No 13, June 2020. The Virtual Wisdener
The Newsletter of the Wisden Collectors’ Club
know that some of you do not read on if I men on the certain ‘sport’ that begins with ‘f’ and ends in ‘l’ but I I ask that you persevere with me on this occasion. Since it was allowed to begin again, that ‘sport’ has been, rightly, played behind closed doors and Sky TV have offered viewers the op on of ar ficial crowd noise as a background to the play. It is very clever and the reac ons to on-the-field incidents by the ar ficial crowd is quick and actually quite good. But, the games have been on the whole quite bland.
What will happen when cricket resumes? Similar to the sport I will not men on (my team are s ll not making it easy on themselves) the crowd reac on is vital. In cricket having no noise apart from that created by the on-field players will be very eerie and it will certainly impact on performance. No ma er how professional the teams the cricket field will be a lonely place. Is it unrealis c to hope that with the possibility of bars, restaurants, cinemas and gyms being opened in early July that a reduced number of spectators be allowed at cricket matches?
Having 30, 40, or 50,000 fans at a football stadium (sorry for men oning the ‘f’ word) is completely out of the ques on, but is having 5,000 at a Test match or a quarter of capacity at a county ground realis c? We are s ll wai ng for the ECB to finalise details of the structure once the game gets underway and I think one and all are s ll baffled as to why the domes c season (especially if crowd-less) cannot start soon, but with the na onal changes seemingly coming into force, maybe there is an opportunity for some people to a end games. Cricket in an almost empty stadium might be the norm on certain days for the coun es, but the Tests and the VitalityBlast need people.
On my birthday I received a call from Northampton Saints. It wasn't an automated call, nor was it from someone from a call centre in Grimsby (no disrespect intended to any one from that beau ful town). They were not calling me with birthday wishes but to inform me that a quarter of the cost of our season ckets was going to be refunded. I asked whether there were any other op ons and I was given three more - donate to the club, use the money against future extra cket sales or a credit against merchandise purchases. I tell you this because the default opening offer was to give me a refund. The lady I spoke to was wonderful. She and her small team were each being furloughed in turn and they were desperate for the season to start up again but incredibly respec ul of the wider situa on. Northampton Saints are a Premier Rugby Union club and yet their interac on with me was personal and respec ul.
The Saints ckets are actually Abbeys, she is the main fan in the house and on a strict ‘as long as you have been good’ rota on, each of us go to a game with Abs. So any decision made would have been hers, but it was my birthday and I made the the choice. A consequence of the choice is that for the 2021-22 season Abbey will have her name on a shirt and I can have mine or my company name on one also - when I was told this it was made clear that there may well a hundred other names on the shirt, so in the spirit of ge ng Abbey married off as quickly as possible, I asked if she could also have a date with a Saints player who is single…Anna at the Saints has promised to get back to me (I think there is more hope of a Test match cket for July). This week we may learn that some things are being eased and even if that is the case we will all be cau ous and we will all be apprehensive when outside, quite rightly so. Nothing will change at Wisdenworld, the sale will s ll con nue and I will do my best to get all orders out quickly. Have a wonderful week and thank you all once again for your support Congratula ons are in order to three and trust collectors who can now add their names to Bill, Lorraine, Abs and Libs - my three wonderful ladies made my the list of those with a full set of almanacks. birthday the best ever! As most of you will know, my defini on of a full set is simple: A collec on - whether it Dust jackets comprises of completely original edi ons, As you know Wisdenworld now has a license to produce dust jackets reprints, rebinds, paperbacks, so backs or for all edi ons from 1946. They are designed to fit the hardback hardbacks - is a collec on. Every set edi ons although I do know that some so back collectors have collected will hopefully have been a fabulous acquired them. challenge and a great journey, so a hearty I now have a large number of dust jackets covering nearly all years round of applause to Tom Palmer, Ian from 1979 to 1990 and some tradi onal jackets from 2003 onwards. Beasley and Mike Richardson - although two If you would like to know more, please let me know. Contact details have already said they will be upgrading are on the back page. some poorer edi ons over me.
1 A Look at the 1913 Wisden - The 50th he 1913 Wisden or Jubilee Number celebrated that must keep them at home. To my mind, it would be T the 50th almanack and included in its pages was a a great misfortune for any county ground to be closed tribute to John Wisden, including personal for the whole summer. recollec ons of the ‘yellow tomes’ founder. I had thought of preparing for Wisden a list of the cricketers who have joined the Army, but the number his edi on was published at 1sh and 4d, the first is so great that I could not be at all sure of accuracy. price rise since the first issue in 1864, and the last T Any accidental omission might have involved protest Almanack for five seasons which had any meaningful and correc on. cricket to report. The editor wrote that he hoped "no A er the War, whenever that may be, cricket will, no a empt will be made to close the game down en rely" doubt, go on as before, but it will naturally take some - but his hopes were soon dashed. The onset of war me for the game to recover completely from the blow overshadowed the book, with the general gloom it has received. compounded by the suicide of Albert Tro . Surrey won a Championship curtailed by the outbreak he Triangular Tournament took place in England: of hos li es in August 1914, and England's proposed T The home country, Australia and South Africa tour of Australia in 1915-16 was cancelled. playing each other three mes. Six of the nine marches One posi ve was the celebra on of the MCC's delivered outright results, but a posi ve outcome in centenary - but it was a rare upbeat moment in a grim two of the England v Australia matches was thwarted volume. by poor weather. The comprehensive match reports in
the almanack give a detailed analysis of how poorly The Australian tourists were without six of their best the South African side performed, although faring players - Warwick Armstrong, Vernon Ransford, Victor be er outside the Tests in tour matches. Trumper, Libby Co er, Hanson Carter and Clem Hill owing to a dispute between the team and the Yorkshire were crowned champions in a rain-affected Australian Board of Control for Interna onal Cricket. summer, with Northants pushing them closely. The The long-standing effects would not see players having format of the championship meant Yorkshire played 28 any substan al rights un l the Packer revolu on of the matches to Northamptonshire’s 18 and on average late 1970’s. points per game the northern county prevailed.
Editor, Sydney H. Pardon. T. J. Ma hews, bowling for Australia against South ri ng in the early days of the New Year it is Africa in the first Triangular Tournament match took W impossible to take other than a gloomy view the ‘hat-trick in both innings. with regard to the immediate future of cricket. Never before has the game been in such a plight. One may In the Editor’s Preface Sydney Pardon praises the take it for granted that, in any circumstances, county revival of the almanack from the 1887 edi on, when cricket, as we have known it for the last forty years or his brother Charles became Editor. “Thenceforward the more, will be out of the ques on this season, but in book increased rapidly in both size and circula on.” the happy event of the War coming to an end at an Only two batsmen completed 2,000+ runs in first- earlier date than the experts expect, we are sure to class cricket: D. Denton and J.B. Hobbs. Only 31 see plenty of games of a less compe ve character. batsmen scored 1,000+ - the lowest number for thirty Indeed, as all the fixtures were provisionally made last years. Nineteen bowlers took 100+ wickets, with C. summer, the coun es might try something in the Blythe leading the way with 178. nature of a modified programme. However, it is idle to speculate in January as to what Wisden details the M.C.C. tour to Australia in will happen in May or June. I 1912-13. The Ashes being hope no a empt will be made 1913 Price Guide won by England in a 4-1 to close the game down A hardback 1913 in super (9/10 or be er) condi on should be Test series victory. J. B. priced between £1200 and £1400. Whilst not impossible to find, en rely. All the coun es are most hardbacks from this period develop spine creasing. Creasing Hobbs, W. Rhodes, F. E. asking their members to keep should not deter a purchase, unless it is very pronounced. Woolley and G. Gunn all on with their subscrip ons, The Paperback edi on in super (9/10 or be er) condi on has averaging over 50 on the and in return matches of some risen in price a lot over the past twelve months and a collector tour. The tourists losing kind should from me to me should expect to pay around £190-£220. only one of the 18 The Willows paperback and hardback reprints are becoming a matches played. be played on the various li le scarce and prices have risen to between £85-£95. The grounds. edi on should be in super condi on. Northamptonshire were Cricketers have made a bowled out for 24 by splendid response to the call to the colours. They Yorkshire at Bradford and Leicestershire scored only 25 cannot all go to the front; some of them have du es against Kent at Leicester. 2 The Bowlers Holding the Batsmans Willey
Shane’s Full of Beans Australia great Don Bradman was named yesterday as Two thousand ns of baked beans and spaghe were captain of an all- me Test World XI to mark the 150th flown out to India courtesy of Heinz a er the leg- anniversary of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. However, spinner Shane Warne complained to an Australian there was no place for England’s legendary all-rounder newspaper about weight loss on tour. Warne, who has Ian Botham nor West Indies record-breaking batsman been dubbed ‘Mr Bean’, has been living on cereal, Brian Lara. Bradman played his last Test in 1948, but no cheese and yeast extract on nan bread. Former ACB batsman before or since has come anywhere near- his Chairman Alan Crompton commented: ‘Shane’s dietary Test ba ng average of 99.94. Also included is his habits are a li le restricted for his age.’ He had already compatriot Shane Warne, who, during the 1990s, shed a few pounds before leaving for the subcon nent established himself as the greatest leg-spinner in a er the coach Geoff Marsh had told him before cricket. Given that it is a UK-based publica on built Christmas that his current girth was unacceptable. around the events of the previous English season, it is perhaps unsurprising that there are four England Pakistan sent home Shoaib Akhtar and Fazal-e-Akbar players in the side. WG Grace, the 19th-century all- for disciplinary reasons on March 11, the day a er they rounder, opener Jack Hobbs, wicketkeeper Alan Kno , lost the Third Test to South Africa by 259 runs. During a mainstay of England teams of the 1970s, and Sydney the Test Shoaib and Fazal were allegedly caught Barnes, a master of swing and spin and reckoned by drinking in the early hours of the morning by the tour many to have been England's greatest bowler of all management, having both already been warned about me, make it into the side. West Indies provide three their behaviour during the tour. Rashid La f the players in batsman Vivian Richards, all-rounder captain said: ‘They will not be going with us to Garfield Sobers and fast bowler Malcolm Marshall. Zimbabwe and w ill go home on the next available India provide one player in the soon-to-re re Sachin flight.’ Tendulkar, Test cricket’s leading run scorer of all- me, The Cricketer, April 1998. with the team completed by Pakistan le -arm fast Ladies in Wai ng bowler Wasim Akram. MCC will s ll not allow women to take up membership The Wisden XI of the world’s most famous cricket club a er a postal 1 Jack Hobbs (England, Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1909); 2 vote revealed a majority in favour of the proposal on WGGrace (England, 196) 3 Don Bradman (Australia, 1931, February 24, but not the two-thirds majority required capt) 4 Sachin Tendulkar (India, 1997); 5 Vivian Richards to change the club’s (West Indies, 1977) 6 Garry Sobers (West Indies, 1964) AIan cons tu on. The Kno (England, 1970, wkt); 8 Wasim Akram (Pakistan, 1993) 17,500 all-male 9 Shane Warne (Australia, 1994); 10 Malcolm Marshall membership voted (West Indies, 1983); 11 Sydney Barnes (England, 1910). in favour by 6,969, or 55.7 per cent, to Mohammed Isaq, the captain of Horton Print who 5,538. play in Yorkshire’s Quaid-e-Azam League has been (drawing, le , first banned from all Yorkshire league cricket for three years published in The and his team has been denied promo on which it had Cricketer, alongside the gained by pretending to have played in a match that above MCC vote never took place. Horton print’s game v Bradford details) Shalima was called off because another team was The Cricketer April 1998 playing on the designated ground. However, Iraq submi ed a report sta ng that Shalima had been ivian Richards, the 42-year-old former West dismissed for 91, and his team had won by 7 wickets. V Indies captain, failed to turn up for his OBE He even listed the batsmen scores and instructed his inves ture at Buckingham Palace. He apologised to the bowlers to brag about their performance. His team Prince of Wales…through his agent in England. were ini ally awarded the 6 points that guaranteed Richards was at home in An gua, having returned a promo on, but they were exposed when members of week before, and the ceremony slipped his mind the team were seen watching other games in the area because of a busy business schedule. His agent said on the same day. Isaq has now moved to the south of Richards was ‘rather embarrassed.’ England, where he is allowed to play cricket. The Daily Telegraph, December 1994 Bradford telegraph & Argus, December 1994.
3 The Wisdener Panel
What are your thoughts on Geoff Boyco leaving called expert. TMS? Phil Hamilton: Over recent years I have enjoyed the David Bown: I will miss Geoffrey's sharp comments, analysis and exper se of Bob Willis, David and acerbic comments. I don't know what Gower and Geoff Boyco . They came across as it says about me but I invariably agree people with a deep love of the game and their with Mr B's views. I will especially miss thoughts were never sensa onalist or the verbal jous ng between Geoffrey and argumenta ve. Sadly Mr. Willis was sidelined Jonathan Agnew. At 79, and with his past some years ago and has now passed away. Mr health problems, it's understandable why Gower was not re-engaged and Mr. Boyco is Geoffrey has chosen this me to hang up re ring. So we are le with those who every his boater. I wish him all the very best. single ball in every single match as the most Richard Reardon: In general sports commentators important delivery since me began and I do find need to do one of two things. Either describe the it all rather unimagina ve and drab. I will miss Willis, ac on or present some kind of analysis as to what is Gower and Boyco . happening and why. For the former anyone who is Neil Nelson: Sir Geoffrey was employed to be reasonably ar culate and well versed in the sport can opinionated and he certainly lived up to that brief. usually describe what is happening. They do not need Personally I will miss hearing about the Corridor of to have taken part in the sport at a professional level. Uncertainty (something I always felt Jean-Luc Picard However for any detailed analysis and insight it is might have encountered in the Starship Enterprise) essen al for the commentator to have competed at and his granny’s ba ng prowess, armed only with a the highest level. Geoff Boyco is able to bring his vast s ck of rhubarb (presumably Yorkshire rhubarb) experience to his commentary and, unlike many Giles Falconer: 'All good things must come to an experts, he does this without any hint of cronyism. I end'....'Every product has its sell by date'.... Seriously I like and have played many sports over the years and enjoyed Boyco the commentator rather more than have a reasonable understanding of many. However a Boyco the batsman when he started as a real expert can bring forensic analysis to what is commentator, and for quite a few years a erwards. happening and point out key factors which would But, at nearly 80, he has been increasingly out of date never have occurred to me. Boyco does this, in his a tudes for quite a me now. I remember - a especially in regard to ba ng (Derek Pringle does the few years ago - hearing him being extremely same when wri ng about bowling). Many so called patronising to one of the first female commentators on experts (especially in football) do not have the ability TMS; something which did, I suspect, lead to some to do this. So I will really miss his expert analysis. relevant training, as he seems to have calmed down a However on TMS when the discussion went beyond bit since. The big ques on is who will replace him? If the ac on on the field, which it o en does, I found his they are looking for a dis nguished former England personal views rather abrasive. So this I will not miss. player, why not David Gower? In any case I hope we Kevin Ling: I think in a years me we will have hear more of Vic Marks and less (much less, please) of forge en he was ever on! Michael Vaughan or Graeme Swan: both exemplify the Sandra Roberts: Having had me to watch some hard truth that being a top class player doesn't great old matches - Tests and others, the conclusion I necessarily make you a good commentator! have drawn is that the cricket played during Boyco ’s Tim Browne: As an Australian I think our cricket career was dull. The days of chasing 60 off 12 overs in a commentators have been well ahead of the English lot one-day game and the bowling side being the for decades. Post-Packer we actually saw cricket as a favourites! The days of a Test side scoring 220-4 in a sport to entertain and not a sport wallowing in the full day and it being classed as ‘a good day.’ Contrived idyllic fields of England. Bill recently offered up a book county games over three days…Mr Boyco is from that as a quiz prize, The Great Roman c - Hamilton on world and Heaven help us if we had to suffer such Cardus. I would have renamed it ‘The Great Chip On boredom again, and in a nutshell, his views, his opinion His Shoulder’. Cardus came across as being one step and his stance annoy me greatly. He may even have behind the ‘well-to-do’ and restn n ul of his posi on. been someone who voted (if able to vote) against English cricket and for the vast majority of the me, women being allowed to join the MCC, and I apologise writers, journalists and commentators have this if I am wrong on that, but a lot of things about him just amazing view of cricket as God’s game, villages and tea don't sit well with me. intervals, fair play and pping the cap. IT IS A SPORT, Jeff Moffat: Boyco should have re red years ago. nothing more, nothing less. It is meant to entertain. Nothing is ever brilliant with him, nothing is ever Give me five minutes of a commentator bigging up a ‘be er than his day’ - He was the most boring and match, talking up a bowler, intensifying the trivial, than selfish of players, and he has been the same as a so- a career of Boyco as a batsman or an analyst!
4 Steve Woods: I try to keep at arms length people who in the 2019 county championship then just supposing live in the past or see certain periods through rose- every home match lasted the full four days, that meant nted spectacles, so listening to GB would contradict 321 people a ended every day - what possible reason my own standards. can be given apart from an historical (head-in-the- Patrick Layton: A great shame as you need top past past) one that the county of Leicestershire merits a professionals who have a great insight into the game. first-class championship side. Maybe there is an Alright some of the 'younger guns' may be more adept argument for a reduced county championship - in the shorter forms of the game but I s ll feel that a Derbyshire, Glamorgan, Warwickshire, Worcestershire place should have been found for Geoffrey going and Northamptonshire all averaged less than 650 forward. people a day at championship matches, so if those five Christopher Rowsell: I am a bit torn on this one. plus Leicestershire did not play championship cricket, Whilst I enjoy Geoffrey's summarising, I do wonder if that would leave 12 coun es…maybe let them play all he is too far detached fron the modern game. I'm not the other compe ons only! sure that he fits in with the current TMS ethos, which Neil Nelson: I think it will be more a ques on of who is a bit free for all and matey, rather than the can afford to con nue as they are and it seems likely tradi onal commentator and summariser. So I think that those most in peril are those who don’t play on a that maybe his me is up. Test Ground. Looking at the figures in Wisden for the County Championship a endances in 2019, Leicester Given the financial impact of Covid-19 on the had 8,994 and Derby 11,788 – it is very hard to sustain county game, is now a me to consider merging a profitable business with those figures, so perhaps some coun es, and who would you suggest they are the most imperilled? merge? Giles Falconer: I always like to challenge those who David Bown: Whilst the present unparalleled events argue for this to volunteer their own county to be the have certainly caused immense financial challenges to first to be merged; it's a challenge few seem ready to many organisa ons, not least county cricket clubs, I agree to! I remember Michael Vaughan arguing for this think it's the capacity of those enterprises to recover some years ago - I sent him a message asking if he'd the situa on in future that ma ers. Yes, the current support Yorkshire merging with Lancashire (or even damage to some clubs may be dire but to ditch more Durham). His response was to block me on Twi er! than a hundred years of history as a reflex ac on could Whilst I suppose geographically some coun es in the result in long term disaster for the county game as we midlands (and London) are pre y close to one another, know it. Say we go down to nine teams centred on that's not the case elsewhere. Would supporters from those coun es that have recently hosted Test Matches. Durham actually drive regularly to Leeds? Or those That gives us Glamorgan, Durham, Hampshire, from south Yorkshire to Chester-le-Street? I live near Lancashire, Middlesex, No nghamshire, Surrey, Folkestone; I'll drive to Canterbury (15 or so miles), Warwickshire and Yorkshire swallowing the rest and once a year to Tunbridge Wells (best part of 2 up. How long before these new clubs become branded hours) because I love the ground; I don't go to as the Cardiff Clarions and the Manchester Marvels Beckenham (more than 2 hours). So would I go to Hove and forget all about playing proper cricket? The powers (if we were merged with Sussex), the Oval (for Kent & that be will come up with some extreme form of the Surrey) or Chelmsford (Kent & Essex)? Even though I banal that's even worse than 'The Hundred'. No, let's watched cricket on more than 30 days in 2019, I doubt not panic. Leave things as they are. I've a hunch that I'd ever go to those three places. And would a hybrid a endances and interest in cricket amongst all the 'Kent &....' team be of any interest? No tradi on, no coun es will increase next season, or even in 2022 if history, no context. we have to wait that long. I might watch the occasional day of play there, but I Duncan Rose: If we want cricket to survive and not go doubt it would be more than that. 50 years of the way of football, then all the coun es need to be suppor ng my county would end. preserved and supported. Patrick Layton: I am against any mergers as this Paul Telfer: Whenever I hear of the sugges on of would simply dilute the first class game. I am sure that coun es merging, the same old names come up; - the 18 county structure can be maintained maybe in a Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Derbyshire and revised format (say 3 divisions of 6 teams playing 10 Gloucestershire, others are rarely men oned. So four-day games perhaps somehow merging one, two or even three coun es )Will Barton: I do not understand how 18 businesses wouldn’t really do much. Unless of course Lancashire can exist when only 3 or 4 regularly make a profit. Each and Yorkshire, Middlesex and Surrey, and Kent and county probably has a poten al customer base of at Hampshire all looked at merging too - Yes, I know, a least a million each, yet the reality is that they actually ludicrous thought, as is the same old names being convince maybe 20,000-30,000 to buy from them, that quoted me and me again. If 8,994 (according to is a business model that is totally unsustainable. I love Wisden 2020) people went to watch Leicestershire play the idea of a possible ‘truncated’ post Covid-19
5 championship of three divisions of six - what a Neil Nelson: I would expect England to win the series fabulous idea. But it would be a way forward for two comfortably, par cularly as the West Indies have been divisions (long-term) being full me and the third further weakened by squad withdrawals. being part me (or even minor coun es)….but back to Stewart Jepson: Great, I cannot wait. I have watched the main point, just because a county has a cricket the first few matches of the Premier League and I hope team doesn’t mean it deserves one. the cricket is accompanied by background (added) Christopher Rowsell: I don't think any coun es crowd noise, it helps forget there is no-one watching. should merge, because their strength lies in numbers. The west Indies, like England, will relish the chance to Kay Norton: The Vitality Blast has shown that play compe ve cricket and I truly hope that they a endances for all matches are healthy. Surrey v approach the matches with confidence and a desire to Middlesex and Lancashire v Yorkshire games aside, it prove a point, that being, they deserve to be playing seems that every other a endance is fairly consistent, England at this me. so it could be argued that there is a demand for the Giles Falconer: It's a shame the West Indies are format, irrespec ve of the opposi on. Sadly, apart missing two of their best batsmen, but I suspect they'll from a few odd days the demand for the championship have a few surprises in store, especially in their pace in 6 or 7 coun es is of li le interest no ma er the a ack. Given the lack of prac ce for players of both opposi on. On the same theme, The Ashes and sides, and the fact that their will be no supporters I associated one-dayers will always have more wonder if there will, in fact, be something of a 'level spectators than England v anyone else, no ma er what playing field' with no real home advantage? Given the format. It is the product - The Ashes, the Vitality good weather, and flat, dry wickets I think this could be Blast - that gets bums on seats and the championship a close series. Here's hoping! is not an a rac on for around a third of coun es, so it Patrick Layton: We must all remember that the West must be me to call ‘ me’ on those. Indies currently hold the Wisden Trophy having beaten us 2-1 last me. We should win but I think it will be No ma er what squad the West Indies send over closer than people imagine . There is also plenty of (see below), are they just a team to beat or a banter coming out of the West Indies camp team that can challenge and compete? about coming into ba le against Jofra Archer. David Bown: I’d like to firstly applaud the West Indies Jeff Moffat: I am happy that there will be Test for agreeing to s ll tour in the present circumstances. matches and I am delighted that rather than chasing a I'm sure that it's been made financially rewarding but quick-fix series against a so-called ‘bigger’ Test na on, nevertheless it's thanks to them that we'll hopefully the West Indies have been respected and the series is s ll see some Test Cricket this summer. Oh how I wish going ahead. for the WI to Tim Browne: Covid-19 rediscover their has changed the world. prowess and Up to February I could success of the watch cricket from all past. I grew up over the world, all falling in love forms, all teams…I have with cricket, missed it so much and I looking am delighted that the forward to a West Indies will be forthcoming playing England, it is West Indies tour cricket and it is right more than any and proper that the other. Sadly, I tour, shortened though think that (with it is, has been retained. the odd Kay Norton: excep on) the Unprecedented decline of the WI circumstances should test team has have resulted in an been consistently depressing and I can't see that unprecedented reac on. This is not such a reac on. All changing soon, if ever. I hope that I'm proved wrong matches should be on free-to-air and I would even go and we see three evenly contested matches with, dare so far as to say that the West Indies should have stayed I say it, the West Indies coming out on top. at home and Australia invited over.
6 In the 2020 Wisden what were the three marking the re rement of Stephen Chalke things you enjoyed the most? and his Fairfield Books. Looking to my right Richard Reardon: I always enjoy the as I write this I can see a whole bookshelf of comment sec on in Wisden. The ar cles are books by Chalke and some others he always of the highest quality and when the published. Without doubt these have been new edi on arrives I usually limit myself to among the best books on cricket wri en in reading no more than one ar cle a day to the last few decades, and among the few I spread the enjoyment out over a longer know I will enjoy reading again. period of me. The 2020 edi on did not Secondly the 2020 Wisden marks England's disappoint. John Crace's ar cle describing historic win in the 2019 World Cup. Since Colin Graves and Tom Harrison of the ECB 1966 I have been able to say I know what I having a hard me before the Parliamentary was doing on the day England won the Select Commi ee was both enjoyable and sa sfying. Football World Cup (I wasn't watching - Let's face it - that pair had it coming and deserved to rather I was on a Sunday School ou ng to the seaside; I look as foolish as they did. Women at MCC by Emma didn't even know the result un l we got back on the John was both amusing and insigh ul. My third choice coach to go home!). On 14 July 2019 though I was at I include for purely selfish reasons. I have entered the Lords, si ng upstairs in the Tavern Stand (handily just Wisden Wri ng Compe on seven mes now ( I about level with the stumps Jos Bu ler broke to win missed the first year ) The winning ar cle is always the the match - I didn't need to wait to see who had won!) first thing I look for in the new edi on. By this me I The cket had come through my daughter who had already know I have not won, not having received the won a pair at work, and though she's not a cricket invita on to the launch dinner in April. A er reading supporter even she got caught up in the excitement. the winning ar cle I then wonder if it is worth entering The match, as everyone knows, came down to the any more as the standard is so high. This lasts no more Super Over and Wisden does this proud with a series than a few days and I soon start mulling over a few of vigne es from all 11 England players about that ideas for the following year's compe on. over. Kevin Ling: First and foremost in this years was the Thirdly I'd say the obituaries. For years, since I started World Cup sec on - WOW, it was so well wri en! I buying Wisdens each year (1971), I have found the list went straight to The Ashes sec on and then I read of the famous, not so famous, forgo en or unusual from start to finish the County sec on…I had forgo en cricketers to be fascina ng reading. Back in the day it all the low scores at the start of last season!!! But I was quite common not to know that even quite well must say I disliked the ‘celebrity’ comments on World known cricketers had died - less the case now due to Cup Final Day, unnecessary I feel. more media coverage - but it's s ll possible to be Allun Rees: I can't really say that I enjoy the surprised. As you'd expect all of life is there - success, Glamorgan sec on, but I read it first. Then it is the failure, triumph and tragedy: in the first category Abdul obituaries. Some obituaries will have appeared in the Qadir, Basil Butcher or Bob Willis; in the second the press, but seeing former cricket people remembered in Zimbabwean administrator (and Mugabe ally) Peter Wisden brings home their impact and their place in Chingoka; in the third Jack Bond and, sadly, in the last our game, much more poignant I feel. Thirdly, it has to Con de Lange (dead of a brain tumour at 38) and the be the various overseas tours…generally there are so Jamaican born Middlesex seamer Wes Stewart whose many of them nowadays that I lose track and Wisden cricket career was clearly ended too soon by racial deligh ully reminds me. prejudice in the 1960s and whose later life was Neil Nelson: I always enjoy the comment, Wisden blighted by the Windrush scandal. review and County Championship sec ons. I have Patrick Layton: The combined league table and ar cle really appreciated having Wisden to read this year including all forms of cricket since 1963: Obituary and during the weeks of self-isola ng – it’s been good to ar cle by Paul Allo on the life of Bob Willis and the remember that there is a world out there where 2019 World Cup coverage, cap va ng from start to cricket was played and will be again. finish. David Casper: No ma er which Wisden I buy the first Christopher Rowsell: It's difficult to predict what the sec on I look at is always the Somerset review, then cricket will be like. Neither team will have played any Editor’s Notes and then the previous season’s tourists. meaningful cricket for quite some me and whilst on But then, the six Ive bought from Bill over the last few paper, England seem to have the stronger squad, it months have been read from start to finish. may well be a close affair. Giles Falconer: I always enjoy (and o en read first) Kay Norton: I always look at the ar cles, some are the annual review of cricket books - I look for books I excellent, although the poor ones are usually quite want to read and especially those I'd like to buy. This naff. But then with so much content, some is bound year the review was joined by a special, short ar cle not to please.
7 It is fairly certain that Wisden 2021 will be annual issues whatever the circumstances. Obviously reduced in size, given that the core content of the the costs associated with publica on will not be less, almanack (ar cles, records etc.) is around 700 so I think the price should either remain the same, if the page loss is 250-300 pages, or perhaps a reduc on pages, do you feel the price should be reduced if of £5-10 should the page loss be larger. for example it is 250-300 pages less than the Keith Wilkinson: I think the first thing I would ask is, 2020, and explain your reasoning? how many people pay the £55 cover price? I expect a David Bown: My simple answer is that if the product very low number. If Wisden reduced the cover price by, costs less to produce then it should cost less to buy. for example, £5, would they reduce the discount that What I'd prefer to see though is for Wisden to retain Bill gets? It might be that the price that I paid Bill for roughly the same number of pages and fill the void the 2020 might actually be the same for the 2021. with expanded records, along the lines of the old Personally any reduc on in the price from Bill will 'Wisden Book of Cricket Records'. This would have the probably be one or two pounds, so I would rather added benefit of providing Bill with plenty of material Wisden and Bill kept that amount and in Wisden for future quizzes! In essence though, this sad situa on (Bloomsbury’s) case they kept people in work and their presents an opportunity for the Wisden editorial team business remained strong. to think differently for one year. Perhaps player profiles Dan Lewis: If reducing the price meant that someone and ground histories could be included? lost their job, then no, don't reduce the price. Richard Reardon: Having been a life me supporter of Phil Hamilton: I have been fortunate enough to buy my beloved Carlisle United I recently informed the club Wisden every year for twenty odd years and also lucky I do not want any refund from my season cket despite to be able to afford edi ons further and further back. the season being curtailed. This was a simple decision A decrease of £5 or £10 would not make me jump for as I want to help the club in these difficult financial joy, because at this me, I believe it is important to mes. Exactly the same is support those things we hold true regarding Wisden. If There are two very simple ques ons for the next close, family-run businesses, the 2021 edi on is vastly Panel. small retailers, trusted Wisden sellers and brands that I want reduced in content so be it. 1: Which county or state side do you follow and is the to con nue; Wisden to name They are more than reason purely birthplace? welcome to anything extra but one. So, no, no reduc on they may make on their 2: Choose three cricke ng moments that you would necessary. But one slight profit margin by s cking to love to see again - great innings, great bowling, an caveat on that. If the owners the same ( or slight hour, an a ernoon, or a day from any match. Three make sweeping job cuts then I increase in ) price. memories! (Thanks to Neil Nelson for sugges ng this would find that deplorable, Neil Nelson: I would ques on) especially as during lockdown expect it to be As always, please wax lyrical and send your replies to ‘actual’ book sales have gone approximately 80% of the through the roof. Apparently one or both to the address on the back page. size of this years, so March to May saw a 80% hopefully 80% of the price increase in book sales year- (depending of course, where one buys it from!) They on-year. could save another 90 pages or so by ge ng rid of the Deborah Woods: There will be cricket and there will births and deaths, par cularly as all such informa on is be a lot of matches to report on. Being an op mist, if readily available to most people on-line. next year’s edi on is only 250-350 pages less, so be it, Giles Falconer: It would be nice if the price was no need to reduce the price. reduced (who wouldn't say this?), but I suspect it won't make any difference to me and most other buyers who want each year to maintain the collec on. I would like to apologise to all the people who sent in Given that the lack of match reports etc., I hope there responses that were not used. I have tried to give a will be more ar cles on the history of the game, and flavour and some balance to each ques on. To give about the game elsewhere. Perhaps this should be a you an example I had almost an equal response to the Wisden with a World, not just an English, focus? Boyco ques on (87 replies), but those who will not Patrick Layton: Happy to leave price unchanged but miss him were, to say the least, far stronger in their maybe fill it with more editorial comment on say: The thoughts. editor's summer/decade of choice and maybe include Please keep your responses coming and I look forward past memorable matches from a bygone Summer. to hearing from you on the two ques ons above. I may Allun Rees: If the 2021 is a quarter less, then reduce even answer the second ques on myself which was the price. supplied by Neil Nelson. As always, if anyone would Christopher Rowsell: I certainly don't think that the like to pose a ques on for the panel, please fire away. price should be increased, as seems usual with many
8 Miner and Cricketer
t is ironic to recall, as the miners' strike dragged on Not all Yorkshiremen agreed. One correspondent I into 1985, that another dispute nearly 40 years ago bluntly asserted that coal was a more valuable export and involving miners, Coal Board and than cricket and that Smithson should not Government almost cost a young Yorkshire receive preferen al treatment. cricketer an England cap. The Daily Mail published a picture of a Gerald Smithson, in November 1944, when pensive Smithson in his mining clothes and just 18, became a Bevin Boy. During the helmet (le ) - later reproduced in Wisden and last war there were not enough miners to perhaps the only photograph of a working produce the coal that the na on needed miner that the Almanack is ever likely to and as all a empts to persuade more men display. to join the industry failed, Ernest Bevin as Ma ers then moved to the House of Minister of Labour resorted to compulsion. Commons. It is o en asserted that a debate As youngsters came of age for Na onal took place there. That is not so, but two Service a ballot picked out one in ten, and Members of Parliament, The Hon. Michael those so chosen were directed down the Astor (Surrey East) and Charles Hale mines for a three-year period of service. (Oldham), put down ques ons for wri en Long-term miners regarded the Bevin Boys with lo y replies. It is a curiosity that no Yorkshire MP pursued amusement, for here in many cases were the sons of the ma er, but it may be that the general view in the professional families being directed to work in an Yorkshire mining industry where the pay for juveniles was hardly communi es was indeed that coal should come before handsome. cricket. In the event the ma er was sa sfactorily Gerry Smithson, having thus been conscripted to work resolved. The Minister of Labour and Na onal Service in the mines, was not due for release un l January stated that the Na onal Coal Board would allow 1948. However, in 1946, the war having ended, the Smithson leave of absence on condi on that he rules were relaxed to allow him to play a whole season completed his Na onal Service obliga on on his return of 2nd XI cricket for Yorkshire, and indeed to make his from West Indies. first-class debut against Sussex. So the young cricketer set off on what must have
When the Coal Board gave him similar la tude in 1947 seemed a dream tour. Sadly there was to be no his play blossomed sufficiently to enable him to win a roman c ending. He made 0 in the first Test, and then regular first-team place and to score 887 runs at an two scores each of 35 in the second Test were not average of 35, with two Championship centuries. 1947, sufficient to enable him to retain his place. The tourists of course, was a golden summer for batsmen, and 60 had been stricken with injury and Len Hu on was players finished higher in the first-class averages than flown in from England to provide stability and run- young Smithson. So he must have been more than making power. In so doing he took his Yorkshire surprised to hear of his selec on on August 25 for the colleague's place in the Test side and Smithson never MCC tour of West Indies to be led by Gubby Allen. played for England again. Although a number of established Test players had He played no first-class cricket in England during 1948, declined to make the trip Smithson must have been a so mee ng his obliga on to the Coal Board by 'hunch' choice. returning to the mines. Therea er Smithson was never Presumably he envisaged no trouble in having leave of able to command a regular place in the Yorkshire side absence, for it was not un l October that he made with Lowson, Close and Watson all in turn superseding applica on to the Coal Board to have me off from him.
Askern Colliery near Doncaster. To his consterna on his In 1951 he moved to Leicestershire, and despite early applica on was promptly refused by the Ministry of difficul es his new county persevered with him. A glut Labour. of runs towards the end of 1951 saw him given his His ba le to overrule the Ministry started in the county cap. popular Press and in The Times with a le er from In 1956 his form so fell away that he was not retained. Dudley Carew, the journalist and author. He wrote of Subsequently he served as coach at Abingdon and Smithson's case as being quite excep onal, and added Caterham Schools un l his premature death at the age
‘It is unreasonable to expect bureaucracy to be of 43 in 1970. consistently imagina ve but could it not for once indulge in a human and generous fling and The above ar cle by Anthony Bradbury first appeared in The demonstrate that all is not yet under a solid and Yorkshire Post in 1985. undevia ng rule of thumb?'
9 More Wickets than anyone else
He s ll looked as if he could bowl 40 overs a day; but became the rule rather than the excep on throughout s ll lean, and his step full of the bounce that his subsequent career. characterised his bounding run-up to the a li le greyer As well as taking more wickets than perhaps, but s ll wicket. anyone from Glamorgan, Don took
We had found ourselves more wickets in his career (2218) than neighbours at one of Wales's anyone who never played Test cricket. home interna onals at the Arlo thought it 'inexplicable' that he Na onal Stadium, and though we was never chosen for England. He did kept one eye on the game, our tour Pakistan twice (East and West) with conversa on was mainly about Commonwealth teams and went to the cricket. (Wales were winning Far East and Ceylon with MCC in comfortably so there was li le 1969-70, but the final accolade of a full need to concentrate on willing them to victory.) England cap eluded him. We could well echo John Don Shepherd (Pictured, above, right) is now a director Arlo 's bafflement at his non-selec on for England of the family business just outside Swansea, on the when we remember Don's amazing consistency: 100 Gower peninsula, but for over two decades he was, in wickets in a season 12 mes, nine wickets in an innings John Arlo 's words, 'Glamorgan's salva on in lean twice, eight wickets in an innings six mes, seven years, in prosperity their mighty assurance’. Like Tom wickets in an innings 15 mes. Goddard and J. C. Clay before him, Don started out as a From a Welsh point of view it's almost heart-stoppable fast bowler, but he lacked that extra yard or two of to contemplate that he might not have played for pace which would have made him a top-class quickie. Glamorgan at all. In 1948 he was offered a trial and In the end this turned out to be providen al, for it summer contract by Worcestershire. The idea was that opened up a whole new career for him as an off- he would understudy Reg Perks, then coming to the spinner who could push the ball through faster than end of his career. Fortunately, however, and in anyone else then playing. accordance with the eternal fitness of things, The turning-point came towards the end of the 1955 Worcester were ruled out of order because of Don’s season. It had been only a moderate year for him, 62 place of birth. Glamorgan then woke up wickets at 31 apiece. The euphoria of three years and offered him the same summer contract while he earlier, when he had gained his county cap and taken was on the Lord's ground staff, and from 1950 to 1972 120 wickets, had almost evaporated. his name was one of the first to be pencilled in on any
He was finding county cricket a hard game. It was Glamorgan team list. Haydn Davies, the shrewd, percipient 'Panda' behind As a batsman Don was the prime example of Johnny the stumps, who first no ced that Don had a 'floppy' Clay's belief that Nos 9, 10, Jack should 'get on or get sort of wrist and hadn't been landing the ball on the out'. He picked no less dis nguished opponents than seam regularly enough. So he suggested that Don cut the touring Australians on which to demonstrate this down his pace and try some off-spin. This suited the theory. At his favourite St Helen's in 1961 he slower Welsh pitches very much be er. hammered them for 51 in 11 scoring strokes, six sixes, The tail end of the 1955 season saw some experiment, three fours, a two and a single: 51 out of 55 in 15 and encouraged by his skipper Wilf Wooller, Don minutes. persevered. He did not cut the ball but genuinely spun Whenever Don strode in to bat, the beer-tents it, using the finger spinner's grip and ge ng purchase emp ed. His favourite (some say only) shot was a from the index-finger and a sharply-cocked wrist. His fearsome, scything sweep/pull/drive which began from great asset was this ability to spin the ball at almost about the direc on of third or fourth slip and finished medium-pace, thus overcoming the slowness in almost somewhere in the region of midwicket. Anyone who any wicket. tried to get a hand to the ball was either very foolish or ‘I felt I had more control over the ball and could keep a very inexperienced. His present golf handicap of match under control on a good surface and help to win nine probably owes much to his power and length off it with a li le help from the pitch.' Note the help to the tee. win’; typical of the man's innate modesty. The result of Inevitably, I suppose, the subject of benefits, Don's perseverance and the subtle promp ngs of tes monials, and the remunera on of present-day Haydn Davies and Wooller bore immediate fruit. The cricketers cropped up. In 1959 Don was awarded a following season (1956) Don was the first bowler in the benefit which realised £3000, to be followed nine year country to take 100 wickets, and he finished the later by a tes monial which produced a further £5000. season with 177 - more than anyone else - at 15.36. He He re red four years later, at the end of the 1972 also bowled over 1000 overs that summer, which (cont’d)
10 season, having completed 22 years of loyal, uns n ng service to Glamorgan. During the whole of that me Donald John Shepherd there were no histrionics, no demands for exorbitant Born: August 12, 1927. pay-rises, no expressions at all of dissa sfac on with Died: August 18, 2017. his lot.
Even allowing for the rise in infla on since then and Played For: Glamorgan. the upheaval in our financial system since Ba ng style: Right-hand bat decimalisa on, his rewards seem pre y meagre by Bowling style: Right-arm medium. today's standards. When I men oned Jack Simmons’s massive benefit of £128,000, Don permi ed himself a Ba ng and Fielding Averages: wry smile. M Inns. NO. Runs. HS. Avge. 100 50 Ct St. 'Ah, well,' he said, in his deligh ul Gower burr, 'it's a FC 668 837 248 5676 73 9.67 - 5 251 - bit different now. I don't begrudge them any of it. They List A 73 43 20 190 25* 8.26 - - 18 - work hard.' Bowling Averages: Mild comment, indeed, from one who would have M Balls Runs. Wkts. Avge. BBI 5w 10w done much be er financially 10 years later. FC 668 132592 47302 2218 21.32 9-47 123 28 And what would Glamorgan pay for his services. List A 73 3475 1937 99 19.56 5-31 1 -
The VW would like to thank David Hutchinson for se ng Apologies to all, but I had to print this lovely le er from the following ques ons. There is a prize of a £50 Nigel Honey.
Wisdenworld Gi Voucher to the person with the most Dear Bill correct, and whose name is drawn out by Abbey. Thank you for sending another VW through. I really 1: Who is the only England batsman to be out first ball of enjoy receiving and reading them. I liked pulling the the innings in a World Cup match and who was the bowler 1971 off its shelf and browsing. Happy Birthday for that dismissed him? Friday. As a gi I have made you captain of a team that either share your birthday or are within a very 2: Who holds the record of scoring the most runs in an few days. Australian Test summer? 3: Who was the last man to score a Test double century in Your self *(capt) what turned out to be his last Test match innings? (Not Keaton Jennings current players) Wally Hammond Marnus Labuschangne (22nd) 4: Who was the last West Indies spinner to take 10 wickets Len Hu on (23rd) in a Test match against England? Steve Rhodes (wkt) (17th) 5: Who is the only England bowler to take a wicket with the Jack Leach (22nd) first ball of a Test match twice? Vick Marks (25th) 6: Who is the only England bowler to take a wicket with the Graham McKenzie (24th) first ball of the innings in a World Cup match and who was Vernon Philander (24th) the batsman he dismissed? Brian Statham (17th)
7: Who with 9 has scored the most successive half centuries A li le light on the ba ng (although you may be in one day interna onal cricket? able to help there) but would be a challenge on a
8: Who was the last Wisden schools cricketer of the year to green top! go on to play Test cricket for England? You could be managed or coached by a team of Boris Johnson, Joshua Nkomo and to provide some 9: Who is the oldest man to score a Test match 50 while light reading, Salman Rushdie all of whom share ba ng at number 11? your actual birthday. 10:: David Warner made a pair at Old Trafford in 2019 but who was the last Austrialian opening batsman prior to Happy Birthday Warner to record a pair in a Test match in England? Nigel Honey
Answers by email please, details are on the back page (birthday twin of WG Grace, DK Lillee and Carlos Brathwaite..and if it rained we could play golf with Thank you again to David Hutchinson - without looking in Nick Faldo also same age) and we’d be managed by Wisden I managed three and I am not boas ng!! Nelson Mandela.
11 An infamous Test Match - but where? Thank you to Bob Bond for allowing us to use the above. We will be using more in future issues of The VW.
Contact details are as follows: Telephone - 07966 513171 or 01480 819272: Email: - [email protected] or furmedgefamily@b nternet.com
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