It occurred to me the other day after BBC had shown highlights of the 1991 Headingley Test Match between England and West Indies, that modern generations have little knowledge of cricketers from the past. This was highlighted by a tweet from one of the BBC Radio's current batch of commentators, asking who was Steve Watkin, who played in this game for England.
Almost choking on my cornflakes I could not believe that any cricket commentator was unaware of Steve Watkin. Admittedly he only played three Tests and four ODIs for England, but did sterling service with Glamorgan from 1986 to 2001 taking 900 first class wickets and 300 in limited overs cricket. Since retirement he has been director of the Glamorgan Cricket Academy for many years.
Anyway this made me think of doing a series of county sides from the even more distant past to enlighten the younger generations of what they have all missed. So working through the counties in alphabetical order, I will start with Derbyshire as far back as 1951 when this excellent team photo was taken.
Starting on the back row George Dawkes was a consistent wicket keeper and a useful late order batsman. He had first appeared for Leicestershire as a sixteen year old in 1937 and became a regular for the next two seasons before the war. He was not demobbed from the RAF until late 1947 by which time his position at Leicester had been taken by Paddy Corrall.
Dawkes joined Derby and became a regular fixture behind the stumps from 1948 to 1961 until injury and the appearance of Bob Taylor prompted his retirement. Equally proficient standing back to the likes of Gladwin and Jackson and up to the stumps for leg spinner Bert Rhodes, Dawkes was said to be on the fringe of the England team during the 1950s, but the almost ever present Godfrey Evans never gave him the opportunity.
Derek Morgan, although a Londoner, became one of the stalwarts of Derbyshire from 1950 until 1969. A true all rounder as a right hand bat and fast medium bowler he scored over 17,000 runs and took 1,216 wickets, as well as captaining the county from 1965-1969. A brilliant close fielder he caught many catches alongside Alan Revill and later Donald Carr in the leg trap.
Tom Hall was an amateur quick bowler. Born in Darlington and captain of Uppingham School he joined Derbyshire in 1949 and played on and off until 1953 when he joined Somerset for a couple of seasons. Never really a regular for the county his claim to fame was taking the wicket of Len Hutton three times in a week during 1952, once for MCC and twice for Gentlemen v Players.
Les Jackson, Derbyshire born and bred in the mining village of Whitwell, is probably the most famous performer in the county's long history. He was a fast bowler with a deceptive slingy action, with no pretentions whatsoever as a batsman. He played only two test matches, the first in 1949 and the second in 1961 when he was forty years old. In a career which ended in 1963 he took 1,733 wickets which is still a county record. After retiring from county cricket he played for five years with Undercliffe in the Bradford League.
Arnold Hamer, was an opening bat from Yorkshire with an outstanding record in Bradford League cricket. He had played a couple of games for Yorkshire in 1938 and did not join Derbyshire until 1950 at the age of 33. However he gave ten years excellent service as a reliable opener scoring over 15,000 runs.
John Kelly, was a dour Lancastrian opening bat who regularly upset the Edgbaston crowds when Warwickshire regularly entertained Derbyshire in the bank holiday games of the 1950s. He appeared briefly for Lancashire from 1947-49 but joined Derby in 1950 cementing his place as Hamer's opening partner for nine seasons scoring over 9,500 runs.
Alan Revill, extreme left on the front row, was a cheerful cricketer. Born in Sheffield he became a mainstay of the Derbyshire side from 1946-1957. An adventurous right hand bat and a brilliant short leg fielder, he never seemed to take the game too seriously. He spent two seasons with Leicestershire after leaving Derby.
Charlie Elliott, Derbyshire born was a member of the 1936 championship winning side and very much the veteran of the 1951 team, having started his career back in 1932. A consistent batsman regularly passing the thousand runs in a season, he played a bit of football for Coventry City and after the war continued his cricket career until 1953. He then became a first class umpire from 1956-1974 and is probably best remembered as a regular umpire in 42 Test Matches.
Guy Willatt was one of the last of the old amateur captains, who managed to combine his career as a school teacher with captaining Derbyshire from 1951-1954. He had played for his native county, Notts before the war and for Cambridge University both before and after the war. A useful left hand bat he apparently broke down the old conventions of amateurs and professionals when he took over. He became headmaster of Pocklington School from 1966 until retirement in 1980.
A.E.G. 'Dusty' Rhodes was an interesting player, a true all rounder whose speciality was as a leg spin bowler, but good enough to score four first class centuries with the bat. His career with Derbyshire lasted from 1937-1954 and like so many players he lost the best part of his career to the second world war. He, like Charlie Elliott, became a first class umpire and he was the father of fast bowler Harold Rhodes.
Finally we come to Cliff Gladwin, Derbyshire through and through. Played a little in 1939, but made his mark immediately after the war with one hundred wickets in 1946. The following season his fast medium bowling, along with Bill Copson and George Pope formed a formidable trio and later of course his partnership with Les Jackson became legendary. A model of accuracy he never gave away runs lightly. He played eight Tests for England including all five in 1948-49 against South Africa and I remember well listening to John Arlott's radio commentary when Cliff won the Durban Test with a leg bye off the last ball of the game.
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