Obituaries in 1976

BAKER, CHARLES SHAW, died at St. Ives in December, aged 93. Born at Manchester, he played for Warwickshire from 1908 to 1920, scoring over 9,000 runs with an average of just under 30 and making seven hundreds. He was a solid left-hander with a good stroke through the covers. Giving up first-class cricket early to become a cartoonist, he got a contract with the Daily Express, but from 1925 to 1930 played with considerable success as an amateur for Cornwall, supplementing his batting with some useful off-breaks and googlies. On his first appearance for them he scored 136 not out and 93 against Surrey II and that year made 756 runs with an average of 63. Four years later he still headed both the batting and bowling averages. His death leaves E. J. Smith and Canon J. H. Parsons as the sole survivors of the Warwickshire side which won the Championship in 1911.

BLACKTON, WALTER READER, M.C., died in hospital at Derby on January 1, aged 80. Originally on the Notts staff, his first county match was as a professional for Derbyshire against Worcestershire in their last fixture in 1914, when he made 31 not out. He was then using the name of Reader. After the war he played a few times as an amateur in 1920 and 1921 without much success. Later he appeared occasionally for Sir Julien Cahn's side.

BLEACKLEY, MAJOR EDWARD OVERALL, who died in a London nursing home on February 17, aged 77, was in the Harrow XI in 1915 and 1916. Particularly strong on the leg side, he made top score in each innings in one of the unofficial matches against Eton in 1916. In 1919 he played in two matches for Lancashire.

CARTWRIGHT, LT.-COL. GEORGE HAMILTON GRAHAME MONTAGU, who died in hospital on August 4, aged 87, will be chiefly remembered for his devoted services to the Eton Ramblers, of which he was Secretary from 1919 to 1955 and President from 1955 until his death. He was a member of the Eton XI in 1907 and 1908. In 1908 against Winchester he made 102 not out and took ten for 110. Going up to New College, he scored 23 and 55 in the Freshmen's match and took nine for 138, but, though he had several trials for the'Varsity, he never got a blue and has to be content with a Harlequin. However, his contemporaries always spoke of him as one of the best players in their recollection to be passed over. He was a steady fast-medium right-hand bowler, capable of keeping an end going indefinitely, a brave hard-hitting batsman and an excellent fielder and he continued to play in good club cricket until he was well over seventy. Known to his countless friends and to many others as Buns, he was an accomplished player of many games and for years one of the best-known characters in the games-playing world.

CHADWYCK-HEALEY, HILARY PHILIP, who died on March 30, at the age of 88, was joint-founder with Sir Henry Leveson Gower in 1924 of the Grasshoppers, of which he was Secretary from 1924 to 1932 and President from 1954 to 1964. As a cricketer his enthusiasm greatly exceeded his skill, but he was quite well known as a composer of church music.

CHETTLE, GEOFFREY ARTHUR, who died in Durban on May 25 at the age of 69, was the founder of the South African Cricket Annual in 1952, and he continued to edit and publish it, almost single-handed, for the next 24 years. The last issue, much delayed by his terminal illness, appeared in March 1976, but he was determined that it should be published despite his background of worsening ill-health. Before Chettle's Annual came into being, the record of cricket annual publishing in South Africa had been, for over a century, as spasmodic as it had been in most countries, England (and Wisden) apart. One issue, or perhaps a few, had appeared but there was an enormous gap of 42 years from 1907 to 1949 when a single issue appeared, three years before Chettle started his long run. Cricket enthusiasts all over the world, and particularly in South Africa, have a great deal to thank him for. Apart from this work, he was also the South African correspondent for Wisden, to which he contributed for 17 years, and, at the time that tours from overseas were a regular feature of the South African scene, he produced tour brochures, starting in 1953/54. Different editions were produced for each area covered by each tour, and altogether some 70 appeared.

COLLINS, SIR WILLIAM ALEXANDER ROY, died at Horsmonden, Kent, on September 21, aged 76. A medium-paced right-handed swinger, he was in the Harrow XI in 1917, 1918 and 1919, being captain in the last two years, in both of which he headed the bowling averages. He was a good all-round games player and had represented Scotland at lawn-tennis.

COMBER, JOSEPH THOMAS HENRY, died on May 3, aged 65. He was four years in the Marlborough XI and Captain in his last year and, getting his blue at Cambridge as a Freshman, kept wicket against Oxford in 1931, 1932, and 1933. He was also a useful batsman in the tail, but did not play straight enough to get runs consistently in first-class cricket.

COZENS-HARDY, BASIL, who died in hospital at Norwich on January 13, aged 90, was in the Rugby XI from 1901 to 1903 and from 1903 to 1914 played frequently for Norfolk as a batsman, his highest score being 102 against Bedfordshire in 1908. He captained Oxford at Rugger in 1906. His cricket was ended by the loss of a leg in action in 1918.

CREMER, HARRY LESLIE, M.B.E., who died at Canterbury on July 16, aged 82, was Hon. Treasurer of the Kent County Cricket Club from 1952 to 1969. A useful all-round cricketer, he had been in the XI at King's School, Canterbury, and later played much for the Band of Brothers.

CROWE, GEORGE LAWSON, who died on June 23 at the age of 91, played several useful innings for Worcestershire between 1906 and 1913, the two highest, both against Hampshire, being 78 in 1906 and 56 in 1909. In all he scored 584 runs for the county with an average of 16.22. An attacking batsman, he was in the Westminster XI in 1903. He was for nearly forty years a master at Bromley County Grammar School, Kent, and a prominent member of Bickley Park C.C.

DARWALL SMITH, JOHN ANDERTON, died in hospital on June 22, aged 64. He just missed the XI at Winchester, but had several trials for Oxford in 1933 and 1934. In 1934 in the last match before the' Varsity match, he made 36 and 30 against H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI at Reigate and took six for 88, but failed to get his blue. He played soccer for Oxford and the Corinthians. He was elder brother of R. F. H. Darwall Smith of Oxford University and Sussex.

DAVIES, DAI, who died at Llanelli on July 16, aged 79, was a man who held a very special place in the hearts of Glamorgan supporters. Not only was he for many years an indispensable member of the county side, but he and his namesake, Emrys, who was no relation, were the first home-born professionals to find regular places in it. Moreover, Dai was a typical Welshman and could never have passed for anything else: indeed, when batting he was happiest if he had a partner with whom he could call the runs in Welsh. Though he had plenty of scoring strokes, chiefly in front of the wicket, he was primarily a solid and determined batsman; he was moreover a useful medium-paced off-spinner and a superb cover.

Between 1923 and 1939 he scored over 15,000 runs, including sixteen hundreds, for the county, his highest score being 216 v. Somerset in his last season, and took 275 wickets. Summoned at the very last moment to play against Northamptonshire at Swansea at the age of twenty-seven, and scoring on his first appearance 58 and 51, besides taking some wickets, he at once made his place secure and it remained so until 1939 when he was forty-three and the Committee decided to terminate his engagement at the end of the season. So when he reappeared in 1946 it was as an umpire. He remained on the first-class list until 1961 and during that time umpired in twenty-three Tests. As might be expected, he was firm and decisive and was as much respected in this second part of his career as he had been in the first. In his later days he was much crippled with arthritis.

DILLWYN-VENABLES-LLEWELYN, BRIGADIER SIR MICHAEL, BT., M. V. O., who died at Lydolinam, Brecon, on March 15, aged 76, was a useful opening bat in the Eton XI in 1917 and later played much I. Zingari, Free Forester and Army cricket.

DURY, LT.-COL. GUY ALEXANDER INGRAM, M.C., who died on August 10, aged 80, was a useful all-rounder in the Harrow XI's of 1913 and 1914, in his second year heading both batting and bowling averages. Later he played much IZ., Free Forester and Army cricket. His father was a member of the Oxford side in 1876.

ELLIOTT, HARRY, who died at Derby on February 4, aged 84, was born at Scarcliffe on November 2, 1891 (not 1895). It was whilst he was with Sir Joseph Laycock, at Wiseton Hall in Nottinghamshire that Sir Archibald White, formerly captain of Yorkshire, recommended him to Derbyshire, and he first played and kept wicket in 1920 against Essex. Immediately he made his place secure, displacing George Beet, but his early promise as a batsman never matured, though he was an excellent man in a crisis. He appeared in 194 consecutive Derbyshire matches up to 1928, when the Test match against West Indies broke the sequence; subsequently he made 232 consecutive appearances up to 1937 when injury intervened.

Chosen to tour South Africa with M.C.C. under G. R. Jackson in 1927-28, when the latter had to withdraw and was replaced by R. T. Stanyforth (himself a wicket-keeper), Elliott's chances were greatly reduced, though in the final Test at Durban he allowed only four byes in an aggregate of 401. He also toured India under D. R. Jardine in 1933-34, playing in two Tests, when he caught six and stumped three.

Elliott played in 532 first-class matches, 764 innings, 220 not out, 7,578 runs, 13.93 average; 904 catches, 302 stumpings. His total of 1,206 dismissals had, at that time, been exceeded by only four other'keepers. He holds several Derbyshire wicket-keeping records--most dismissals (a) in a season--90, (b) in a match--10, (c) in an innings--6 (three times); most stumpings in a season--30. He led the side on a number of occasions, the most notable being at Loughborough in 1933 when he made his best score of 94, sharing a stand of 222 with L. F. Townsend to set up a new record for the third wicket, and allowed no byes in the match, which was won by an innings. In 1935 he allowed no byes in 25 completed innings.

In 1946 he became an umpire but retired when he was appointed coach for 1947, re-appearing to keep wicket in four matches at the age of almost 56, though it was not until 1967, at the reunion of the Championship winning side of 1936, that he disclosed that he had been born in 1891. He returned to the umpires' list in 1952 and continued until 1960. He was the uncle of C. S. Elliott.

EMMETT, GEORGE M., died on December 18, aged 61. Born in India, he started his career on the groundstaff at Lord's and then, after several successful seasons for Devon, began to qualify for Gloucestershire in 1936. The soundness of his method at once made it clear that he had great possibilities, but it was not until 1947 that he really fulfilled expectations. From then until 1959 he was one of the mainstays of the side, which he captained from 1955 to 1958. In all he made for Gloucestershire 22,806 runs with an average of 31 and scored 34 hundreds. A fine player on a turning wicket, he could also hit the ball astonishingly hard for so small a man and was always prepared to adapt his game to the needs of the side. In 1954 against Somerset at Taunton he scored the fastest century of the season, reaching his hundred in 84 minutes. Highly though he was rated for years, he played only once for England, against Australia at Old Trafford in 1948, when Lindwall's pace was too much for him. After his retirement from the Gloucestershire side he served the county further as groundsman and coach.

FALCON, MICHAEL, who died suddenly at his home in Norwich on February 27, aged 87, was a cricketer who might well have played in Test Matches had he been qualified for a first-class county. As it was, there were those who thought that he would have strengthened the deplorably weak English bowling in 1921 and their opinion was confirmed when, by taking six for 67 in the first innings, he had much to do with the sensational victory of MacLaren's XI over the Australians at Eastbourne. He had moreover a knack of producing his best form on important occasions.

A fast bowler who swung the ball away late and could get considerable lift, he took six for 58 for the Gentlemen against a strong Players' side at the Oval in 1913, six for 41 for the Gentlemen against the 1919 A.I.F. side and, perhaps most remarkable of all, seven for 42 for H. M. Martineau's XI against the Australians at Holyport in 1926 in the first match of their tour. By then at thirty-eight he had slightly shortened his run and moderated his pace, at the same time gaining something in subtlety, so that the very dead wicket was not the handicap to him that it would have been a few years earlier.

Strangely enough, he did not start to bowl seriously until his last year at Cambridge. As a member of the Harrow XI in 1906 and 1907 he was primarily a batsman and at Cambridge, where he got his blue as a Freshman and was Captain in 1910, he hardly bowled at all in his first three years, but scored plenty of runs. After he came down, he was regarded in first-class cricket mainly as a bowler, but for the Gentleman at The Oval in 1924, after taking seven for 78 in the first innings, he made 34 not out in the second going in last and helped Arthur Gilligan to put on 134 for the last wicket in an hour.

A fine fieldsman, he was indeed a thorough cricketer. His name will always be especially associated with Norfolk. He had the astonishing record of playing for them for thirty-nine years, 1907 to 1946, and captaining them from 1912 to 1946. In all he scored 11,340 runs for them with an average of 32.87, his highest score being 205 against Hertfordshire in 1920, and he took 727 wickets at 16.13. Nor was he a passenger in his last season, when at the age of fifty-eight he headed the batting averages. Later he was Chairman of the Norfolk committee from 1950 to 1969 and President from 1969 to 1972, after which he and his wife were elected Honorary Vice-Presidents. He had sat in the House of Commons as M.P. for East Norfolk and had also been High Sheriff of the county.

FARMER, WILFRED, who died in Barbados in February at the age of 54, was a former captain of Barbados and was credited with having discovered Garry Sobers.

FIDDIAN-GREEN, CHARLES ANDERSON FIDDIAN, who died on September 5, aged 77, was a batsman who added to the gifts of a fine natural games player an impeccable style and a solid defence. Going up to Cambridge University from The Leys at the age of twenty-one in 1919 because of the War, he did not get a trial for the'Varsity in his first year, but in 1921, coming into the side on the tour, he scored so heavily as to put his claims beyond doubt and got a blue in a year in which batsmen like T. C. Lowry, G. O. Shelmerdine, W.W. Hill-Wood, T. E. Halsey and H. D. Hake had to be passed over. He had already gained valuable experience for Warwickshire in 1920. In 1922 he came second in the Cambridge averages with 49.21 and represented the Gentlemen at Lord's.

Becoming a Master at Malvern, where he ran the cricket, he continued to play at times for Warwickshire in the holidays till 1928, in which year he headed their averages with 50.71. He played no more first-class cricket till 1931, when in his first match for Worcestershire he scored a hundred, and he continued to play spasmodically for them till 1934. He was a batsman who must have taken a high place had he been able to play regularly after he come down. He also represented Cambridge at hockey (he was an international) and golf. In his one'Varsity golf match he won his single 7 and 6 and his foursome 4 and 2, thus contributing substantially to Cambridge's victory by one match.

FITZROY NEWDEGATE, COMMANDER THE HON. JOHN MAURICE, who died in hospital on May 7, aged 79, captained Northamptonshire as Commander J. M. FitzRoy from 1925 to 1927. A tall man with enormous hands, he was a fine slip and a most energetic chaser of the ball in the field; he did much to improve his side's fielding and was a splendid captain to play under. His premature retirement owing to a knee injury was greatly regretted. As a bat he was a fierce hitter who might have made more runs had he not tried to clear the boundary quite so often. As it was, he sometimes made useful scores when more esteemed batsmen had failed. In the few matches he was able to play in his last season, he made 50, the highest score of the innings and of his career, against Kent, and against Worcestershire he and T. B. G. Welch scored 86 in fifty-two minutes in an unbroken partnership to win the match with eight minutes to spare.

FORBES, COL. O. B., died in London on July 24. He was Hon. Secretary of the Ceylon Cricket Association in 1922 and again from 1924 to 1926, Hon. Treasurer in 1927 and President in 1928. He was largely responsible for Arthur Gilligan's M.C.C. side to India in 1926-7 playing four matches in Ceylon.

FOSTER, CAPTAIN JACK HEYGATE NEDHAM, died on November 16, aged 71. A good stylist, quick on his feet, with a beautiful pair of wrists, he was in the Harrow XI in 1923 and played an outstanding innings of 75 at Lord's in the course of which he and G. O. Brigstocke put on 92 for the last wicket. In 1925 he scored 108 for Kent II v. Norfolk and in 1930 had a couple of trials for the County without success.

GABY, GERALD, always called Joe, one of a great Lord's family, died on May 20, aged 74. He had been associated with the Pavilion and its staff for over fifty years and was well known to, and greatly respected by, countless members as well as noted cricketers from all parts of the world.

GEE, HARRY, who spent a life-time in Fleet Street, was taken ill suddenly at his home at Liphook and died on January 15, aged 69. Gee joined Pardon's Cricket Reporting Agency in 1929 and for many years helped in the compilation of Wisden. He became a partner in the C.R.A. in 1948 and when the Press Association, with whom Pardon's had been linked since 1880, took over the C.R.A. in 1963, Gee was appointed P.A. Sports Editor. He was well known in cricket and football circles and went, on behalf of Reuter, with the M.C.C. team to Australia and New Zealand in 1958-59.

GIBSON, CLEMENT HERBERT, who died in Buenos Aires after a short illness on December 31, aged 76, will always be remembered for the part he played in helping MacLaren's XI to beat the Australians at Eastbourne in 1921. After failing to get a wicket in the first innings, he took six for 64 in the second, including the opening pair, Bardsley and Collins.

He had had a wonderful record at Eton, where in four years in the XI he had taken 122 wickets at an average of 10.50. He was Captain in 1918 and 1919 and in 1919 took six for 18 and three for 12 at Lord's. Later that summer he played a few times for Sussex. He was a member of the very strong Cambridge sides of 1920 and 1921, when he and C. S. Marriott were one of the most formidable pairs of bowlers either University has ever had and provided a perfect contrast. On coming down he went out to the Argentine, where he spent the rest of his life.

In the winter of 1922-3 Gibson was a member of MacLaren's side in Australia and New Zealand and, though his record does not look much, must have bowled well, as it is said to have been largely on MacLaren's recommendation that he was asked to go with the M.C.C. to Australia in 1924. This invitation he had to refuse, perhaps fortunately, as, when he was home for the summer in 1926 and played for Sussex, he met with little success, though he could still produce at times a good ball: at the Oval he clean bowled Hobbs with a beauty in each innings.

This was the end of his county cricket, but in 1932 he captained a South American side on a brief tour of England. With a good run up and a beautifully easy action, he bowled fast-medium, kept at his best a good length and made the ball swing very late. His best one would pitch on the leg stump and hit the off. He was also an extremely useful bat in the lower half of the order. Had he been able to continue regular first-class cricket after coming down, he would probably have taken a high place. Gibson was one of the Five Cricketers of the Year (schoolboys) in 1918.

GILLIGAN, ARTHUR EDWARD ROBERT, died on September 5. (See special memoir in Features section.)

GILMAN, MAJOR JAMES, died on September 14. (See special memoir in Features section.)

GREGORY, FRANK E., died on April 26 at the age 63, as the result of an accident off the Italian coast. An expert on the profitable development of cricket grounds, he was the Chairman of the Test and County Cricket Board Development and Maintenance Committee and had just retired after five years from the Presidency of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club.

HAYNES, R. W., died suddenly in October, while playing golf at North Oxford. He was 63. He appeared for Gloucestershire from 1930 to 1939, but did not get a regular place until 1936 when he showed promise as an opening batsman. This promise he failed to fulfil in the next three seasons. His highest score was 89 v. Hampshire in 1936 when he and Barnett put on 183 for the first wicket. In 1929 and again between 1946 and 1952 he played occasionally for Oxfordshire. He was a forcing bat with a good square cut and a moderate change left-arm bowler, who thoroughly enjoyed his cricket. He was also a first-class hockey player.

HOLDSWORTH, ROMILLY LISLE, died at Blagdon Hill, Taunton, on June 20, aged 77. Three years in the Repton XI and captain in 1917, he went up to Oxford in 1919 and, getting his blue both for cricket and soccer as a freshman, played for four years against Cambridge at cricket and three at soccer. From 1919 to 1921 he played for Warwickshire and from 1925 to 1929 for Sussex. His highest innings in first-class cricket was 202 for Oxford against the Free Foresters in 1921, but undoubtedly his most notable performance was to score 159 for Sussex against Lancashire at Eastbourne in 1927 in five hours, forty minutes. He and Arthur Gilligan, who made 103, put on 188 in two and a half hours for the eighth wicket, and this, coupled with splendid bowling by the Rev. F. B. R. Browne, resulted in Lancashire, the champion county, suffering their only defeat of the season.

Altogether in first-class cricket he made 4,716 runs with an average of 26.20, including seven centuries. Essentially a sound batsman, he was a beautiful stylist and also a glorious field with a wonderfully safe pair of hands. Apart from his playing ability, his charm and his quiet sense of humour made him a welcome member of any eleven. After some years as a master at Harrow, he went on to become Headmaster of the Doon School, Dehra Dun. In 1931 he was botanist to the Kamet Expedition, climbed Kamet, the first peak of over 25,000 feet ever to be climbed, and brought back plants of considerable scientific interest.

HONE, WILLIAM PATRICK, M.C., a member of the famous Irish cricketing family, died at Clondalkin, Co. Dublin, on February 28, aged 89. A good batsman and wicket-keeper, he had played for and captained Ireland and was a member of the Gentleman of Ireland's side in Canada in 1908. He had been in the XI at Trinity, Dublin, and for years played for the Phoenix Club, but he will probably be best remembered for his book Cricket in Ireland, published in 1955, which is the standard history of the game in that country.

HORNIBROOK, PERCY M., who died at Brisbane on August 23, aged 77, was a bowler of whom Australia probably ought to have made more use in the 1920's. Possibly the fact that his State, Queensland, was not admitted to the Sheffield Shield until 1926 made it harder for him to gain recognition. A tall slow-medium left-hander with a loose arm and a good action, he was prepared to open the bowling with swingers and then after a few overs would reduce his pace and begin to spin and flight the ball. He first attracted attention by taking 81 wickets at an average of 9, on a tour of New Zealand in 1920 and many thought he should have been included in the 1921 side to England, which was distinctly weak in slow-wicket bowling, though in the event it not require it.

There was far greater surprise when he was omitted from the 1926 side, and no less a judge than M. A. Noble advocated his inclusion. He would at least have saved Macartney from being bowled to death in the early weeks of the tour and in the vital last Test on a rain-affected pitch he might easily have tipped the scales in Australia's favour. It was not until he was thirty in 1929 that he got a place in the fifth Test against A. P. F. Chapman's side: he was given the new ball and bowled well without spectacular success.

Chosen at last to go to England in 1930, he came second in the bowling averages with 96 wickets at 18.77, but did nothing in the Tests until the last one. Then in the second innings on a turning wicket, his analysis read 31.2-9-92-7 and he had much to do with England losing the match and the Ashes after making 405 in the first innings. But his figures suggest, what good critics confirm, that he bowled far too many bad balls: one indeed said that bogey for a good slow left-hander on that wicket would have been seven for 30. Perhaps had he had longer experience of English conditions he would have been better. At any rate by then he was past his peak--his arm had dropped and he was more full-chested. At the end of the tour he retired from first-class cricket.

HORSLEY, JAMES, was born at Melbourne, Derbyshire, on January 4, 1890 and died at Derby on February 13, aged 86. He lived in Nottingham for some years where he came to the fore as a fast medium bowler, playing for Nottinghamshire in three matches in 1913 with little profit. Horsley was an immediate success when appearing for his native county in 1914, taking four or more wickets in an innings on eight occasions in 13 matches to head the county's bowling averages. In addition he shared a record last wicket stand of 93 with Humphries in his fourth match, which remains the club record. Horsley re-appeared in 1919 and took six for 55(including the hat-trick) and six for 62 when Derbyshire was the only county to defeat the Australian I. F. XI. He played for Burnley for the next three years, but returned in 1923 and took 170 wickets in three seasons, showing he was still a more than useful bowler, especially on helpful pitches. He went back to League cricket in Lancashire before spending two summers with Aberdeenshire and then became professional to several clubs in Northern Ireland up to the outbreak of war. During his county career he was almost invariably given in initial W. in Wisden. His complete first-class record in 87 matches: 132 innings, 32 not outs, 1,367 runs, 66 highest score, 13.67 average; 267 wickets, 5,412 runs, 20.26; 47 catches. He was related to J. H. Young who played for the county 1899-1901.

HOWELL, MILES, who died at his home at Worplesdon on February 23 aged 82, went up to Oxford after having a fine record as Captain of Repton in 1913, and at once made his blue safe by scoring 121 in the Freshmen's match and following this with 123 against Kent in his second match for the University. After serving through the war and being wounded, he returned to Oxford in 1919 and captained them at both cricket and football. He headed their batting averages with fine figures and in the' Varsity match played a great innings of 170. Cambridge were strong favourites, but when Oxford won the toss on a sodden ground and batted, Howell and Donald Knight made 70 for the first wicket. From then on wickets fell steadily until Frank Gilligan contributed a cheerful 70 at number eight. Everything depended on Howell; he was in no position to take risks and his innings lasted five hours and forty minutes. He scored largely on the leg, which was inadequately guarded, and the slowness of the outfield can be gauged from the fact that he hit only three fours as against fifteen threes and sixty-six singles. It was probably fatigue from the amount of running this involved that caused him to be stumped when three short of the record. As in the second innings he threw out Brooke-Taylor brilliantly just when he looked like winning the match for Cambridge, he was largely responsible for Oxford's victory by 45 runs.

From 1920 to 1925 he played for Surrey whenever they could get him, though it usually meant that some pro whom other counties would have welcomed with open arms had to stand down for him. Apart from his batting, his brilliant out-fielding was a strong point in his favour. After 1925 his first-class cricket was largely confined to playing for the Free Foresters at Oxford, which he continued to do until 1939 with no apparent diminution of skill.

A small man, of the typical soccer forward's build, who always played in spectacles, he was a good defensive player, particularly strong on the leg-side, but he had all the strokes and was never dull to watch. Indeed in club cricket he would often bat brilliantly. Cricket was in his blood. His father and his uncle had both played for Surrey and his younger brother, John, who was killed in action in 1915, was regarded by good judges as a future England player.

Miles Howell played for The Corinthians and gained several Amateur International caps. Apart from his own achievements as a cricketer and footballer he deserves to be remembered for the wonderful work he did in getting both games going again on the right lines at Oxford in 1919.

INGELSE, RAY G., one of the leading personalities of his time in Dutch cricket, died on May 18, aged 78. He was the originator of the fund set up in 1965 to maintain the grave of W. G. Grace at Elmer's End.

JAMES, KENNETH C., died at Palmerston North, N. Z., on August 21, aged 71. When he came to England with the first New Zealand team in 1927, he was expected to be second-string keeper to his captain, Tom Lowry. He soon disposed of this theory, keeping in a large proportion of the matches and, in a side which was clearly not yet ready for Test cricket, being accepted as one of the players of Test class. This impression he strengthened on his second visit in 1931. Qualifying for Northamptonshire, he played for them from 1935 to 1939 and then, after serving in the R.N.Z.A.F. during the war, returned to New Zealand. In a career for Wellington which started in 1923 he had scored several centuries and came to be regarded as a reliable bat, but, though he often showed valuable determination in a crisis, he did not, in England, live up to this reputation until his third regular season for Northamptonshire, 1938, when he exceeded a thousand runs and made two hundreds. As a wicket keeper he ranked high, but, in as much as he was one of the first to make a habit of standing back to medium-pace bowling, he must be regarded as partially responsible for one of the most questionable developments in modern cricket. He excelled in dealing with the spin of W. E. Merritt his New Zealand colleague who joined him at Northampton.

LANGFORD, ARTHUR WILLIAM TANFIELD, died on November 23, aged 80. His long connection with The Cricketer began in 1923 when he started to write notes for it on club cricket. In 1928 he became Assistant Editor and Advertisement Manager and from the end of the war to 1966 was virtually Editor. Even after that he continued for some years to write for it on club cricket. He had himself been an extremely useful club player.

LARKIN, GERALD MICHAEL, died suddenly in Johannesburg on May 9, at the age of 61. He was better known as an administrator and team manager than as a player. He was the Local Manager of several Springbok Test Teams, also Transvaal teams on tour, and was the Manager of the South African Invitation XI which played the International Wanderers in Johannesburg only a month before his death. A useful wicket-keeper and opening bat, he appeared three times for Western Province between 1935 and 1938. His opportunities were limited as the wicket-keeping position was securely held by A. B. Glantz in the decade before the war. In 1942/43 he appeared in two matches in Johannesburg, in one of which the late Wally Hammond made his only domestic first-class appearance in South Africa.

LAWRIE, CHARLES DUNCAN, who died in hospital at Edinburgh on August 31, aged 53, was in the Feltes XI and played as a batsman for Oxford against Cambridge at Lord's in the war-time match of 1942. Better known as a golfer, he captained the British Walker Cup sides in 1961 and 1963.

LEE, GARNET MORLEY, died at Newark on February 29 in his 89th year, having been born at Calverton on June 7, 1887. A sound right-hand batsman who also bowled leg-breaks and googlies, he joined the Nottinghamshire staff in 1905 but had to serve an apprenticeship of five years before making his début against Sussex. In 1911 he made his place secure, and he was believed to be the sole surviving member of Nottinghamshire XI when Alletson scored 189 out of 227 in ninety minutes at Hove that year. Lee helped Alletson in an eighth wicket stand of 73 in forty minutes. In 1913 Lee scored 200 not out in five hours against Leicestershire, adding 333 for the second wicket with A. W. Carr. This was the only year in which he reached 1,000 runs for Nottinghamshire and in 1922 he lost his place to W. Whysall.

He spent two years qualifying for Derbyshire where he was an immediate success, scoring 1,000 runs in his first year, and six times in all. In 1926 he hit 191 against Kent and in the following year made 100 not out and took twelve for 143 against Northamptonshire, and headed the bowling averages. Early in 1928 he toured Jamaica with the Hon. L. H. Tennyson's side and played for North v. South at Bournemouth. In 1931 at Northampton he hit Jupp for eight 6's, three off successive balls, in an innings of 141 not out, and in 1932 added 212 for the sixth wicket with Worthington against Essex-still a club record. He was an umpire from 1935 until 1949, and coached at Repton 1941-45. It was during this period, and when L. B. Blaxland was in charge of cricket, that D. B. Carr developed into one of the best schoolboy cricketers of all time. Lee's complete first-class record is 373 matches, 623 innings, 47 not outs, 14,846 runs, 200 not out highest score, 25.77 average; 397 wickets, 11,133 runs, 28.04 average; 153 catches; 22 centuries.

LEWIS, PERCY TYSON (PLUM), who died in Durban on January 30, at the age of 91, was the oldest Springbok and the last survivor of the South Africans who played in the 1913/14 series. Following a splendid innings of 151 for Western Province against the M.C.C. in the opening match of that tour, he was selected for the first Test Match in Durban, but failed to score in either innings, being caught Woolley b Barnes in both innings. He first appeared for Western Province in 1907/08 and, at the conclusion of the M.C.C. tour of 1909/10, he was a member of the team picked by H. D. G. Leveson Gower to tour Rhodesia.

Lewis served in France as a Lieut.-Colonel in World War I and won the M.C. and Bar. He was severely wounded in the leg and played no more first-class cricket, but continued to play some club cricket, and in one match, despite his crippled leg, scored a century using a runner. A lawyer, he was for a brief period an acting judge. He volunteered for service again in World War II, and was the Officer-in-Charge of demobilization at South Africa House in London when the war ended.

LINDSAY, NEVILLE, VERNON, who died in Pietermaritzburg on February 2, at the age of 89, made one appearance for South Africa against Warwick Armstrong's Australians in 1921/22, and he also appeared in one of the unofficial tests against S. B. Joel's XI in 1924/25. He was then nearing the end of his career, which began 1906/07 for Transvaal when he was 19, and he played for them during almost the whole of his career. A fine batsman, he scored a total of 2,030 runs at an average of 33 and made five centuries. In his last season, 1926/27, he was a member of an immensely strong Transvaal team which included H. W. Taylor, M. J. Susskind, J. A. J. Christy, H. B. Cameron, H. G. Deane, A. D. ( Dave) Nourse, A. E. Hall, E. P. Nupen, D. P. Conyngham and Bruce Mitchell, then at the outset of his career, almost a Springbok side in itself. They won each of their six matches, four of them by an innings. In 1922/23, Lindsay with G. R. McCubbin set up a new South African ninth wicket record of 221 playing for Transvaal against Rhodesia, at Bulawayo, and this record still holds. Lindsay was a fine all-round sportsman and made his name also at rugby, hockey, golf and bowls. With the death of P. T. Lewis (noted above), Lindsay became the oldest Springbok, on an age basis, but held that position for less than a week.

LOWRY, THOMAS COLEMAN, who died at Hastings, New Zealand, on July 20, was born at Wellington, New Zealand, on February 2, 1898. The importance of this fact lies in the tradition that his sole qualification for Somerset in later years was, as P. R. Johnson's had been before him, born at Wellington. He was at school at Christ's College, served in the R.F.C. at the end of World War I and, going up to Cambridge in 1921 made 183 in the Freshmen's match, but neither in that year nor the next did he get his blue, although in both seasons he did valuable work for Somerset when term was ended. So strong was Cambridge cricket then that, if one looks at the 1921 side, it is impossible to see who could have been left out for him.

In the winter of 1922 he went with MacLaren's side to Australia and New Zealand. In 1923 an innings of 161 against Lancashire in the first match scored in two hours, fifty minutes made his place in the Cambridge side secure: he got over a thousand runs for the University and played for the Gentlemen at Lord's. After captaining Cambridge in 1924 he went back to New Zealand, but returned in 1927 and again in 1931 to captain the first two New Zealand sides in England.

An outstanding captain, he aimed at winning, not drawing, insisted on absolute punctuality and abhorred waste of time. On both tours he was one of the team's most reliable bats. In 1937 he came again, this time as Manager to play when wanted, and an innings of 121 in 105 minutes against Nottinghamshire showed that he was still worth a place. Altogether he hit eighteen first-class hundreds. A very strong man, he was a thorough cricketer--a fine attacking bat, always at his best in a crisis, a splendid field close to the wicket, a competent wicket-keeper if required, and a useful slow bowler, who was not afraid to give the ball plenty of air. In later life he was President of the New Zealand Cricket Council. One of his sisters married R. H. Bettington, another A. P. F. Chapman.

MARDER, JOHN ISRAEL, died in London on August 27, aged 67. Born at Nottingham and educated there and at Boston University, U.S.A. he did much to revive interest in cricket in America and was founder in 1961 and first President of the United States Cricket Association. Two years later he was largely responsible for reviving the old fixture between Canada and the United States. His writings on cricket included a history of the contest, 1884-1967, entitled The International Series, an article on United States cricket in The World of Cricket and a number of contributions to various cricket periodicals. He covered cricket in U.S.A. regularly in recent years for Wisden and in the 1975 edition in Buying Back One's Past he drew attention to the old advertisements.

MARTINEAU, GERARD DURANI, who died in hospital at Lyme Regis on May 28, aged 79, was not in the XI at Charterhouse and was never more than a moderate club cricketer, though he was for a short period a Holiday Coach at the Faulkner School of Cricket, but he was a great lover of the game and a copious writer on it. He was a considerable contributor to E. W. Swanton's World of Cricket, wrote for years for The Cricketer and was author of a number of books, of which the most important to the cricket historian are Bat, Ball, Wicket and All, a history of cricket implements, and The Valiant Stumper, a history of wicket-keeping. But in general his books were not works of much original research. Pleasantly written, they were ideally calculated to arouse the interest of the novice and spur him on to try for himself the masterpieces of Nyren and Pycroft. His other books included a History of the Royal Sussex Regiment, in which he had served in the First World War.

MARTINEAU, HUBERT MELVILLE, who died on September 11, aged 84, was very great lover and patron of cricket. On his private ground at Holyport Lodge, near Maidenhead, club cricket of a high standard was played throughout the summer from 1923 to 1939, and four touring sides, the Australians in 1926, the New Zealanders in 1927, the West Indies in 1928 and the Indians in 1932 started their programme there. In addition every year from 1929 to 1939 he took a side largely consisting of first-class players on a tour to Egypt in April. He was not in the XI at Eton, but made himself into a useful slow left-arm blower.

MITCHELL, ARTHUR, who died in hospital in Bradford on Christmas Day, aged 74, was a typical Yorkshire cricketer of one of the county's great periods, unpretentious, unspectacular, but immensely effective and always prepared to adapt himself to the needs of the side--a wonderful man at a crisis. No match was ever lost until the opposition had got him out. Spectators probably remember him primarily as a dour, on-side player, but if runs were wanted quickly he could get them and would start producing off-side strokes which they never dreamed he possessed: he was in fact an especially good cutter. On his one appearance for the Players at Lord's in 1934 he took two hours and five minutes over his first fifty and an hour later was out for 120.

Summoned from his garden at the last minute to take the place of Leyland, stricken by lumbago, in the Test against South Africa at Leeds in 1935, he took over three hours to score a valuable 58 in the first innings, but in the second, sent in first with D. Smith, made 72 in under two hours and helped in an opening stand of 128. In the final Test of the same series, again going in first, he made 40 in three hours. His third and last appearance in a Test in this country was against India at Lord's in 1936. As member of the M.C.C. side in India, he had played in three Tests there in 1933-34.

In the course of his career he scored 19,523 runs with an average of 37.47, including 44 centuries, four of them in consecutive matches in 1933. He had played for Yorkshire as early as 1922, but competition was fierce and in the next three years he had few chances. An innings of 189 against Northamptonshire in 1926 revealed his possibilities, but it was not until two years later that he at last got an assured place. So strong was the county's batting that in 1930 he was one of five members of the side who averaged over 50. In those days he went in three, four or five, but after the retirement of Holmes in 1933 more often opened.

Apart from his batting, he was one of the greatest fieldsmen of his day, Specialising close to the wicket, whether on the leg or the off. He continued to play regularly up to the war, but in 1945 became the county's coach, a post he held until 1970, doing splendid work not only by his teaching, but by going about talking on the game.

Brian Sellers, Yorkshire captain in the latter years of Mitchell's career, said: Cricket has lost a great personality and I have lost a very great friend and old team-mate. Arthur was a loyal supporter and hard worker for Yorkshire and he did extraordinarily good work as coach. He will be greatly missed by the club. He was a dedicated cricketer who worked hard at the game and became a resolute and determined player. His determination is shown in that he was a poor fielder in league cricket at first but he practised so much that he became one of the best in the world.

MONTGOMERY OF ALAMEIN, FIELD MARSHAL LORD, who died at Isington, Hants, on March 24, at the age of 88, was in the XI at St. Paul's School in 1905 and 1906 as an opening batsman. His election to I. Zingari in 1967 gave him very great pleasure. Before the battle of El Alamein he told his troops to hit Rommel's corps for six. And they did.

MORGAN, JOHN TREVIL, who died suddenly at Bristol on December 18, aged 69, was the hero of a few performances so remarkable as to leave his friends wondering why he did not score more consistently. At Charterhouse in 1922, when just fifteen, he came in against a particularly strong Harrow side at 20 for five and made 148 not out. In 1929 before the'Varsity match his average for Cambridge was 11 and he would hardly have retained his place had he not been required to keep wicket, but at Lord's, coming in at 137 for five, he scored 149 out of 208 in three and a half hours, an innings described as one of the best ever played in the match. Older spectators compared it to H. K. Foster's famous hundred in 1895. At one time C. K. Hill Wood, a fastish left-hander, had three men on the boundary behind him. Later that season he made a brilliant 103 not out in a total of 237 for Glamorgan against the South Africans. For Cambridge at the Oval in 1930 he and F. R. Brown put on 257 for the seventh wicket.

Five years in the Charterhouse XI, he never fulfilled his early promise there and owed his place in the Schools' match at Lord's largely to his unexpected development as a bowler. However, after narrowly missing his blue in 1927, he secured it in 1928 and was captain in 1930, when he led Cambridge to a sensational victory at Lord's. He declared, leaving an exceptionally strong Oxford batting side 307 to get in two hours, twenty minutes. They were out in two hours for 101. Some critics praised him for a brilliant declaration. He himself with typical honesty admitted that it never occurred to him that Oxford would attempt to get the runs, still less that they would be got out. He merely thought it indecent to go on batting.

For Glamorgan he did useful work from 1925 to 1934 and later captained the Second XI and served on the Committee. At the time of his death he was President of the South Wales Hunts Cricket Club. A left-handed batsman, of the build and style of Leyland rather than of Woolley, he was a brilliant driver, who was never afraid to lift the ball if necessary, a fine cutter and played well off his legs. In club cricket he was a good medium-paced right-hand off spinner, but just lacked the venom to be dangerous in first-class cricket. Though he kept wicket three years for Cambridge, he never regarded himself as more than a stop gap and after coming down always left his gloves at home for fear he should be asked to keep. He was a reliable slip. His elder brother, A. N. Morgan, played a few times for the county: they were not related to any other Glamorgan cricketers of the same name.

NEVE, JOHN TANNER, who died at Woodcutts, near Salisbury, on July 7, aged 73, was a member of the M.C.C. side to Canada in 1937. A medium-pace in-swinger and useful hard-hitting bat, he had been in the Cheltenham XI in 1920 and later played much for M.C.C. and the Band of Brothers.

NEWBURY, ARTHUR LEONARD, who died at Ightham, Kent, on December 17, made a few appearances for Sussex in 1925, scoring 50 not out against Cambridge University in his first match. He was a director of John Wisden and Co. and director and manager of Gray-Nicolls, Robertsbridge. He was 71.

OLDFIELD, WILLIAM ALBERT, died on August 10. (See special memoir in Features section.)

PENNELL, VERNON CHARLES, Senior Fellow of Pembroke, Cambridge, who died at Cambridge on March 2, aged 86, was not in the XI at Harrow, but later played a few times for Lincolnshire.

PONSONBY, COL. SIR CHARLES, BART., who died at Woodstock on January 28 at the age of 96, had the remarkable distinction of having been a Member of I. Zingari for seventy-eight years. At the time of his death he was the oldest living member. He was a nephew of Sir Spencer Ponsonby-Fane, one of the founders of the Club and its first Governor.

POSTLES, ALFRED J., died early in August, aged 73. A good bat, he captained Auckland in three seasons when they won the Plunket Shield. He had been President of the Auckland Cricket Association and of the New Zealand Cricket Council and also a member of the New Zealand Board of Control.

PREECE, CHARLES RICHARD, who played for Worcestershire between 1920-29, died at Oldbury in the West Midlands on February 2, aged 87. During his playing career his initials were given as C. A. which later led to such confusion that his death was reported in Wisden, 1967 on the demise of a certain Cecil Arthur Preece. There is no question that Charles Richard Preece was the Worcestershire slow-medium bowler who appeared for them after World War I. In the possession of his son is the ball with which C. R. Preece performed the hat-trick against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in 1924. Back in those days the county was far from strong and in 1920, C. R. Preece headed the bowling averages with 42 wickets at 30.11 each. His highest innings was 69 against Sussex at Worcester in 1922. For twenty years he was groundsman at Chance Bros., Smethwick. In 1967 he suffered the handicap of a leg amputation.

RIDDELL, VICTOR HORSLEY, M.D., F.R.C.S., who died at his home at Stratford-on-Avon, on August 9, aged 71, kept wicket for Cambridge at Lord's in 1926, replacing on the tour R. S. Machin, who had kept throughout the term. He had been in the Clifton XI in 1922 and 1923.

ROBERTS, THOMAS WEBB, a well-known cricketer in Ceylon, died during the year at the age of 96. In 1908 he made 70 against an M.C.C. side which included the amateurs returning from the Australian tour. Educated at Harrison College, Barbados, and Hertford College, Oxford, he made 51 in the Freshman's match in 1898 and 54 in the Seniors' match in 1899, but was never tried for the University.

SCORER, REGINALD IVOR, died on March 19, after a long illness aged 84. Between 1921 and 1926 he played 29 matches for Warwickshire, his chief performance being an innings of 113 against Hampshire at Birmingham in 1921 in a high-scoring match. He was also a useful fast-medium change bowler. During the war he did much to keep cricket going in the Midlands by promoting Festivals and in the course of this became the first person to use the Public Address system at cricket matches. A keen Rugby footballer he served sixteen years on the Rugby Union committee.

SHAKESPEARE, WING-COMMANDER WILLIAM HAROLD NELSON, O.B.E., M.C., A.F.C., President of the Worcestershire County Cricket Club, died on July 10, at the age of 83. Between 1919 and 1931 he played intermittently for the county scoring 789 runs with an average of 19.72. Worcestershire were then very weak and some of Shakespeare's performances suggested that he would have been valuable if he could have played regularly. His highest score was 62 not out v. Glamorgan in 1924, when he and Preece added 79 for the ninth wicket in half-an-hour. In the following year he and G.E.B. (now Sir George) Abell put on 111, also for the ninth wicket, v. Middlesex at Lord's. Shakespeare's share being 56. Working in London, he scored heavily for Brondesbury for many years.

SHARDLOW, BERTIE (BERT), who died in hospital on April 30, after a long illness, did wonderful work as a slow left-hander for Staffordshire between 1936 and 1957, taking in that time 558 wickets. No less a judge than Sydney Barnes reckoned that, had he accepted one of several offers which he received to qualify for a first-class county, he might well have played for England; but it was 1947 before he clearly established himself as an outstanding bowler and at thirty-seven he naturally felt he was safer to stick to his trade as a boat carpenter. Apart from his bowling he was a useful bat and had played a number of times for representative Minor County teams.

SHELLY, SIR JOHN, 10th BARONET, who died at Shobrooke House, Crediton, on March 8, aged 91, was not in the XI at Winchester, but played for Devon from 1906 to 1929, captaining them for many years. An attacking batsman, he headed the averages in 1908 with 484 runs at 34.57 and a top score of 122 and as far on as 1928 played his highest innings for the county, 187 v. Surrey II at Exeter. He was President of the club from 1932 to 1961 and was also a great stalwart of the Devon Dumplings. He had been High Sheriff of Devon and Chairman of the County Council, on which he served for nearly forty years.

TAYLOR, WILLIAM THOMAS, who died at Breadsall on August 17 in his 92nd year, was the oldest surviving Derbyshire player at his death, having first appeared in 1905 and again in 1906 and 1910. He was better known as Secretary of the Derbyshire Club, serving from August 4, 1908 until December 31, 1959-a period of 51 years and 149 days, thus exceeding that of the previous longest serving County Secretary, A. J. Lancaster of Kent, by 17 months.

When appointed, the Derbyshire Cricket Guide described him as An enthusiastic worker of a firm but courteous disposition who is likely to prove a successful official, combining the advantages of a good business training with an intimate knowledge of cricket and cricketers-a forecast which proved to be entirely correct. He saw the Club through many vicissitudes, but no problem was too great for him.

In his early years Will Taylor frequently travelled with the XI to away matches, acting as scorer and substitute. He served in the 1914-18 war, reaching the rank of captain before he was badly wounded. In the middle twenties he was offered the Lancashire Secretaryship but Derbyshire was always his county. Had Guy Jackson been able to lead the M.C.C. side to South Africa in 1927-28 he would have been the manager. After retiring in 1959 he was appointed to the Committee, and was Honorary Secretary from 1962 to 1972 when he finally left the scene, though his interest was as keen as ever. Few men have done so much for cricket.

WADSWORTH, KENNETH JOHN, died in Nelson, N. Z., on August 19, aged 29. He had been New Zealand's regular keeper since 1969, playing in thirty-three Tests, the last of them against India at Wellington in February 1976: in these he dismissed 95 batsmen and made over a thousand runs. He toured England in 1969 and 1973. As a keeper, he was always brilliant and as time went on became more consistent: perhaps even when he died he had not reached his best. He was primarily an aggressive bat, whose impetuosity often cost him his wicket, but he could defend doggedly enough when the situation demanded. His highest Test innings was 80 against Australia at Melbourne in 1974: in the same season he made a century against them in the one-day Test at Christchurch.

At Kingston, Jamaica, in 1972, coming in to join Turner at 108 for five, he helped to put on 220, still a New Zealand Test record for the sixth wicket. Above all he was a determined cricketer who loved winning, meant to win and was sure he could, and who equally hated losing. His outlook was more typical of an Australian or a Yorkshireman than a New Zealander and this made proportionately more valuable to his side, who found his courage and confidence an inspiration. His early death is a tragic loss not only to New Zealand Cricket but to world cricket in general.

WATSON, FRANK, who died on February 1 in hospital at Warrington, aged 76, was a batsman whom spectators of fifty years ago will, unless they were fervent Lancashire supporters, remember as one of whom they wished to see as little as possible, but there could be no doubt of his value to the county. He could drive the overpitched ball and was a good hooker, but usually gave the impression that his main object was to stay there, and stay there he did and the runs came. Between 1920 and 1937 he scored 23,596 runs with an average of 36.98 and made fifty centuries.

Five times in this period Lancashire were champions and they were seldom far off it and to these successes Watson was a notable contributor. He was an equally unwelcome sight to the opposition coming in in his early days second wicket down when they were already jaded after bowling for two or three hours to Makepeace, Hallows and Ernest Tyldesley or later in his career opening with Hallows or Hopwood. His most prolific season was 1928 when in county matches he scored 2,403 runs, average 68.25, and made nine centuries including 300 not out, then a record for Old Trafford, against Surrey in Hallows's benefit.

The competition in those days for places in the England side for batsmen was very strong and his representative cricket was confined to one appearance for the Players at Lord's and an occasional Test Trial. Apart from his batting he was a useful medium-pace in-swinger, who took over 400 wickets in all and had a rare knack of breaking tiresome partnerships, and a good first slip. His career was shortened by a bad blow in the eye by a ball from Bowes. Though the sight was not in the end effected, his confidence against the quicker bowlers clearly was and he was only thirty-seven when he dropped out of the side.

WEBB, SYDNEY GEORGE, O.B.E. Q. C., died at Canberra, on August 5, aged 76. He was manager of the Australian side in England in 1961 and a member of the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket from 1954 to 1972.

WOOLLER, WILFRID, who died suddenly on January 11 aged 74, was widely regarded as one of the best groundsmen in England. He started work on the Saffrons at Eastbourne in 1921 and later succeeded his father as Head Groundsman, a position which he held till his death. He is succeeded by his son.

OBITUARY BEFORE 1976

BAPTY, JOHN, who died suddenly at his Bridlington home on December 14, 1975, aged 74, was a noted Yorkshire sports journalist. He began his professional link with Yorkshire cricket in the early days after the 1914-18 war and from 1931 until the close of the 1961 season he travelled with the Yorkshire side, being away only for Test cricket. He went to Australia with the M.C.C teams of 1950 and 1954 and was Sports Editor of the Yorkshire Evening Post from 1947 to his retirement at the end of 1965. A blunt, stocky, typical Yorkshireman, John Bapty contributed to the 1969 Wisden a short post war history of Yorkshire--The Top County.--N. P.

BUSHBY, HAROLD, who managed the 1934 Australian tour of England, died at Launceston, Tasmania, late in 1975, at the age of 87.

CROOKE, ARTHUR RAYMOND, who died on June 26, 1975 aged 74, kept wicket for Cheshire at intervals between 1921 and 1946. He was a life vice-president of the county club and had been secretary for 17 years. A former president of the Cheshire Badminton Association, he was the county's match secretary for 25 years, a selector for 30 years, and held the all-England veterans' doubles title on three occasions.

DACRE, CECIL CHARLES, who died in Auckland, New Zealand, on November 2, 1975, aged 76, was for some years one of the most exciting batsmen in the world, if never one of the heaviest scorers. A stocky, strongly built man, and a fine driver, he scored at a great pace and was capable of doing so against good bowling, but was too uncertain a starter to be consistent. Though he had played in first-class cricket in New Zealand before he was sixteen, had scored 45 and 58 for a representative New Zealand side against Maclaren's M.C.C. team in 1923 and had made two hundreds in a match for Auckland, his name was unknown to the general public in this country when he arrived as Vice-Captain of the first New Zealand side in England in 1927. After two matches everyone was talking about him. He started by making 101 in an hour against H. M. Martineau's XI at Holyport (the match was not first-class) and followed this with 107 in an hour and a half against a strong amateur M.C.C. bowling side at Lord's. When he went in four wickets were down for 106 and another 137 were needed to save the follow-on: in the end New Zealand led by 68. After this, apart from a brilliant 176 at Derby, his form was rather disappointing.

At the end of the tour, entirely on his own initiative, he stayed behind to qualify for Gloucestershire, with which he had family links. In his first match for them, while he was qualifying, he made 69 and 50 not out against Oxford in 1928. By 1930 he was qualified and for five seasons was a valuable member of the side, without ever making quite the number of runs hoped for. His highest score was 223 against Worcestershire in 1930 and it was against Worcestershire too that he made a hundred in each innings in 1933. After poor seasons in 1935 and 1936 he dropped out of the side and returned to New Zealand. Apart from his batting, he was a fine field whether in the deep or at cover and could keep wicket if required. He was a right-handed bat, but bowled and threw left-handed. His career was shortened by muscular rheumatism.

KEITH, GEOFFREY LEYDEN, died on December 26, 1975, aged 38. After playing a number of times for Somerset from 1959 to 1961, he returned to his native county, Hampshire, in 1962 and in his first match made 82 against Oxford. But though he was a correct batsman and a good slip he could never command an assured place in the side and at the end of the 1967 season left at his own request to live in South Africa, where he played for Western Province. He returned in 1971 to succeed Leo Harrison as the Hampshire coach, a position he held until his death. His highest score in first-class cricket and his only hundred was 101 not out against the South Africans in 1965, when after a stubborn innings he reached his century in the last over of the day with an on-drive for 6 into the pavilion. His early death was particularly tragic as he was a man who took great pains to keep himself physically fit.

MCENTYRE, GEORGE AUSTEN, who died on November 26, 1975, aged 65, was the youngest of six brothers, five of whom played for Cheshire. He first played for the county in 1929 and his last appearance was in 1946.

MARLOW, WILLIAM HENRY, died on December 16, 1975, aged 74. A slow left-hander, he provided some useful variety to the Leicestershire attack between 1931 and 1936. But, though he could flight the ball and spin it, he needed help from the pitch to be really dangerous and his 261 wickets cost 29.17 runs each. He was a good all-round field with a safe pair of hands and a useful tail-end batsman who against Gloucestershire in 1933 helped Astill to put on 157 for the last wicket, a record for the county. His own share of the partnership was 49.

MORGAN, EDWARD NOEL, died suddenly in August, 1975, aged 70. At Christ College, Brecon, he was an outstanding batsman who in 1923 averaged over 50. Later he made one appearance for Glamorgan in 1934. He was elder brother of W. G. Morgan (later Stewart-Morgan), who played frequently for Glamorgan and captained Wales at Rugby.

PEIRIS, DENZIL LLOYD, died on October 20, 1975, aged 55. A useful player in his day, he wrote much on the game in Sri Lanka and was for twelve years Honorary Recorder of the Sri Lanka Board of Control.

RUSHTON, FRANK, who died in Bolton Royal Infirmary on October 15, 1975, aged 69, was a fast-medium swinger who, after some good performances for the Second XI, played for Lancashire in six matches in 1928 and 1929. Later he had a long and highly successful career, first for Royton in the Central Lancashire League and then for seventeen seasons with Eagley in the Bolton League.

THURLOW, HUGH MOTLEY, who died on December 3, 1975, aged 72, came into prominence by taking six for 60 for Queensland against Victoria in December 1929; in the course of doing this he broke Woodfull's finger and put him out of action for the rest of the season. After this he did useful work for several seasons for his State as a fast bowler and in 1932 was picked for the Fourth Test against South Africa, a match in which O'Reilly made his first appearance for Australia. Thurlow, who opened the bowling, failed to get a wicket and did not play in a Test Match again.

WASSELL, ALBERT, died at Birmingham late in 1975, aged 82. He had a trial for Warwickshire as a slow left-hander in 1923.