Cricket in 1946

By Brian Sanderson

Recently I purchased the above photograph of Harold Beaumont who was born in Thongsbridge on 14 October 1916. He was a right hand medium fast bowler who played his first first class match
for Yorkshire at Canterbury against Kent on the 18 May 1946. He had played Second team cricket in 1938 and 1939.During the War he was in the same prisoner of war camp as Bill Bowes who
was playing in this match

Yorkshire batted first  after winning the toss. Brian Sellers was still captain of Yorkshire .The two openers were Paul Gibb and Len Hutton who topped scored with 62. At the end of the first
day Yorkshire had scored 252 and had Kent 36 for 5 with Bowes taking three wickets.

The admission price was two shillings and one shilling after 4 pm. Boys and girls all day one shilling. On the same day at Roundhay Ces Pepper and Learie Constantine were playing for
Jack Appleyard's X1.

On the second day Kent were bowled out for 69. Then in the second innings for 92 with Les Ames scoring 40, Beaumont took four wickets and Arthur Booth, above, took two wickets
for ten runs. So Yorkshire won by innings and 91 runs at 3.12 pm on the second day.

Jim Kilburn's comment in the Yorkshire Post was that there was no excuse for so spineless a display of batting. Beaumont in his first game for Yorkshire ,was full of promise ,medium pace, he made the ball hasten from the turf and at one time dismissed Clark, Ames and Wright, in the course of six
deliveries without cost.

The team won the Championship for the twenty second time since 1893.The top batsman was Len Hutton with 1112 runs and top wicket taker was Ellis Robinson with 129 wickets. Beaumont only took six wickets in the season

During the year Maurice Leyland , Wilfred Barber and Cyril Turner retired from first class cricket.

Beaumont played 28 matches for Yorkshire just taking nine wickets. He played for Meltham in the Huddersfield League. He died on the 15 November 2003.