Obituaries in 1989

a'BECKETT, EDWARD LAMBERT (TED), died on June 2, 1989, aged 81 to leave only Bradman and Ponsford as survivors of Woodfull's 1930 Australian team to England. a'Beckett was one of a comparatively small group of pro Australians to drop out of big cricket early because of career demands -in his case, when he was called to the bar at 24. His family was prominent both at the law and in sport in Melbourne, and as a tall, hard-hitting, right-hand batsman and lively medium-fast bowler, he played for Victoria at twenty. After just six first-class matches he was called into the 1928-29 Test side to replace the injured Jack Gregory for the Third Test against England at the MCG. He batted bravely in a handy seventh-wicket stand of 86 with Bradman, twelve months his junior, and opening the bowling had Hobbs caught behind by Oldfield. He played two more useful innings in the next Test, and although dropped for the Fifth, he was an obvious investment for the future when the 1930 touring side was chosen. However, his fast bowling, which had headed the 1928-29 Australian averages, was not as effective on English pitches and he played only in the Third Test at Headingly. English weather helped bring him down, and after missing a month of the tour through illness, he finished with 454 runs and 23 wickets. There was only one more Test to come, against South Africa at the MCG in 1931-32, before he completed his law studies.

a'Beckett's Australian Rules football skills perhaps contributed to his fine catching, and he took a spectacular somersaulting catch at silly mid-on to dismiss Hobbs in the 1930 Headingly Test. However, his cricketing expenses brought him problems with the lily-white Victorian Amateur Football Association, which for a while refused his registration after the 1930 tour; after he was allowed to play, he suffered a serious head injury and retired from football. His four Tests brought him 143 runs at 20.42, and he took just three wickets at 105.66. His first-class record was 1,636 runs at 29.21 and 105 wickets at 29.16, with six for 119 against New South Wales at the SCG in 1927-28 his best figures. His best batting performance was a double of 113 and 95 at Melbourne for Victoria against New South Wales in December 1928 - a match marked by the world-record last-wicket stand of 307 for New South Wales by Kippax and Hooker. a'Beckett had the delayed satisfaction of dismissing Hooker for 62. Later he was to serve on the executive committee of the Victorian Cricket Association, his interest in the game revived by his son, Edward Clive a'Beckett, who played twice for Victoria in the 1960s.

ABELL, SIR GEORGE EDMOND BRACKENBURY, KCIE, OBE, who died on January 11, 1989, aged 84, was an all-round sportsman and distinguished member of the Indian Civil Service, serving as private secretary to the last two Viceroys - Lord Wavell and Lord Mountbatten. A right-hand-bat and wicket-keeper, he was in the Oxford XI in 1924, 1926 and 1927, as well as captaining the University at rugby and winning a third blue for hockey. He appeared for Worcestershire 34 times between 1923 and 1938, as his Indian service allowed, his two centuries for them coming in 1925 (124 against Sussex) and 1935 (131 against Somerset in the first match the county staged at Wells).

Tall, and eager to get on the front foot, he scored an exhilarating 210 on his Ranji Trophy debut as captain of Northern India against The Army at Lahore in 1934-35: the first double-century of the competition, the first century by a European, and the first by a wicket-keeper.He also recorded five dismissals in the first innings. Under him, Northern India reached the final of the championship that year for the first and only time. In 75 first-class matches he totalled 2,666 runs at 24.68. including four centuries, and made 97 catches and 33 stumpings. Both his sons, Timothy and John, played first-class cricket. After India's independence, Sir George Abell returned to Britain to spend three years as First Civil Service Commissioner, and he was an adviser to, and later a director of, the Bank of England.

ANDREWS, WILLIAM HARRY RUSSELL (BILL), who died on January 9, 1989. aged 80, welcomed strangers with the cheery greeting, "Shake the hand that bowled Bradman", after he performed the feat at Taunton in 1938. Andrews was always honest enough to record that this happened only after the Australian captain had helped himself to 202 against Somerset. He was in the true tradition of county all-rounders - a tall, right-handed fast-medium bowler, who kept a good length and moved the ball sharply, and a dangerous late-order bat. But in the extra tradition of the slightly rebellious or eccentric characters in which Somerset cricket has specialised, Andrews led a chequered career, almost proud of the fact that he had been sacked four times by the county: twice as player and twice as coach. In his autobiography, The Hand that bowled Bradman, published in 1973, he declared generously that he bore the county no grudge. He recorded a first-class career running from 1930 to 1947 before returning to Somerset as coach, as well as playing with Devon.

Born in Swindon, Andrews grew up at Weston-super-Mare and sold scorecards at the county festival before being promoted to scoreboard attendant. He played for Weston as a teenager, and then widened his horizons when another great Somerset character, Arthur Wellard, lodged with the Andrews family while qualifying. A solicitor's clerk, Andrews switched to cricket when winning a post - from 140 applicants - as professional and groundsman at East Coker CC near Yeovil. A Somerset invitation followed, and a first-class debut against Warwickshire on May 6, 1930. Nervous in the dressing-room, he broke the ice by asking the senior professional, Tom Young, "Am I the worst cricketer that has ever played first-class cricket, Mr Young?" "No, son," came the answer, "their was one worse than you. Trevor Arnett of Glamorgan." The Somerset committee appeared little less enthused, and after three mixed seasons Andrews was not retained. He spent two years in Scotland as professional with Forfarshire, who blocked Somerset's periodical invitations to play the odd game, but by 1933 Somerset decided he was worth a contract, and until first-class cricket ended with the war, he was never left out of the side.

He tended to be overshadowed by colleagues, as at Frome on May 18, 1935, when an unknown newcomer named Harold Gimblett hit one of the game's most memorable debut innings. Gimblett scored 123 in 80 minutes against a rampaging Essex attack, but Andrews contributed too with 71 in 50 minutes. His greatest day with the ball was probably his five for 26 against Pataudi's 1946 Indians,put out by Somerset for 64 (with Buse taking five for 27). However, Somerset had an unsettled return to the County Championship, and Andrews spent most of 1947 as twelfth man, convinced the county had decided to sack him again. He found reward in coaching at Clifton. Downside and Millfield, always the extrovert, always chirpy- characteristics which made him more popular with fellow-players and the crowds than with committee men. He played league cricket and did some work as a journalist before being recalled to Somerset as coach in 1955, but an unsettled team finished last and Andrews was sacked yet again in 1957. By 1963, he was brought back to manage the Second XI and then to resume coaching, only to be forced to resign as coach in 1969, although continuing with the second team on expenses only. So he continued to contribute enthusiastically to Somerset cricket, for which he held enormous sentimental loyalty.

Andrews scored precisely 5,000 runs (perhaps the only neatly organised thing in his life) at an average of 15.77, while his bowling brought him 768 wickets at 23.48. Curiously he made no first-class hundred, his best being 80 against Lancashire in 1937. That also was his best bowling season, when he took 143 wickets at 20.53- one of four seasons in which he topped 100 wickets- and enjoyed his best figures: eight for 12 in 6.4 overs on a drying pitch at The Oval, including a hat-trick. That year and again in 1938 he performed the double. His brother, Clifford Jack, played for Hampshire as an amateur.

ASTON, LT-COL. CHARLES, CBE, who died in October 1989, aged 96, was a Manchester-born Arabist of distinction who took part in hazardous desert operations during the Second World War and was a talented all-round games-player. He made no major impact at Oxford, but became a founder member of the wandering cricket club, the Stragglers of Asia, whose members were required to have served six years in the armed forces east of Suez.

BANNIGAN, MICHAEL, died on July 3, 1989, at the age of 46 while batting for Strabane's third XI in the North-West Junior Cup final on the Strabane ground. At the time of his death he was chairman of his provincial union and had been president of the Irish Cricket Union in 1986.

BARNES, ALAN ROBERTS, OBE, who died on March 14, 1989, aged 72, gave more than 30 years of conscientious service to the administration of Australian cricket, first as secretary of the New South Wales Cricket Association from 1949, and then as Australian Cricket Board secretary from 1960 to 1981. He stood down a few months earlier than planned because of a stroke. Barnes's somewhat severe appearance was deceptive: he was perhaps understandably cautious with newcomers, but he was hardworking, dedicated and a major influence on the game through difficult years. He came from Sydney grade cricket, being a member of Stan McCabe's Mosman side that won the 1938-39 premiership, and in 1939-40 he and "Ginty" Lush hit 222 in 106 minutes for the eighth wicket against Marrickville. After service in the RAAF he was appointed assistant-secretary of NSWCA in 1946, his time with the association coinciding with one of the great periods of New South Wales cricket, including nine successive Sheffield Shield championships. He managed a number of state teams on tour. However, he found the Australian Board post much more complex, having to deal with the politically fraught and ultimately cancelled South African tour of 1971-72 and the World Series Cricket crisis later in the decade. Technically an executive officer of the Board, Barnes often had to make instant decisions, and he was always seen as acting for the good of cricket. MCC made him a life member in recognition of his unselfish contribution to the game, and in 1976 he was made OBE.

BAVADRA, DR TIMOCI ULUIVUDA, who died on November 3, 1989, aged 55, was the Prime Minister of Fiji ousted in a military coup in May 1987. Educated in Fiji and then at Otago University, New Zealand, he was a keen games-player described as being almost good enough to represent Fiji in both cricket and rugby, and later became an active cricket administrator.

BEATIIE, FRED DEMETRIUS, who died on March 20, 1989, aged 79, opened the batting for Rossall in 1926 and 1927 and played five fimes Lancashire in 1932 as a right-hand bat, scoring 120 runs in nine innings. He also played for Minor Counties against Lancashire in 1930 and Oxford in 1933, giving him a career tally of 172 runs with an average of 17.20. He was president of Lancashire in 1975-76.

BECKETT, SAMUEL BARCLAY, who died in Paris on December 22, 1989 aged 83, had two first-class games for Dublin University against Northamptonshire in 1925 and 1926, scoring 35 runs in his four innings and conceding 64 runs without taking a wicket. A left-hand opening batsman. possessing what he himself called a gritty defence, and a useful left-arm medium-pace bowler, he had enjoyed a distinguished all-round sporting as well as academic record at Portora Royal School, near Enniskillen, and maintained his interest in games while at Trinity College, Dublin. Indeed, Beckett, whose novels and plays established him as one of the important literary figures of the twentieth century, bringing him the Nobel Prize for literature in 1969, never lost his affection for and interest in cricket.

BELL, RONALD VICTOR, who died on October 26, 1989, aged 58, was a hardworking and accurate, rather than penetrative, left-arm orthodox spinner who played just five times with Middlesex from 1952 to 1954 before joining Sussex. From 1957 to 1964 he played 183 times, his best analysis being a match-winning eight for 54 against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in 1963, and while his batting was negligible he did some sterling work in the slips. He played Minor Counties cricket for Norfolk from 1967 to 1969 before joining in 1970 the staff of the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, where as coach of the Army XI he was well liked and effective. His 392 first-class wickets cost 28.34 each, he made 1,558 runs at 8.70, with a highest score of 53 not out against Kent at Hastings in 1962, and he held 150 catches. He also played some soccer for Chelsea.

BERRY, FRED, died on January 2, 1989, at the age of 78 after a brief illness. An all-rounder from Kirkheaton, he was a right-arm medium-fast bowler and handy late-order right-hand bat who played 46 games for Surrey over six seasons from 1934, taking 75 wickets at 29.23 and scoring 1,004 runs with an average of 18.94. He was perhaps not always given the chances he needed, his best performances being an unbeaten 104 against Cambridge at The Oval in 1938, and a spell of five wickets for 18 runs in eight overs that same year at the same ground in the heavy defeat of his native Yorkshire. After working in munitions during the war, he joined Berkshire and in 1947, with the aid of a recommendation from P. G. H. Fender, he was appointed cricket professional at Wellington College. Stressing that the keynote of cricket was enjoyment, he spent 32 productive years at Wellington, memorable among them being the unbeaten season of 1955 when both Eton and Harrow were beaten by large margins. Haileybury were overwhelmed by an innings before lunch on the second day, and I. A. Addison and D. J. Mordaunt played for the Public Schools at Lord's.

BILLSON, THOMAS, died on May 19, 1989, aged 69, after active involvement in club cricket and then with Surrey. He played for the Civil Service, and on retirement umpired Surrey Club and Ground and Second XI matches be becoming Second XI scorer in 1982. Two years later he became the regular scorer for all Surrey first-team matches and for internationals at The Oval, while he also served on NCA committees and was active with the Association of Cricket umpires, the Association of Cricket Statisticians and the Cricket Society. A courteous, good-humoured personality of wide interests, he was a much valued figure at The Oval.

BLOY, NIGEL CLEMENT FRANCIS, who died on January 7, 1989, aged 66, survived the curious experience of seeing his name listed on the 1946 Wisden Roll of Honour of wartime deaths. He had made something of a name for himself as a left-hand batsman and leg-spin bowler at Dover College, and after the war he went up to Oxford, winning his Blue in 1946 and 1947. As secretary in the latter year he would normally have expected to lead the side in 1948, but his batting was not always as aggressive as was needed, although he had a good range of strokes, and he lost his place at a time of keen competition, not least from overseas students.

A. H. Kardar and C. B. Van Ryneveld, both of whom went on to captain their countries, moved ahead of him into the 1948 side. He later played for Devon, and had a season with Dorset in 1961. Bloy tallied 964 first-class runs at 21.90, his best more being 77 against Yorkshire in 1946. and his eight wickets were expensive at 76.62.

BOWDEN, JACK, died on December 22, 1988, in County Antrim, aged 72. He was a notable hockey player, making nineteen appearances for Ireland, and played cricket eighteen times for his country, six times in first-class matches between 1946 and 1955. A prominent member of the Lisburn club, he was a skilled slow left-arm bowler whose best representative figures were six for 23 when the Gentlemen of Ireland bowled Scotland out for 80 at Belfast in 1949.

BOWLES, WILLIAM HENRY, BEM, who died in July 1989, aged 89, contributed greatly at school, club and first-class level to the quality of cricket, although there is no record that he ever played. He was head groundsman at Eton for nearly 50 years, and in 1934 with ten colleagues formed the Association of Groundsmen - now the institute of Groundsmanship, the most highly regarded organisation of craftsmen caring for turf. Bowles inherited an affection for grass: his father was groundsman at Forest Hill CC, and when he died, the thirteen-year old William became breadwinner for the family as official groundsman. He had regularly scored for the club from the age of ten. He was given early discharge from the forces in the First World War to support his family, and at nineteen he became groundsman to the Commercial Union CC. Bowles was so successful that he was awarded a benefit in his first year, for going "a long way towards his ambition of producing a pitch like a billiard table from an area of very rough ground", as the local paper reported.

His reputation was such that at 32 he was named head groundsman to Westminster Bank at Norbury from 700 applicants: three years later he began a term of no less than 48 years with Eton. Caring for probably the biggest turfed area in the United Kingdom - 20 cricket squares, 50 net pitches, 36 football grounds and a nine-hole golf course - he worked with such a blend of authority and dignity that his erect, authoritative figure was more than once taken for that of the Headmaster. He patrolled his domain on an old fashioned police bicycle, and any careless Etonian who dared walk on squares was fined five shillings. Bowles's skills were called on increasingly in roles such as consultant at Wimbledon and Twickenham, and in the 1950s he upgraded the Trent Bridge square with soil taken from Eton. After retiring in 1984 he acted as an adviser on turf care at the Windsor polo grounds.

With L. W. White he produced the manual Practical Groundsmanship. When Sir George Allen landed in a burrowed aircraft on Agar's Plough in May 1940, to report to his family that his brother had been wounded in action in France, Bowles gently reproved him with the comment: "Fancy you of all people, Mr Allen, landing on our wickets."

BRIERLEY, THOMAS LESLIE, who died in Vancouver on January 7, 1989, aged 78, made the switch with Glamorgan from regular wicket-keeper between 1935 and 1938 to play as a specialist batsman in 1939 when Haydn Davies took over. Against Nottinghamshire that season, Brierley and Emrys Davies shared a record stand of 206 for the county's second wicket, and when Brierley's career there was ended by war, he had a record 225 dismissals, 72 of them stumped- a pointer to the influence of spin in the county game of the thirties. Brierley had three seasons with Lancashire after the war, playing 46 matches as batsman and sometimes keeping wicket, before being appointed to the Old Trafford coaching staff. Having taken a similar post with Vancouver CC in Canada, and then become groundsman at Shawnigan Lake School on Vancouver Island, where he also taught economics. Brierley had the pleasure of returning to England at the age of 44 with the 1954 Canadian tourists, playing in the four first-class games and enjoying a double of 56 and 32 against MCC at Lord's against an attack headed by Bill Voce, a year his senior. In 1951, at Toronto, he had top-scored with 76 (run out) in Canada's first innings of the first-class match against R. W. V. Robins's MCC touring side. Brierley scored four first-class centuries, the best being 116 for Glamorgan against Lancashire at Old Trafford in 1938, and an unbeaten 116 for his new county against his old on at Liverpool nine years later. His record was 6,244 runs at 18.97 and 306 dismissals (215 caught, 91 stumped) from 232 first-class matches. He turned to umpiring in later years, and his experience was drawn on regularly by local cricket administrators.

BROOK, JAMES WILLIAM (JIMMY), who died on March 3, 1989, aged 92. was a sound right-hand opener who played regularly for Yorkshire Second XI from 1921 to 1924, and had one match for the county. This was in 1923 when, with Sutcliffe, Kilner and Macaulay required for the Test Trial at Lord's, he was drafted in against Glamorgan at Sheffield but failed to score in his only innings. Regarded as the best Heavy Woollen District batsman since Edgar Oldroyd, Brook scored twenty centuries for Ossett, where he was born and spent 30 years as the local rent collector, and led the club to their Heavy Woollen cup final victory in 1935.

BRYANT, RICHARD JOHN, who died on August 17, 1989, aged 85, was one of the pioneer group of Western Australian cricketers who kept the game healthy while the state waited for recognition by promotion to the Sheffield Shield. A noted cover-point, he played 28 matches as a right-hand batsman, sixteen as captain, hitting 1,088 runs at an average of 22.67. His best performance was in 1933-34, when he scored 103 and shared a stand of 136 with his brother, Frank, against Victoria at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. A solicitor, he later became a state selector and Eastern States tour manager.

BURNET, JOHN FORBES (JOCK), who died on August 7, 1989, aged 79, was a keen all-round sportsman whose memorial is the Jesters, which he founded while at school at St Paul's in 1928. The club still plays cricket and fields other sports teams. Burnet was bursar of Magdalene College, Cambridge, from 1949, later a Fellow, and was always ready to encourage youthful talent.

BUTTLE, CECIL FREDERICK DOUGLAS, who died on Christmas Day, 1988, aged 82, joined the Somerset groundstaff in the 1920s and went on to become a highly effective head groundsman at Taunton, whose post-war pitches won him high praise. The son of a sergeant-major, he could bowl at a lively pace and move the ball away, but in his two first-class matches, against Gloucestershire in 1926 and Nottinghamshire in 1928, he failed to take a wicket. However, he was always available to help out at the nets, and he often fielded as a substitute in Taunton matches.

CAKOBAU, RATU SIR GEORGE KADAVULEVU, GCMG, GCVO, who died in Suva on November 23, 1989, aged 77, was the first Fijian to be Governor-General of the then Commonwealth state, and a keen games-player vice-captain of P. A. Snow's 1947-48 Fiji side in New Zealand. An attacking bat with a wide range of strokes, a steady medium-pace bowler who moved the ball and gained bounce on responsive pitches, and able to keep wicket, the most successful all-rounder of the side, averaging 21 with the bat and 24 wickets at 24 runs apiece on tour (which included two matches in Fiji). His 65 not out against Wellington was largely responsible for Fiji's first win over a major province. In 1987, ICC approved first-class status for the five major provincial matches, giving 75-year-old Sir George great satisfaction at gaining such confirmation of his cricket quality and making him the oldest cricketer to be graded so. His first-class career record, from four matches, thus became 176 runs at an average of 25.14 and five wickets at 52.00 from 85 overs. He had missed the last four matches of the tour after having a toe broken while batting at Napier against Hawke's Bay - the only such injury sustained by the several members of the team who played barefoot. Ratu (High Chief) Sir George was a major figure in Fiji who made a considerable impact on his travels, with a native personality sharpened by Antipodean irreverence stemming from his time at Sydney's Newington College, and Wanganui Technical College in New Zealand.

He captained the Fijian rugby team to New Zealand in 1939, and in 1952 and 1954 he managed similar tours to Australia. He served gallantly during the Second World War with the Fiji Infantry Regiment fighting the Japanese in the Solomon Islands, and his status as great-grandson of Ratu Ebenezer Seru Cakobau, the only King of Fiji, made him a natural choice as Governor-General in 1973 when the independent state looked for a royal representative from its own people. He is widely credited with helping to retrain the Fijian community during the coup against the elected government in 1987, but was then physically no longer strong enough to play a leading role in uneasy times. He was appointed GCMG in 1973, GCVO in 1977, and in 1982 was given the rare honour of the Royal Victorian Chain, conferred on him by The Queen on her visit to his island of Bau.

CHALK, FREDERICK GERALD HUDSON, RFC, who was a strokeplaying right-hand batsman, first with Oxford and then Kent, was shot down over the English Channel on February 17, 1943, while serving with the RAF as a flight lieutenant. He was posted missing, presumed dead, and it was not until early in 1989 that his body was found, still in the cockpit of his Spitfire, when excavations were made twelve miles inland from Calais. His obituary appeared in Wisden, 1945.

CRAWLEY, COSMO STAFFORD, who died on February 10, 1989, aged 84, was a member of a noted sporting family: brother of Aidan Crawley, who was a dashing batsman for Oxford and Kent and later President of MCC, and cousin to the outstanding amateur golfer, Leonard Crawley. He himself was a gifted rackets player, and while at Harrow he looked a major talent in the making as a right-hand batting stylist. He headed the averages in 1922, when his not out innings of 59 against Winchester and 67 against Eton were greatly admired. Thereafter, his cricket was limited. Having appeared once for Hampshire in 1923, he played twice for Oxford in the next two years: between then and a solitary match for Middlesex in 1929, there were single appearances for Free Foresters in 1924 and Harlequins in 1927, when he hit a fine 81 against Oxford, his best score in a first-class record embracing six games and five different teams. All told, he scored 243 runs for an average of 22.09.

CURLEY, SIMON ANDREW, who died in Dublin on March 11, 1989, aged 71, played five times for Ireland in first-class matches as an attacking left-hand batsman and scored 175 runs, averaging 19.44. In club cricket for Merrion from 1934 to 1966, he scored 9.510 runs at an average of 29.35.

DEAKINS, LESLIE THOMAS, MBE, whose contribution to cricket was felt far beyond his official role as secretary of Warwickshire from 1944 to 1976, died on October 19, 1989, after fighting cancer for two years. He was 80, and although Gloucestershire born was closely linked with Edgbaston for more than 60 years, having joined the county office staff in 1928 under the legendary Rowland Ryder. He was still in the Royal Navy when in 1944 he became only the third secretary of Warwickshire, taking up his post on discharge a year later. A skilled planner and organiser, he immediately set about propelling the county and its somewhat neglected ground into the future, and in 1957, after a gap of 28 years, Test cricket returned to Edgbaston - for the First Test against West Indies. Deakins had a clear vision of what Warwickshire needed. He set in motion the continuing process of rebuilding and expansion that made Edgbaston the best-equipped ground in England in many respects, and he encouraged and worked closely with the Supporters' Club to revolutionise the financing of county cricket, showing other counties the way forward into a commercial age.

Far more than just an administrator and organiser, he had a deeplove of cricket and was always eager to have the game keep pace with changes in society. In 1967 he told the Forty Club that if county cricket wanted spectators, it must play matches when spectators could attend without losing time at work (a pointer to the expansion of weekend cricket), and must play cricket "of an eventful and purposeful nature that will appeal to the modern age" (a prophetic endorsement of the best of the one-day game). Not all his proposals came to fruition, such as his suggestion that professional cricketers be replaced by club players paid on a match basis, but he contributed constructively to discussion and change in the game throughout his term of office. Courteous and unruffled, he gave a sense of positive continuity advancement at Edgbaston, contributing materially towards the first Championship since 1911, in 1951, and other honours that followed. In September, the Edgbaston West Wing was renamed the Leslie Deakins Stand, suggesting a link with Sir Christopher Wren's epitaph in St Paul's Cathedral: Si monumentum requiris, circumspice. (if you seek his monument, look about you.)

DOGGART, JAMES HAMILTON, who died on October 15, 1989, aged 89, was a right-arm fast bowler who played once for Cambridge as a Freshman against Surrey at The Oval in 1919 and bowled Sandham as his one wicket for 69 runs. He failed to score in his single innings. He played three times for Durham but dropped out of cricket after 1921. He was a brother of the prominent cricketer and soccer international, A. G. Doggart, and uncle of A. P. and G. H. G. Doggart, the latter being the England batsman of 1950 and MCC Treasurer.

DUFF, ALAN ROBERT, who died on June 28, 1989, aged 51, was a brilliant schoolboy leg-spinner at Radley who, according to a near contemporary. E. R. Dexter, "could bowl out our First XI as quickly as they came in". This at fourteen years of age. Although Duff took 38 wickets for the XI in his first year, aged sixteen, and again headed the averages in the next two years, the magic had gone even then, according to Dexter. He improved his batting, won Blues at Oxford in 1960 and 1961, and played less for Worcestershire than his talents suggested, primarily because of his teaching duties. For fifteen years he was cricket master at Malvern, was enthusiastically involved in youth cricket, serving as an HMC selector from 1970, and friends suggested he made more minor MCC tours than anyone else of his era. He played for a string of clubs, and with G. H. Chesterton wrote Your Book of Cricket, a coaching book for youngsters. He played 36 first-class matches, hitting 676 runs at 16.48 and taking 54 wickets at 25.85.

DUNGARPUR, BIJEYSINGHJI LAXMANSINGHJI, MAHAL RAWAL OF, who died on June 6, 1989, aged 81, was a left-handed all-rounder who played for Indian sides against visiting teams in the 1920s and 1930s, and when in his forties for Jaipur against the Silver Jubilee Overseas Team of 1953-54. He played once in the Ranji Trophy for Rajputana, against Southern Punjab in 1938-39, but failed to score in two visits to the wicket. His son, K. Rajsingh Dungarpur, has served as Indian Test selector and manager.

EDMUNDS, RICHARD HAROLD, died on December 9, 1989, at the age of nineteen as a result of injuries received in a car crash near his home at Oakham on November 22. A left-arm fast bowler regarded by his county, Leicestershire, as an outstanding prospect, he had made his debut for them earlier in the year, taking two for 38 against Gloucestershire and one for 48 and no wicket for 27 against Kent in the Championship and also playing in three one-day matches. He was the leading wicket-taker at the 1989 International Youth Tournament at Radley College, receiving the bowling award from the chairman of the England committee, E. R. Dexter, and later represented England in the series against the New Zealand Young Cricketers touring team. At the time of his death, Edmunds had been due to receive the Young Fast Bowler of the Year award.

EMMET, COMMANDER HENEAGE (BILL), who died in November 1989 after a brief illness, aged 77, was largely responsible for keeping the cricket tradition alive in the somewhat unlikely setting of the Mediterranean island of Corfu. With Lord Orr-Ewing, he formed the Anglo-Corfu Cricket Association in 1970 to encourage UK clubs to visit the island and play the local Greek teams. He was honorary secretary of the association at his death, having as a naval officer continued the game's links at Corfu, where teams from visiting warships had played since the early nineteenth century. Emmet, who had a distinguished career in naval intelligence, had earlier the exotic distinction of captaining the MI5 cricket team.

FERGUSON, PROFESSOR JOHN, who died at Birmingham on May 22, aged 68, was a diligent cricket researcher whose articles to cricket period always added to the sum of knowledge about the game. He specialised on the language involved, and produced many corrections and additions to W. J. Lewis's standard work, The Language of Cricket.

FORMBY, MILES ROBERT, who died on June 15, 1989, aged 83, Was a Cheltenham contemporary of K. S. Duleepsinhji who played twice for Cambridge in 1925 but did not win a Blue. His right-arm medium-fast bowling brought him two wickets at 53; he made his 18 runs at an average of 9.

GEARY, ALBERT CHARLES TAYLOR, who died in Jersey on Jan 23, 1989, aged 88, played 88 games for Surrey as a medium-pace bowler from 1922 to 1931, taking 198 wickets at 30.64 and scoring 670 runs at 10.63. His best season was 1927, when he topped the county averages with 79 wickets at 25 runs each yet for no obvious reason his form slumped and he managed only three wickets next season. In 1929 he took five for 22 and with the amateur, Maurice Allom (five for 14), dismissed Glamorgan for 37, but he could never find consistent form The batsmen's pitches at The Oval did not help him, and he also appeared to be too easily overlooked by the county's selectors. In 1932 he took a professional contract in Jersey, and in eight seasons to the war he tallied 437 wickets for the island team against touring sides.

GOODMAN, THOMAS LYALL (TOM), who died in Sydney on September 28, 1989, aged 87, for many years provided with Bill O'Reilly an outstanding coverage of cricket for the Sydney Morning Herald until his retirement in 1967. Goodman wrote the detailed, informed accounts of play in big matches; O'Reilly provided the quirky, opinionated and stimulating comment. Goodman's cricket reporting career began with the Sydney Evening News on the 1920-21 England tour of Australia, when he ran copy for the chief cricket writer. Four years later, Goodman took over. He was snapped up by the SMH when the News closed in 1932, to cover not only cricket but also both rugby codes. After service with the AIF, he was a South-East Asia war correspondent before returning to cover a total of 128 Tests, including four series in England. He completed the book, With the MCC in Australia 1962-3, which had been left unfinished by the death of his old friend. A. G. "Johnnie" Moyes. A thoughtful, authoritative writer whose judgements were highly valued, and whose advice was generously given to colleagues, he was Australian correspondent for Wisden for many years.

GRAINGE, CLIFFORD MARSHALL, who died on May 26, 1989, aged 61, bowled steady right-arm medium pace in fourteen matches for Oxford between 1950 and 1952 but without winning his Blue. His best figures were five for 127 against Surrey at The Oval in 1951, and his 25 first-class wickets cost 43.60 rum apiece. No batsman, he made just 47 runs at 5.22. Born at Heckmondwike, he was later to return to his native Yorkshire as senior master at Leeds Grammar School.

GRANT, SIR KENNETH LINDSAY, died on January 23, 1989, aged 89, after a long career in West Indies cricket administration, including standing as umpire in the Trinidad Test of 1929-30, when Hendren scored the first double-hundred in England-West Indies Tests. He was never a player of the calibre of his younger brothers - West Indies captains G. C. and R. S. - but he was a member of the Board of Control from 1959 to 1970, and MCC awarded him honorary membership for his services to cricket. He served in both World Wars and was made OBE in 1956 before being knighted in 1962, awards widely welcomed for his work in the community.

GRIMSHAW, VERNON, who died at Clifton on June 21, 1989, aged 73, was yet another of the band of Yorkshiremen who had to travel to a different county to play first-class cricket. While living in Leeds, he had been coached by George Hirst. A right-hand opening bat who also bowled leg-breaks, he was on the Worcestershire staff from 1936 for three years, during which he played nineteen first-class matches for 418 runs at an average of 13.93 and took two wickets. His one century was 103 in four and a half hours in Worcestershire's win against the 1937 New Zealanders in early June: in his twelve previous innings that season he had scored just 30 runs. After leaving Worcester, he played for Bedfordshire.

HALL, BRIAN, who died on February 27, 1989, aged 59, played once for Yorkshire, opening the bowling at Lord's in 1952 against an MCC team containing eight Test cricketers. M. F. Tremlett, caught by Lowson, provided him with his only first-class wicket. He played league and club cricket with considerable effect, first with East Ardsley and then with East Bierly, for whom he took all ten wickets in an innings against Bowling Club Old Lane. Hall took 112 wickets for the British Ropes team that won the Yorkshire Cricket Council Championship and Victory Cup in 1956.

HARRIS, GEORGE JOSEPH, who died in 1988, aged 84, played his early cricket as a professional but his one game for Glamorgan was as an amateur. This was at Swansea in 1932 against Surrey, when he failed to score in his only innings, but caught Sandham. Police duties restricted his cricket, but he played soccer, in goal, for Mansfield Town and Swansea. His brother was the eccentric, entertaining Nottinghamshire opener, C. B. "Charlie" Harris.

HOLLINGDALE, REGINALD ALLEN, who died in August 1989, aged 83, played 78 times for Sussex as a professional from 1925 to 1930, bowling right-arm fast-medium and batting low in the order. He struggled to win a regular place and in 1931 took up an appointment in Scotland, playing for Greenock until 1937 and then Grange. He made two appearances for his adopted country, the first in a non first-class match against the 1935 South Africans, when he took five for 35, and then in 1938 against Yorkshire at Harrogate, where he was one of seven second-innings victims for Smailes as Scotland were bowled out for 56 inside an hour and a half on a rain-affected pitch. By way of compensation he then bowled Smailes, who became the last of his 84 first-class wickets captured at an average of 31.47. His 1,071 runs gave him an average of 13.38. After the war, he spent 30 happy years helping with the cricket at Fettes.

HOOL, DR NATHAN BERNARD (SONNY), who died in Belfast on October 10, 1988, aged 64, was a thoughtful slow left-arm bowler who played nine times for Ireland in first-class matches between 1947 and 1961; fourteen times in all matches. After making his name with Dublin University, he spent many years with Belfast's prominent North of Ireland club. His best first-class figures were five for 73 against Scotland in 1947; but he would have been as well satisfied with return of five for 19 at Lord's later that year, which helped give the Gentlemen of Ireland victory by seven wickets over a modest MCC side in a two-day match.

HUBBLE, HAROLD JOHN, who died on January 12, 1989, aged 84, played for Kent thirteen times from 1929 to 1931, scoring 285 runs at an average of 15.83. A sound right-hand bat and occasional leg-break bowler, he joined the county staff in 1925, but with the Kent batting so strong he decided to go to Cranleigh School as a coach and play club cricket with The Mote at Maidstone. He later became head of the sports goods firm of Hubble and Freeman in Canterbury, which had been founded by his uncle, J. C. Hubble, who kept wicket for Kent from 1904 to 1929.

IBERSON, JOHN, who died on September 30, 1989, aged 65, would in another era have almost certainly enjoyed some first-class cricket in his breaks of schoolmastering. Instead, his "chinaman" bowling was seen only, if occasionally read, in club cricket and for Hertfordshire, for whom he took 201 wickets at 13.43. At school in Barrow he had bowled fast, but his milder instincts persuaded him to adopt more guileful methods. Early recognition of his skill came with selection for an RAF team captained by Cyril Washbrook, but the presence Clive Van Ryneveld and A. H. Kardar at Oxford meant there was little chance of his finding a place in the University side after national service. For 38 years from 1951 he was a master at St Dunstan's College, where he taught economics and helped to coach the First XI. He will he remembered not only for his bowling skills but as a magnetic personality who held cricketers spellbound by his recounting of numerous matches with precision and humour.

JONES, EMRYS CLOSS, who died on April 14, 1989, aged 77, played 100 times for Glamorgan between 1934 and 1946 as a consistently accurate off-spinner and handy lower-order batsman to the point of earning a Test trial in 1937- He had played a few games as an amateur, but gave immediate value for money when he turned professional in 1937, beginning with Ames and Woolley as his victims in both innings of his first county match that season. His figures against Kent were five for 38 and three for 42, and among the series of good returns which followed were seven for 79 against Sussex at Cardiff (the best innings figures of his career) and ten for 94 to help Glamorgan beat the New Zealanders, also at the Arms Park. Bowling round the wicket to a leg field, he took six for 41 in 21.3 overs in their second innings. With 38 wickets in a month at an average of 14.63 and a batting average nudging 30, Closs Jones looked a fine prospect, but the Lord's trial was unkind: he was harshly treated by Worthington, Ames and Robins, paying out 46 runs in nine overs for Verity's wicket before straining his side and retiring from the match. He never recaptured that early form, possibly troubled more by the Lord's injury than was obvious, and understandably Glamorgan's first-choice off-spinner, J. C. Clay, was given the best opportunities. After a brief return in 1946, Jones retired to the South Wales leagues, having taken 103 wickets at 32.47 and scored 2,016 runs for an average of 18. Of his two centuries, the higher was his 132 in the second innings against Cambridge at Swansea in 1938.

KELAART, THOMAS HUBERT, who died in May 1989, aged 81, was a son of Tommy Kelaart, a leading Ceylon bowler at the turn of the century, and a member of one of the island's best-known cricketing families. Tommy Kelaart sen. earned his place in cricket history by bowling W. G. Grace when Lord Sheffield's team played in Colombo in 1891. Tommy Kelaart jun., Ceylon's leading all-rounder of the 1930s, toured India with the 1932-33 Ceylon team, and in 1937 he played a notable innings of 90 not out against Sir Julien Cahn's team in Colombo. Kelaart retired as Sri Lanka's Deputy Inspector-General of Police.

KNAPP, EDMUND COURTENAY (DIDDY), who died on February 19, 1989, at Wanganui, aged 71, played four times for Wellington in 1943-44 and 1944-45 as an off-spinner. His most notable achievement, however, was to share a tenth-wicket stand of 113 with Frank Mooney in the second innings of his first game, against Auckland. Later to be his country's wicket-keeper, Mooney had just completed a New Zealand record stand of 127 for the ninth wicket with R. Buchan. In his brief career, Knapp took seven wickets at 40.28, with a best of four for 57 against Canterbury at Christchurch in 1944-45, and scored 109 runs at 27.25.

LANDAU, MAX, who died on December 18, 1988, was for more than 30 years the Kent county club's doctor. He also served on the general committee from 1977 to 1984 and was the club's marketing manager between 1978 and 1984.

LAWRENCE, JOHN, who died on December 10, 1988, aged 74, was a Yorkshireman who bowled leg-breaks and googlies, and a professional sportsman who did not drink, smoke, swear or play cricket on Sundays because of his strong Methodist faith. But the diminutive Lawrence was a delightful companion, an extrovert with a bubbling sense of fun and a yen for practical jokes who was much loved by colleagues and crowds. Lawrence, perhaps because he bowled mistrusted wrist-spin, could get no further than the Second XI with Yorkshire, so he qualified for Somerset. Having done so at the end of 1939, he had to wait six years for his first-class debut. However, he was immediately accepted into the post-war game as an unusually slow spinner who turned the ball enough to take 100 wickets in a season twice, as well as batting with Yorkshire determination in the middle order.

He bowled long spells with the left-arm spinner, Horace Hazell, and in his ten seasons of first-class cricket gathered 798 wickets at 24.97. He made three hundreds, with 122 at Worcester in 1955 his best, and having missed the double in 1950 by just 19 runs, he made his 1,000 runs in 1951, 1953 and 1955. His best innings analysis was eight for 41 on a rain-affected pitch at Worcester in 1950. Lawrence stuck by his principles in his benefit year of 1954, ignoring the traditional Sunday matches and almost certainly suffering financially. But he was unworried: he moved to Lincolnshire for three seasons from 1958, and then back into the Bradford League before concentrating on coaching at indoor schools at Lordswood and Rothwell. The young Geoffrey Boycott was a pupil, and a continuing admirer, of Lawrence the coach and man. His son, Miles Lawrence who also played for Somerset, died in April 1989.

LAWRENCE, JOHN MILES, died on April 16, 1989, aged 48, just four months after the death of his father, John (q.v.). A bright right-handed batsman and useful leg-spinner, Miles Lawrence followed his father to Somerset, playing eighteen matches from 1959 to 1961, scoring 372 runs at 15.50 and taking nine wickets at 40.33. He worked with his father's popular coaching schools and also coached at Leeds Grammar School from 1965. Among several Yorkshire league clubs with whom he played, he kept wicket for Honley and won the Huddersfield League wicket-keepers' award in 1972.

LIVOCK, GROUP CAPTAIN GERALD EDWARD, DFC, AFC, who died on January 27, 1989, aged 91, was an all-rounder as man and cricketer, being an aviation pioneer, headmaster of a boys' preparatory school, and an archaeological authority. A right-hand mid-order batsman and sound wicket-keeper. he was in the Cheltenham XI, played for various amateur sides in between-the-wars cricket, as well as for the RAF, and turned out five times for Middlesex between 1925 and 1927. His RAF career restricted his first-class cricket, but he played for the Gentlemen at Folkestone in 1925, hitting his first-class highest score of 65, and for the Gentlemen of England against Woodfull's 1934 Australians. His thirteen first-class matches brought 403 runs, average 25.18, nineteen catches and five stumpings. He also played for Cambridgeshire, and was a member of H. M. Martineau's touring side to Egypt in 1934.

McCANLIS, KENNETH (MAC), who died on May 3, 1989, aged 80, had three years as a Surrey Second XI fast bowler till 1936, having the distinction of taking wickets with his first and last balls for that side, and then from 1948 to 1958 was a first-class umpire. He was a hard-working enthusiast for the game, especially involved in coaching and advising umpires, and his column in The Cricketer, "Leaves from an Umpire's Notebook", was accepted as authoritative and helpful for umpires and players all over the world. A vice-president of the Association of Cricket Umpires. he was a grandson of Captain William McCanlis, who ran Kent coaching in the late nineteenth century and produced such great players as Colin Blythe and Frank Woolley.

MACKENZIE, PERCY ALEC, DSO, DFC, who died on January 1, 1989, aged 70, was a middle-order right-hand batsman and leg-spinner whose cricket career, as with so many of his generation, was overtaken by the Second World War. He had a distinguished record in the RAF, reaching the rank of squadron leader. Mackenzie impressed with Hampshire in the two immediate pre-war seasons, playing as a professional and making 22 appearances in which he scored 652 runs at an average of 19.75 and took seventeen wickets at 35.58 each. In 1939 he ended the season opening the batting. His highest innings, 76, was against Lancashire at Southampton that year. Still only 26 when war ended, he did not return to first-class cricket but did play some matches, usually as a batsman, for Berkshire in 1947 and 1948.

McLEAN, ALLAN ROBERT CHARLES (BOB), died in Adelaide on November 9, 1989, aged 75. A bespectacled leg-spinner and left-hand lower-order batsman, he had three consecutive seasons for South Australia from 1948-49 and an outstanding second season: promoted up the order, he was the leading run-scorer in the Sheffield Shield with 660 runs at 50.76. Opening the innings against Queensland, he batted for 8 hours 28 minutes on a lifeless Adelaide Oval pitch for 213, having taken five and a quarter hours to reach his maiden century. And a week later, batting at No. 3, he scored a painstaking 135 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He closed his season with a second-innings 92 at Perth, having already taken five for 102 in Western Australia's first innings. In 1950-51, however, he played in only two Shield matches, principally as a bowler, and then marked his retirement from first-class cricket with a career-best five for 68 against the MCC touring side. In his twenty games for South Australia, he scored 897 runs at 28.93 and took 65 wickets at 38.36. A big man, McLean was also an outstanding Australian Rules footballer.

McLEOD, EDWIN GEORGE (EDDIE), was at the time of his death on September 14, 1989, the oldest surviving Test cricketer, being within a month of his 89th birthday. He played in but one Test, against England at Wellington in 1929-30: the second Test match played by New Zealand. He scored 16 and 2 not out and bowled two overs for 5 runs. A left-hand middle-order batsman and occasional leg-break bowler, he represented Auckland and Wellington, and in 1922-23 had made a single appearance for New Zealand against Archie Maclaren's MCC side. His first-class record of 1,407 runs at 32.72 included one century. McLeod also played in New Zealand's first hockey test and was for some years the selector of national hockey sides.

MARSHALL, ANTHONY GRANVILLE, who died on December 5, 1988, aged 56, was on the Kent staff in the early 1950s, but while his right-arm medium-fast bowling made him a leading wicket-taker for the Second XI in 1953 and 1954, he was not retained after the latter year. He had played five times for the county team, taking seven wickets at 44 apiece, and that would have been the extent of his first-class career but for his success with Wiltshire, for whom he took more than 500 wickets. Instead, selected for Minor Counties against the Pakistanis in 1967, he captured six wickets as the tourists slumped to 94 for nine in their second innings on a drying pitch at Swindon. They recovered through a last-wicket partnership of 124, leaving Marshall with career-best figures of six for 53 from his 30 overs.

MARTIN, GEORGE WALTER, who died in 1989 at the age of 83, was Yorkshire born but moved because of his work to Lancashire and became a committed supporter. He helped with many benefits, and as chairman of the Lancashire CCC Auxiliary and Supporters Association was a valued fund-raiser and loyal supporter of all county activities. The county recognised his worth in 1984 by electing him a vice-president.

MARTIN, SIDNEY HUGH, who died in Australia in February 1988, aged 79, was as a South African middle-order right-hand batsman and left-arm medium-pace bowler who gave Worcestershire good service from 1931 to 1939. In 236 matches for them, he scored 9,993 runs, including all of his thirteen hundreds, and took 458 wickets with a career-best eight for 24 against Sussex at Worcester in 1939. His highest score was 191 not out against Northamptonshire at Worcester in 1935, when he hit five Championship centuries. Having begun his first-class cricket with Natal, he returned there in the English winters, and after migrating to Rhodesia in 1947 he represented them till 1949-50. His career figures were 11,511 runs at 27.02 and 532 wickets at 28.31. He did the double in 1937 and 1939, and hit 1,000 runs five more times.

MAY, JOHN WHITELY HOWARD, who died on October 23, 1988, aged 55, came into the Charterhouse XI in 1947 during the captaincy of his older brother, P. B. H. May, and in his fourth year, 1950, led the XI himself. He played at Lord's that year for the Public Schools, scoring 44 and helping M. C. Cowdrey in a stand of 66 against Combined Services. Despite family belief that he, too, could make a first-class cricketer, he contented himself with occasional matches for Berkshire.

MERCER, WILLIAM NORMAN, who died in April 1989, aged 66, was a Lancastrian who made two appearances for Sussex as an amateur, having made his first-class debut in December 1942 for a South African Air Force XI, captained by W. R. Hammond, against the Rest of South Africa at Johannesburg. In his first match for Sussex, against Derbyshire at Worthing in 1948, batting at No. 9 he shared a partnership of 100 with the captain, Hugh Bartlett, in the first innings his own score was 24. His second match provided further happy memories at Worcester in 1956, he took two for 2 in three overs of leg-breaks to wrap Worcestershire's second innings. This left him with a first-class record of six wickets at 17.16 to go with his 40 runs at 13.33.

MEYNELL, LAURENCE WALTER, who died on April 4, 1989, aged 89, was a well-known author who wrote two books on cricket: Famous Cricket Grounds and Plum Warner (in the Cricketing Lives series). He had a continuing interest in the game and played several times in the annual Authors v Publishers match.

NEWBERY, JOHN LEONARD, who died on July 13, 1989, at the age of 50, was in the Lancing XI for three years and later bowled his leg-breaks effectively, as well as batting and fielding aggressively, in club cricket. But beyond these skills he was a batmaker of great ability, following his father, Len Newbery, who, had been managing director of Gray-Nicolls. John Newbery developed the Nicolls "scoop" bat in the changing seventies, and after leaving there he set up his own company to make his distinctive Newbery bats with their orange and black markings. A much loved character, he was happiest, if not involved in cricet then in sailing.

NEWCASTLE, NINTH DUKE OF, who died on November 4, 1988, aged 81, as Henry Edward Hugh Pelham-Clinton-Hope captained the unbeaten Eton Xl of 1926. A determined bat, he had scored 175 not out the previous year in the Fourth of June match against Eton Ramblers, whose attack was headed by the Middlesex fast bowler, G. O. Allen. The next-highest score was 28. In their first innings, Eton had been bowled out for 47.

O'CALLAGHAN, R. F. B. (BUSH), who died in 1989, aged 81, maintained the tradition of the gentleman club cricketer right up to his retirement to Jersey in 1959, having been reputedly a member of 26 clubs, most of them wanderes. His season would begin with matches against the Oxford and Cambridge colleges in April and end well into September with the Cross Arrows at Lord's. An opening bat, he also played Minor Counties cricket with Buckinghamshire, but was best known for his association with Harrow Wanderers and for his encouragement of young cricketers with his vast enthusiasm for the game.

ODLUM, NORMAN, who died on April 23, 1989, aged 78, was a Sheffield Shield umpire between 1959 and 1972.

PARSLOE, CYRIL KEITH, died within two weeks of his 81st birthday on September 13, 1989. A tall bespectacled right-arm fast-medium bowler, he joined the New Zealand team on their return from England in 1937 for the brief visit to Australia. He did well, taking nine wickets for 27 runs each in the three games against state sides, including five first-innings wickets for 47 against Victoria. His best bowling was for Wellington against Otago in 1935-36, when a second-innings return of seven for 66 provided him with a match analysis of eleven for 103. He maintained a keen interest in the game after his retirement and was a tireless worker for the Wellington Cricket Association.

PAYTON, VEN. WILFRED ERNEST GRANVILLE, who died on September 4, 1989 aged 75, was one of the dwindling band of cricketing clergymen. His father, W. R. D., and uncle, A. I. Payton, were both Nottinghamshire professionals, but the younger Payton played as an amateur. He had already had a game for Nottinghamshire, in 1935, when following a top score of 74 in the Seniors' match he played for Cambridge in 1937. However, it was as much his keenness in the field as his dogged batting which won him his Blue as Paul Gibb's fellow-opener: his contribution at Lord's was 10 and 3. After the war he played thirteen first-class games for the Combined Services, and in 1948 at Pontypridd he was bowled when 2 runs short of a maiden (and only) century to set the stage for a convincing win over Glamorgan in their Championship year. The following season he had two matches for Derbyshire. In his 27 first-class games he made 995 runs for an average of 20.72. Payton became Chaplain-in-Chief to the RAF and retired in 1969 to become Vicar and Rural Dean of Abingdon. He had been an honorary chaplain to The Queen since 1965.

PICKLES, CANON HUGH JOHN, who died on September 24, 1989. aged 70, was a charming eccentric whose lifestyle suggested a character from England, Their England, rather than a modern clerk in Holy Orders. He declared that cricket became his second religion when he discovered the game on a day visit to The Oval, at the age of twelve, to see the 1930 Australians. The England captain that day, R. E. S. Wyatt, sent a message of goodwill to a dinner held 50 years later to mark the occasion. A product of St Edward's School, Oxford, and University College, Hugh Pickles played most of his own enthusiastic cricket for clergy teams. He was captain/secretary of the Oxford Diocesan Clergy CC from 1964 to 1989, had captained Wantage after the war, and though very weak he had the immense pleasure of receiving the Church Times Cup on behalf of the Oxford Clergy when that team won the 1989 Diocesan final three weeks before his death. The previous season, his high-tossed, slow off-breaks had brought him a hat-trick, as much a delight to his friends as to himself. Parish priest at Blewbury for 26 years, he was indulged and loved by his parishioners, who became accustomed to his absence on cricketing matters: he was once given special leave by his Bishop to accompany Worcestershire to the West Indies in Holy Week as the county's honorary chaplain. Indeed, stories of cricketing enthusiasm diverting him from his other activities accompanied him all his life.

PIERRE, LANCELOT RICHARD (LANCE), who died in his native Trinidad on April 14, 1989, aged 68, was one of a select group of fast bowlers to wear glasses. When he made his only tour, to England in John Goddard's 1950 side, Pierre, Hines Johnson and Prior Jones were expected to form no more than an adequate new-ball attack, but that this was correct did not matter because of the emergence of Ramadhin and Valentine as brilliant spinners. Pierre had a smooth action and high delivery, but he struggled against injury and could not produce the sharp edge of his earlier pace. On a dry pitch at Liverpool, however, he gave some evidence of it when returning a career-best eight for 51 as Lancashire were swept aside in three and a half hours. He did not play in any of the Tests, and as he virtually retired after the tour, his one Test appearance remained that against England in 1947-48 at Georgetown, where he bowled only a handful of overs for no wicket on a rain-affected pitch. He first played for Trinidad in 1940-41, and his 35 first-class matches bought him 102 wickets at 24.72; no batsman he averaged 6.23 for his 131 runs. Pierre later acted as manager to various domestic and national teams playing at Port-of-Spain.

POWELL, ALFRED PETER, who died in April 1985, aged 76, was a right-hand batsman who played for MCC and Buckinghamshire. His sole opportunity came for Middlesex at Lord's in 1927, when he bagged a pair,bowled by and then caught behind off the Surrey captain, P. G. H. Fender, who took seven for 10 in the home team's first innings of 54.

PROCKTOR, RICHARD (DICK), died on April 21, 1989, aged 56, after many years of devoted work for schools cricket. Having taught previously at Sevenoaks and Lord Williams's, Thame, he became headmaster of Oxford School in 1976, and in 1985 chairman of the English Schools Cricket Association, always trying to promote the game in the state sector as its hold was increasingly threatened by changes in structure and lack of interest among teachers. He played an important part in the setting-up and organisation of the MCC Schools Festival at Oxford.

RAJINDERNATH, who died in Madras on November 22, 1989, aged 61, kept wicket for India in the Third Test against Pakistan at Bombay in 1952-53. He made four stumpings but did not take a catch and was not called upon to bat. It was his only Test match, although in 1950-51 he had represented India in three unofficial "Tests" against L. E. G. Ames's Commonwealth side. That he also scored 136 for Bihar against Orissa in the Ranji Trophy, his only century in a career aggregate of 844 runs (average 22.21). He took 34 catches and effected 23 stumpings.

REDDISH, JOHN (JACK), who died on October 18, 1989, aged 85, played once for Nottinghamshire in 1930, scoring 2 not out as a right-hand batsman and conceding 125 runs without success for his leg-spin against a powerful Oxford side which ran up 513. He was more successful as a soccer player, appearing at fullback for Tottenham Hotspur and Lincoln City, and later became sports master at Elizabeth College, Guernsey.

REED, GEORGE HENRY, who died in December 1988, at the age of 82, went from his home village of Fagan to Cardiff CC as club professional in 1929. His lively left-arm fast-medium bowling brought him to Glamorgan's notice, and he appeared 25 times for the county between 1934 and 1938, taking 62 wickets at 31.30. His batting, that of a genuine tailender, produced 65 runs in 25 innings.

RESHAMWALA, HUSAIN EBRAHIN, who died in Bombay on October 26, 1988, aged 68, played for Gujerat in the Ranji Trophy between 1948-49 and 1950-51 as an attacking right-hand batsman and a bowler who could use the new ball or switch to off-spin. He scored 139 runs in the championship for an average of 12.63, and his nine wickets cost 14.44 runs each. He also played in the Bombay Festivals of 1946-47 and 1947-48, and in his final season for Gujerat against L. E. G. Ames's Commonwealth team

RHODES, STUART DENZIL, who died on January 7, 1989, aged 78, had nineteen games with Nottinghamshire between 1930 and 1935, having a brief spell as joint-captain with G. F. H. Keane in 1935. This was the time of upheaval over the bowling tactics of Larwood and Voce under the captaincy of A. W. Carr who was replaced controversially by the committee in December 1934 following complaints from other counties over Nottinghamshire's use in domestic cricket of the short-pitched bowling which had won the Ashes in Australia. Rhodes, son of a committee member, achieved little with the bat in his twelve matches in 1935,but with his enthusiasm he helped heal the county's wounds. Rhodes's amiable manner fitted smoothly into the style of Sir. Julien Cahn's XI, and he tourd with that side to Argentina, North America and Bermuda, and Ceylon and Malaysia. In 24 first-class games, he scored 599 runs with an average of 20.65 and a top score of 70. In 1946, he was one of the mainstays of Hertfordshire's batting.

RILEY, HAROLD, who died on January 24, 1989, aged 86, followed his father Edwin as a Leicestershire professional and played 94 games from 1928 to 1937. As a pleasing right-hand middle-order batsman, he looked in 1929 to have excellent prospects after a surge of runs marked by an attractive 101 against Hampshire. However, his form fell away as he encountered problems with his sight, and after a spell as a professional with Dunfermline, he accepted a coaching job at Bradfield. A powerful driver of the ball and a first-rate cover, Riley totalled 2,346 runs at an average of 17.25.

ROBERTS, ANDREW DUNCAN GLENN, died suddenly on October 26, 1989. aged 42, in Wellington where he was the province's director of coaching. He was playing club cricket the weekend before he died. A particularly popular player, he made his debut for Northern Districts in 1967-68 and went on to play a record 104 times for them in seventeen seasons: with 5,533 runs at 35.24 he was also their leading run-scorer. He played the first of his seven Tests against India in New Zealand in 1975-76 and toured Pakistan and India in 1976-77, where his highest Test score of 84 not out against India at Kanpur was instrumental in New Zealand's avoiding the follow-on. His 254 runs in Tests produced an average of 23.09, and he also took four wickets at 45.50 with his right-arm medium-pace bowling. In all first-class matches, Roberts scored 5,865 runs with an average of 34.70 and seven centuries, including a career-best 128 not out against Central Districts at Gisborne it 1979-80. His 84 wickets cost 29.88 runs apiece, with five for 30 against Central Districts at Napier in 1976-77 his best figures.

ROBERTS, HARLEY JAMES, who died on February 19, 1989, aged 76, was one of that particular group of cricketers who played as a professional and later as an amateur. A hard-hitting right-hand bat and medium-pace bowler, he took two wickets in his first over in county cricket for Warwickshire against Middlesex at Edgbaston in 1932. But his analysis of three tail-end wickets for 6 runs was put into perspective by career figures, following his last appearance in 1937, of just nine wickets at 45.22 apiece. He played as an amateur after 1934, was active in Birmingham League cricket with Mitchells and Butlers, and as a golfer was runner-up in the 1948 English Amateur Championship. His batting figures were 348 runs for an average of 15.13.

ROBINSON, JOHN FOSTER, CBE, died on September 28, 1988, aged 79. A leg-break and googly bowler, he was three years in the Harrow XI and headed the averages in 1928. At Lord's that year he had a leading part in one of the most exciting matches in the long rivalry between Eton and Harrow: put on for the first time when Eton in their first innings were 111, he proceeded to bowl them out by taking four for 13 in five overs and one ball. His second-innings return of two for 106 from 24.1 overs was better preparation for his one first-class appearance. Playing for Gloucestershire against Oxford the following season he had figures of none for 50. That he did not bat mattered little. His father, Sir Foster Robinson, and his uncle, Percy, also played for Gloucestershireb

ROBSON, CLAYTON GRAEME WYNNE, who died on February 26, 1989, aged 87, captained Malvern in 1920, the last of his four years in the XI, and later captained Sandhurst. A stylish batsman with a classical approach to strokemaking, he had two games for Worcestershire in 1921, and then in 1926 four for Middlesex, but he never really reproduced the batting of his schooldays and his first-class record was just 136 runs at 15.11. His 46 against Hampshire on debut remained his highest innings. Robson was also a rackets player of distinction.

ROSTRON, FRANK, who died on January 7, 1989, in his 82nd year, was a lively cricket correspondent for the Daily Express in the 1950s who specialised in off-field stories more than was then fashionable. His hard-hitting copy was often aimed at stirring controversy. South African by birth, he was happiest writing about tennis and boxing. He had been South African middleweight champion and managed the national boxing teams at the 1932 and 1936 Olympics.

SAMUEL, GLYNDWR NINIAN THOMAS WATKIN, who died in 1985, aged 67, was in the Uppingham XI in 1935 and the following season played three matches for Glamorgan. A right-hand batsman, he scored just 41 in his four innings, with a highest score of 22.

SCOTT, WILLIAM ERNEST NEWNHAM, died on August 6, 1989, aged 86, on the Isle of Wight. At the time of his death, he remained the only man born on the island to play first-class cricket, having been invited by Hampshire for a trial in 1925. A hand injury prevented him from playing that season, and it was 1927 before he made his debut, against Essex at Southampton. In five matches he scored 102 runs at 20.40 and took four wickets at 32.75 with his quickish off-breaks. When offered professional terms at the end of the season he said he preferred security of a career in banking. After that, he confined his cricket to club matches.

SELLAR, KENNETH ANDERSON, DSO, DSC, who died in Cape Town on May 15, 1989, aged 82, was a genuine all-rounder of a type rarely encounter more in modem times: a career Royal Navy officer who became a stockbroker, a fine rugby fullback who played seven times for England in 1926-27 and 192 and an aggressive middle-order right-hand batsman who played eight times for Sussex in 1928, as well as for Services teams and Leveson Gower's XI. "Monkey" Sellar made just one first-class century, and that lively 119 for Sussex against Somerset at Hove suggested he could have scored more than his 616 first runs had he chosen to give more time to cricket. He toured Canada in 1937 MCC and made a valiant 111 at Armour Heights despite a fierce blow on the chin. He returned to the navy on the outbreak of the Second World War,and was involved in the Sicily and Normandy landings, and distinguished service brought him the DSO and DSC, plus the rank of commander.

SELLARS, JACK, who died in January 1989, was an active Worcestershire supporter and administrator for many years, serving on various committees and being the county club's president in 1983. He was also involved with the Midlands Club Cricket Conference.

SHARMA, NARENDRA (CHANGA), who died on May 20, 1989, aged 35, made his Ranji Trophy debut for Jammu and Kashmir in 1977-78 as an off-spinner and in eight seasons of championship cricket took 39 wickets at 42.38 apiece. He had curiously deformed thumbs, which caused him problems in gripping the bat, but with his unique bowling grip he was able to spin the ball considerably.

SICHEL, PETER, who died in Cape Town on May 11, 1989, aged 64, was the official statistician to the South African Cricket Union, and enthusiastically kept correspondents and publications throughout the world informed about cricket in the republic. He was South African correspondent to Wisden, associate editor of the Protea Cricket Annual of South Africa, and compiler in 1977 of A Century of Test Cricket. He had a wide range of interests including rugby, surf lifesaving, athletics and motor racing, as well as British naval and military history. The 1935-36 Australian tour of South Africa had sparked his interest in cricket.

SMITH, SYDNEY, who died on April 25, 1985, aged 56, played 38 times for Lancashire between 1952 and 1956, scoring 865 runs with a top score of 72 not out for an average of 17.30. When twenty years old, he acted as twelfth man for England in the Test against the 1949 New Zealanders at Old Trafford, and the following year, in his second first-class match, he scored 101 not out for Combined Services against Essex in the second innings at Chelmsford. Striking the ball with considerable force in front of the wicket, he and the Cambridge Blue, A. C. Shirreff, put on an unbeaten 238 for the first wicket. In 44 first-class matches, Smith scored 1,117 runs with an average of 18.31 and just that one hundred.

SNOW, PHILIP SYDNEY, who died on February 13, 1985, aged 77, was a fine all-rounder for Shrewsbury, captaining them in 1925 and 1926, the last of his four years in the XI. A slow-medium bowler with the advantages of flighted off-breaks and late swing, particularly from leg to off, he headed the bowling in both his years as captain and in his final year was selected for The Rest to play the Lord's Schools. Going up to Oxford, in 1927 he scored an attractive half-century and took four wickets in the Freshmen's match, but with a number of Blues still available, his chance of gaining a place in the University side was slim. He played once in 1928 and again in 1929 but nothing came of either trial. His five wickets cost 23.80 runs each and he scored 41 runs in his four innings.

SNOWBALL, ELIZABETH ALEXANDRA (BETTY), who died on December 13, 1988, aged 82, was an all-round sportswoman who played squash and lacrosse at international level as well as cricket. But it was as one of the major figures of women's cricket for two decades from 1930 that she is best remembered, being a fine opening bat and generally accepted as the outstanding wicket-keeper of her generation. She had something of Australia's Bert Oldfield in her style: always immaculate in turnout, and neat and tidy in technique, although enthusiasm added a flourish to efficiency. Born in Burnley, she was coached after leaving school by Learie Constantine, from whom she gained what she termed "aggressive inspiration". She played ten times for England, and toured Australia twice, recording a Test average of 40.86 and effecting 21 dismissals. Just over 5ft tall, Betty Snowball was an effective foil to the powerful all-rounder, Myrtle Maclagen, both as fellow-opener and taking her spin bowling. Her outstanding innings was 189 in 222 minutes against New Zealand in 1935, which remained a Test record for half a century. She retired to Colwall, the Worcestershire village often called "the cradle of women's cricket", and the venue of an annual women's cricket week.

SOMERS-VINE, ROBERT E. who died on June 6, 1989, played as a batsman for Transvaal between 1931-32 and 1945-46, as well as in wartime first-class cricket in South Africa. In December 1942 he captained the Rest of South Africa to victory at the old Wanderers ground, Johannesburg, against a South African Air Force team led by Walter Hammond. His only first-class century was 119 at Bulawayo in his farewell innings, against Rhodesia, giving him career figures of 508 runs at an average of 29.38. A lawyer, he turned busily to administration, being vice-chairman of the Transvaal Board of Control for six of his eighteen years as a Board member. He was especially active in sponsoring the new Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg.

SWAMINATHAN, M., who died on June 9, 1989, was a right-hand batsman with a handsome cover drive and leg-break bowler who played for Madras Ranji Trophy between 1940-41 and 1952-53. His only century, in a career total 430 runs at 26.83, was 129 against Mysore in 1949-50.

TARIQ ATA, who died in Karachi on July 25, 1989, aged 46, played first-class cricket for Baluchistan, but made his major contribution to cricket as a respected, if slightly distant, umpire. A lawyer, he stood in more than 50 first-class matches, six one-day internationals, and the Faisalabad Test against Australia in 1988-89.

TAYLOR, HARRY, who died on October 28, 1988, aged 87, was a first-rate Bradford League opening batsman who could not quite make the step forward to county cricket when given nine games for Yorkshire in 1924 and 1925. His record was 153 runs at 11.76, with a top score of 36. An effective coach, he did good work, in this role at Bradford Grammar School.

TEMPLE, JOHN RICHARD FOSTER, who died on October 6, 1989, aged 74, was a prominent player and administrator with York CC and had a long association with the county club. He was York district representative on the Yorkshire committee for 21 years, and was a vice-president at the time of his death. Succeeding Brian Sellers as cricket chairman in 1971, he held that post until 1978- a difficult period focussed on declining success and ending with the dismissal of Boycott as captain. Temple, who was made an honorary life member of Yorkshire in 1985, still held the Yorkshire League record for the fastest half-century, scored in thirteen minutes.

TOMLINSON, LESLIE, who died in 1989, became Nottinghamshire scorer in 1982 after a spell scoring for the Second XI. He was a well-known Nottingham club-cricket wicket-keeper-batsman.

TREGONING, JACK E., who died in Adelaide on June 26, 1989, aged 70, was a right-hand batsman and fast-medium bowler who held four catches on his debut for South Australia against New South Wales in 1939-40. He did little with bat or ball in this and his only other Sheffield Shield match immediately after the war.

WARD, THOMAS FITZGERALD, died in Dublin on July 2, 1989, aged 84. A right-arm fast bowler, he was one of only three to take all ten wickets in a Dublin Senior competitive match - despite his ten for 29 he was on the losing side-but could never bring his club form to international level. He had two first-class games for Ireland, in 1936 and 1939, taking five wickets at 27.80 apiece.

WARKE, DR LAURENCE, who died on January 22, 1989 in Belfast, aged 61, captained Ireland in eighteen of the 34 games he played for his country, seventeen of which were first-class. Strong enough to have won a final trial for the Irish rugby team as a prop forward, he was a hard-hitting right-hand batsman who made consistent scores in Dublin and Belfast club cricket but rarely found the same form in representative cricket. His best score was 120 against Scotland in 1954, his only century in 405 runs at 13.96 between 1950 and 1961. He also took seven wickets with medium pace at 46-57. His son, Stephen, opened the batting for Ireland throughout the 1980s.

WHITCOMBE, MAJOR-GENERAL PHILIP SIDNEY. OBE, CB, who died on August 9, 1989, aged 95, was a 6ft 5in tall right-hand batsman and fast-medium bowler whose first-class cricket included appearances for the Europeans in the annual Madras Presidency of 1929, 1930 and 1931 when he was serving in India. He had had one match for Essex in 1922- scoring 5 and 4 and conceding 22 runs without taking a wicket. His three matches in India brought a further 72 runs, giving him an average of 16.20, but no wickets. In addition to regular club and Services cricket, he appeared when available for Berkshire and was awarded his county cap. His son, Philip, won a Blue in all three years at Oxford and in 1948, his second year, was selected to play for the Gentlemen at Lord's. Major-General Whitcombe was one of the last of the "Old Contemptibles", having served in France throughout the First World War.

WOOD, DOUGLAS JAMES (JIM), died on March 12, 1989, aged 74, after a long association with Sussex cricket as a left-arm fast-medium bowler, a first-class umpire, club cricketer, and head groundsman and coach at Ardingly College. He joined Sussex at 21 in 1936 and by 1938 was playing in almost half their matches. His 45 Championship wickets at 27.37 that season included a return of seven for 22 against Middlesex at Horsham, and there were also seven wickets against the Australians in "Bartlett's match". The county could regard as satisfactory the young professional's progress, which was soon to be interrupted by wartime service in the Royal Navy. After the war Sussex tried him as a spinner, but in 1948 he was persuaded to revert to pace. Next season brought career-best figures of seven for 24 as Middlesex, that year's joint-champions, were bowled out for 91 at Hove, and in 1952, his best season, he provided an almost identical performance with seven for 31 in Middlesex's first innings of 83. He took 103 wickets that year at 24.56, his only three-figure aggregate, bowling tirelessly for close on 1,000 overs- The years, however, were catching up: he took 79 wickets in 1953, but the following season, now 40, he could not command a regular place. He was given a benefit in 1955 and retired, having taken a total of 589 wickets at 30.79. In his earlier years he was a fine outfielder, and later a good close catcher. In 214 matches, his best score was 72 in a total of 1,305 runs at 7.29. Always a trier, always pleasant, he was a thoroughly popular member of the county side and a loyal Sussex man all his life.

WOOD, HARTLEY LIONEL, who died in Adelaide on December 16, 1988, aged 58, played twice for South Australia in 1959-60 as a middle-order batsman, scoring just 51 runs in his four innings. A founder member of Salisbury District CC, which joined the Adelaide club competition after the Second World War as English migrants developed the district, he was also a well-known Australian Rules footballer.

WORKER, RUPERT VIVIAN DE RENZY, who died at Napier on April 23, 1989, aged 93, played eight times for New Zealand as a left-handed opening batsman in the days before his country was awarded Test status. He represented all four major provinces, hitting four centuries, and had his best season in the Plunket Shield in 1923-24, when he scored 515 runs at an average of 85.83 for Otago and was selected for New Zealand against New South Wales at Christchurch. A determined 37 in the second innings showed his worth, and against Victoria the following season he formed a useful opening partnership with another Otago batsman, Roger Blunt. At Christchurch, he put on 104 in 90 minutes with Stewart Dempster, reaching 55 before being run out. His best effort came on the 1925-26 tour of Australia, of which he was the oldest survivor, when he scored 89 in 199 minutes and 42 in the draw with Victoria at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In first-class matches for New Zealand, Worker scored 368 runs and averaged 24.53.

WRIGHT, WILLIAM JOHN, who died on August 12, 1988, aged 79, was given just two chances with Derbyshire in 1932. A right-hand opening bat, he made 23 and 7, batting at No. 7, against All-India at Ilkeston, and in his next match restored to his proper place, he made 28 in the only innings against Northamptonshire at Chesterfield.

YUSUF, MOHAMMAD IDRIS, who died in Durban in January 1989, aged 75, earned his place in the record books by hitting the highest score in Southern Africa: 412 not out for Government Indian Schools CC against Star CC in a 1936-37 league match in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia. He was dropped as he reached his double-century, and then hammered the bowling in a flamboyant innings claimed to have occupied no more than "about three hours". Wisden recorded this as the thirteenth-highest score made in any grade of cricket. A strongly built and aggressive batsman, Yusuf had shown his appetite for the big innings two years earlier when making 240 against Transvaal Bantu in Johannesburg. He returned to his native Durban to have a successful club career- captaining Muslims in Division A of the non-European league and commonly averaging around 50. He was a brilliant slip, while his best day as a bowler was in 1945 when he took seven for 16 against Eastern Province in the South African Indian tournament. A schoolteacher, he also played soccer for Natal and South African Indian representative teams.