average 21, in 1932 included his first and only century in first-class cricket, an aggressive innings of 116 against Worcestershire at Stourbridge. The highlight of his season in 1933 was the day he and Dai Davies, both local boys, made 75 and 70 respectively at Llanelli in a Championship match. They were cheered to the echo by a large and enthusiastic crowd. Then darkness fell. It is clear that, under the captaincy of M. J. Turnbull, a cricketer of high promise, lively personality, and good humour was developing along a path which might have taken him to the top. In his short career he disposed of 179 batsmen, of whom 70 were stumped, and scored 2,518 runs for an average of 16.35. After his loss of sight, he was trained in Cardiff as a stenographer by the Royal National Institute for the Blind, for whom he worked for many years. Nor did he ever lose touch with the game which had promised him so much.

GEARRY, GEORGE NEVILLE, who died in New Zealand in January 1990, aged 66, played in fourteen matches for Canterbury from 1953-54 to 1956-57. A left-hand batsman, and in club cricket a prodigious hitter, he made 337 runs, average 17.74, in first-class matches, while his right-arm medium-pace bowling brought him 32 wickets at 26 apiece. His best return was six for 32 against Wellington at Christchurch in his first season of Plunket Shield cricket.

GORE, BRIGADIER ADRIAN CLEMENTS, DSO, who died at Horton Priory on June 7, 1990, in his 91st year, was a naturally gifted all-round sportsman with a touch of genius. At Eton his talent for cricket when he was a junior or a colt was allowed to lie dormant in house leagues; or possibly he did not bother to play, preferring instead the racquets court and other delights. At all events, whether or not he was a late discovery, he burst upon the cricketing scene at the beginning of the 1918 season fully armed and ready for combat, his chief weapon being a vicious in-swinger which moved late and was delivered at a brisk fast-medium; once the shine was off, his line and length were such that he proved on many occasions to be the very devil to get away. In 1918 Gore took 51 wickets for Eton at an average of 7.51, making such an impact that E. B. Noel obtained and published in Wisden his full record. Consequently we know that his strike-rate was as low as 21.18. The same writer went on to say that at times he might have bowled out anyone and did not need the assistance of a wind. Indeed, had he chosen a career other than the Army, and made himself available for regular first-class cricket, he might well have been a handful at a higher level.

In only the second encounter of Eton's 1918 season, Gore demolished RMC Sandhurst on an Agar's Plough pitch affected by overnight rain, his fourteen wickets in the match, including nine for 29 in the second innings, being most unfriendly treatment from one who was destined for the same academy not long after the end of term. The Ramblers were undermined in the next match, when his figures were five wickets for 35. And if that was enough to satisfy his appetite, he and B. S. Hill-Wood were soon hustling out Charterhouse for 13 and 83, again at Eton. This time, Gore's match figures were nine for 32. Eton and Harrow played home and away matches against each other this year, neither of which was subsequently counted in the official series. At Harrow, Gore was more or less contained, but in the return he claimed four wickets for 33 and, when Eton, 7 runs behind on the first innings, pressed for a two-innings result, he stole the show with an analysis of 16-4-27-5. No wonder the editor of Wisden honoured him with a place among the portraits of Five Public School Cricketers of the year.

Gore played in sixteen first-class matches between 1921 and 1932. Most of these were for the Army, for whom he proved to be a formidable and penetrative spearhead. On his first appearance at Fenner's against the University in 1921, he had figures of 12-4-17-4 and 14-4-34-2. In 1924 he played for the Combined Services against the South Africans, dismissing A. D. Nourse and H. W. Taylor, their two most experienced batsmen, in the first innings; and a year later, in the traditional Services match at Lord's, he sank the Navy with some devastating bowling. His eight wickets cost him 46 runs in 20.1 overs, it being said of his bowling that he swerved in pronounced fashion and often very late. Probably on the strength of this performance he was chosen for the Gentlemen in the Folkestone Festival, but he achieved little of note. Further success attended his efforts at irregular intervals up until his last match for the Army at Lord's in 1932, when he again tormented the Navy's batsmen with five wickets for 84 in 41 overs. In all first-class matches he took 52 wickets for an average of 21.90. As a tail-end batsmen capable of making a useful contribution, he made 142 runs in first-class cricket at 9.46, his highest score being 32 not out for the Army against Oxford University at Folkestone in 1931.

GRIMSTON, LT-COLONEL GEORGE SYLVESTER, who died at Hove on September 18, 1990, aged 85, was educated at Winchester, where he had an excellent season as an al-rounder in 1923, averaging 19 with the bat and taking 30 wickets at a cost of 17.33 with his fast--medium bowling. A year later he made his first-class début for Sussex against Lancashire at Brighton. Far from being overawed by the occasion he contributed 23 invaluable runs, which went a long way to saving the game. At Leicester he punished the bowling freely when making 47 to increase his side's lead to 188 before their opponent were routed for 45. In 1926-27, as a young officer on duty in India, he appeared twice against A. E. R. Gilligan's MCC side for the Army and Southern Punjab, but by the English summer of 1928 he was back at home, playing for Sussex. His best match for against Gloucestershire at Brighton when he made 61 and 25, and earlier he had made a fifty against the West Indians on the same ground. His bowling had hardly been called upon, but in 1929 he had an inspired spell against Middlesex at Brighton with an analysis of 14.3-3-40-5, including the wickets of Jack Hearne, Nigel Haig, F. T. Mann and R. W. V. Robins. He also took part in the memorable match against Kent at Hastings wherein 1,451 runs were made, with K. S. Duleepsinhji hitting 115 and 246, only the fifth instance of this feat at the time. After 1930 Grimston played no more for Sussex but became an important figure in Army cricketing circle, appearing regularly in their traditional matches. In 1937 he made 95 and 36 against Cambridge, driving admirably, hitting fourteen fours and putting on 70 for the last wicket with C. T. Orton in the first innings. These splendid efforts could not prevent the University from winning by ten wickets. In 1939, also at Fenner's, he hit his only first-class hundred, helping C. W. C. Packe put on 220 for the fifth wicket towards an Army total of 537. Finishing on this note he raised his aggregate to 826 for an average of 21.73. He also took nine catches and eleven wickets at 38.09. In 1950 he resumed his association with Sussex by taking up the position of secretary and remained such until 1964, a period which, at the end, saw the county win the first two limited-overs finals at Lord's.

GROVES, LESLIE JOSEPH, who died in Dunedin on September 4, 1990, aged 79, had a first-class career which stretched from 1929-30 until 1949-50, but he made only fifteen appearances for his province, Otago. In his first match, at the age of eighteen, Otago used six bowlers against Wellington, but Groves, a leg-spinner, was not among them, and he batted at No. 9. His second match was seven years later, when he took a career-best four for 68 against Wellington. In all he claimed 22 wickets in first-class matches and always commanded respect. He was a useful tail-end batsman, with 285 runs at 11.40 and a best score of 35 against Canterbury in 1948-49.

HASEEB-UL-HASAN, who was murdered by an unknown gunman an Joharabad, Pakistan on April 18, 1990, aged 25, had played in 32 first-class matches for Karachi and Karachi Blues since 1984-85. Only a month earlier, bowling left-arm medium-pace, he had taken five for 66, career-best figures, against Karachi Whites in the final of the Patron's Trophy. In all he took 59 wickets at 31.50 apiece, while his left-hand batting produced 1,365 runs for an average of 31.02. His highest score was 104 against HBFC at Karachi in 1986-87.

HAZELL, HORACE LESLIE, who died at Bristol on March 31, 1990, aged 80, was one of number of effective slow left-arm bowlers who were playing in county cricket in the 1930s, and on into the 1950s. He made his début in first-class cricket in 1929, playing in three Championship games for Somerset, but had to wait on the sidelines until 1932 for another opportunity. Standing in his way was the formidable and taciturn figure of his captain, J. C. White, who, with the retirement of Rhodes, was for a season it two the best bowler of his type in the country. However, Hazell performed so well in 1932 that he took 63 wickets at a cost of 23 each and was awarded his county cap. In 1933, a batsman's year, he found it much easier to contain batsmen than get them out. At Chilvers Coton against Warwickshire, he bowled 61 overs from the same end unchanged, a remarkable example of the metronomic accuracy he could command. He used to say himself that he could not flight the ball like J. C. White; nor was he able to impart enough spin on good wickets to trouble the best players. Nevertheless, in 1936, playing in his first full season in the Championship, he responded splendidly by taking 77 wickets at 21 apiece. In the three matches at Weston-super-Mare against Glamorgan, Hampshire and Sussex, all of whom were beaten, he captured twenty wickets. He headed the Somerset bowling averages for the first time in 1939 and had a major part in the tied game with Worcestershire at Kidderminster, taking five for 6 in their second innings and being bowled out himself when the scores were level.

The first four post-war seasons, innings each of which he headed the county's averages, proved to be the most productive p0eriod of his career. In 1948 he took 105 wickets at 19.76, and a year later he had his best season with 106 wickets at 19.48, coming sixth in the national averages in a little cluster of left-handers, the other three being A. H. Kardar, Howorth and Jack Young. Once again he revelled in the conditions at Weston-super-Mare, where he dismissed 25 batsmen, an average of four per innings. Earlier in the season, at Taunton on a rain-affected pitch, he had mesmerised the whole Gloucestershire side, Tom Graveney included, returning the extraordinary analysis of 28.3-21-27-8 in the first innings. He had twelve for 63 in the match and was chiefly responsible got Somerset's first victory over their neighbours since 1938. That he was allowed to weave his web and go unscathed seems strange indeed: in the first innings he bowled 105 balls without conceding a run. At the end of 1952, when he again headed Somerset's averages, much to his surprise and disappointment his contract was not renewed. Though he was now 43, it proved to be a serious error of judgement by the committee. Without him, Somerset remained bottom of the Championship in each of the next three seasons. Hazell for his part found employment with Mitchells and Butlers in the Birmingham League.

Hazell, who also batted left-handed, was an accomplished all-round cricketer. A specialist No. 11, he was a pastmaster of the art of passive defence and could lie doggo while his partner went on accumulating, often in tight situations. He seems to have cut loose just once: at Bath in 1936 he despatched Hedley Verity for 28 in an over, including four sixes. His tubby figure and roly-poly gait ruled him out for fielding away from the bat and he developed into a high-class catcher near the wicket, especially in the slips. In the course of his 350 matches for Somerset he held 249 catches. He took 957 wickets at 23.97 and made 2,280 runs for an average of 8.17, figures which do less than justice to the value of many of his innings. He was a splendid team man; always the one to have around in the dressing-room or on the field if things were going wrong and morale was low.

HENRY, DENIS PHILIP, who died on March 27, 1990 at the age of 82, played in just one first-class match, for the Free Foresters against the University at Oxford in 1948. The match was ruined by rain. A middle-order right-hand batsman and off-spin bowler, he made a single in his only innings and conceded 16 runs in three overs without taking a wicket. He played most of his cricket for the Bank of England against good London club sides.

HIGGINS, HENRY JAMES ROY, who died at Brisbane on February 24, 1990, aged 90, was the last surviving member of the first side to represent Queensland in the Sheffield Shield, at the beginning of the 1926-27 season. Queensland performed very creditably in those early encounters, when there was no indication that they were going to have to wait so long for success in the competition. Typical of their skill and nerve was the match they played against New South Wales at Sydney from December 31, 1927 to January 5, 1928. The home state led off with 639, Kippax making 315 not out, and then bowled out Queensland for 276; Higgins, batting at No. 9, failed to score. When they followed on, however, Queensland reached 590 and made a great effort to force a win on a rain-affected pitch. In their recovery, they had owed nearly everything to Rowe (147) and Higgins, who made 179 in four hours and hit 22 fours before being run out. The last four wickets put on 255. Although making some useful scores lower down the order and occasionally going in first, he never approached this sort of form again. In six seasons he played in fourteen Shield games, making 617 runs for an average of 25.70.

HILTON, MALCOLM JAMESON, who died at Oldham on July 8, 1990, aged 61, was the best slow left-arm bowler that Lancashire produced since the turn of the century. In May 1948 he became for a short time the most-discussed young man in the cricket world when, in only his third first-class match, he twice dismissed Bradman at Old Trafford. In the Australians' first innings the nineteen-year-old Hilton bowled the great man for 14, and in the second he had him stumped after beating him with his three previous deliveries. Thereafter, fearing that all the brouhaha might spoil him, Lancashire gradually withdrew him from the front line, but not before he had claimed 41 wickets at 21.07. A year later they sensibly decided to confine Hilton's activities to Second Eleven cricket, in which, so well did he absorb the advice of the coaching staff, he dominated the Minor Counties Championship by taking 103 wickets. In 1950 he came right to the front, putting his trust more in his ability to impart sharp spin than in subtle variations of pace and flight. So impressed were the England selectors that, without any more ado, they picked him for the final Test against West Indies at The Oval. This was a tough baptism, made tougher still when Brown lost the toss, and in a total of 503 he bowled 41 wicketless overs for 91 runs. Berry, his fellow-Lancastrian, was preferred to him for Australia, but it must have been a close thing. Hilton's record of 135 wickets at less than 17 apiece was the more impressive of the two, but Berry's ability on firm pitches undoubtedly influenced the selectors. However, a similar record in 1951 earned Hilton a Test recall against South Africa at Headingley, where the pitch proved to be lifeless, a handicap to batsmen and bowlers alike. The South Africans, largely through the stolid Eric Rowan, ground out 538, and England followed suit with 505 before rain mercifully intervened. Hilton bore much of the burden, taking three for 176 in 61.3 overs, but he joined a skittish Trevor Bailey in a last-wicket stand of 60, of which his own share was 9. This included a mighty six off Athol Rowan. In the winter of 1951-52 he toured India with MCC, but took a long time to settle down and did not come into the Test side until the penultimate match at Kanpur, where conditions proved to be more favourable to spin thanin any precious match. England won by eight wickets and Hilton seized his chance magnificently and was one of the leading figures in the success with match figures of nine for 93. At Madras he disposed of Hazare and Phadkar but could not prevent India from gaining their first-ever Test victory.

A moderate season in 1952 was followed by a disastrous one in Coronation year, when for the first time he was afflicted by a serious loss of control, a bowler's nightmare. He had to sit out the monsoons of 1954 in the pavilion, but when cricket was possible he took nearly 100 wickets at 20 apiece, although at times he looked vulnerable. He passed the coveted figure for the third time in 1955, yet probably had even more satisfaction from his maiden century, 100 not out at Northampton, which was compiled with his unusual repertoire of robust strokes. By 1956 he was well and truly back to his best, claiming 158 wickets at 13.96 with the excellent strike-rate of 45.56 and finishing third in the national averages. He considered his fourteen for 88 in August at Weston-super-Mare to be the highlight of his season. For Somerset, his younger brother, Jim, took eight wickets with his off-spinners. A week later, there were red faces at The Oval when Surrey were bowled out for 96 by Hilton and Tattersall; and even more embarrassment was caused early in September when, in the Champion County's match against The Rest, Surrey were again dismissed on the same ground by the Lancashire pair, losing twenty wickets for a combined total of 143. Hilton captured six wickets for 10 runs in the first innings, spinning the ball viciously from leg in helpful conditions, and the Oval faithful were reminded that there were other spinners around, apart from Lock and Laker. He was chosen as one of the Five Cricketers of the Year for the 1957 edition of Wisden.

By now he was still only 28, and as a slow bowler he could reasonably look forward to the best years of his career. He seemed to have put his troubles behind him, and there was an Australian tour in the offing. Instead, he was once more bedevilled by lack of consistency, suddenly losing control of his bowling without being able to account for it. And although the wet summer of 1958 brought the longed-for return to form with 94 wickets, and he achieved the best figures of his career when taking eight for 19 against the New Zealanders in a total of 144, from 1959 to 1961 he obtained only 25 wickets. Lancashire offered to re-engage him, but he preferred to go into league cricket. In 1960 he was awarded a benefit, jointly with Tattersall, which realised £11,701, a measure of their popularity. In 270 first-class matches Hilton took 1,006 wickets with an average of 19.42 and a strike-rate of 55.04. His lusty batting brought him 3,416 runs, average 12.11, and he made 202 catches in virtually all positions. Indeed his brilliant fielding made him a frequent choice as England's twelfth man.

HOLE, GRAEME BLAKE, who died in Adelaide on February 14, 1990, aged 59, played in eighteen Tests for Australia from 1951 to 1955 and toured England under A. L. Hassett in the summer of 1953. The verdict on his Test career must be that it was deeply disappointing both to the player and the selectors, who kept faith with him for as long as they reasonably could. When he was summoned to the colours against England in February 1951, he seemed to have everything in his favour, not least his personal charm, good looks and grace of movement. He batted stylishly, could bowl off-breaks, and fielded in any position. He seemed to possess all the qualities needed for the captaincy of Australia. Hole was nineteen and playing for the St. George club in Sydney grade cricket when, in 1949-50, he was picked to represent New South Wales against Victoria in what was in effect the Sheffield Shield final. He managed only 23 and 6 with the bat, but taking six for 61 in the match he helped his side win by 196 runs. It was a useful début. That winter, he moved to Adelaide and became an automatic choice for South Australia until he retired in 1957-58. In 1950-51 he made 478 runs in the Shield for an average of 39.83, and in the state's two matches against MCC he batted well, without scoring heavily. Chosen for the final Test at Melbourne, when Australia had already somewhat fortuitously built up a 4-0 lead in the rubber, he made 63 in the second innings but could do little more than delay England's first victory since 1938. He also helped to make it slightly less emphatic by bowling Hutton for 79. In 1951-52, however, he suffered a considerable setback, scoring only 190 runs in nine innings against West Indies. He achieved little of note, apart from 45 not out in the second innings at Brisbane, when he remained imperturbable in a crisis, and 62 at Sydney in the final game, and his form in the Sheffield Shield, until he made a fine century against Queensland, was moderate. Next season, when the South Africans tested Australia to the full, drawing the series 2-2, he disappointed once again, the highest of some useful scores being a stylish 59 in the Fourth Test at Adelaide. Outside the Tests he fared better against the South Africans, with a well-made 97 for an Australian XIat Sydney and 102 for South Australia in Adelaide at the end of the tour. In the Sheffield Shield, helped by not outs, he averaged more than 80, and South Australia were winners for the first time since the Bradman era.

By the time Hole toured England in 1953, the balance of power was swinging the home country's way, and they recovered the Ashes at The Oval at the end of a fascinating series in which runs were generally hard to come by. Tried as an opener at Trent Bridge, in those days the traditional venue for the First Test, he twice succumbed to Bedser, for 0 and 5. But at Lord's he made a useful 47 in Australia's second innings, as well as taking four catches in the slips, and at Old Trafford he helped Harvey put on 173 for the fourth wicket in Australia's first innings of 318. In the tense struggle which followed at Headingley, Hole was very much in action: he had scored 53 when he was brilliantly caught by Lock off Bedser in the first innings, and was 33 when, with Australia going for the runs, he was caught by Graveney from a hit which looked like carrying six over the square-leg boundary. After that, Australia were forced to give up the chase. At The Oval he played very well for 37 on the first day. Finishing with 273 runs for an average of 27.30, he was fourth in the Test averages behind Hassett, Morris and Harvey, and while he had certainly not lost ground, nor had he gained much. For the whole tour he made 1,118 runs at 33.87, as well as taking 22 catches. His bowling was rarely used.

Back at home in 1953-54 Hole made 670 runs for South Australia in a Sheffield Shield season which for once was not overshadowed by Test matches and a touring team. On Christmas Day 1953, against Queensland at Adelaide, he made 171 and then went on to 226, his only double-century. But the next summer, after an excellent 57 at Brisbane against Hutton's team, he was bowled three times in succession by Tyson at Sydney and Melbourne and was swept away in the wreckage of Australia's batting, never to be called upon again. His generous backlift, coupled with a long, lazy swing of the bat as he shaped his strokes, much have left him vulnerable to extreme speed. However, his failure to establish himself as a Test batsman was more one of temperament that technique. There were occasions when he came tantalisingly close to the breakthrough: one large score might well have done the trick. He had three more seasons for South Australia before being forced to retire when he ruptured his spleen taking an acrobatic catch off Dooland's bowling to dismiss Sam Loxton. In all first-class matches he made 5,647 runs for and average of 36.66, including eleven hundreds, and took 61 wickets at 44.03. His 82 catches were mostly at slip, where he became a specialist. In Test matches he scored 789 runs, average 25.45, and took three wickets at 42.00 apiece and 21 catches. He afterwards served the South Australian Cricket Association in several capacities.

HOLMAN, RAYMOND SIDNEY, who died on September 19, 1989, aged 70, played for South Australia against New South Wales at Adelaide in one of the non-competitive matches arranged for the season of 1940-41. New South Wales fielded a side not far short of Test strength and Holman, batting at No. 7, was dismissed by O'Reilly in the first innings for a single and in the second by McCool for 3. That must have been enough leg-spin for him for the time being.

JESSOP, REVD GILBERT LAIRD OSBORNE, who died in St Thomas's Hospital, London, on January 16, 1990, aged 83, was the son of Gilbert Jessop, known as The Crouncher and a famous hitter in the early years of the century. The younger Jessop was not in the least inhibited by his father's reputation, and became a competent cricketer in his own right at Minor County and good club level. He was educated at Weymouth College, where he played a prominent part in the XI from 1922 to 1924, taking 97 wickets with his off-spin. His batting promised much in 1923, when he made a century and finished third in the averages, but went into sharp decline during the wet summer of 1924, his robust methods being ill suited to the many sodden pitches he must have encountered. After leaving school in the year before going up to Cambridge, he seems to have worked on his batting; we find him in May 1926 making 157 and performing the hat-trick in a club match. In 1927 he showed excellent form in the Freshmen's match at Cambridge, making 57 and 47 not out. Wisden was fulsome in its praise: No one appeared to better advantage than Jessop who displayed a refreshing vigour in the first innings, and in the second, if lucky in some of his hits, again batted with confidence and power. On the strength of this, he was selected for a further trial but failed in both innings. He made his first-class début for MCC against Wales at Lord's in 1929, scoring a useful 29 in the second innings before falling to Sydney Barnes, who had match figures of seven for 99 in 75 overs at the age of 56. Jessop played in three first-class matches for Hampshire in 1933, two in the Championship and the other against the West Indians at Southampton, in which he made 25 in the second inning facing a hostile Martindale. By now he had completed his theological studies and taken Orders. In 1936 he turned out for Cambridgeshire with considerable success; and in 1939 he did even better in his first season for Dorset, averaging 37 with the bat and taking 21 wickets at 11.19 apiece. He was to enjoy a number of successful seasons after the war. In his four first-class matches, Jessop made 86 runs for an average of 12.28, while his one wicket was that of James Langridge.

KERR, ERIC ALAN DAVID, who died at Melbourne on February 16, 1989, aged 65, was a member of the Victoria team which finished runners-up in the Sheffield Shield in 1949-50, the season in which Jack Iverson mystified everyone with his unorthodox grip in taking 46 wickets. Kerr, a solid right-hand batsman and right-arm opening bowler, played in all six matches, usually batting at No. 6 or No. 7, and finished second in the state's averages with 407 runs at 40.70. However, his thirteen wickets cost him 40.53 each. In November 1949 he led off with 79 against Western Australia at Perth and followed this with 95 against New South Wales at Melbourne over the Christmas holiday. His innings pushed Victoria to within 7 runs of New South Wales opening 360, whereupon they seized the initiative by bowling out the visitors for 123, Kerr taking two for 30 and being at the crease when Victoria completed the good work with a five-wicket victory over the holders. At Brisbane in February Kerr's 97 was top score in the first innings, but in the second Victoria were bowled out for 88 and eventually beaten by two wickets. In 1950-51, when Victoria won the Shield, he made 104 in the second innings of their opening match against South Australia, at Adelaide, sharing in a stand of 192 for the fifth wicket with Neil Harvey, who hit his first Shield century. But after this promising start, he lost his form and his place in the side. Altogether he played in sixteen first-class matches for Victoria, making 825 runs with an average of 41.25 and a highest score of 112 against Tasmania on his début in 1946-47. He also took 22 wickets at 38.22.

KHOT, JEHANGIR BEHRAMJI, who died at Bombay on March 25, 1990, aged 76, played as an all-rounder for Bombay from 1935-36 to 1944-45. His hat-trick against Baroda at the Brabourne Stadium in 1943-44 was the first ever for Bombay, and only the fourth in the Ranji Trophy championship. A right-arm medium-pace swing bowler or off-spinner, he had an outstanding match in the 1941-42 Ranji Trophy final, taking six for 19 and five for 40 against Mysore. Earlier that season he hit his highest score, an innings of 103 not out for the Parsees against the Europeans, and during his career he was twice awarded Dr. Pavri's Silver Jubilee Gold Medal for his performances in the Bombay Quadrangular and Pentangular tournaments.

KING, EDMUND POOLE, died at Brampton on September 11, 1990, aged 83. In 1925 and again in 1926, his determined batting in the Winchester second innings saved his side from defeat by Eton. His 50 in the 1926 match was his highest score in his two years in the XI. These innings, and an unbeaten 35 in Winchester's three-wicket victory over Marlborough in 1925 when the game could have gone either way, showed he was at his best in a crisis, a valuable attribute. However, in his three games for Gloucestershire in July 1927 he could manage no more than 14 runs, with 6 in each innings against Kent at Dover as his best effort.

LINTON, BRIGADIER JAMES EDWARD FRYER, DSO, died at Cozumel, Mexico on December 21, 1989, aged 80. A right-arm fast bowler and middle-order batsman, in 1932 he played in two Championship matches for Glamorgan as an amateur. He had the misfortune to bag a pair against Middlesex at Cardiff, being bowled by Durston and Sims, but he took one wicket for 34 runs in fourteen overs in the visitors' first innings. Against Hampshire at Bournemouth he managed 3 runs in his two innings, but he was in good company, as no-one else could cope with Alex Kennedy, who took thirteen wickets in the match for 71 runs. Linton was a regular soldier in the Royal Artillery.

MATTHEWS, THOMAS HAROLD, who died on May 5, 1990, aged 85, played in three first-class matches for Tasmania as a batsman and wicket-keeper in 1930-31. He hit 78 his début against Victoria and in all made 164 runs, average 32.80, and two catches.

OMAR KHAN, who died at Karachi on August 4, 1990, stood as an umpire in the Test match at Lahore between Pakistan and New Zealand in 1969-70. He played as a batsman for Sind in the Ranji Trophy before Partition in 1947.

PERERA, KANKARATNE MUDALIGE MELVILLE TITUS, who died in Sri Lanka on October 3, 1990, just before his 63rd birthday, had played a full part in the cricket life of the island. A prominent schoolboy all-rounder at St Thomas College in the mid-1940s, he went on to become a leading captain, administrator and, for more than a decade, a national selector. He was manager of the Sri Lankan team that played in the 1975 World Cup in England, and chairman of selectors when Sri Lanka played their inaugural Test match, against England at Colombo in February 1982. In April 1957, he took six wickets for 68 in 45 overs for Ceylon Cricket Association against Madras CA in the M. J. Gopalan Trophy match, and four years later, for Government Services, five for 20 against the same opponents in the two-day game. Several weeks later, he opened the bowling for Ceylon in the one-day match against Richie Benaud's England-bound Australian team and took the wickets of the Australian captain and Graham McKenzie. Perera served the Nondescripts club for well over 45 years, first as a player and captain, bringing them the P. Saravanamuttu Trophy in 1960-61, and later on the committee and as a vice-president. At the time of his death he was president-elect of the club.

PETTIT, DAVID WILLIAM, who died suddenly on May 28, 1990, aged 53, at Greta West, Victoria, had five games for Oxford in 1958 and 1959 as an opening bowler but met with little success. In the XI at St Edmund's, Canterbury, he made 261 runs in 1955 at 26.10, with an unbeaten 58 his highest score, and he bowled with great success, his 34 wickets costing only 10.17. In 1958, with Bailey and Sayer unavailable, Oxford gave him a match in The Parks against Derbyshire: he had first use of the new ball in each innings, but was expensive and did not take a wicket. A year later he underwent a trial of four straight games at Oxford, including the match against the Indian touring team. He would have bowled his heart out, but he could manage only six wickets at 62.00 apiece. However, against Yorkshire, with defeat impending, he added some spice to the last rites by hitting three sixes in an innings of 22. The scorecard shows that he was stumped by the ever-present Binks, trying perhaps to hit a fourth.

QUICK, ARNOLD BERTRAM, who died at Clacton on July 17, 1990, aged 75, played in nineteen first-class matches for Essex before and after the Second World War as an exuberant, hard-hitting batsman, invariably confined to one of the lower positions in the order. He made a name for himself in club cricket at Clacton with the sheer power of his straight driving, which not infrequently endangered the life of the bowler's umpire, and once hit six sixes in an over. Inevitably Essex showed an interest as stories of his feats filtered through. In the summer of 1936, in his second match for the county, he struck 39 off Hammond, Sinfield and Goddard (eight of 64) to earn a narrow first-innings advantage. In 1937 he made 239 runs at 18.38, and with 43 in the second innings against Hampshire at Southend was mainly responsible for Essex getting home by two wickets with only two minutes of extra time remaining. He also played useful innings against Worcestershire and Nottinghamshire, reaching 53 at Trent Bridge. He made one other fifty, hitting up 57 against Yorkshire in 1952 on his home territory at Clacton, as a result of which the visitors had to bat again, albeit briefly, for their victory. From 1956 to 1959 Quick captained the Essex Second Eleven in the Minor Counties Championship and in 1959 took charge of their first matches in the newly inaugurated Second Eleven competition. At this level his vigour and impetuosity were less severely punished, and he collected more than 1,000 runs in the four years. When his first-class cricket ended in 1952, he had made 439 runs for an average of 13.71.

REOCH, EARL CLARK, died at Dundee on December 1, 1989, aged 47. A right-hand bat and slow left-arm bowler, he captained his county, Forfarshire, in 1968, 1971 and 1976. In 1973 he represented Scotland against Ireland, batting at No. 3, but expectations that he would make runs were sadly unfulfilled. He mustered just 7 runs in his two innings. In the same year he played for Scotland against the touring New Zealanders and against Essex, neither match being first-class.

RHOADES, CEDRIC SETTLE, who died in hospital at Macclesfield on March 26, 1990, aged 69, will be remembered in Lancashire especially and elsewhere as the man who, almost single-handed, brought about the revival in the county's fortunes in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He came into prominence with the overthrow of the committee in 1964 and by 1969 he was chairman. By this time the county's fortunes were at the lowest ebb in their history. Pride and traditional excellence had gone by the board; Old Trafford itself seemed in danger of losing its status as a major cricketing centre. In the Championship, Lancashire had not finished higher than eleventh between 1961 and 1967; in the Gillette Cup they had met with no tangible success. Fully alive to the commercial possibilities on the one-day game, Rhoades demanded a concerted effort in the new competitions. Success was immediate and captured the public's imagination. Old Trafford was full to the brim with enthusiastic supporters as Lancashire won the Gillette Cup four times in six years from 1970 and carried off the John Player Sunday League in 1969 and 1970. The famous ground itself was given a complete face-lift and sponsorship was encouraged. All that was missing was success in the Championship. Three high finishes were achieved under Rhoades's aegis, but with little else to deliver to the frustrated members he resigned as chairman in 1986 in the face of rebel opposition. The wheel had turned full circle. He had served on the TCCB committee at Lord's for many years and in Lancashire on a large number of bodies connected with the game.

ROBERTS, WILLIAM MAURICE, who died at Adelaide on January 21, 1990, aged 73, played for South Australia on three occasions between 1937-38 and 1946-47 as an off-spin bowler and low-order batsman. His one Sheffield Shield match was against Queensland at Adelaide in December 1946, when the visitors, batting first, ran up a total of 401. Roberts was given a good bowl, taking two wickets for 86 in 24 eight-ball overs, and in his three matches he took nine wickets at 25.89.

ROBINS, COLONEL WILLIAM VERNON HARRY, who died in Cheshire on June 26, 1990, aged 83, was the younger brother of R. W. V. Robins, the England captain and selector. A left-handed bat and occasional leg-spinner, he was in the XI at University College School, London in 1923 and 1924, coming third in the averages in the latter year with top score of 56. Becoming a regular soldier, he first appeared for the Army in 1931, and altogether played in eight first-class matches, one of them being for Madras against Tennyson's team in 1937-38. He made 207 runs at 17.25, with a highest score of 60 for the Europeans against the Indians at Madras in 1937-38, and took fifteen wickets at 37.53 apiece.

ROTHSCHILD, THE THIRD LORD, GBE, GM, FRS (NATHANIEL MAYER VICTOR), who died in London on March 20, 1990, aged 79, was one of the most versatile and gifted men of his time, and a cricketer of considerable talent. In 1929, his last year at Harrow, made his mark in all departments of the game: he was one of three boys to score more than 500 runs in schools matches, he took twenty wickets at 25 apiece, and he was a high-class performer in the slips. At Lord's against Eton, opening with Terence Rattigan, he made a dashing 43 out of 68 to launch Harrow's reply to a total of 347, to which his bizarre mixture of pace and spin had made much too generous a contribution. He made runs for the Lord's Schools against the Rest, and towards the end of August he was given a run by Northamptonshire, making an auspicious start in first-class cricket with scores of 27, 31, 11, 16 not out, 36, 5 and 28. His 36 was made against Larwood, Barrett and Voce after five wickets had gone down for 39. In 1930 he played in the Freshmen's match at Cambridge, and in a further trial he drove finely in making 112 for the perambulators against the Etceteras. This innings and his highest first-class score of 63 against Kent at Peterborough ( St Ames b Freeman) earned him a game for the University against Sussex. However, he found Maurice Tate too much of a handful in both innings. He was looked upon as a possible captain of Northamptonshire on the retirement of V. W. C. Jupp, but the job was given to W. C. Brown and Rothschild went on to conquer wider fields. In his eleven first-class matches he made 282 runs for an average of 15.66 and held eight catches.

ROWE, EDMUND JOHN, who died at Ellesmere on December 17, 1989, aged 69, kept wicket for Nottinghamshire between 1949 and 1957. After a few matches as an amateur he turned professional in 1951 and was capped in 1954. The tedium of his duties behind the stumps, owing to the poverty of the county's attack, was relieved by the registration of the Australian, Bruce Dooland, a leg-spin and googly bowler of the highest class. Dooland uplifted a demoralised side, with Rowe a competent and grateful lieutenant. Rowe played in 103 matches for his county, effecting 204 dismissals of which 52 were stumpings. With the bat he was a genuine tailender, scraping together 295 runs in 122 visits to the crease. His highest score was 16. After making way for Geoff Millman, Rowe took up a coaching appointment at Ellesmere College, and in 1971 he had a season on the first-class umpires' list.

RUDGE, LLOYD MAURICE, who died at Worcester on October 15, 1990, aged 56, made one first-class appearance, opening the bowling for Worcestershire against Combined Services at Worcester in 1952. For the eighteen-year-old right-arm fast bowler, on of six players in the Worcestershire side aged twenty or younger, it could have been a chastening experience: the Services made century stands for their first four wickets before declaring at 548 for four. However, although failing to take a wicket, Rudge conceded only 36 runs in his twelve overs. Batting at No. 10, he was run out for 1.

RYAN, ALBERT JAMES, who died on July 10, 1990, aged 86, played for South Australia between 1925-26 and 1936-37. In December 1927 he made a solitary appearance in the Sheffield Shield, against Queensland at Adelaide, being one of four young players the state selectors wanted to see. Ryan, a solid, compact type of batsman with a sound defence and enough shots to keep his score on the move, made 86 on this occasion but was not called up again till 1932-33, when he played against Jardine's MCC team in their last match in Australia. He made 61, top score for the innings, and 25. Given a full Shield season in 1933-34, he scored 363 runs for an average of 40.33 in the six matches. His maiden hundred, an innings of 124 at Adelaide against Queensland, came in just about four hours, and his unbeaten 94 against New South Wales, put together with hardly a false stroke, was the foundation of a ten-wicket victory. Two years later we find him supporting Badcock (325) in a fourth-wicket stand of 198 against Victoria at Adelaide, his own contribution being 77. Up in Brisbane he made his highest score of 144, having to face Gilbert at his fastest and being forced to concentrate on defence for long periods. No-one else passed 50 in South Australia's innings. In 1936-37 he showed a liking once again for English bowling with a well-played 71 against Farnes, Allen and Voce. In a career of 33 games, spread over twelve seasons, he hit 1,493 runs for an average of 30.46, while as a useful bowler of slow-medium off-breaks he took twenty wickets at 43.30, with best figures of four for 13.

SCHOFIELD, ROBIN MATTHEW, who was killed in January 1990, aged 50, when a tree he was cutting fell on him, was the first New Zealander to make seven dismissals behind the wicket in an innings in a first-class match. He performed this feat for Central Districts against Wellington at Wellington in 1964-65, all his victims being caught. At the same time he was also the first New Zealand wicket-keeper to make nine dismissals in a match. He completed 26 dismissals that season, a record 25 of them in the Plunket Shield, and altogether in 53 matches for his province he claimed a total of 122. He also scored more than 1,000 runs for an average of 17.98.

SEN, AMARENDRA NATH (MONTU), who died at Calcutta on April 12, 1990, aged 66, played for Bengal in some Ranji Trophy matches between 1943-44 and 1955-56. In January 1951 he appeared for the Governor of Bihar's XI against the powerful Commonwealth team, captained by Leslie Ames, and going in first made 13 and 17, being bowledbowled by Derek Shackleton and George Tribe. He later took two wickets at the end of the match when a draw had become a certainty. After his playing days were over, Sen became a first-class umpire and a selector.

SMITH, GEORGE WILLIAM OSWALD, who died on November 25, 1989 at Worthing, aged 83, received his grounding in batting and wicket-keeping at Bishop's Stortford College, where he had a good record before going up to Cambridge. He was chosen to play in the Seniors' match in his second year in residence but did not play for the University. Given a fairly extensive trial by Essex in 1929 as a batsman, he made 30 opening the innings against Derbyshire at Derby, and 39 not out against Northamptonshire at Northampton lower down the order. This proved to be his highest score in a first-class match. He turned out once in 1930. In ten matches he made 206 runs for an average of 13.73, and later he appeared for Suffolk in Minor Counties cricket.

SMITH, STANLEY ARTHUR JOHN, who died in 1990, played in fourteen first-class matches for Victoria in the first half of the 1930s. He was a leg-spinner and no mean performer with the bat, whose figures suggest that he was unfortunate not to command a regular place in the state team. He had an excellent first-class début against Queensland at Melbourne in 1931-32, when Queensland squeezed home by 22 runs only after Ben Barnett and Smith, with 47, had put on 99 for the last wicket. He took two for 32 in Queensland's first innings of 200 and had the splendid analysis of 35-5-96-5 in the second. Later in the season he took five for 86 against New South Wales at Melbourne. In 1935-36, when he played in four Shield matches, making 151 runs at 30.20, he scored 80 not out, batting at No. 10, when Victoria compiled 522 for nine declared against Queensland at Melbourne. Remembering that he was bowling eight-ball overs, his 14.1-2-56-1 when Bradman was putting together 357 for South Australia at Melbourne showed great control, and two other performances, four for 73 against New South Wales and three for 57 against Queensland, both at the MCG, should not go unnoticed. At a time when Smith's bowling was inevitably overshadowed by the deeds of Grimmett and O'Reilly, his final tally of 56 wickets at 26.43, with a best performance of eight for 44 against Tasmania at Hobart in 1933-34, shows that he was a leg-spinner of genuine quality.

SMITH, WILLIAM ALFRED, who died in Wiltshire during February 1990, aged 89, was the elder brother of C. I. J. (Big Jim) Smith, the Middlesex and England fast bowler and unorthodox hitter. He was himself a right-arm fast-medium bowler and low-order batsman, though without his brother's flair for the unexpected, but when offered terms by Middlesex, he showed no interest in a professional first-class career. Instead he was for many years both the spearhead and the mainstay of the Wiltshire attack, from 1929 to 1939 taking 387 wickets at 16.84. It was on the strength of his consistent form with the ball that he was twice chosen to play for the Minor Counties in representative matches, against the South Africans at Skegness in 1935 and against Oxford the following year. At Skegness, in front of a record attendance, he stood up well to the punishment meted out by Eric Rowan And Viljoen, who put on 219 in two and a half hours. In The Parks, going in last, he made 35 to add the final touches to his side's steady recovery from a poor start, and with five for 95 he made the undergraduates work hard for their runs. In these, his only first-class matches, Smith made 47 runs and took nine wickets at 23.11.

SMURTHWAUTEM, JAMES, who died at Middlesbrough on October 20, 1989, aged 73, played in seven matches for Yorkshire in 1938 and 1939. He was a fast-medium swing bowler who could switch to quickish off-breaks when the conditions were right. At Bramall Lane in June 1939, he and Frank Smailes caused a sensation by routing Derbyshire for 20 on a rain-affected pitch after Yorkshire themselves had been dismissed by the Pope brothers for 83. Smurthwaite was the chief executioner with the remarkable figures of five for 7 in 4.2 eight-ball overs. In Derbyshire's second innings, Smailes took all ten wickets for 47, well supported by Smurthwaite, who kept up the pressure at the other end. After a weekend in the headlines, he then withdrew to the obscurity of the Minor Counties Championship, in which he took 36 wickets at 12.94 for Yorkshire's Second Eleven that season. After the war he played for many years with success as a professional in the North Yorkshire and South Durham League.

SPEED, ANDREW WATSON, who died at Bromsgrove on July 16, 1990, aged 91, was the oldest living Warwickshire cricketer at the time of his death. A right-arm fast-medium bowler, he was skilful enough to step straight into the first-class arena and take wickets with apparently little or no preparation. Certainly his impact was immediate. In 1927, given first use of the new ball against Worcestershire at New Road, he removed the first three batsmen and the No. 6, and his figures of 33-9-75-4 testify to his form and fitness. In his only other match of the summer he denied Hampshire first-innings points at Portsmouth by mopping up the tail, finishing with four wickets for 64 runs. Next season, however, he was able to devote a little more time to cricket and played in six matches. When Warwickshire defeated the West Indians at Birmingham by seven wickets, Speed with five for 39 and four for 60 was the outstanding player in the match. Among his victims were C. A. Roach, George Challenor, E. L. G. Hoad and the youthful Learie Constantine. Against Glamorgan at Cardiff he took six for 81, his best return, in a total of 440, the limitations of the rest of the attack having been cruelly exposed. It is not surprising that the Warwickshire committee and supporters were left to regret what might have been when Speed resumed his business career and disappeared from the scene. In eight matches he took 29 wickets at a cost of 18.55, while in seven visits to the crease he made 29 runs with a highest score of 11 not out.

SPITTEL, H. LLEWELYN (LOU), who died in Sri Lanka on September 30, 1990, aged 70, was a younger brother of Malcolm Spittel, a former Ceylon captain. A leading bowler in the 1950s, he specialised in left-arm orthodox spin but also shared the new ball, bowling medium pace. His club cricket was initially for Saracens, but he later joined his brother at Nondescripts: the two once bowled out Bloomfield for 21, Lou taking five for 8 in 7.4 overs, including four maidens, and Malcolm five for 13 in seven overs, the only instance of brothers performing this feat in Sri Lankan cricket. In October 1950, playing for Ceylon against F. R. Brown's MCC team in a one-day match, he captured the prize wicket of Hutton, who died in the same month as Spittel.

STEELE, REVD JOHN WILLIAM JACKSON, who died in Devon on March 29, 1990 aged 84, played seventeen times for Hampshire in 1938 and 1939 while he was based at Winchester as an army chaplain. A quickish bowler, who could make the new ball move about, and a useful lower middle-order batsman, he enjoyed a highly successful début in first-class cricket, making 73 for once out and having a match analysis of seven for 144 against Gloucestershire at Portsmouth early in May. In Gloucestershire's second innings he accounted for the first three batsmen before Hammond and Crapp, exercising all their skill, just about put matters right. In the end Hampshire won at the last gasp by 30 runs and were greatly indebted to their new recruit; who had, incidentally, been passed off by R. C. Robertson-Glasgow as A Church of England bowler, straight up and down and no funny business! Steele continued to cause tongues to wag on the county circuit by such performances as eight for 139 in the match against Worcestershire at Basingstoke, and four for 29 when he achieved the breakthrough to bring victory by 37 runs over Derbyshire at Portsmouth. In all he took 39 wickets in the Championship at 24.87. He started 1939 even better. An analysis of 18.7-2-62-6, bowling eight-ball overs, against Warwickshire at Portsmouth was his best performance in the top grade. And a few days later he sent back Ames, Chalk and Valentine in four balls against Kent at Southampton. He had made only a few appearances, however, when he went lame and could play no more. In assessing his achievements it should be remembered that he was no raw recruit but a well-season,ed cricketer of 33 when he made his début, trained in the hard school of regimental contests. Indeed, he played twice for the Army at Lord's, making 77 against the Royal Navy in 1938, and he played there against the Public Schools in 1939. He made 406 runs for Hampshire for an average of 16.91 and took 57 wickets at 26.64, many of them good ones. His first-class figures from nineteen games in all were 434 runs (average 16.69) and 66 wickets at 25.90.

SUGDEN, MARK, who died at Dartmouth on January 21, 1990, three weeks short of his 88th birthday, was educated at Denstone and Trinity College, Dublin. He was a right-hand batsmen and an occasional fast-medium bowler. In 1919 he came second in the Denstone averages with 411 runs at 31.69 and was the only member of the XI to make a hundred. But in 1920 his figures suggest either a complete loss of form and confidence, or the possibility that the wet pitches in the West Midlands did not suit his style of play. In eight first-class matches between 1922 and 1930 for Dublin University and the Gentlemen of Ireland he made 263 runs, with an average of 17.53 and a highest score of 51 against Scotland at Greenock in 1926, and took six wickets at 42.50. Sugden, who taught for many years at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, was capped 28 times by Ireland at rugby as a scrum-half, and after retiring as a player he developed an interest in coaching, helping to produce a manual which was published in 1946.

SYKES, ERIC, who died at Barnsley on December 7, 1989, aged 83, played in three matches for Derbyshire as an amateur in 1925 and in two more as a professional in 1932. In 1925 he made his highest first-class score with an innings of 50 on his début, against Gloucestershire at Derby. The home side had lost five wickets for 47 when he went in, but he played fluently in a most promising effort. He later turned professional, but Derbyshire were a useful side at this time, well stocked with promising young cricketers, and he did not receive another opportunity to prove himself until 1932. Against Hampshire at Chesterfield that season he made 27, out of 36 scored while he was at the wicket, in the first innings of a tight, low-scoring match when every run counted. His father, E.C., had played for Hampshire before the turn of the century.

THOMPSON, LESLIE BAINES, who died in Canada on April 23, 1990, aged 81, played in six matches as an amateur for Middlesex in the seasons immediately after the Second World War. A swing bowler with the ability to move the ball both ways, and often late, he took three of his five first-class wickets (average 49.60) on début, against Northamptonshire at Lord's, when he also made the match safe for Middlesex by coming in at the fall of the ninth wicket and playing a maiden over. Most of his cricket was played for the Ealing club, for whom he took 100 wickets eleven times and 2,571 in all at a cost of 12.97. He played fairly regularly for the Middlesex Second Eleven, whom he occasionally captained.

UNWIN, FREDERICK ST GEORGE, who died on October 4, 1990, aged 79, played in 53 first-class matches between 1932 and 1951, all but one of them for Essex. He had been in the Haileybury XI which lost so heavily to Cheltenham at Lord's in 1929, scoring only 3 and 5 as they went down by 185 runs. For Essex he played many useful innings, which makes it more difficult to account for the even more numerous failures. Being a lower middle-order batsman possessing a good range of attacking strokes, he might have been liable to go for the bowling before he had played himself in; certainly the professional bowlers of the day would have found it easy to exploit any technical fault or limitation. In his first match for Essex, against Northamptonshire at Leyton, he helped his side toward an innings lead with 24 containing some well-executed strokes. Soon after this, he found himself having to cope with the formidable but moody Amar Singh, who was having one of his on days when All India visited Leyton. Unwin (29) and Charles Bray (41) stopped the rot after an early collapse. In 1933 at Derby he hit ten fours in his 47, and at Swansea he registered his first Championship fifty, his 56 in the second innings paving the way to victory over Glamorgan by 103 runs. A year later he repeated this score against them in the first county match to be staged at Neath, and in the second innings he helped Jack O'Connor save the game, being 29 not out at the close. In 1939 Unwin shared the captaincy of Essex with D.R. Wilcox and Captain J. W. A. Stephenson, on the face of it a complex and somewhat perilous arrangement. Yet it turned out to be a great success: Essex finished fourth and had their best season since 1933. Unwin scored 226 runs, averaging 17.38. He turned out a few times after the war, notably in 1946 when he made his highest score of 60, helping to save the game against Kent at Colchester, and he finished with 1,138 runs for an average of 14.58. He also held 33 catches.

WATSON, RICHARD MARTIN, died in hospital at Penrhosgarnedd, North Wales, on October 1, 1987, aged 65. Called up at short notice to play for Derbyshire against Worcestershire at Chesterfield in May 1947, to his great credit he held his nerve in a crisis by making the winning hit, a six, with only two balls to go. He helped out on five other occasions that season, his best score being 25 not out against the touring South Africans in a rain-affected match. In the second innings he was one of six batsmen to fall to the leg-spinner, Smith, for 1 run in 4.5 overs. Altogether his left-handed batting produced 68 runs for an average of 8.50. His leg-spin was not called upon.

WEEKS, FREDRICK JAMES, who died at Bristol on February 20, 1990, aged 86, was in the Clifton side in 1920 and 1921. A useful middle-order left-hand batsman, in his two seasons he made more than 400 runs at an average of 17 with two fifties to his credit, one of them unbeaten. His best effort at Lord's against Tonbridge was an innings of 21 in 1920, going in at No. 8. He left on the young side and might have been a real success in 1922. Gloucestershire summoned him to play against Kent at Maidstone in July 1925, and he found himself in such distinguished company as Dipper, Hammond, Sinfield, Charles Parker and Goddard, Test players all. Still, sent in at No. 8, he does not seem to have been too overawed. He made 18 in the first innings, and 17 in second as Gloucestershire, who had held the whip-hand all through, and even enforced the follow-on, allowed Kent to sneak home by 24 runs. Weeks's 17 was the second-highest score: he must have been not a little surprised at his colleagues' lack of confidence in going for runs. His highest score was 35 not out against Yorkshire at Hull in 1926; in his seven first-class matches between 1925 and 1928 he made 122 runs for an average of 11.09.

WHITE, HON. LUKE ROBERT (FIFTH BARON ANNALY), who died in London on September 30, 1990, at the age of 63, emerged as a young player of high promise at Eton during the 1943 season. Showing a maturity in technique well beyond his years, he opened the batting and scored 342 runs at 34.20. In 1944 he was their most assured batsman with 503 runs for an average of 50. His most important innings Worcestershire probably at Harrow, where he removed all possibility of defeat by making an excellent 76 when most of his colleagues were struggling. For the Lord's Schools against the Rest, he showed very good form, and later in the week he confirmed his class with a hundred for the Public Schools against a Lord's XI, his 102 containing fifteen fours in a stay of two hours. The match did not pass without incident. A V 1 flying bomb fell fewer than 200 yards from the ground during the first innings, but although the blast sprayed pieces of soil over the pitch, play was barely interrupted. The boys, staying out on the field, apparently unconcerned, were applauded for their pluck by the spectators, some of whom had thrown themselves flat under seats for protection. White made another appearance at Lord's that summer, playing in a one-day match for Middlesex and Essex against Kent and Surrey. Still only seventeen, and in no way intimidated by the presence of many players of first-class experience, he made 77, which was the backbone of his side's total of 218. Lieutenant D. V. P. Wright took six wickets for Dewes and Donald Carr, White was subjected to the gaze of the whole nation when he was chosen to represent England in the third of the hastily arranged Victory Tests at Lord's against the Australian Services. He made 11 and 4, and in England's first innings he helped Hutton put on 55 for the fourth wicket, defending well when Hasset crowded him with close fielders. This was his first-class début. He played in five more matches, three for Middlesex and one each for the RAF and MCC, his highest score being 46 for the RAF against Worcestershire at Worcester in June 1946. He had no ambitions to pursue a first-class career, preferring to enjoy his cricket for such clubs as MCC, the Ramblers and I Zingari.

WHITELEY, PETER, who died at Crompton on October 28, 1989, aged 54, played four matches for Lancashire in the Championship in 1957 and 1958. He was a slow left-arm bowler of considerable promise and a useful middle-order batsman whose highest score of 32, against Hampshire at Old Trafford in 1957, was made at a critical time in the match. Lancashire, bowled out for 89 and 74 behind on the first innings, had stood at 16 for four in their second innings before Pullar (138) and Bond put on 115 for the fifth wicket. The escape was finally effected by the 101 added by Pullar with the support of Whiteley for the sixth, and Lancashire went on to win by 95 runs. Whiteley's best bowling was three for 70 against the West Indians. He was the stalwart of the Second Eleven at this time and for a few more years: in 1956 he had bowled 150 overs more than anyone else, taking 54 wickets at 18.42. But even though Lancashire were desperately short of talent, and his work in the Second Eleven received favourable comment in three successive years, Whiteley decided his future lay elsewhere and instead played league cricket as a professional for Crompton, Milnrow and Harrogate. In his five first-class matches he made 86 runs, average 14.33, and took nine wickets at 29.55 apiece.

WOLTON, ARTHUR VICTOR GEORGE, who died on September 9, 1990 at Solihull, aged 71, was an integral part of Worcestershire's Championship-winning side of 1951. It is always appreciated when an old player keeps in touch with, and takes an active interest in, his county. Wolton was seen frequently at Edgbaston and, having been a stylish, forceful player himself, he would surely have revelled in the season of 1990. He would also have delighted spectators at every version of the game with fielding that would also have been outstanding by the standards of any era. In this connection Wisden saw fit to comment on his beautiful action. Born near maidenhead, Wolton in his youth gained experience with Berkshire, and after the war he sharpened his game in the Birmingham League, a regular recruiting ground for Warwickshire players. Having made a single appearance for the county in 1947, scoring 2 and 0 against the Scottish Cricket Union, he spent the 1948 season, at the mature age of 29, adjusting to the greater demands of the first-class game, not least in point of stamina. Some useful scores at No. 6 or No. 7 were promising, and given a full trial in 1949 he made 978 runs, including his maiden hundred. This innings of 111 not out in just under four hours did much to set up Warwickshire's victory by an innings and 37 runs over Somerset, and a week later he contributed exactly 100 for once out to the win over Sussex at Coventry. A year later Warwickshire were the only county to lower the colours of the West Indians, and Wolton's 89 in the home side's first innings was the foundation-stone of a notable triumph. Strong on the drive, he punished the bowling and was especially severe on Valentine.

Since winning the Championship in 1911, Warwickshire had come no closer that fourth: under R. E. S. Wyatt in 1934, and now in 1949 and 1950. The bold and, as it turned out, inspired appointment of Dollery to the captaincy in 1949, plus a freedom from injury among the players, brought the great prize within reach in 1951. Not a man faltered, and in the end Warwickshire were safely home with sixteen wins and only two defeats. Wolton banked more than 1,000 runs for the second season in succession and hit the highest score of his career to date, an undefeated 157 which helped towards a crucial win over Gloucestershire at Coventry. Loss of form in 1952 was followed by a heartening recovery a year later which led to the second stage of the career. In 1954 he was promoted to No. 3 to take on greater responsibility and, at the age of 35, he finished the season as the county's leading batsman. With 1,770 runs at 41.16 he was ninth in the national averages. Dizzy heights indeed. According to Wisden, nothing was as remarkable as the advance of Wolton. His five-hour 165 Worcestershire at Dudley, where he opened the innings, proved to be the highest scored of his career. His 1955 summer was even more prolific as he took advantage of the drier wickets to harvest 1,809 runs for an average of 34.13. He passed his 1,000 runs comfortably again in 1956, but in 1957, out of the blue, he suffered a severe setback, which may have been psychological. M. J. K. Smith was now ready to play for the county and bat at No. 3. Wolton possibly saw his place in the side threatened as he dropped down to No. 5. Form eluded him, and he had to be demoted to the Second Eleven. In 1958, however, he put the previous year's disappointments behind him and in a dismal season of a mere 146 centuries he finished thirteenth in the averages with 34.88 from 1,186 runs. May 9 to 12, 1959 were happy days for Wolton. The match with Surrey, which had been set aside for his Benefit, was won memorably by Warwickshire, in spite of two separate hundreds from Barrington. Wolton made a useful 49 and received more than £3,000 from the gate and other subscriptions. Not long after, at Oxford, he attacked the University's bowling so enthusiastically that he hit four sixes and nineteen fours in his 136, and he went on to reach 1,000 runs for the seventh and last time. He appeared in only one match in 1960 as moreyouthful replacements were by now available. In 297 matches, all but one of them for Warwickshire, he scored 12,930 runs for the thoroughly respectable average of 31.00. In addition to his twelve hundreds he chipped in with 37 wickets at 33.13 as a slow off-spinner. He took 117 catches, mostly away from the bat, and saved countless runs with his superb running and throwing from the deep field.

WOOD, RONALD, who died at Wakefield on May 22, 1990, aged 60, played 22 times for Yorkshire from 1952 to 1956, coming into the Championship side at a time when Wardle was at the height of his powers. Wood, whose younger brother, Barry, played for England in the 1970s, was an orthodox slow left-arm bowler, and so his opportunities were limited in what was, in effect, his apprenticeship. His first season was his most successful: he took 27 wickets at 18.92. He had match figures of four for 57 at Lord's on début, claiming Edrich and Compton as his first wickets, followed by seven for 67 at Worcester and four for 48 against Leicestershire at Sheffield. Then against Scotland at Glasgow he wrought havoc by taking six second innings wickets for 9 runs in his last five overs on a wearing pitch. His full analysis was 21.5-9-45-8. In 1953 he bowled almost exactly the same number of overs in the Championship but claimed only fifteen wickets at 30.33 apiece. He remained on the staff for another three years, doing sterling work for the Second Eleven, before playing as a professional in the leagues. When Lidget Green were Bradford League champions in 1957, Wood took 67 wickets at 8.67 each. In first-class matches his 51 wickets cost 26.39 each, and he scored 60 runs in eighteen innings.