Who got there first? Ivanhoe by George!

posted by John Winn

'Barrow did have his better days for in 1933 he had become the first West Indian to score a test century in England (105 at Old Trafford).' John Winn last week.

'Headley only just beating him(Barrow)  to the honour of being the first West Indian to score a test hundred in England'. Tony Cozier in The West Indies: Fifty Years of Test Cricket published 1978

but 'A wicket-keeper and opening batsman, he (Barrow) became the first West Indian to score a century in a test match in England which he did at Old Trafford', Wikipedia (this morning) but of course Wiki is riddled with mistakes and the odds must still favour George Headley being the first to reach three figures. HOWEVER

(Barrow)…...has a place in cricket history as the first West Indian to score a hundred in a test in England, and when he achieved the feat George Headley was on 99  (Wisden in Barrow's obituary 1980) So whilst in their match report Wisden says Barron was 'overshadowed by his more famous partner' they appear to have evidence that the relative unknown got there first.

The research I have done for this post has served to show that my collection of cricket literature rather underserves West Indian cricket but perhaps this is true of cricket literature in general. Barrow was dismissed by 'a cleverly flighted ball' from Bob Wyatt but in 'RES Wyatt-fighting cricketer' Gerald Pawle's biography of Wyatt, the 1933 West Indies tour is condensed to three lines. The book was never likely to have been called 'The Hand that Bowled Barrow.'

I should not conclude however without a little more praise for Ivan Mordecai Barrow born Jamaica 1911, died same island 1979. As his second forename suggests he was of the Jewish faith and Wiki says that as of 2010 he was the only Jewish cricketer to have scored a test century. That day at Manchester was by a long distance his shining hour, for his next highest score in 11 tests was 27 v Australia at Adelaide in 1930. How he must have enjoyed that day in Manchester.

IMB

Looking back again

posted by John Winn

Two weeks ago in a posting entitled 'More Green Shoots' I struck an optimistic tone when looking forward to the start of league cricket next month. Since then we all know what has happened and although at the moment the professional game has been postponed until the end of May there are many that believe that the 2020 English season will live in history as the season when there was no cricket. Rather than indulge in speculation as to the likelihood of there being any cricket in any form I have turned to the past for material for this posting.

The inspiration for today's content came from a wonderful article in yesterday's Observer by Kevin Mitchell much of which focussed on the 1939 season when play was curtailed by the outbreak of World War Two in September of  and the West Indies, who were the tourists that year went home immediately after the third and last test finished on August 22nd leaving seven matches not played. Mitchell's article is accompanied with a photograph of the West Indies taking the field at Gravesend led by skipper RS Grant. At first I assumed that their opponents on this occasion would be Kent but research reveals that it was in fact the first match of the tour against Les Ames' XI, a side composed of mainly Kent county players. The match against the full Kent side which would have been at Canterbury was one of the seven games not played.

The match played on May 3rd was drawn but gave some batsmen on both sides to make useful early season runs. Ames hit 116 in 85 minutes and who wouldn't have loved to see Frank Wooley's 59. Ames declared when his side had made 278 for 6 off 36 overs and the visitors replied with 225 for 3. They moved on to play The Army at Aldershot the following day where a low scoring match was won by two wickets. An interesting point about the Gravesend match is that both Learie Constantine and George Headley did not bat. Headley finished the tour with 1745 runs at 72.20 and topped the test match averages with 334 at 66.80. Constantine had 103 wickets including 11 in tests.

Rolph Grant opened the batting in all three tests with Jeff Stollmeyer but averaged under twenty in five knocks. Finding a good opening partnership was a problem for the West Indies on this tour. The Jamaican Ivan Barrow failed to find form, scoring only 304 runs in 25 innings and not once reaching fifty. Barrow did have his better days for in 1933 he had become the first West Indian to score a test century in England (105 at Old Trafford). Stollmeyer's brother Victor was also pencilled in to open but suffered from several bouts of tonsillitis and played in only one test, the third at The Oval, where batting at four he made 96.

Grant was the younger of two brothers, both Cambridge blues and he took over the captaincy from his older brother Jackie. Jackie's  selection as skipper was unusual in that he was not a member of the team and both brothers largely owed the honour of captaincy to their race at a time when it was considered essential for the post to be held by a white man, a situation that prevailed until the appointment of Frank Worrell in the 1950s. Whatever their limitations as cricketers both Grant brothers were talented all round sportsmen and I shall return to their wider lives in a future posting. In the meantime 'keep your distance'.

More green shoots

posted by John Winn


With Tony having whetted our appetites via a recent posting in which he expressed his pleasure at the publication of county Second XI, Minor Counties and some university fixtures it is time for me to disembark from my nostalgic trip round Hampshire grounds and turn to another harbinger of the new season, the publication of league fixtures. Almost all of those in Yorkshire and the North East are now available, indeed the only ones I have not been able to find in the region are those for the York Vale league and this may be because of a problem with the website.
With very few exceptions leagues have settled on the traditional starting date of the third Saturday in April, which this year falls a week after Easter. Be ready therefore for a long list of those who will hear the call of play on

April 18th.
Aire Wharfe, Leeds and Wetherby, Bradford, Dales Council, Langbaurgh, NYSD, Huddersfield, Nidderdale, North East Premier Leaague, Durham Cricket League, Pontefract, York Senior, Craven, Yorkshire Premier South, Halifax, Darlington and District and South Yorkshire.

April 25th
 Bradford Mutual Sunday School, Yorkshire Premier North and Scarborough Beckett.

A major change which many of you may have spotted is  the change of name for the Wetherby League which in its centenary year becomes the Leeds and Wetherby League, a change which reflects the transfer of a number of its former clubs to the York and District. Staying behind are

Div 1: Crossgates, Sicklinhall, Green Hammerton, Barwick in Elmet, Kippax, Scarcroft.

Div 2: Headinley Bramhope, Crompark, Scholes, Kippax II, Thorner Mexborough, Meanwood.

Div 3 Barwick in Elmet II, Green Harwood II, Meanwood II, Sherburn Eversley, Scarcroft II, Crossgates II,

Clubs will play each other four times.

There is a change in the Langbaurgh League where Castleton have joined from the Eskdale. I played on this ground in the late 1960s but have not watched cricket there.

Finally the draw for the Village Cup has been published with encouragingly the number of entries being the highest for ten years. I usually try to watch a match at this stage of the competition and have pencilled in a game not from home at Alne where visitors will be East Yorkshire outfit Patrington, a team I have not seen before.

More treasures from the archives

Posted by Tony Hutton

Came across this scorecard from 1981 the other day. This was a charity match between an Old Yorkshire XI and a star studded Old England XI at Bradford Park Avenue. All proceeds were split between local charities for disabled people and former Yorkshire left arm spinner Don Wilson, who had been granted a benefit by his Bradford League club, Manningham Mills, on completion of five years service with them.

What really caught my eye was the team picture of the Yorkshire XI - all home grown of course.
How different from today's motley collection. Ten of the twelve players appeared for England in Test cricket, the only exceptions being pace bowler Mel Ryan and opening bat Brian Stott. Actual details of the match are hard to come by, as it does not appear on cricket archive or in the Yorkshire yearbook for 1982. However my own brief record shows the the England XI made 245-6 in 45 overs, with John Jameson of Warwickshire top scoring on 94, John Edrich of Surrey 62 and Mike Denness of Kent 57.

In reply Yorkshire fell just six runs short, ending on 239-8. Top scorers being Richard Hutton with 82 and Phil Sharpe with 70. According to the scorecard England's main bowlers were Fred Rumsey, Harold Rhodes, Peter Lever, Fred Titmus and John Mortimore. Others to appear included Colin Milburn and Basil D'Olivera. All of the players involved had of course long retired from county cricket.

Back row:- Phil Sharpe, Geoff Cope, Richard Hutton, Don Wilson, Mel Ryan and Brian Bolus.
Front row:- Bryan Stott, Doug Padgett, Fred Trueman, Brian Close, Don Brennan and Ken Taylor.

Of this very talented side unfortunately only six are still with us. The oldest is Brian Bolus, who had a successful career with Notts and Derbyshire after leaving Yorkshire, on 86. He is closely followed by Doug Padgett and Bryan Stott, both 85 and Ken Taylor 84. The two relative youngsters are Richard Hutton (77) and Geoff Cope (73).

The oldest player on the photograph is amateur wicket keeper Don Brennan who was 61 at the time.
He did not play county cricket until he was 27, soon after World War Two, but played for England in place of Godfrey Evans on a couple of occasions. He is proudly wearing his MCC sweater awarded on a tour of India, when he lost his place to the better batsman in the party, Dick Spooner of Warwickshire. A trend which continues to this day with the best batsman, rather than the best wicket keeper, being selected by England. A policy which also affected the career of Brennan's successor in the Yorkshire side, Jimmy Binks.

A memorable day which produced a large crowd all intent on seeing some of the great heroes of Yorkshire cricket for one last time.