The Trouble with Harry

 posted by John Winn

In my last posting which concerned the unfortunate Roy Park who played one test for Australia in which he was bowled first ball in his only innings the supporting cast was led by Harry Howell who bowled the best ball of his career to dismiss Park. Howell died in 1932 aged 41 and in his obituary Wisden describes him as 'a famous fast bowler' who 'dropped out of first class cricket in 1929. This description of the conclusion of Howell's career does not tell the full story. 

Howell's career started in 1912 but his golden years began in 1920 when his 132 wickets for 'a poor Warwickshire side' earned him a place in the Players' eleven for both games against the Gentlemen and selection for the MCC team to tour Australia in 20-21. 1923 was perhaps Harry's best season, a season in which he bowled over 1000 overs taking 152 wickets which included all ten Yorkshire batsmen at Edgbaston in May of that year. This was a feat he never repeated but he did on two occasions take nine wickets in  an innings, 9 for 35 against Somerset at Taunton in 1924 and 9 for 32 against Hampshire at Edgbaston the following season. 

Illness delayed Harry's start to the 1925 season but he was fit enough to mop up Surrey's tail at The Oval before the end of May. This after Hobbs and Sandham had added 160 in the first ninety minutes. 'Welcome back, Harry, hope you are feeling better'. By the end of the season our hero had bowled over 800 overs and taken 111 wickets, 52 more than his nearest fellow Bear, WG Quaife.

Wisden began its report on Warwickshire's 1926 season with these words: 'Warwickshire no longer commanding the services of Harry Howell.....' but the averages show he did play one championship match in which he bowled 35.4 overs taking 1 for 119 and did not bat. This was in the last match of the season away to Somerset.. Harry's absence was not due to injury or illness for the invaluable Cricket Archive reveals that he had been playing in the Lancashire League for Accrington as professional and in the last match of the season away to Bacup he had top scored with 18, not bad for a man who averaged under eight in first class cricket. 

Howell is next seen in first class cricket on June 15th 1927 playing for Warwickshire at The Oval and Wisden reveals that his appearances were restricted to mid week matches during the second half of the season because of his league commitments to Aston Unity CC, a team still in existence and with a history going back to 1868. Despite his part time status Harry managed to garner 30 wickets but his six visits to the crease yielded only 12 runs. 

Harry was to play a further 7 matches for his native county and his last appearance in first class cricket was at Egbaston beginning on July 18th 1928 when Kent came to town. Characteristically he got through 31 overs in Kent's first innings. For his last victim he took a catch off his own bowling to dismiss Kent opener HTW Howell for 17 as the match petered out to a draw. A return of 21wickets at a cost of almost 39 apiece suggests the old fire had gone, he was approaching forty. Cricket Archive lists 18 matches for Aston Unity in 1929 and in what appears to be his last recorded match he took 2 for 20 in 5 overs. Just a week before he had scored 35 and taken 6 for 39 at home to Smethwick which shows he was still a force in league cricket. Sadly just three years later he was dead. I can find no reference to the cause of such an early death