by The Professor » Thu May 04, 2017 6:07 am
On this day in 1935 an insect affected game kicks off between Yorkshire and the MCC.
The Summer of 1935 threw up many an odd game with sky high scores and unusual clusters of wickets. This was largely down to a little insect with the official name of Tipula spp. but more commonly known as the leatherjacket. The plague of insects affected lawns, gardens and sporting venues up and down the land. From a cricketing perspective it produced rough patches which were incredibly spin friendly but would deteriorate fast. When coupled with the introduction of the new lbw rule which included the pads as part of the leg, it saw many a batsman come a cropper. This match is the best example.
The adage of a leatherjacketed pitch was win the toss, elect to bat, put good runs on before the pitch deteriorated and win. Yorkshire won the toss and elected to bat.
Herbert Sutcliffe was our cheaply for just 4 to the new lbw rule that he so vociferously objected to. Yorkshire put this right, first through Arthur Mitchell and Wilf Barber with a partnership worth 44 and then continued by Mitchell and Maurice Leyland.
Leyland was the glue that held the rest of the day's play together and was present when the pitch turned. The veteran England international lost Mitchell when he was just short of his half century and then lost three other batsmen in quick succession.
He found a partner who wished to stick around in the form of another veteran, yet to make his first England appearance, Arthur Wood. The two closed out the day's play with Wood on 28 and, due to the vagaries of scoring systems at that time, Leyland somewhere around the late sixties. Yorkshire were 197-6.
Five of the six Yorkshire wickets had come from either Ian Peebles or Bill Bowes. Three of the Yorkshire wickets came from the new lbw rule.
"It has been said of the unseen army of the dead, on their everlasting march, that when they are passing a rural cricket ground the Englishman falls out of the ranks for a moment to look over the gate and smile."