George Macauley - a forgotten hero

 Posted by Tony Hutton

The Association of Cricket Statisticians are to be congratulated for many things in maintaining the history of the game and none more so than the excellent 'Lives in Cricket' series which records the life stories of famous men, and some not so famous, whose cricketing deeds have often been forgotten. I have just read the latest in the series 'George Macauley, The Road to Sullom Voe' by Giles Wilcox. The title reflects his sad early death during World War Two on the Shetland Islands in somewhat mysterious circumstances.

Macauley played for Yorkshire with distinction between 1920 and 1935 mainly as a bowler, but he could also bat quite well. He made eight appearances for England, and should perhaps have played more often, but was often ignored, largely for his rather aggressive attitude on the field. He is of particular interest to me as he was very much my father's boyhood hero. Although my father saw all the great Yorkshire players of the 1930s and was one of the few who really were present when Verity took 10-10 in 1932, he always spoke of Macauley more than other other player.

Verity, Bowes and Macauley in 1932.

I think it was Macauley's never say die attitude which appealed to him. He was always in the face of his opponents, an attitude well described by Giles Wilcox in this well researched book. This often involved him in controversies particularly in games against the southern counties, who at times took exception to his behaviour. However his off field persona was that of a charming man with many other interests. His on field record speaks for itself as only the great triumvirate of Wilfred Rhodes, George Hirst and Schofield Haigh have taken more wickets for Yorkshire.

Yorkshire team picture 1923. Macauley 2nd from the left on the back row.

In addition only Rhodes, Hirst and Appleyard have matched his achievement of 200 wickets in a season and only Trueman equalled his performance of four hat tricks. This brings me back to my late father again. A keen club cricketer, who I played alongside for several seasons, he was a quiet and well respected man on the field and only rarely got excited. However when I took him to Edgbaston in 1963 to see Trueman bowl out the West Indies in a Test Match that certainly got him going as he felt Trueman's aggression reminded him of Macauley.

George Macauley 1927

Giles Wilcox starts the book with the mysterious cause of Macauley's death, which despite conflicting reports was clearly due to long term alcoholism and prevented his widow from obtaining a war pension. The author goes back to Macauley's earliest days in Thirsk, North Yorkshire and chronicles his life in great detail with all the ups and downs of his eventful career but several questions about his life still go unanswered. It is a story well told and one which needed to be told, of one of the great heroes of Yorkshire cricket.

All the pictures are from the book.