On This Day

[The Professor]

On this day in 1964 the first round of the Gillette Cup kicked off between Glamorgan and Worcestershire.

Worcestershire were put into bat and started brightly with a partnership of 40 between openers Don Kenyon and Martin Horton. Beyond this opening partnership it was a tale of woe for Worcestershire. Once Horton fell for his high score at the time, the next two batsmen went for a combined total of 5. A touch of stability was added by Derek Walter with his score of 20 but this soon fell away with batsmen 6 to 11 all getting out in single figures. Worcestershire were all out for 119 - using only 54 overs of their 60. The Glamorgan bowlers shared the honours between them but Donald Shepherd got career best figures of 3-12.

Glamorgan hardly covered themselves in glory in the chase. The openers let themselves down in a way that Worcestershire's did not. Alan Jones was out for a duck in the opening overs and then they found themselves 25-2 and 30-3 when Alan Rees and Peter Walker were dismissed within the same over by Douglas Slade. Worcestershire would have thought they might have had some hope, however the lower middle order put together some runs to bolster their total. A spell of scores of 28, 15 and 15 from Euros Lewis, Eifon Jones and Donald Shepherd pushed the total up towards the end of the innings. With 2 balls to spare Glamorgan seized the victory on a scrappy day for the pair. John Flavell would have been disappointed to be on the losing side with figures of 4-25.

HINDSIGHT WATCH

Glamorgan got as far as the Quarter-Finals where they were knocked out by Lancashire. Sussex eventually won the competition.

[Arthur Crabtree]

On this day in 1912 the Titanic sunk, marking the death of John Thayer.

Thayer was that rare of things, an American cricketer, playing for the Pennsylvanian club Merion throughout his career.

Thayer played in only seven games deemed first class. 4 for the club on an tour of England, 3 for an All-American side.

Whilst he was quite a prolific batsmen, his performance in the 7 games deemed first class was poor with an average score off 11.80. His best bowling figures were 3/17.

After his cricket career he became the vice-president of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It was on the return leg from a visit to Berlin that Thayer and his family booked onto the maiden journey of the Titanic.

When the ship struck the iceberg, Thayer helped his wife and family board lifeboats but informed them he had no intention of boarding one himself.

He died aged 50, his body never recovered.

Very interesting on this day.

[KipperJohn]

A little known fact about Arthur Milton.

A greyhound called Kentish Kipper was once jointly owned by Colin Cowdrey, Brian Johnstone, John Woodcock and Michael Melford (ie one leg each).

It ran at Catford mainly and won occasionally but they never saw it run and eventually sold it to the canny Arthur Milton for £100, ostensibly for a lonely old lady in Bristol.

They were to read headlines later from West Country newspapers 'Kentish Kipper wins again' .

[The Professor]

On this day in 1854 Edward Haygarth was born.

In the spirit of my Arthur Milton post, I thought we should commemorate another multi-disciplinarian. Haygarth played for the England football team as well as turning out for Gloucestershire and Hampshire in league cricket.

He was more known as a footballer where he made his career at Reading and Swifts FC in Slough. This led to him making an international appearance against Scotland in a 2-2 draw. In the twilight of his career he turned out a couple of times in the country cricket scene, playing alongside W.G. Grace at Gloucestershire. He was described in Wisden as "a fair wicket-keeper and a good bat on his day."

Whilst he was doing all this, he was also a solicitor....and I barely have time to do my job properly.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1999 Lancashire's Cyril Washbrook died.

After making his debut for Lancashire in 1933, Washbook went on to have a short spell in the England side between 1937-38. He played three tests and averaged 8.5.

After the war, Washbrook returned a different man. Once he began opening the batting with Len Hutton, Washbrook, and the pair, began to flourish. By the end of the 1940s he was one of cricket's premier batsmen as well as a fan favourite at Lancashire.

During the 1948-9 tour of South Africa, Washbrook averaged 71.8 - a stark contrast to his debut series 15 years before. This was Washrbook's best tour and he began a gradual decline after this. He was dropped from the Test side in 1951.

He returned to Lancashire and became club captain. At the age of forty-one he was content playing club cricket and delighted when he was appointed a Test selector.

In 1956, whilst discussing the Ashes team that had just gone 1-0 down to the Aussies, the selectors asked Washbrook to leave the room. On his return they asked him to come out of retirement which he accepted. On his return he scored 98 after going down 17-3, however then got low scores in the last two games of the series. Despite this England won the Ashes.

In his declining years, Washbrook was elected president of Lancashire. A suitable honorary role for a bit of a legend.

[from_the_stands]

On this day, Australia won the 2007 World Cup.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1952 Glamorgan played Somerset in a two day league game.

Glamoran's openers did a good enough job to set their team up on Day One. Despite the, comparatively, early loss of David Davies for 32, Glamorgan's next four batsmen all got above 40. By the time number 5 was back in the hutch the score had reached 210.

The middle order was decimated by Johnny Lawrence. He claimed the dangerous looking wickets of William Jones (45) and Albert Watkins (45) and then went on to further claim the wickets of the rather less dangerous looking Wilfred Wooler (5) and Bernard Hedges (2).

Where the upper middle order failed, the lower middle order prevailed. Bernard Muncer's 55 was the highest score for Glamorgan in their first innings and he was ably supported by James McConnon, however when Muncer perished, McConnon found himself out of partners as the tail-enders dissipated and Glamorgan were all out for 327.

Somerset's reply did not start brightly with Frederick Angell only sticking around for two runs. In fact a number of the higher order batsmen let down the side with Stuart Rodgers and Herbet Buse all falling in early double figures. Despite this, Harold Gimblett was playing well and was showing a tenacity his other batsmen were unable to muster. He was finally joined by Benjamin Brocklehurst who showed some adaptability and the pair managed to consolidate together. When Gimblett lost his wicket to Watkins near the end of the day, Somerset found themselves 180-6. Brocklehurst was joined at the crease by Tremlett for the final overs of the day, Somerset ending 190-6.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1952 an action packed day did not see enough cricket to claim a result in the two day match between Glamorgan and Somerset.

The day started positively for Somerset with the partnership of Benjamin Brocklehurst and Maurice Tremlett coming together in the middle to form a bit of stability for the Somerset cause. Together the pair of them put on 86 before both of them got out for the gain of no run to take Somerset to 266-8. Shortly after that John Lawrence was sent back for 2 by Bernard Muncer and it looked like Somerset may dissipate. Some stoicism from Harold Stephenson (42) and Elis Robinson (20), boosted the Somerset cause and took them to a respectable total of 301- 26 away from the total set by Glamorgan.

With half a day's play the two teams played something akin to a T20 match, attempting to play quickly, getting big scores and then getting out. The opening pair of Glamorgan's David Davies and Phil Clift rattled their way to 33-2 and it was soon 33-3 when James Redman sent Clift and William Jones back in the same over. A period of stability then ensued with average (for the circumstances) scores from William Parkhouse and Bernard Hedges, coupled with a bigger score of 53 not out from Albert Watkins. Wilfred Wooler declared with Glamorgan on 154-6 - a lead of 180.

Somerset's task looked unlikely enough but seemed nigh on impossible when their three opening batsmen all got dispatched for scores in the single figures. The middle order added some stability however it was too little too late. Despite stands of 11, 18 and 63 within the middle order it was too little too late. By the end of the day's play Somerset were a frustrating 25 runs away from the total.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1987 Rohit Sharma was born. What better time to share a top 5 Rohit moments:

1. 138 vs Australia 2015 - A classic, elegant and perfectly timed performance from Rohit. He took many by surprise with his ability to dismantle the Australian bowlers with his pulls shots

2. 264 vs Sri Lanka 2014 - This performance stands out in the way he ground up through the gears. The start was incredibly slow with 50 scored from 71 balls but he began to motor once he realised how poor the Sri Lankan bowlers were and from there on in they didn't stand a chance.

3. 79 vs New Zealand 2014 - This was a hugely entertaining innings - not one of the highest he'd ever scored but a carelessness that made it a thriller. He was nearly out first ball and then again third ball but this did not deter him from playing dynamic cricket throughout.

4. 40 off 19 balls for Mumbai vs Rajasthan in 2014 - This list had to include some IPL action and this is the innings that sticks in the mind. A classic Rohit smash and grab but with such a variety of shots and a cockiness he can display when at his best.

5. 124 vs Australia 2016 - His big hitting was excellent in this series and he was, by far, the best player for either side. In this particular innings his clever manipulation of the field was extraordinary.

[The Professor]

To continue my series of turn of the century cricketing multi-disciplinarians; on this day in 1868 George Beldam was born.

Beldam turned out for Middlesex, MCC and London County, playing 102 times between 1900 and 1907. He scored 4,796 runs, a career average of 30.16. His personal best was 155* versus Surrey at Lord's in 1902. He was also a decent part time bowler claiming 76 wickets at an average of 27.14. 1902 seemed a good year for him as he also,got his best figures with the ball; 5/28 versus Lancashire at Liverpool in 1902.

After retiring, Beldam attempted to bring one of his hobbies into the game; photography. Beldam was the pioneer of action photography. Bored with the staged and manipulated stills of cricket that were being produced up to this point, he began to experiment with how to catch the game in live play. He and his friend and fellow multi-disciplinarian, CB Fry began experimenting with different techniques, before Beldam took these findings out onto the field. Fry turned to Beldam again when he came up with the idea of publishing instructional cricket books. His photos are the very first we have of our game in action.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1901 one of the most well publicised early games of cricket took place in America.

Players of polo had begun adopting cricket as an off season sport in the late 1800s in America and, in 1898, the Santa Monica Cricket Club was formed.

It was reported in 'The Riverside Daily Press' thusly:

"The cricket game on Thursday on the new park is arousing considerable interest. Many have not seen the national game of England, and it is safe to say that there will be a big crowd of the curious and the enthusiastic to witness the game. The admission will be 25 cents."

However the game did not live up to the hopes of the organisers. The following week the paper ran:

"A number of cricket enthusiasts have spent the day at the new park watching the game between the Riverside and San Luis elevens. The game of cricket is not well known in this country. There have been a few games played in Riverside, but not enough to initiate the general public into its fine points, which will probably account for the fact that there were not more in attendance today."

Neither was the game of the highest quality. Riverside's total was a mere 35 with opener, Chris Simmonds scoring a third of that score. San Luis were much stronger and, in order to extend the game, they played on beyond the successful chase of 35. The team ended on 90.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 Leicestershire played Kent in the County Championship Division 2.

A particularly ropy start from Leicestershire saw them chasing their tails up until Mark Cosgrove came to bat and scored his first century of the season. After play was delayed until 2PM by rain, Kent soon ran through the top order. Matt Coles got the first two wickets within short order of each other. Soon enough Cosgrove came together with Ned Eckersley in a partnership of 118, with both of them scoring fluently. Cosgrove only offered one chance early on before making them rue it.

When Eckersley went back, Cosgrove formed another century partnership, this time with Neil Pinner. Cosgrove was next man out.

Coles returned to hurt Leicestershire again with his fourth wicket claiming Pinner for 88 and claiming a score of 4-88 at the end of the day.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 Kent combine their forces with bat and ball to get the advantage on Day Two.

After Leicestershire's poor start they will be glad to have reached 386 - however Darren Stevens ripped apart their tail end to halt hope of further progress. He ended the session with 5-88 - the first five-fer of the season.

Kent started as badly as Leicestershire ended. Kent lost Daniel Bell-Drummond for 14, Rob Key was caught lbw and when Rob Taylor was caught, Kent found themselves at 76-3.

Joe Denly and a composed Sam Northeast then combined to show an element of stability for Kent. Denly perished first, just before the light did - ending the day early.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 a day for the bowlers see Kent in confident position.

Joe Denly and Sam Northeast continued their strong start to the innings yesterday by ending on 87 and 84 respectively. Once these two had fallen Clint McKay ran through the tail with aplomb. Kent finished on 289.

In Leicestershire's second innings, Kent humbled them to 86-7, however McKay salvaged the innings for Leicestershire with the bat. The Kent bowlers shared the wickets around in a way that Leicestershire hadn't. The top order was gutted by Ivan Thomas, Mitch Claydon and a double for Darren Stevens - these four Leicestershire batsmen were all dismissed for the gain of just 4 runs.

Before McKay came in Leicestershire lost another two batsmen to lbw appeals. McKay saved some respectability for the day with a score of 62 within 13 overs, however he could not see out the day after Stevens bowled him.

Leicestershire have no men in the hutch and a lead of 307.

[The Professor]

On this day a tight final session between Leicestershire and Kent ended in a draw.

Leicestershire's tail were tidied up with very little fuss. Only 12 minutes were needed to dispatch the final two batsmen.

Kent were set a total of 315 to win in the final two sessions. They started badly, losing Joe Denly and Rob Key cheaply, but Daniel Bell-Drummond and Brendan Nash steadied the ship afterwards. Their partnership was worth 105 before Nash was adjudged lbw. Despite the loss of Nash, Bell-Drummond and, new partner, Sam Northeast came together and upped the run rate prodigiously leaving the equation at 139 off 20 overs.

Even when Northeast fell to (yet another) lbw appeal, Darren Stevens took on the mantle of big scorers. Stevens became very boundary happy and made a Kent win look distinctly possible. With 10 overs remaining Kent required a further 82 with six wickets still in hand.

Within these last ten overs Bell-Drummond brought up his hundred but did not last long after. This began a mini-rot when Stevens was caught behind on 34.

With 48 required from four overs; Matt Coles went too hard and ended losing his wicket. This seemed to mellow both teams as Mitchell Claydon and Sam Billings slowed the pace and clearly began playing for the draw. Hands were shaken and both teams could have dreamt of what might have been.