Obituaries in 1947

ALLCOCK, MR. CHARLES HOWARD, died at Aberdovey on September 30, aged 92. Educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, he was an excellent slow bowler, but as a contemporary of A. G. Steel and C. T. Studd there was no room for him in the Cambridge Eleven in the late'seventies. He played for the University in some matches and for Cambridge Past and Present against Australian teams; in 1882 at Portsmouth he helped in a victory by 20 runs over W. L. Murdoch's side. Allcock took six wickets for 70 runs, and in the last innings he dismissed four men for 51, sharing the honours with A. G. Steel, five for 24. Sir C. Aubrey Smith, aged 84, and S. P. Jones, opening bat for the Australians, now 86 and living at Auckland, New Zealand, are the only survivors of that match. In that Light Blue side were A. P. Lucas, C. T. Studd, A. G. Steel and the Hon. Alfred Lyttelton, who, ten days afterwards, all played for England in the historic match at Kennington Oval when Australia won by seven runs.

ARMSTRONG, MR. WARWICK WINDRIDGE, one of the most famous Australian cricketers, died on July 13, aged 68. While a great all-round player, he remains in one's memory chiefly for his unequalled triumph in leading Australia to victory in eight consecutive Tests with England. After the first world war our cricket took a long time to settle down. During this period the England touring team, led by J. W. H. T. Douglas, lost all five matches, and the following summer Armstrong commanded Australia, who won the first three Tests and drew the other two. In that superb manner Armstrong terminated a remarkable career. Of colossal build at 42, Armstrong then weighed about 22 stone and bore himself in a way likely to cause offence, but he invariably carried his desires over all opposition and sometimes with good reason.

Born on May 22, 1879, Armstrong rose to prominence in the season of 1901-02, when he did well for Victoria before playing in the Tests of which A. C. MacLaren's team won the first and lost the other four. Armstrong headed the Australian Test averages, thanks to being not out four times. His bowling then was hardly wanted, but, coming to England under Joe Darling, he took 81 wickets at 17.50 runs each, besides scoring 1,087 runs, average 26. He surpassed these efforts on his second trip to England, making 2,002 runs, average 48.82, and taking 130 wickets at 17.60 apiece, being top of both averages. These figures constitute a record, no other visitor to England having scored 2,000 runs and taken 100 wickets in a season. His 303 not out at Bath was the highest innings hit on the tour, and his 248 not out contributed largely to victory by an innings and 189 runs over the Gentlemen at Lord's.

If not quite so successful in 1909 he scored 1,480 runs, average 46.39, and claimed 126 wickets at 16.23, being second in each table and by far the most effective bowler. He was absent from the Australian team that came over for the Triangular Tournament in 1912, but when he captained the 1921 side with such marked success he ranked third in batting and top of the bowling. With 1,405 runs, average 43.90, and 106 wickets, average 14.56, he for the third time accomplished the cricketer's double, so equalling the record for any Australian in England established by George Giffen twenty-five years before. In four tours in England he helped Australia win the Test Rubber three times, the exception being in 1905, when F. S. Jackson won the toss in each of the five matches.

He was fortunate to lead a very powerful combination, with J. M. Gregory and E. A. McDonald, the fast bowlers, too much for England's impoverished batting, while MacArtney and Bardsley headed an exceptional array of batting talent, eight men having aggregates ranging from 2,335 to 1,032, with averages from 58 to 30. The only defeats suffered by that 1921 team were at Eastbourne and Scarborough when the serious part of the tour was over. Armstrong led Australia to victory at Nottingham, Lord's and Leeds before rain ruined the Manchester match, and England recovered something of her lost prestige at The Oval.

On that occasion Warwick Armstrong acted in an extraordinary manner by way of emphasising his opinion that all Test matches should be played to a finish irrespective of time. When a draw was certain he rested his regular bowlers, went into the long field himself, an unknown position for him, and actually picked up and read a fully extended newspaper that was blown from the crowd! Clearly he was then indifferent to what happened; but he was very much alert a few weeks before at Old Trafford, where the England Captain erred over a declaration. Rain prevented play on Saturday, and so the match became an affair of two days. With England's score over 300 for four wickets the Hon. L. H. Tennyson, at ten minutes to six, went on to the field and called the players in. Ernest Tyldesley and P. G. H. Fender, the batsmen, left the field, but Armstrong demurred and sat on the turf near the stumps where he had been bowling. After a wait the Australians and umpires went to the pavilion, and Armstrong pointed out that the law, amended in 1914, showed that a closure in the circumstances of a lost first day could not be made later than an hour and forty minutes before the time for drawing stumps. It was amazing that no England official or player in the pavilion knew enough to prevent such a lamentable blunder; that the captain should be corrected by his Australian rival was a humiliating incident. The umpires, also at fault of course, were so muddled that when, after twenty minutes delay, play was resumed, Armstrong himself was allowed to commit an error by bowling the next over--two in succession.

Armstrong established a record by playing in 42 Test matches against England--one more than Clem Hill. In these games he scored 2,172 runs, average 35.03, and took 74 wickets at an average cost of 30.91. He made four Test centuries against England--all in Australia--and in ten Tests with South Africa he twice reached three figures. Altogether 46 centuries stand to his name in first-class cricket. With M. A. Noble, Armstrong put on 428 at Hove against Sussex in 1902--still an Australian record for the sixth wicket. In Sheffield Shield matches Armstrong scored 4,993 runs, average 49.93, and took 177 wickets at 24.16 runs apiece. At Melbourne in November 1920 he made two centuries for Victoria against South Australia--157 not out and 245. In November 1912, in the corresponding match, also at Melbourne, he scored 250, his highest innings in these tournaments.

Very tall and slim when first coming to England, Armstrong was of quite different build nineteen years later, and his massive frame made him a dominating personality as captain, quite apart from his ability with bat and ball. If appearing ungainly at the wicket because of bent knees, almost inevitable in the case of such a big man, Armstrong was a splendid stroke player, with the drive and cut most in evidence, and his defence was untiring. Bowling slows, usually round the wicket from a great height, he did not turn the ball a lot, but his leg theory was so pronounced that on occasions he sent down over after over wide of the leg stump without being punished, because he dropped the ball with what really was deceptive flight and usually very little break. Against a field cleverly placed for catches, batsmen refrained from taking risks. In fact, Armstrong was adept at keeping down runs in emergency. John Tyldesley, at the Oval in 1905, countered this, stepping back a yard and cutting the alleged leg-breaks where no fieldsman stood.

Like many cricketers, after retiring from active participation in the game, Armstrong wrote for the Press, and his caustic Test criticisms created ill-feeling of a kind which should not be associated with cricket.--H. P.

BALDWIN, CHARLES, who died on May 2 at his home in Penn, Buckinghamshire, aged 81, was a useful batsman for Surrey from 1892 to 1898. Short and thick-set, he showed good style. In his best season, 1897, he scored 1,137 runs, average 30.11, in championship matches, excelling with 234 against Kent at The Oval. He played for Suffolk from 1903, having been born at Bury St. Edmunds on December 29, 1865. He was for seventeen years a very successful and popular coach at Uppingham School, so emulating the example of H. H. Stephenson, a distinguished Surrey professional, who still is referred to as the most famous of school coaches; he died at Uppingham after twenty-five years' service. When Fred Boyington died in 1927, Baldwin for a time took over the duty of Surrey scorer.

BARRATT, FRED, fast bowler and powerful hitter, died in Nottingham General Hospital on January 29, aged 52. Playing first for the county at Lord's in 1914 against M.C.C., he took eight wickets for 91 runs, but did not bowl when the club followed-on 194 behind. He finished that season with 115 wickets at 21.80 runs apiece. After the war he was slow in finding his old form, but in 1923 he dismissed 101 men at an average of 18.54 and also became a very free scorer. In 1928 he did the double with 1,167 runs, average 29.17, and 114 wickets at 25.18 each. The first Nottinghamshire man to accomplish this feat since John Gunn in 1906, he punished all kinds of bowling with great freedom, thanks largely to sure driving. He excelled against Glamorgan at Trent Bridge, hitting up 110 in eighty-five minutes; and at Coventry 139, also not out, off the Warwickshire bowlers. W. Walker helped to add 196 in eighty-five minutes, a short boundary giving Barratt such an opportunity to exercise his strength that he hit seven 6's and eighteen 4's. Nottinghamshire declared with 656 for three wickets, then the highest total for the loss of so few men. He reached Test honours in 1929 at Old Trafford against South Africa, but did little, two wickets for 38 runs being his reward while men of less pace were supreme. Going on tour with M.C.C. side, captained by A. H. H. Gilligan, in the winter of 1930, Barratt, with nine wickets for 93, helped to beat South Australia by 239 runs, and seven Victoria batsmen fell to him for 105, among his victims being W. H. Ponsford and H. L. Henry, both dismissed very cheaply in each innings. He was not effective in the four Test matches in New Zealand. Altogether in first-class cricket he took 1,126 wickets at 24.27 runs apiece and scored 6,347 runs, average 15.25.

BERE, REV. MONTAGUE ACLAND, died February 11, aged 80. Marlborough 1884. Failed to get his Blue at Oxford. Vicar of St. Saviour-on-the-Cliff, Shanklin, 1919-35.

BERKLEY, REV. MAURICE, died at Bangor, August 9, aged 75. Fettes 1890-91. Played in Oxford Seniors matches 1893-94 but failed to get his Blue.

BORRETT, MR. ROBERT, of Norwich, a contributor to Wisden for many years, died on November 22, aged 79. Sports Editor of Eastern Daily Press until 1945, when he retired, he held a prominent place in East Anglian sporting circles, as testified by Mr. Michael Falcon, the Cambridge Blue and captain of Norfolk County Cricket Club. A good all-round cricketer in early manhood, Borrett played for several teams and Norfolk Club and Ground.

BOSWORTH-SMITH, MR. BERTRAND NIGEL, died at Hove, February 19, aged 73. Harrow 1891-92. Played for Middlesex in 1895 and for Dorset. Oxford Association XI 1894-96.

BRADBY, MR. EDWIN HUGH FALQUIN, died on November 7 when nearly 80 years of age. Captain of the Rugby school eleven in 1885, he scored 26 and 170 in a drawn match with Marlborough, and also at Lord's in the next two days against M.C.C. he played a great innings of 102 before retiring hurt, having ricked his knee. He failed to get his cricket Blue at Oxford, but in 1887 and 1888 he took part in the Athletic Sports against Cambridge.

BROWN, MR. R. G., father of F. R. Brown, the well-known Cambridge University and Surrey slow bowler and hard-hitting free-scoring batsman, died on January 15, aged 61. When living in Peru he bowled well for Lima against the M.C.C. side in January 1927, dismissing five men at 10 runs apiece, his victims being M. F. S. Jewell, P. F. Warner and G. J. V. Weigall--all bowled--J. C. White and T. A. Pilkington, both l. b. w. G. O. Allen took twelve wickets for 22 runs, and M.C.C. won a one-day match by an innings and 89 runs.

BUNTING, MR. WILLIAM LOUIS, died October 15, aged 74. Bromsgrove Eleven 1889-93. Cambridge Rugby football Blue 1894-95, and played for England 1897-1901.

BUSSELL, MR. HARRY ALLAN, who died in a private hospital in Melbourne on Christmas Day, aged 68, was connected officially with Victorian and Australian cricket for over forty years. Playing with the Fitzroy Cricket Club as a boy, he was elected to the committee in 1904, and, after acting as assistant secretary for several years, he became secretary in 1920, and held the position until 1946, when he was compelled to retire through ill-health. A Fitzroy Club delegate on the Victorian Cricket Association in 1912, he was also for many years a Victorian delegate on the Australian Board of Control. During the greatest upheaval in the history of Australian cricket politics in 1912, when rival sides for and against the Board of Control were led by two great East Melbourne men, P. A. McAlister and F. J. Laver, Mr. Bussell was one of the strongest supporters for the formation of the Board of Control as the recognised constituted authority in the management of cricket in Australia. Mainly through his efforts the Fitzroy Club put five elevens in the field every Saturday, two teams being specially reserved for Colts and district schoolboys, and a number of players who commenced their cricket with Fitzroy rose to Test and first-class cricket.

CAMERON, MR. ERNEST J., who met his death in a motor accident at Corio, Geelong, Victoria, in May, was manager of the A.I.F. team which toured England in 1919 and was responsible for finding Test players in H. L. Collins, J. M. Gregory, C. E. Pellew and W. A. Oldfield. A useful all-rounder with the North Melbourne team for a number of years, Cameron just failed to reach Sheffield Shield standard. One of the best footballers in Australia in his younger days.

CHALLENOR, MR. GEORGE, the West Indies batsman of high renown, died at Barbados on July 30, aged 59. He visited England three times first in 1906 when only 17, and gave promise of future triumphs by scoring 108 at Nottingham. He excelled for the team which came in 1923, scoring 1,556 runs--more than twice as many as anyone else in the side obtained--average 51.86, with eight three-figure innings, the highest being 155 not out against Surrey at The Oval. With 66 out of 121, which gave his side victory by ten wickets, Challenor made his match aggregate 221 without being dismissed; his batting in each innings was brilliant. Generally he was regarded as reaching the standard set by the best English batsmen that season, only Hendren and Mead returning higher averages. He was elected to membership of M.C.C. as a special compliment, although unable to take part in the customary qualifying matches. West Indies did not play England that season, but in 1928 they lost all three matches in the rubber by an innings. Challenor did not find his former brilliance, his highest score being 97 in an aggregate of 1,074, average 27.53, and in six innings against England his total runs reached only 101. Of medium height and powerful build, he drove to the off and cut with perfectly timed strokes, besides punishing any loose balls with pulls or on-drives. His admirable batting did much toward raising cricket in West Indies to Test match standard.

COOK, WILLIAM, who died on December 18 at Burnley, aged 65, gave promise of becoming a fast bowler of great ability when, in 1905, he took 38 wickets for Lancashire at 19.10 runs apiece; but two seasons later he made his only reappearance in the county side. After being conspicuous in Lancashire League cricket for Lowerhouse and Colne, he helped Burnley to win the League Championship in three consecutive years. After retiring from active cricket he was a blacksmith's assistant.

CROSS, MR. A. E., who died on November 12, aged 46, played for Cranleigh School at cricket, Rugby football and hockey. A good wicket-keeper, he was in The Rest team against Lord's Schools in 1920. He played for The Cryptics, Sutton, and M.C.C.

CRUM, MR. WILLIAM GRAHAM, died February 19, aged 77. Eton 1889.

FERGUSSON, MR. JOHN ALEXANDER, who played with marked success for Perthshire and Scotland, died on April 28, aged 64. As batsman, bowler and fieldsman, he was among the best cricketers ever known in Scotland. Born in Liverpool of Scottish parents, he went to Perth shortly before the first World War and soon won a place in Scotland's team. He scored 103 not out for Scotland at Lord's against M.C.C. in 1922 and made over 10,000 runs for Perthshire.

FIELD, MR. EDWIN, died at Bromley, Kent, on January 9, aged 75. Clifton XI 1888-91 (captain 1890 and 1891). Cambridge XI 1894. Berkshire 1895. He played for Middlesex from 1904 to 1906, his best performance being 107 against Sussex at Lord's in 1895. A Cambridge Rugby Blue 1892-94, he played for England v. Wales and Ireland in 1893. Solicitor.

FOSTER, THOMAS W., who played for Yorkshire occasionally from 1893 to 1896, died at Dewsbury, aged 75, on January 31. A fast-medium bowler, he took nine wickets for 59 against M.C.C. at Lord's in 1894, this being his best performance, but he did good steady work, taking altogether 68 wickets at 16.25 apiece, and with the bat he averaged 10.11, his aggregate being 182 runs.

GILLER, MR. JAMES FREDERICK, who died on June 13 at his home at Albert Park, Melbourne, aged 77, was one of Victoria's best all-round cricketers of his time and narrowly missed a place in the Australian team. For South Melbourne Club from 1893 to 1913 he scored 6,654 runs at an average of 35, and took 531 wickets at 15 runs each. A strong-driving batsman with good defence and a right-hand medium-pace bowler, he made for Victoria in Sheffield Shield matches 878 runs in 29 innings, average 33.76, and captured 37 wickets at a cost of 23 runs each. His best scores were 145 against New South Wales at Sydney in 1905 and 116 against South Australia at Adelaide in 1898.

GODFREE, MR. GEORGE STANLEY, died at Brighton, April 14, aged 73. Elected President for 1947 of Sussex County C.C., with which he was closely connected for forty years.

GREG, MR. ARTHUR HYDE, O.B.E., F.R.C.S., died March 17, aged 75. Marlborough 1891. Cambridge Rugby fifteen 1893.

HARDING, NORMAN WALTER, the Kent fast right-arm bowler, died on September 25 of infantile paralysis in a Berkshire isolation hospital after less than a week's illness; he was only 31. Of good height and graceful build, he bowled with an easy action and, besides making the ball swing, he could use the off-break with some effect. Born in Southampton, he learned cricket at Reading School, and played for Berkshire before joining the Kent staff at Canterbury in 1936, when for the second eleven against Wiltshire at Swindon he accomplished the extraordinary feat of taking eighteen wickets in the match--nine wickets for 39 and nine for 61--regarded as unique in county cricket. His first County Championship match was at Dover in 1937, and in the two seasons before the war he met with considerable success. Subsequently he took chief part in the county's pace attack and was regarded as the fastest Kent bowler since W. M. Bradley. Last season he took 64 wickets at an average cost of 25 runs. In August 1945, for Kent in a one-day match against the Rest of the County at Canterbury, Harding took all ten wickets for 32 runs in a total of 89, and his side won by 104 runs. He bowled seven men and got one leg-before.

HARDSTAFF, JOSEPH, senior, died suddenly at his Nottingham home on April 2, aged 66. Rather short and strongly built, he played for Nottinghamshire from 1902 to 1924, scoring altogether in first-class cricket 17,146 runs, average 31.34. He toured Australia in 1907-08, when A. O. Jones, his county captain, led the English side, and he met with marked success, averaging over 51 in all matches, with much the highest aggregate--1,384, and his three centuries surpassed the efforts of all his colleagues. His average in the five Tests was 31.10, only George Gunn and Jack Hobbs doing better. Free in stroke play all round the wicket, he could put up a stout defence in a way quite in keeping with the best of Nottinghamshire batsmen. He helped Nottinghamshire to carry off the Championship in 1907, and by scoring 124 not out and 48 against the South African team, influenced his choice for the tour in Australia; Nottinghamshire won the match by five wickets. A brilliant field, especially in the deep, he occasionally bowled rather fast but with moderate success. Sir Home Gordon credits him with 182 catches.

Hardstaff soon became a favourite with the Australian spectators, who showed their appreciation by calling him Hot Stuff. He died while his son was on the way home from Australia. The Hardstaffs provide the only case of a father and son representing England in Australia; but Fred Tate played in one Test match in England against Australia twenty-two years before his son, Maurice Tate, first went to Australia in 1924. After retiring from the Nottinghamshire team, Hardstaff senior became a popular first-class umpire and stood in several Test matches. He would probably have officiated in many more but for the fact that he was not allowed to umpire when young Hardstaff was playing in such games. Of course, he could not officiate when Nottinghampshire were engaged, and so he saw comparatively little of his son as a player.

HEYGATE, REV. REGINALD THOMAS, died in January, aged 89. Lancing 1875-77. Oxford Association football eleven 1880 and 1881.

HIND, MR. ALFRED ERNEST, who died at Leicester on March 22, aged 68, went from Uppingham to Cambridge, where he was in the eleven from 1898 to 1901, and also played a little for Nottinghamshire without doing anything exceptional. He represented Cambridge against Oxford for three years in Athletics; was in the Rugby fifteen; a member of the England team which visited South Africa in the winter of 1902, and played for England in 1906.

JACKSON, RT. HON. SIR F. STANLEY, died on March 9. See Special Article, pp. 74-81.

JARDINE, MR. MALCOLM ROBERT, who died on January 16, aged 77, gained two great honours in the cricket world. In 1892, by scoring 140 and 39 against Cambridge at Lord's, he created an individual record for the highest aggregate in a University match; and his son, D. R. Jardine, captained England during the Australian tour of 1932-33 when The Ashes were recovered in the series of five matches made memorable by the body-line description of specially fast bowling, introduced with leg-side fieldsmen in a manner since copied by Australian teams without objection by England or adverse criticism. Malcom Jardine began cricket at Fettes, and when captain in 1888 he went ahead of all the other boys by averaging 77 with the bat and taking 24 wickets at 6.3 each.

Getting his Oxford Blue as a Freshman, he was captain in his third year, and finished his University career gloriously, although studies kept him out of all the home matches. He found his best form at Lord's, making 83 runs in the game with M.C.C. and then taking the principal part in a win by five wickets for the side captained by Lionel Palairet, and including C. B. Fry, then a Freshman. F. S. Jackson led Cambridge, who could look back on handsome victories in the three previous matches, and were again favourites. A good off-side player, Malcolm Jardine excelled with the off-drive, but on this occasion leg glances earned him most praise, and he adopted the unusual role, for him, of defensive player, because two wickets were down without a run scored when he joined Fry. During four hours and three-quarters he did not give a chance, and his 140 was only three less than the record of K. J. Key for the match at that time.

When at school he bowled fairly fast, but subsequently used his fielding energy in saving runs by quickness after the ball and sure picking-up. He played a little for Middlesex.

Born in Simla, Malcolm Jardine returned to India with honours gained at Balliol College and the Middle Temple. After practising at the Bombay Bar, he advanced to various appointments until he rose to Advocate-General of Bombay. Returning to England, he was a prominent member of the Surrey club, of which his son became a distinguished captain, and was a Vice-President for several years up to the time of his passing.

LAMBRICK, REV. CHARLES MENZIES, died at Cambridge, January 17, aged 84. Winchester XI 1880-81.

LEESE, MR. CHARLES PHILIP, died on January 19, aged 57. After showing to advantage as a batsman at Wellington School, he played a little for Lancashire from 1908 to 1911; and at Oxford in the Freshmen's match of 1908 he made the highest score, 49, but was tried only twice in the eleven. In 1909 he did well in the Seniors' match with 68 and 29, but the competition was too severe for him to reach the Blue class.

LYON, ADMIRAL SIR GEORGE H. D'OYLY, K.C.B., died at Midhurst, Sussex, on August 20, aged 63. He played cricket for Royal Navy and a little for Hampshire. At Rugby football he played for United Services, the Navy, and for England in 1908 and 1909. He was very good at tennis and golf.

THE MACKINNON OF MACKINNON (35th Chief of the Mackinnon Clan), the title to which MR. FRANCIS ALEXANDER MACKINNON succeeded on the death of his father in 1903, passed away at his home, Drumduan, in Forres, Morayshire, on February 27. He would have been 99 years old on April 9. As it was he reached a greater age than attained by any other first-class cricketer, surpassing that of Herbert Jenner-Fust Cambridge captain in the first match with Oxford in 1827, who died in 1904 when his exact age was 98 years 5 months and 7 days. MacKinnon was within forty days of 99 years at his passing.

Born at Acryse Park, in Kent, he went to Harrow without getting into the eleven, but at Cambridge he played in the historic match of 1870 when Cobden did the hat-trick by dismissing the last three Oxford batsmen and gaining for the Light Blues a dramatic victory by two runs. He played ten years for Kent, and in 1884, going in first, he helped, with scores of 28 and 29, in the only victory gained by a county over the Australians. Of the winning side, Mr. Stanley Christopherson, President of M.C.C. during the war years, who finished the match by taking three wickets for 12 runs, Mr. M. C. Kemp, wicket-keeper, and Alec Hearne, seven wickets for 60, are three survivors of that eleven.

During that year he scored 115 against Hampshire and 102 against Yorkshire, his average being 33, second to 41 by Lord Harris. He was President of the Kent County Club in 1889.

In the winter of 1878 he went with Lord Harris to Australia. A strong batting side included only two professionals, George Ulyett and Tom Emmett, the Yorkshiremen. MacKinnon was a victim of F. R. Spofforth in a hat-trick in the only match with the full strength of Australia, who won by ten wickets.

Born on April 9, 1848, three months before W. G. Grace, he married in 1888 the eldest daughter of Admiral, First Baron Hood, the Hon. Emily Hood, who died in 1934. There survive a son and a daughter, who accompanied her father on his cricket visits to the South.

The oldest Harrovian, University Blue and Test cricketer, he was also the senior member of M.C.C., to which he was elected in 1870. Until the last he retained a keen interest in the game he loved so well by following the reports of the matches played by the England team in Australia.

Although he gave up County cricket sixty-two years ago, he maintained to a remarkable extent a close touch with the game, as his memory and good physique gave evidence. Using two sticks, he walked firmly, and enjoyed meeting old friends on Kent grounds as well as at Lord's. During the Tunbridge Wells Cricket Week in 1946 he watched the cricket from the Band of Brothers' tent or from the pavilion. One afternoon, accompanied by his daughter and the Marchioness of Abergavenny, he visited Rose Hill School and examined the old desk where he used to sit as a pupil eighty-nine years before. He gave a talk to the whole school, besides inspecting the Sea Scout Troop.

Several opportunities occurred for me to speak to the MacKinnon, and he related some of his experiences in the happiest way. He liked Canterbury better even than Lord's, his second love. An amusing tale was how, at The Oval when playing for Kent, Lord Harris put him to field at a particular spot-- `Mac, by that worm cast.' After some hits just out of reach, my captain said: `You have left cast.'`No, George, I haven't. That's another worm's cast.'

Referring to Cobden's Match, he said with a smile, I really won the match, for I scored two (the margin of victory). That was his second innings, after a useful 17 not out at a time when runs were never more difficult to get than at Lord's on the big occasion.

Among those who chatted with him in the Lord Harris Memorial garden, where he enjoyed a picnic lunch with his daughter during the University match, was the Rev. T. R. Hine Haycock, an Oxford Blue in 1883, who played for Kent when MacKinnon was finishing his active cricket career and is now 85 years old.

MacKinnon wore an I. Zingari tie, and on his watch chain showed with pride a gold medallion bearing the insignia of crossed bats presented to all the team captained by Lord Harris in Australia. His wonderfully clear conversation and strong handshake revealed his hearty enjoyment in meeting any cricket acquaintance. Among the last active signs of his fondness for the game was the presentation to Canterbury of a picture of the Kent and Sussex match at Hove a hundred years ago, in which the players, among them Alfred Mynn, the Lion of Kent, and Fuller Pilch, are wearing tall hats.

When 98 years of age, in reply to a question by telephone from London as to his health, he said: I am going into hospital to-morrow--but only for the annual meeting at which I shall preside. I am very well in health--very well indeed. I still do a lot of work in the garden: weeds don't like me at all.--H. P.

MACKRORY, MR. HENRY ALFRED, who died at Durban on November 22, aged 61, kept wicket for Natal regularly from 1919 to 1930. Not usually of much account as a batsman, he scored 78 not out against Griqualand West in 1926-27 when batting number ten.

MORTON, DR. REGINALD LONSDALE, member of the Australian Board of Control, President of the Victorian Cricket Association and of the St. Kilda Club, died on May 25, aged 69.

NAUMANN, MAJOR FRANK CHARLES GORDON, M. C., who died on October 30, aged 55, played for Oxford in the University match of 1919, when his brother, J. H. Naumann, was in the Cambridge team and the brothers F. W. Gilligan (Oxford) and A. E. R. Gilligan ( Cambridge) also were on opposing sides. Two brothers facing two brothers in a University match set up a case without parallel. A medium-paced bowler, Frank Naumann, taking eleven wickets for 157 runs, was largely responsible for Oxford winning by 45 runs. In 1914 he helped Oxford to victory by 194 runs, finishing the game by taking four wickets for 10 runs, the last three men falling to him in four balls. He excelled in 1919, being top of the Oxford bowling with 29 wickets at 23.82 each, and scoring 451 runs, average 34.69. In the match with M.C.C. at Oxford he was run out for 84, and in the second innings made 102 not out, the game producing altogether 1,409 runs while 29 wickets fell. The brothers Naumann played for Malvern in 1911, and both appeared occasionally for Surrey.

PAUL, ARTHUR GEORGE, who died at his home at Didsbury, Manchester, in January, aged 82, played for Lancashire from 1889 to 1900. Tall and robust, he was a batsman of high skill, excelling at Taunton in 1895 when A. C. MacLaren played his great innings of 424--still a record for first-class cricket in England. Paul on that occasion made his highest score for the county, 177, and with his captain put on 363 for the second wicket. Lancashire totaled 801--still their highest innings. In that his best years Paul scored 829 runs for an average of 25.12, being third in the county to MacLaren and Albert Ward. A coach at Old Trafford after retiring from the eleven because of ill-health, Paul was given a benefit in 1913, the Lancashire club contributing £400.

Born in Belfast, son of an Army Colonel, he became a good club cricketer with Notts Castle before qualifying for Lancashire when with the Nelson club. He also excelled at Rugby football, playing for Swinton at full-back or in the threequarter line, and was a member of the team which toured Australia in 1888 under A. E. Stoddart's captaincy. In 1899 he was a good goalkeeper for Blackburn Rovers.

PILKINGTON, COLONEL FREDERICK CHARLES, D.S.O., died at Hythe, April 7, aged 75. Eton 1890.

RANSFORD, MR. HENRY FOWLER, who died on June 14 at Toorak, Melbourne, Victoria, was in his youth a prominent cricketer in the Richmond, East Melbourne, and Hawthorn districts. His son, the left-handed batsman, toured England with the Australian team in 1909 and became secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club.

REID, MR. NORMAN, who died at Cape Town in tragic circumstances in June, aged 56, played in one Test match for South Africa, against Australia at Cape Town in 1921, when he scored 11 and 6 and took two wickets. A useful all-rounder for Western Province from 1920 to 1923, he gained his international cap mainly through brilliant fielding, usually at cover point. His most notable performance in first-class cricket was 81 not out for Western Province v. Orange Free State in 1921-22. An Oxford Rugby Blue of 1912 and 1913, he was awarded the D.S.O. and M.C. during the 1914-18 war.

ROBBINS, MR. VICTOR CLARK, who died at Durban on June 16, aged 56, played for Natal from 1920 to 1927, making 571 runs, average 24.82, in the Currie Cup Tournament, his highest score being 80 v. Transvaal in 1923-24. In January 1925 he took part in one of the unofficial Test matches against S. B. Joel's team.

ROSLYN, MR. HENRY EDWARD, one of the oldest and best-known Bristol journalists, died on January 8 at a Clifton nursing home after a long illness, aged 79. For over fifty years he reported cricket in the West country, besides travelling with Gloucestershire on visits to every county. At one time if W. G. Grace did nothing worthy of note and Roslyn was not at the match, his fellow journalists would remark, Well, W. G.'s reporter is not here! Ros, as he was known to all intimate friends, was a regular contributor to Wisden for many years. Born at Cheltenham, and from an early age interested in cricket, he held a high place in the County Club, with which he was associated since 1887, and for a long time was a member of the Committee. Himself a useful player, he knew cricket and its personalities to a degree far beyond most followers of the game. Mr. F. O. Wills, President, Colonel H. A. Henson, Secretary, and Mr.Walter Giles, Hon. Treasurer of the County Cricket Club, attended the funeral.

SCOTT, LORD GEORGE WILLIAM MONTAGU-DOUGLAS, O.B.E., third son of the sixth Duke of Buccleuch, died on February 24, aged 80. After playing for Eton in 1884-85, he got his Blue at Oxford, and made history in the 1887 match with Cambridge by scoring 100 and 66, at that time the highest individual aggregate in a University match. He was the last choice, filling a vacancy caused by the inability of C. Wreford Brown to play owing to an injured hand. He was missed three times in the first innings, but his second display was the most brilliant of the match, which Oxford won by seven wickets. Next year, when the match, though extended to four days, was drawn because of bad weather, Scott scored 32, highest for his side; and in 1889, when Cambridge won by an innings and 105 runs, thanks to S. M. J. Woods taking seventeen wickets, his efforts were 37 not out and 9, again the best for Oxford. He played once for Gentlemen against Players, and also for Middlesex, without reproducing his early Oxford form. Sound in defence, Lord George Scott drove with special freedom in attractive style; he fielded well in the deep.

SEWELL, MR. EDWARD HUMPHREY DALRYMPLE, well known for many years as a cricket and Rugby football journalistic reporter, died on September 21, aged nearly 75. Born in India, where his father was an Army officer, he was educated at Bedford Grammar School, captaining the cricket and Rugby teams and playing for Bedfordshire County. In a curiously varied life he returned to India as a civil servant, and his very powerful hitting enabled him to make many big scores at an exceptional rate of scoring. The first batsman in India to make three consecutive hundreds, he also twice exceeded 200. Sometimes he enjoyed the advantage of having Ranjitsinhji for captain. Coming back to England, he joined the Essex County Club as a professional, and met with considerable success, notably in 1904 at Edgbaston, where, with Bob Carpenter, he shared in an opening stand of 142. He used to relate that the partnership lasted only sixty-five minutes--he was first out for 107; but, as he added, They didn't give prizes for the fastest century in those days. The time was given officially as eighty minutes. In 1904, for London County, captained by W. G. Grace, he played his highest innings in first-class cricket, 181, against Surrey at Crystal Palace; one of his on-drives off Lockwood measured 140 yards. He punished moderate bowling in matches of minor class with merciless severity. Whitgift School suffered especially when, at Croydon for M.C.C., he hit up 142 out of 162 in fifty minutes, and again at The Oval, where for Wanderers he hit three 6's and nineteen 4's while scoring 108. After being a coach at The Oval, he became honorary secretary to the Buckinghamshire Club and played for the County as an amateur. He bowled medium pace with marked effect against any batsmen but the best, and fielded with dash and certainty. During recent years he attended every match of importance at Lord's, having a regular seat in the Long Room, where he was often the centre of discussions on the game he loved and knew so thoroughly. He gave practical evidence of this in several books--From a Window at Lord's, The Log of a Sportsman and Who Won the Toss being the best known. He played Rugby football for Blackheath and Harlequins; put the shot 37 feet and threw the cricket ball 117 yards at athletic sports meetings.

SIEVWRIGHT, MR. R. W., one of the best-known personalities in Scottish cricket, died on July 12, aged 65. While batting for Arbroath United against Perthshire he collapsed with a heart seizure and died at the crease. He was president of the club with which he had been associated for forty-seven years. Arthur, one of two sons playing in the match, was his father's partner at the time of the tragic occurrence. The match was abandoned. A slow bowler, he played for Scotland from 1912 to 1929, six times against Australia, twice against South Africa, twice against Ireland, as well as against Oxford, Surrey, Northamptonshire, Australian Imperial Forces, M.C.C. and Middlesex. Against Australia at Edinburgh in 1912 he captured six wickets for 60 runs, with C. G. MacArtney among his victims. In 1921 against the Australians he took seven wickets in two matches, and Warren Bardsley paid Seivy, as he was known wherever cricket was played, the compliment of describing him as one of the best spin bowlers he had ever encountered. In May 1936 at Lochlands he took all the Aberdeenshire wickets for 16 runs.

SMITH, MR. CHARLES JAMES EDWARD, an elder brother of H. E. Smith of the 1907 South African team, died at Johannesburg on March 27, aged 74. He played for Transvaal from 1894 to 1904. Against the Australian team of 1902 he scored 58 and 71 not out for Transvaal XV, and in the three Test matches made 106 runs, average 21.20, including 45 at Cape Town.

STUDD, BRIGADIER-GENERAL HERBERT WILLIAM, who died on August 8, aged 76, was the fifth of sixth brothers, all of whom played in the Eton eleven, the most distinguished being G. B., C. T. and J. E. K., who captained Cambridge in that order in consecutive years. He played a little county cricket for Middlesex and Hampshire. Reginald Augustus Studd, youngest of the brothers who got his Cambridge Blue, and played for Hampshire, survives.

THOMPSON, MR. VINCENT, died at Newcastle, June 9, aged 80. Played for Harrow 1883, and Northumberland.

THURGAR, MR. WILLIAM A., died at Lowestoft in April, aged 90. Played cricket for Norfolk over fifty years ago. Retired Norwich auctioneer.

TURNER, MAJOR ROBERT HARRISON TOM, M.C., died September 13, aged 58. Played for Repton and a little for Nottinghamshire.

WATSON, MR. ARTHUR KENELM, who died at Harrow on January 2, aged 79, played for Harrow in 1884 and 1885. In his second match against Eton he played a great innings of 135, and with Eustace Crawley added 235 for the second wicket in two hours and three-quarters. Harrow won by three wickets within two minutes of time. He was awarded the Ebrington Cup for fielding. An Oxford Blue in 1889, he failed in a disastrous match at Lord's, Cambridge winning by an innings and 105 runs; he was also disappointing for Middlesex before playing in turn for Norfolk and Suffolk. He was a master at Rugby School.

WATSON, MR. HUBERT DIGBY, C.I.E., C.B.E., died October 9, aged 77. Contemporary with F. S. Jackson and A. C. MacLaren at Harrow, 1887-88. Opening batsman for Oxford in 1891 when M. R. Jardine was captain. Cambridge, captained by Gregor MacGregor, won a great match by two wickets. Born on December 31, 1869, he was younger brother of A. K. Watson.

WRIGHT, MR. EDWARD CAMPBELL, died July 28, aged 73. Clergy Orphan School, Canterbury. Played for Oxford in 1897; also a little for Kent and Gloucestershire. For thirty-five years Assistant Master at Christ's Hospital, Horsham.

WRIGHT, MR. HENRY FITZHERBERT, died at Ashbourne, Derbyshire, February 23, aged 76. He was in the Eton XI 1889, and played occasionally for Derbyshire from 1891 to 1905. Unionist M.P. for North Herefordshire 1912-18.

YOUNG, REV. WILFRED ALEC RADFORD, died at Kimcote Rectroy, near Rugby, March 19, aged 79. Played for Harrow 1883-85, and occasionally for Somerset.

SUPPLEMENTARY OBITUARY

BULL, C. H., who was tried for Kent before playing for Worcestershire from 1933, was killed in a road accident at Chelmsford on Whit-Sunday, May 28, 1939. He was 30 years old. This sad mishap recalled the death of Maurice Nichol at an hotel at Chelmsford when Worcestershire were playing the 1934 Whitsuntide match with Essex. Bull became a sound opening batsman, his aggregate reaching four figures each year from 1934, when his average for 1,323 runs was 30.76, until 1938, when a broken finger and a blow on the head in the first match of the season against the Australians compelled a long rest, with resultant loss of form.

DAUGHLISH, REV. ALBAN FRANCIS, died at Kidderminster on January 10, 1946, aged 80. In the Harrow eleven of 1883, he won the Ebrington Cup for fielding.

HALLIDAY, WING COMMANDER J. G., was killed on December 3, 1945, in the leave plane which crashed near Rochefort, France. Educated at City of Oxford High School, he played for Oxford University in 1935 and Oxfordshire, being elected county captain in 1938.

OBITUARY 1946

KNIGHT, ALBERT E., who died in April 1946, aged 72, was a sound batsman and an excellent field at cover-point. He did fine service for Leicestershire from 1895 to 1912, when he went to Highgate School as coach. During that period he scored nearly 20,000 runs at an average of 29.24. Knight possessed no exceptional gifts as a cricketer, but, studious and painstaking, made himself a first-rate batsman of the old style. Driving particularly well to the off and using the square-cut with good effect, he pulled or hooked scarcely at all. In 1899--his first big year--he made 1,246 runs, and for eight consecutive seasons reached his thousand. At his best in 1903, when, sixth in the general first-class averages, his aggregate was 1,835, average 45. Among his most notable successes were 229 not out at Worcester, 144 not out at Trent Bridge, 144 at The Oval, 127 against Surrey at Leicester, and a faultless 139 for Players against Gentlemen at Lord's. Curiously enough, during that summer Leicestershire gained only one victory in the County Championship. In the autumn of 1903 Knight went to Australia in the M.C.C. team captained by P. F. Warner. Figuring in three of the five Test matches, Knight scored 70 not out at Sydney in the fourth game of the series, and on the same ground made 104 against New South Wales, but, on the whole, scarcely realised expectations. The following summer found him again in great form with an aggregate of 1,412, an average of 40, and five separate three-figure innings to his credit, including 203 against M.C.C. at Lord's. He wrote a book entitled The Complete Cricketer, grandiose in style, containing much startling metaphor.

OBITUARY 1946 CORRECTIONS

An advice from Australia states that Joe Darling made 252 for Prince Alfred College, not for St. Peter's, in the annual match of 1885 between the two colleges. The team's total, 500, on that occasion was a record for the Adelaide Oval.

In W. C. Smith obituary, page 695, Wisden, 1947, the second paragraph should read: In 1909 he and Rushby dismissed Yorkshire for 26, the smallest total ever recorded by that county. Kent were champions that year. In 1905, when the Australians won by 22 runs, twelve wickets fell to Smith for 124 runs, and he earned identical figures for Surrey against the touring side of 1909. Mr. Hall, of Nottingham, pointed out the errors.

The reference to Mr. E. M. O'Brien Toulmin, page 447, Wisden, 1946, should have read King's School, Canterbury, where he was the best all-round player before going to Magdalene College, Oxford. He did little in Freshmen's and Trial matches at the University.