Obituaries in 1977

BAKER, GRAHAM CHARSLEY, who died suddenly on February 21, in East London at the age of 45, produced one issue of the South African Cricket Almanack dated 1949/50. He was a Rhodes University student at the time. It was the first Cricket Annual produced in South Africa since 1907, but although he produced only the one issue he may have sown the seed in the mind of Geoffrey Chettle whose South African Cricket Annualwas first produced two years later and has of course been running ever since.

BARTLETT, E. LAWSON, who died in Barbados early in January, was a member of the West Indies sides to England in 1928 and Australia in 1930. His record in England, 584 runs with an average of 24.33, looks nothing much, but he was perhaps a trifle unlucky. Early in July he had just run into form with a glorious 109 against Nottinghamshire and one or two more successes then might have given him the confidence which was all he lacked to be a great batsman. Instead he broke a finger, missed several matches and failed to recover his form. His tour to Australia was a failure except for a beautiful innings of 84 out of 114 in the first innings of the first Test and after this tour he dropped out of the West Indies side. A very small man, he was quick on his feet, a powerful driver and a good cutter, whether square or late. Indeed he had strokes all round the wicket and, when he was making runs, his potentialities were obvious. It was sad that he could so seldom do justice to them.

BENSIMON, ALFRED SAMUEL, who died in Cape Town on May 7, in his 91st year, had a short but very interesting first-class career. He played a single match for Western Province in 1931-32, making his début at the advanced age of 45, and he played three more matches for them in 1933-34 when he was over 47. He was the captain on these three occasions and bowled his leg-breaks so effectively that he took 17 wickets for only 177 runs. These four matches constituted his whole first-class career. As it happened he proved a statistician's nightmare, for his younger brother, Abel, had the identical initials, A.S., and he made his first-class début in 1912-13, twenty years before his elder brother; his career ended in 1923-24. Not surprisingly, it was assumed that they were one and the same person.

BODDINGTON, ROBERT ALAN, who died at Fifield, Oxford, on August 5, aged 85, was in the Rugby XI in 1910 and 1911. A good wicket-keeper and a useful batsman, he was tried for Oxford without getting a blue, but between 1913 and 1922 kept wicket frequently for Lancashire, who at that time had no reliable, professional keeper. A man of great charm, he was for years on the Lancashire Committee and was also prominent at Lord's.

BRICKNELL, GARY A., who was killed in a train crash at Keetmanshoop, South-West Africa, on March 25, aged 22, was a slow left-hander of great promise. He had already taken 58 wickets at 21.38 for Western Province.

BROWN, JOHN ALBERT TOD, who died in hospital on January 10, aged 73 had been President of the Scottish Cricket Union and of the Cricket Society of Scotland, of which he was one of the founders.

CARMODY, DOUGLAS KEITH, who captained the Royal Australian Air Force cricket side in England in 1945 and was vice-captain to Lindsay Hassett in the Victory Tests, died of cancer in Sydney on October 21, aged 58. Shot down over the Dutch coast and made a prisoner of war, Carmody later led Western Australia to their first Sheffield Shield title in 1947-48 and his close-to-wicket field placings took his name as the Carmody Umbrella.

COBHAM, CHARLES JOHN, 10th VISCOUNT, K.C., P.C., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., who died in hospital on March 20, aged 67, was a member of one of the greatest of cricketing families. He himself, as the Hon. C. J. Lyttelton, began to play for Worcestershire in 1932 and, after captaining them on a number of occasions in 1935 and going out to Australia and New Zealand that winter as Vice-Captain of the M.C.C. side under E. R. T. Holmes, was the county's official Captain from 1936 to 1939. This was the more remarkable as at Eton he was nowhere near the XI. But by keenness and close study of the principles of the game he made himself first into a good club cricketer and then into a competent county one.

He never made the mistake of treating first-class bowlers with exaggerated respect. Observing that Mitchell of Derbyshire always started with a googly against an amateur, he played for it and hit a long way out of the ground. He held that, if one used one's common-sense, a great bowler could be hit as far as an ordinary one (and resented it much more), only one would not be able to hit him successfully for so long. Batting on this theory, he often made 30 or 40 in double-quick time when his companions were groping, and thus was more valuable to the side than his average suggests.

A good example is the Yorkshire match at Stourbridge in 1936, played throughout on a turning wicket of the type on which Yorkshire then were regarded as invincible. Lyttelton impressed on his side that, if they played their normal game, they stood no chance at all: if they slung their bats at the ball, one or two would probably be lucky and get a few. He himself set the example. Telling his left-handed partner, Warne, to keep Verity's bowling, he faced Ellis Robinson, an off-spinner, and in thirty-five minutes made 48, including four 6's and four 4's. As soon as he had to play Verity, he was out. Worcestershire won by 11 runs, their first victory over Yorkshire since 1909.

Again, against the Australians in 1938, going in first, he scored 50 and 35, being particularly severe on O'Reilly. His highest score for the county and his only century was 162 that year against Leicestershire. A medium-paced bowler who could make the ball swing, he sometimes opened the bowling and occasionally took a wicket with a very slow ball which he called his flipper.

His county cricket ended with the war, but he continued to play club cricket and indeed found some time to play throughout his period as Governor-General of New Zealand from 1957 to 1962. It was fitting climax in his career when in 1961 at the age of 51 he captained his own team against the M.C.C. at Auckland and made 44 in twenty-one minutes, including two sixes. No one ever enjoyed his cricket more or took more trouble to see that others enjoyed theirs and he amply repaid off the field the debt which he owed to the game.

As President of the M.C.C. in 1954 (a post which his father and grandfather had held before him) he was outstanding. In 1963 he became Treasurer, but had to his great regret to resign next year on becoming Lord-Lieutenant of Worcestershire. For some years he acted as chairman of the committee of the Free Foresters; he was Captain of the Butterflies from 1951 to 1976 and had been Governor of I Zingari since 1956. Moreover he still managed to have an occasional country-house match on his own ground at Hagley, where among the visitors were I Zingari and the London New Zealand Cricket Club. His death is a grievous loss not only to the cricket world, but to the public life of the country. Six days before he died, he was present at the Worcestershire C.C.C. annual meeting where he was extremely gratified at being elected President, a post that was also held by his father and grandfather.

COLLARD, ALAN, who died on March 17 aged 68, was honorary treasurer of Derbyshire County Cricket Club from 1971 and from 1974 to 1976 a member of the management of the National Cricket Association. In the late 1940's he played for Derbyshire 2nd XI and captained the side for two years. A keen footballer, he was secretary of Derby County F.C. for a short time from 1969.

COLQUHOUN, JAMES CLIFTON, M.B.E., who died in hospital in London on February 9, aged 83, was in the Glenalmond XI from 1909 to 1912, being Captain in his last year and played for G.J.V. Weigall's XI v. Oxford University in 1914. That year he played throughout the season for Kent II and met with fair success as an opening bat, scoring 80 against Monmouthshire and 52 against Surrey II at The Oval. Later he played occasionally for Cornwall.

CURLE, GERLAD, died at Budleigh Salterton on March 4, aged 83. He was in the XI at King Edward's, Birmingham, and in 1913 had a trial for Warwickshire as a batsman, his highest score being 34 against Sussex. His younger brother, A. C. Curle, also appeared for the county.

DAVIS, BRIAN HENRY STEVENS, who died on February 2, aged 68, was in the Lancing XI in 1926 as a batsman and later (as Stevens-Davis) played for several seasons for Buckinghamshire.

EAGAR, EDWARD DESMOND RUSSELL, who died suddenly on holiday in Devon on September 13, aged 59, will always be remembered for his services to Hampshire cricket. He started as Captain and joint-Secretary in 1946, and remained Captain to the end of 1957 and Secretary until his death. A good attacking batsman and a fine field, especially at short-leg, he was an inspiring captain and there can be no doubt that the seed sown under him had much to do with the county winning the championship for the first time in 1961. As Secretary he worked tirelessly, even after a serious operation early last summer, and did much to increase the membership and to place the finances on a sound basis.

He was in the Cheltenham XI from 1933 to 1936 and Captain of it for two seasons and while there, apart from his batting, met with considerable success as a slow left-hand bowler. From 1935 to 1939 he played a number of times for Gloucestershire. Having gone up to Oxford, he was twelfth man at Lord's in 1938 and having made over 600 runs for the University, was distinctly unlucky to miss his blue. He got it in 1939, when he headed the averages and was clearly the most dangerous, if not the soundest, bat in the side.

In all first-class cricket he scored 12,178 runs with an average of 21.86 and made ten centuries, the highest being 158 not out for Hampshire v. Oxford University in 1954. In 1958-59 he was Assistant Manager of the M.C.C. side in Australia. A considerable authority on cricket history and bibliography, he wrote much and well for E. W. Swanton's World of Cricket and was one of the joint-authors of the official history of Hampshire County Cricket. At Oxford he also had a blue for hockey and, had the war not intervened, might well have got an international. Later he was hockey correspondent of the Sunday Telegraph. His son, Patrick, has made a great reputation as a cricket photographer.

FAGG, ARTHUR EDWARD., died at Tunbridge Wells on September 13, aged 62. Although in a career which extended from 1932 to 1957 he scored 27,291 runs with an average of 36.05, made 58 centuries and played five times for England, it cannot be said that he ever fulfilled expectations. In the middle thirties Sutcliffe was dropping out of Test cricket and England was looking for a new opening pair. Fagg and Hutton were at once recognised as obvious candidates and Fagg, a year the senior and by some considered the better prospect, got the first chance, playing in two Tests v. India in 1936 and being picked for the Australian tour that autumn. Halfway through the tour he was invalided home with rheumatic fever, a great setback to his career, and he missed the entire season of 1937. Naturally, in 1938 the selectors were cautious about playing him and, though he had a splendid season, it was not until the final Test that they picked him and then he was one of those left out.

That his health was not fully trustworthy was shown when he refused an invitation for the South African tour that winter. In 1939 he played in one Test v. West Indies. Unfit for the Services during the War, he went as coach to Cheltenham and, when first-class cricket was resumed in 1946, felt so doubtful whether he could stand the strain that he decided to stay there.

In 1947 Kent persuaded him to return, but already at 32, he was moving like a veteran, Hutton and Washbrook were established as England's opening pair and his days of Test cricket were clearly over. Still, for ten years more he did splendid work for Kent and no-one watching him could fail to see that he was far more than a good county bat. Very sound, he had strokes all round the wicket and, being a fine hooker, was particularly severe on fast bowling. Against spin he was less impressive.

One record which he holds may well never be equalled. In 1938 against Essex at Colchester, he scored 244 and 202 not out, the second innings taking only 170 minutes. His fielding was never on a par with his batting and after his early years, it was difficult to place him anywhere save in the slips, where he held his share of catches without being outstanding. In the Second XI he had been trained to keep wicket and was good enough to keep on a few occasions for the county when neither Ames nor Levett was available.

From 1959 to his death he was one of the First-Class umpires and from 1967 to 1976, when he retired for reasons of health, was on the panel of Test-Match umpires. His long tenure of this appointment is sufficient testimony to the respect in which he was held and, when at Birmingham in 1973 he threatened to withdraw after the second day because of the behaviour of some of the West Indian side who had disagreed with one of his decisions, he could be sure of public sympathy. He did not indeed appear on the field on the third morning until the second over, Alan Oakman, the Warwickshire coach, having stood during the first.

FOSTER, RONALD ARTHUR CHARTERIS, who died in the South of France, on June 22, aged 82, was in the Eton XI in 1913 and 1914. Primarily a bowler, he was also a useful batsman in the tail. In 1914 coming in ninth he helped to add 76 for the ninth wicket against Winchester and took five for 75 in the second innings, while at Lord's he finished off the Harrow second innings quickly by taking four for 16 and thus played a considerable part in Eton winning by four wickets after being 86 behind on the first innings.

FOWLER, ARCHIBALD JOHN BURGESS, who died on May 7 in London, aged 86, had many trials for Middlesex as a slow left-hander between 1921 and 1931 and received his County Cap. He never quite made his place secure, but must have been fairly near it in 1924 when he took five for 29 against Lancashire, then a very strong side. Later in the mid-thirties he succeeded George Fenner as head coach at Lord's. Those of us who regard Fenner as one of the finest coaches we have ever known realise what it means that Fowler was in his turn regarded as outstanding. He constantly umpired at Lord's and finally for many years acted as scorer, his connection with the ground extending in all for over half a century. He was a Life Member of the Middlesex County Cricket Club.

GALE, DEREK, who made a few appearances for Dorset as a fast bowler, died on September 10 at the age of 46.

GRAINGER, GEORGE, died in hospital at Chesterfield on August 17 in his 90th year, having been born on November 11, 1887 at Morton. A left hand batsman and bowler, he played for Derbyshire in 1909, 1910 and 1921 in a total of five matches.

GRANT, ROLPH STEWART, who died on October 18, aged 67, was the younger of two brothers, both Cambridge blues, to captain the West Indies. Not a distinguished player at Cambridge, he owed his selection for one of the last places in 1933 largely to his superb fielding: he was a soccer blue and an Amateur International goalkeeper. But he was also a useful bat in the lower half of the order and a useful bowler of slow off-spin round the wicket and fully justified his place. He dismissed three of the first four Oxford batsmen for 44 runs and made an astonishing catch at short leg to get rid of F. G. H. Chalk, a very dangerous player. Returning to the West Indies, he played in the Tests against the M.C.C. side in 1934-35 and in the fourth made his highest Test score, 77. Appointed captain of the West Indian side in England in 1939 and faced by mid-June with the awkward problem of finding an opening partner for J. B. Stollmeyer, he solved it with characteristic courage by going in first himself and continued to do so until the end of the tour with very fair success. Against Lancashire he made 95, his highest score of the season, but certainly his best innings was in the Old Trafford Test when, opening after England had declared at 164 for seven on a wicket which was not easy and was likely to become rapidly more difficult, he scored 47 out of 56 in thirty-eight minutes including three 6's off Goddard. When he was out the whole crowd rose to him, a tribute seldom paid to so short an innings. Earlier that day he had taken the wickets of Hutton and Hardstaff for 16 runs. Though he was obviously short of the experience which most Test captains have, he proved himself in other ways an admirable leader.

HAMMOND, ERNEST ROBERT ( WALLY), who died in Kimberley on February 13, after a long illness at the age of 65, was the second serious loss to cricket administration in South Africa in just over a month, the President of the S.A.C.A., W. C. B. Woodin, having died in office on January 11. Just as Billy Woodin had had a long association with Eastern Province cricket, so Wally Hammond was the pillar of cricket in Griqualand West. He was Chairman of the Griqualand West Cricket Union for more than 30 years.

HARE, STERICKER NORMAN, C.B.E., who died at Meadle, near Aylesbury, on September 30, aged 77, played in three matches for Essex in 1921. In his first innings for the county against Derbyshire at Leyton, batting at number ten, he scored 98 and helped J. W. H. T. Douglas to add 251 for the ninth wicket. Captain of Chigwell in 1918, he played club cricket for Ilford.

HEY, SAMUEL, who died suddenly on September 16, had been for almost twenty years Secretary of the Dorset County Cricket Club. A batsman with a sound defence, he was in the Uppingham XI from 1921 to 1923, heading the batting averages in the last two years and being Captain in 1923, when he represented the Rest at Lord's. He never got enough runs however in the trials at Cambridge to be in the running for a blue.

HOMER, HERBERT WESLEY, who died on February 10, aged 81 was for years between the Wars one of the mainstays of the Staffordshire batting and at one time captained the side. He had also played for the Minor Counties. Later he served for twenty-five years on the Warwickshire Committee.

HYNES, SIR LINCOLN CARRUTHERS, died during the year at the age of 65. As a fast left-hander he did useful work for New South Wales in the 1930s. His proudest moment was when he had Bradman caught at leg-slip for 0. He was knighted in 1971 in recognition of his work for broadcasting, charities and hospitals.

JOHNSON, JOSEPH LEONARD, who died in Ipswich on April 20, aged 57, came out for Queensland after the war and continued to be one of the mainstays of their bowling until 1953, by which time he had taken 171 wickets in Sheffield Shield matches. He was a useful tail-end hitter. A fast-medium right-hander, analyses of six for 83 against the Indian side in Australia and seven for 114 against South Australia, secured him a place in the last Test in 1947-48. As he took six for 74 in the two innings and made 25 not out, he must have been in the running for a place in the 1948 side to England. In the event this was his sole appearance for Australia.

KING, DONALD, who died in hospital in Toronto on October 2, aged 59, was the man to whom in recent years Canadian Cricket owed more than to any other. He re-established the Canadian Cricket Association and was its Secretary for over twenty years, was Canada's delegate to the I.C.C. from 1972 to 1975, and had rightly been elected an Honorary Member of the M.C.C. He wrote on Canadian cricket for many years in Wisden.

LETTS, PHILIP EDWARD, who died at Baschurch, near Shrewsbury on March 14, aged 64, had played occasionally for Berkshire. A useful all-rounder, Captain of the Christ's Hospital XI in 1929 and 1930, he was for years a master at Wellington.

LOUGHERY, WILLIAM GORDON RIDLEY, who died in hospital on August 1, aged 69, played for Ireland against Scotland as a batsman in 1929 and 1933. For many years he was a master at Rugby, where he ran the cricket.

McCARTHY, BRIG. CHARLES HENRY FLORENCE D'ARCY, O.B.E., died in Nassau, Bahamas, on July 24, aged 78. A sound bat, a good field and a useful leg-spinner, he was in the Rugby XI from 1915 to 1917, and in his last two years represented the Lord's Schools. Later he played occasionally for Devon.

MASTERMAN, SIR JOHN CECIL, sometime Provost of Worcester and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, died in an Oxford nursing home on June 6, aged 86. A man of distinction in many walks of life, he was a remarkable games player, who had played hockey and lawn tennis for England, won the high jump in the University sports and reached a high standard at cricket, golf and squash. Cricket, he wrote, was my first and most enduring passion and, though never near a blue at Oxford, he became a formidable club player, good enough to be elected a Harlequin many years after he went down and to play for both Harlequins and Free Foresters against the University, to do valuable work for Oxfordshire from 1922 to 1925 and to be a member of the M.C.C. side to Canada in 1937. He was a sound left-handed bat and, being a good fighter, one whom one was always glad to have on one's side when things were not going well, and a right-hand medium pace bowler with a rather low and clumsy action, but very steady and reliable. For many years he was on the committee of both I Zingari and Free Foresters. He enjoyed writing on the game and did so delightfully, but a busy life left him little time for this. His novel, Fate Cannot Harm Me, contains one of the best descriptions extant of a country house match and there is an interesting chapter on cricket in his autobiography, On the Chariot Wheel. Besides these there is a sketch of W. E. W. Collins in Bits and Pieces and a fascinating article contributed to Blackwood in June 1974 on that remarkable character, Captain E. G. Wynyard.

MATTHEWS, AUSTIN DAVID GEORGE, who died in hospital on July 29, aged 72, had a career which was almost unique. Born at Penarth and educated at St. David's, Lampeter, he played for Northamptonshire from 1927 to 1936 and at that time was merely a useful member of one of the weakest county sides, who could not on his performances have kept his place for a leading county. His 567 wickets had cost him 26.45 runs each and he had made a couple of centuries. In 1937 he went to coach cricket and rugby at Stowe and threw in his lot with Glamorgan, making his first appearance at the end of July.

In little more than a fortnight his bowling had created such an impression, particularly at Hastings, where on a perfect wicket he had taken fourteen for 132, that he was picked for the final test at The Oval against New Zealand. Here, on an unresponsive pitch, he bowled respectably and by no means disgraced himself, but met with little success. He continued to play for Glamorgan until 1947 and his 225 wickets for them cost only 15.88 apiece, an astonishing contrast to his figures for Northamptonshire. In 1946 he took in all 93 at 14.29. For a short time after the war he was the county's Assistant Secretary.

A tall man, who bowled fast-medium with a high action, he was accurate and had the cardinal merits of keeping the ball on the wicket and making it run away. He was also a useful bat in the lower part of the order, and hit two first-class hundreds, both for Northamptonshire, in 1929 and 1934.

Between 1934-50 he coached Cambridge University. Apart from his cricket he was a first class rugby forward; he captained Northampton R.F.U. club, also played for East Midlands and Penarth and gained a Final Welsh Trial Cap. He refereed the first Combined Oxford and Cambridge R.U. Tour to Argentina in 1948 and was also a Welsh Table Tennis International. He had strong views on the subject of coaching and in Wisden 1966 wrote Cricket a Game--Not a Subject.

MELLUISH, GORDON CHRISTOPHER, who died on April 14, aged 70, had a few trials for Essex as a slow left-hander in 1926. For years he was well known in club cricket in the south-east and during the war appeared for Northamptonshire.

MERRITT, WILLIAM E., died at Christchurch, New Zealand, on June 9, aged 68. A leg-break and googly bowler, he was under nineteen when picked for the first New Zealand team to England in 1927 and had played only four first-class matches. The experiment was a triumphant success. In a weak bowling side, he was by far the most successful bowler, taking in first-class matches 107 wickets at 23.64 and in all matches 169 at 19.54, figures which would obviously have been better had he had more help. He never fulfilled this early promise. Against A. H. H. Gilligan's side in New Zealand in 1929-30 his eight wickets in the Tests cost over 50 runs each and in England in 1931 his 99 wickets averaged 26.48 and he was again a complete failure in the Tests. However, it was on this tour that he accomplished the best performance of his career, taking seven for 28 in the second innings against a strong M.C.C. side at Lord's and securing an innings victory.

After that season he went into League cricket, and from 1938 to 1946 played for Northamptonshire. Here he suffered from dropped catches and his bowling was expensive, but he supplemented it by many useful hard-hitting innings, the highest of them 87 in fifty-seven minutes against Sussex at Kettering in 1939. As a bowler, when hit he tended to try to spin the ball more and his length naturally suffered. At times too he was inclined to bowl the googly too much in preference to the more dangerous leg-break. In 1946 owing to a League engagement, he played in mid-week matches only and after that season left first-class cricket, but continued to play in the League as well as being in business in Dudley. He returned to New Zealand in 1966.

NASH, JOHN HENRY, the former secretary of Yorkshire County Cricket club died suddenly after a heart attack at his home in Pudsey, on April 7. He was 71. Mr. Nash retired in 1971 after 40 years as secretary of Yorkshire and another nine on the clerical staff of the club. He became one of the most respected figures in cricket, making a host of friends throughout the world. He joined Yorkshire in 1922 and in his time as secretary he rarely saw a full day's cricket because of the complexity of administrative duties, but his efficiency became a by-word. He was joint-manager with Brigadier M. A. Green of the M.C.C. team captained by F. R. Brown that toured Australia and New Zealand in 1950-51.

Apart from cricket Mr. Nash led a full life. He was an organist of great ability, playing for many years at Farsley Parish Church where he was also secretary of the Church Council.

NUPEN, EIULF PETER, always known as Buster, died in Johannesburg, his native place, on January 29, aged 75. Although in a Test Match career for South Africa which extended from 1921 to 1935, his fifty wickets cost him 35.76 runs each, he was regarded at his best as one of the greatest bowlers on a mat there has ever been. So ineffective however was he on turf that when the M.C.C. were in South Africa in 1930-31, although in the first Test he took eleven for 150 and in the second innings of the fourth, when admittedly the English batsmen were hitting recklessly in a vain endeavour to force a win, six for 46, he was omitted from the third and fifth Tests, the first two ever to be played on grass in South Africa.

Similarly in this country in 1924, when, after his record at home, he was expected to be one of the main match-winners, he was a complete failure. It is true that he was handicapped by injury, but the general impression was that, even when fit, he was not formidable. He never toured abroad again. What he could do in his own country was shown against the Hon. L. H. Tennyson's unofficial side in 1924-25, which was at least a strong England A side: in four Representative matches he took 37 wickets at 11.45.

In Currie Cup matches Nupen had the extraordinary record for the Transvaal of 184 wickets at 12.75. In nine of his twenty-eight matches for them he took over ten wickets and against Griqualand West in 1931-32 took nine for 48 in an innings and sixteen for 136 in the match. He first attracted attention by taking six for 89 for the Transvaal against the great Australian side of 1921. Handicapped by having lost an eye at the age of four, he was not normally regarded as a serious batsman. However in the third Test against England in 1927-28, he made 51 and 69, he and his captain, H. G. Deane, putting on 95 for the eighth wicket in the first innings and 123 for the seventh in the second.

Tall and strongly built, he bowled fast-medium right-hand round the wicket and on the mat his off-break spun prodigiously, came off very quick and lifted sharply. The leg-cutter, with which he varied it, was more obvious and less accurate than George Geary's, but none the less got many wickets.

When England were in South Africa in 1930-31, Deane, a great captain, had retired, and though, under pressure, he reappeared, did not feel himself in good enough practice for the first Test. Nupen captained the side admirably, besides achieving his biggest performance in Tests. Deane captained in the next two matches and then resigned, being dissatisfied with his form, and for the fourth the job was given to Cameron, doubtless because it was felt that Nupen would not be required for the fifth on a grass wicket.

OLIVER, CHARLES JOSHUA, the New Zealand cricketer and Rugby footballer, died at Brisbane after a very short illness on September 25, aged 71. A Canterbury man, he became one of his country's most famous sportsmen. As a cricketer he toured Australia twice and England once in the mid- 1920s. Then his rugby took precedence. He played at home for New Zealand in 1928, toured Australia with the teams of 1929 and 1934 and was vice-captain and star player of the 1935 All Blacks in Britain. He was a strong running and imaginative centre threequarter. Eventually he and his family went to live in Australia.

PAYNE, ALAN UNDY, died suddenly in hospital on August 16, aged 74. Going up to Cambridge from St. Edmund's, Canterbury, he got a blue in 1925, his last year, a selection widely criticised at the time. His batting average for the University was 10.75, with a highest score of 27 not out, and his sixteen overs had produced one wicket. Moreover, he was preferred to two batsmen, one an old blue, who were established County players. The criticism was not silenced by the match at Lord's where he went in ninth, making 4, and in an Oxford innings of 350 did not bowl. Cambridge that year had a very strong batting side and four good medium-pace bowlers: the great need was for a slow spinner, but there was none, so the captain decided to leave the spin to Duleepsinhji and play a really good fielder. In fact Payne was a good all-rounder, who might well have made 30 or 40 valuable runs and taken two or three wickets, given the chance. For several seasons he did good work for Buckinghamshire at a time when they were always near the top of the Minor Counties. In 1924 he took 32 wickets for them at 10.84 and in 1925, a fortnight after the' Varsity match, had seven for 15 v. Kent II. He bowled just on the quick side of medium and made the ball move from the off and sometimes keep low, and he was a good, natural, practical batsman. After coming down he went as a master to his old school and thence to Felsted, where he remained for many years and was much loved. He was also a first-class hockey player.

PERKS, REGINALD THOMAS DAVID, who died on November 22, aged 66, was by many good judges considered an under-estimated bowler. In 1939 he had played twice for England, in the notorious timeless Test at Durban and against the West Indies at The Oval, and had performed respectably without meeting with spectacular success. He was then twenty-eight. When cricket was resumed he was thirty-five and had missed the years when a bowler of his type would naturally be in his prime. Now he was perhaps just past it and had moreover Bedser to compete with.

A tall man who made full use of his height, he bowled fast-medium right-hand, swinging the ball both ways, and was very steady, a great trier, endlessly cheerful and quite tireless. A left-handed bat, he started as a poor player but made himself into a useful tail-end hitter. Born at Hereford, he first appeared for Worcestershire in 1930 and his first victim was Jack Hobbs. By 1931 he had made a sufficient reputation to be picked for the Players at Lord's. He continued to play for the county until 1955 and, when he retired, had taken more wickets for them than any other bowler, 2,143 at an average of 23.73. In all first-class cricket his tally was 2,233 and in sixteen consecutive seasons he had taken over 100 wickets.

The respect in which he was held was shown when in his last season he was appointed the first professional captain of Worcestershire. Later he was a valuable and outspoken member of the Committee. He had no warmer admirer than his old county captain, Lord Cobham, who only a couple of months before his own unexpected death, hearing of Perks's illness, drove at once twenty-five miles through the snow to visit him.

Perks twice performed the hat-trick--against Kent at Stourbridge in 1931, and against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in 1933 and twice he took nine wickets in an innings--against Glamorgan at Stourbridge, 1939 and against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham, 1946.

PHILLIPPS, JOHN HUGH, C.B.E., who died on June 8, aged 79, was Manager of the New Zealand teams to England in 1949 and 1958 and of the M.C.C. side in New Zealand in 1960-61. A man universally loved and respected, he was a tremendous success on all these tours.

PRATT, RONALD C. E., who died on June 1, aged 49, played for Surrey from 1952 to 1959. A tall left-handed batsman who played in spectacles, he could never get an assured place in the very strong side of those days and finally left to take a job in insurance. His best performances were 90 against Kent at The Oval in 1953, when he and Clark put on 250 in four hours for the fourth wicket, and 120 against Cambridge University at Guildford in 1956, on which occasion he helped Stewart to add 255. A fine slip, he caught six catches against Sussex at Hastings in 1956. His brother, D. E. Pratt, also played for the County.

RATTIGAN, SIR TERENCE MERVYN, C.B.E., the famous play-writer, who died in Bermuda on November 30, aged 66, was, like his father and his uncle, in the Harrow XI. He won his place in 1929 as an opening bat, but next year though he played in the XI was not in the side at Lord's. He was an elegant stroke player, but unsound.

REID, ALEXANDER, BERNARD JOHN, died suddenly in Cape Town on March 7, at the age of 61. He was a fairly regular choice as wicket-keeper for Western Province in the first five years after the war and also a useful tail end batsman. His highest score was 81 against North-Eastern Transvaal in 1939-40 but his batting is chiefly remembered for his defiance of Ray Lindwall during the Australian tour of 1949-50.

ROBERTS, CHRISTOPHER PAUL, was killed by a fall when climbing in Borrowdale on June 9, aged 25. Born at Cleethorpes, he played a few times for Lincolnshire in 1971 and 1972 and once for Worcestershire in 1974. He was a right-hand batsman and a medium-pace bowler.

ROMER, LT.-COL. MALCOLM NIGEL, M.B.E., who died suddenly in the Westminster Hospital on June 3, aged 62, was Assistant Secretary at The Oval from 1960 to 1972. He was not in the XI at Eton, but was a member of I Zingari and Free Foresters.

RYDER, JACK, who died at the age of 87 on April 3, had been taken ill two days after the Centenary Test, at which he was the oldest ex-player present. Much though he accomplished, his career was a trifle disappointing. Competing with a number of great players, he was merely a good one, whose place was never quite secure and who fell below the incredibly high standards of his contemporaries in fielding. In his first season for Victoria, 1912-13, he took thirty wickets at 15.40 and it seemed that a new star had arisen. He also had a batting average of 33. Bowling fastish right-hand, he ran the ball away and could also make it lift. In the next season his wickets cost more, but he did one outstanding all-round performance, taking seven for 88 in the first innings against South Australia and scoring 36 not out and 105. In 1914-15 his batting average rose to 85, but his eight wickets cost him 28.62 runs each.

When cricket was resumed after the war, it was clear that his bowling promise was not going to be fulfilled. Thenceforward, he was only a change, used on his tours in England to relieve the leading bowlers in the lesser matches: in Tests against England his thirteen wickets cost 48.66 apiece. Nevertheless he played in all five Tests against Douglas's side in 1920-21, though his highest score was only 52 not out and his average 18.85. Doubtless his innings of 54 and 105 in the second match for Victoria against the Englishmen kept him his place in the last two Tests. But it must have been a disappointment when in England that summer he did not get a place in a single Test.

Against Arthur Gilligan's side in 1924-25 a bad back put him out of consideration for the first twoTests, but in the third, coming in at 119 for six, he made 201 in six and a half hours, a remarkable effort of concentration for one who was primarily an attacker, and followed it with 88 in the second innings. In fairness it must be said that the English bowling was gravely depleted: Tate, Gilligan and later Freeman were off the field and Woolley was handicapped by a weak knee. Freeman, as tough a little man as ever stepped on to a cricket field, fainted with pain when one of Ryder's on-drives which he was attempting to catch hit him on the wrist.

In England in 1926 Ryder was again a disappointment: he had a respectable record for the whole tour, but did little in the Tests. Nevertheless in 1928-29 he was made captain against Chapman's side. Few men can have had a more difficult assignment. Collins, Bardsley, MacArtney, Taylor and Mailey had retired, Arthur Richardson was in England and Gregory and Kelleway broke down in the first Test and played no more. Under the circumstances the surprise was not that Australia should lose the series 4-1 to a strong side, but that they should recover so quickly as to regain the Ashes in England in 1930. For their failure in Australia no blame could attach to Ryder. He simply had not the material nor was he well served by the Selectors: he himself made 492 runs with an average of 54.66, including a century in the third Test. After this considerable surprise and some resentment was caused when he was omitted from the 1930 team for England. No doubt his co-selectors (he was himself now a Selector) felt that, if he went, he must be captain and that for that Woodfull was the better choice.

Ryder continued to play for Victoria until 1931-32, captained an unofficial Australian side on a tour of India in 1935-36 and was a Selector again from 1946 to 1970. He also did much to help young players. Standing over six foot, he was almost entirely a front-of-the-wicket player with an immensely powerful drive. He was certainly more effective in Australia than in England. His highest score was 295 against New South Wales in 1926 when Victoria compiled the record total of 1,107.

SATHASIVAM, MAHADEVAN, the most gifted and stylish batsman of Sri Lanka, died of a heart attack at the age of 62 in Colombo. He made a style of his own and his stroke-play had perfect poise and power. Against Madras for Ceylon at the Chepauk Grounds, Madras, in 1947, he scored 215, a ground record until eclipsed by Joe Hardstaff (jnr.) of Nottinghamshire fame several years later. Against Lal Amarnath's Indian team of 1945, he played a stylish innings of 111 at the Colombo Oval. Against the 1950 Commonwealth side led by L. Livingston, he made 98 at the Colombo Oval for Ceylon. He held the unique distinction of having captained three countries in cricket against visiting English and Australian teams-- Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia.

SHAPCOTT, AIR-COMMODORE MORTON SWAN, C.B.E., who died in hospital on April 15, aged 75, did useful work as a batsman for Alleyn's School, Dulwich and between the Wars first for Surrey II and then for some years for the R.A.F.

SHARP, GEN. SIR JOHN AUBREY TAYLOR, K.C.B., M.C., died suddenly in Oslo on January 15, aged 59. A son of the former Leicestershire captain, A. T. Sharp, he was in the Repton XI as a batsman in 1936 and between 1937 and 1946 played occasionally for Leicestershire. For Cambridge University v. Essex in 1939 he made top score, 36, in the first innings, but failed to get his blue.

SMITH, HORACE CLITHEROE, I.S.O., O.B.E., died at Hobart on April 6, aged 84. A former member of the Tasmanian side and for years Chairman of the Tasmanian Cricket Association, he had just lived to see Tasmania admitted to the Sheffield Shield. He was for some fifty years a member of the Australian Board of Control and was Manager of the Australian side to New Zealand in 1960.

SOLAN, JOHN MARTIN, who died in Solihull Hospital on February 25, aged 66, was a noted reporter, sportswriter and supreme essayist. He entered journalism at the age of 17 in his home town of Leamington and when he retired in 1975 he had been with the Birmingham Post for 28 years. John Solan was a gentle man who plied a gentle pen and the craft of journalism was sometimes an art under his delicate touch. He was a familiar figure as he travelled the country covering Warwickshire and the Test Matches.

Paying tribute to John Solan, Mr. Leslie Deakins, for many years secretary of Warwickshire C.C.C., wrote: He had the facility to write on any subject. It was always pleasant to meet him and there was anticipated enjoyment as he moved towards one, say, on a summer morning at Edgbaston. His ambling gait, his not-too-neatly-rolled umbrella indicated clearly that he was the traditional rather than the sophisticated type of Englishman.

John Solan reported on Warwickshire for some years for Wisden and in the 1963 Centenary edition his article Through the Crystal Ball looked at cricket through the next 100 years.

STUDD, SIR, KYNASTON, 3rd BART., who died suddenly on May 27, aged 50, was a member of one of the most famous cricket families. A fast-medium bowler, he headed the Winchester bowling averages in 1944.

SUMMERS, LEONARD SHELTON HEATH, who died on February 26, was one of the best players in London club cricket between the wars. An opening batsman and a leg-break bowler, he had an outstanding record at Emanuel School, Wandsworth, and was for years one of the mainstays of Dulwich, for whom he scored a thousand runs eight times, six times took a hundred wickets and twice took all ten wickets in an innings. He also played frequently for Surrey II and for the Club Cricket Conference.

TAYLOR, CLIVE, the noted cricket writer, died in hospital at Weymouth on April 18, aged 50. He was at the peak of his career and had toured with every major M.C.C. team in the past nineteen years. Formerly with the Morning Advertiser and Hayter's Agency, he had been with The Sun since it started, but having reported the M.C.C. tour in India and Sri Lanka he was unwell when he arrived in Australia for the Centenary Test. Tributes:

Richie Benaud-- I have lost a close personal friend which is shattering. He loved cricket without being carried away by its shortcomings.

D. B. Carr-- His integrity was above reproach. Everything he did was in the best interests of cricket.

John Woodcock (The Times)-- He could have written with equal distinction for any newspaper in the world, and on a whole range of subjects. That he chose cricket was cricket's good fortune.

THURSBY, WILLIAM PIERS, who died at Sandwich on June 3, after a long illness, aged 72, was a useful bat in the Eton XI in 1922 and 1923. In 1923 he made 57 at Lord's and helped E. W. Dawson to put up 111 for the first wicket.

TUDOR, BRIG. CLAUD LECHMERE ST. JOHN, C.B.E., M.C., died at Halton, Oxford, on August 3, aged 88. Educated at Eastbourne College, he played a few times for Sussex in 1910 and 1911 and in his second match made 116 against Oxford. He was the last survivor of the match in which Alletson played his famous innings at Hove in 1911. Later he played for and captained the Army. His younger brother also played for Sussex: they were cousins of another Sussex cricketer, Lt.-Col. G. S. Grimston, who was later the county's Secretary.

VAUGHAN, INSTRUCTOR-COMMANDER DOUGLAS BRIAN, who died in April aged 52, played for Devon in 1956 and had also represented the Navy. He was better known as an England Rugby forward and Selector.

WEIGALL, ANTONY, who died at Sutton, Surrey, on July 3, aged 74, founded in November, 1945, The Society of Cricket Statisticians, which three years later became The Cricket Society. For years he took an active part in its running and contributed articles both to its Journal and to The Cricketer. He was a cousin of G. J. V. Weigall.

WHITE, BRIG. GILBERT WILLIAM, died in Dominica on October 14, aged 65. A good stroke-playing batsman, a fine field and a moderate change bowler, he was in the Winchester XI from 1929 to 1931 and in his last year headed the batting averages. His father, Brig.-Gen. W. N. White, had played with considerable success for Hampshire.

WIGGINTON, SEARSON HARRY, who died in Bulawayo on September 15, aged 68, played for Leicestershire from 1930 to 1934. Educated at Wyggeston School, he was by 1934 showing distinct promise as a bat and in August that year made 120 not out against Worcestershire at Leicester, his only century for the county. At the end of the season he left them for a job at Paisley and then, after being for a time coach at Taunton School, went in 1947-48 to be coach to the Rhodesian Cricket Association.

WILD, HAROLD, a right-hand batsman and bowler, died at Glossop on August 8, aged 86, having been born at Hadfield on February 3, 1891. He joined the Derbyshire staff in 1913 and played in 32 matches up to the end of the 1920 season. His highest score was 68 against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in 1919.

WILLIAMS, BRIG. EDWARD STEPHEN BRUCE, C.B.E., died on January 20, aged 84. A member of the Winchester XI in 1909 and 1910, he later captained the Army, of which he was for many years one of the leading batsmen. In 1925 he scored 209 for them against Oxford University. He played occasionally for Devon.

WILSON, ARTHUR KEITH, who died at his home in Brighton on November 8, aged 83, played for Sussex from 1914 to 1934. A member of the Brighton College XI in 1911, in his first innings for the county he made 78 not out v. Northamptonshire: in his last match, after an absence of nine years from the side, he scored 69 v. Kent. In 1919 he made his only century, 134 v. Northamptonshire. A good bat and an especially skilful cutter, he took hundreds of wickets in minor cricket with slow flighted leg-breaks, which were particularly formidable to schoolboys. Indeed, one cricket master installed a bowling machine specifically to teach his pupils to play Keith Wilson. For a time he was Chairman of the County Cricket Club and during the Second War did wonderful work in keeping cricket going on the County ground.

WOODIN, WILLIAM CYRIL BLAZON (BILLY), the President of the South African Cricket Association, collapsed and died in Johannesburg on January 11, 1977 at the age of 64. As President, he was a member of the nine-man motivating committee which was charged with the introduction of so-called normal cricket in South Africa and worked tirelessly towards this goal. He had the satisfaction of seeing very considerable progress made during his last year and the complete realisation of the committee's objects a probability within the foreseeable future.

WORSLEY, THOMAS CUTHBERT, who died on February 23, aged 69, kept wicket for Marlborough for three years and had a trial for Cambridge in 1928, but, though the University were hard pressed to fill the position that year, he did not get a blue. He became well-known as an author and journalist.

OBITUARY BEFORE 1977

ADAMS, DONALD, who died at Walton-on-Thames early in 1976 aged 95, had the distinction, curious though not unique, of obtaining his only wicket in first-class cricket by bowling W. G. Grace. This he did when, on the strength of some good bowling in the Surrey trial match in April 1902, he played a few days later for the county against London County at the Crystal Palace, opening the bowling and going in last. This was his sole appearance in first-class cricket, but he continued to play in London club cricket until well on in the 1930s.

BEDFORD, EDWARD HENRY RILANDS, died in hospital at Chelmsford on October 9, 1976, aged 73, having been born at Aston, Birmingham on June 7, 1903. He was a grandson of the Rev. W. K. R. Bedford, co-founder of the Free Foresters, and was Founder's Kin. Well known in the world of archery, he became a Woodman of Arden in 1924 and was Secretary of the Woodmen 1948-1975. He played in one match for Derbyshire in 1924--against Glamorgan at Derby.

BLAXLAND, LIONEL BRUCE, died at Temple Ewell, Kent on April 29, 1976, aged 78. He was born at Shrewsbury on March 25, 1898, and was in the Shrewsbury XI from 1914 to 1916. He became a master at Repton in 1922, retiring in 1958, when he took holy orders and became rector of Tansley and later vicar of Doveridge, both in Derbyshire, his adopted county. Bill Blaxland was a fine club cricketer who hit hard and often, hooking anything short of a length with great power. As a bowler he was tireless, and always alert and sharp in the field. He first appeared for Derbyshire in 1925 and in his last match in 1947 he led the side against the South Africans at Derby when Ian Smith took six for 1. His best score was 64 against Warwickshire in 1933, but most of his cricket was with The Friars and other good club sides until his career came to an end when he lost an eye playing for The Cryptics in Portugal. He was in charge of cricket at Repton for eleven years, in two spells. Blaxland played at wing half for Oxford University in 1920-21 and also for The Corinthians. In 19 matches for Derbyshire he scored 483 runs.

BOWLES, JOHN JESSE, who died at Salisbury in November, 1971, aged 81, played occasionally for Gloucestershire from 1911 to 1920 and more frequently for Worcestershire from 1926 to 1928. A slow left-hander, his most notable performance was to take nine for 72 in the match v. Sussex at Brighton in 1926.

CURTIS, JOHN STAFFORD, who died on March 8, 1972, aged 84, played for Leicestershire intermittently from 1906 to 1921. An accurate medium-pace off-spinner and an attacking batsman, he would have been valuable had he played regularly, but he preferred league cricket and only in 1919 did he appear at all frequently. Analyses that year of five for 67 v. Lancashire and seven for 75 v. Nottinghamshire showed what he could do: in 1912 he had taken six for 32 v. Hampshire. His highest score was 66 v. Hampshire in 1911.

DAVIES, ERIC QUAIL, who died at Port Alfred on November 11, 1976, aged 67, was perhaps a slightly unlucky cricketer. Picked for South Africa for the fourth Test against Australia in 1935-36 on the strength of having taken six for 80 for Eastern Province against them, he took four for 75 in an innings of 439, his victims including Fingleton, McCabe and Richardson, a notable performance which might have been a sensational one had his catches been held as they should. This ensured his place in the final Test, in which he was a failure. However, in 1938-39, playing for the Transvaal against the M.C.C., he felled Hutton with the third ball of the innings, which rolled from his head on to the wicket, and finished with six for 82. This got him a place in the first three Tests, but he was again a failure, his three wickets costing 352 runs. After the War he represented North Eastern Transavaal, but, as he was a schoolmaster, his opportunities for first-class cricket were limited and he never again played in a Test. A tall, athletic man, who swung the ball away, he was regarded as faster than R. J. Crisp, South Africa's regular fast bowler in the thirties.

EVANS, VICTOR J., died at Barking on March 28, 1975, aged 63. He played for Essex as a medium-pace off-spinner from 1932 to 1937, without ever winning an assured place in the side. His best season was 1935 when his 56 wickets cost 25.42 runs each.

GANLY, JAMES B., the former Irish cricketer, died in Dublin on July 16, 1976. He was 73. Educated at St. Columba's College, he gained his first cap on leaving school in 1921 and, in all, played 25 times, until 1937. A powerfully built right hand batsman, who also gained 12 Rugby caps for Ireland as a three-quarter, he was best known for his speed between the wickets in partnership with the late T. G. B. McVeagh. He captained Ireland eight times, leading them to victory against the West Indies in 1928, still the only time Ireland have recorded a first-class victory over a touring team. Jim Ganly, who was an auctioneer by profession, scored 831 runs for Ireland, average 19.78.

HALL, CHARLES H., who died in December 1976, aged 70, had a number of trials for Yorkshire as a fast bowler between 1928 and 1934. When he and Bowes bowled out Leicestershire in 1932 for 72, Hall's share was five for 27.

HARMAN, GEORGE RICHARD UNIACKE, who died in Devonshire in December 1975, shortly after his 100th birthday, played one first-class match, for Dublin University v. M.C.C. in 1895. He batted no. 11. Better known as Rugby player, he represented Ireland three times 1897-99, and was the longest lived International in the British Isles.

JACKSON, DIRK CLOETE, who died on his farm near Pretoria on September 17, 1976, at the age of 91, was almost certainly the Senior first-class cricketer in South Africa measured by length of service. He made his debut for Western Province in 1908-09 and after playing for them for three seasons, he moved to the Transvaal for whom he made a couple of appearances in 1912-13. He had been the scrum-half in the first Springbok Rugby team to tour the United Kingdom in 1906 and was the last survivor of that team.

KARUNARATNE, EDWIN, President of the Ceylon Cricket Association in 1934, who had captained Combined Galle teams against several touring sides, including Jardine's M.C.C. side in 1934, died on December 19, 1976, aged 90.

KIRBY, HENRY RICHARD, who died at Mayfield on July 20, 1976, aged 87, was in the Malvern XI as a bat in 1908. Later he played for Sussex II and in 1910 scored 200 not out v. Essex II at Leyton, which stood as a record for the side until K. C. Wessels beat it in 1976. In 1911 he played for Sussex v. Cambridge University, but without success.

PAYNE, CHARLES ARTHUR LYNCH, died in hospital in North Vancouver on March 21, 1976, aged 90. A member of the Charterhouse XI in 1903 and 1904, he first appeared in first-class cricket for M.C.C. v. Derbyshire at Lord's in 1905 and scored 101 in 110 minutes, following it a few days later with 52 for Middlesex v. Essex. He continued to play occasionally for Middlesex until 1909 and in 1906 and 1907 represented Oxford at Lord's. For Oxford his highest score was 78 against Sussex, though in 1907 in the first innings v. Cambridge he was top scorer with 38, but probably his most notable performance in first-class cricket was for Middlesex v. Kent at Tonbridge in 1906, when in a needle match he made 40 and 81, in the second innings putting on 182 with Sir Pelham Warner, who to the end of his life spoke highly of Payne's batting on that occasion. Joe Mounsey of Yorkshire, pro at Charterhouse from 1898 to 1926, always regarded Payne as the best batsman he ever taught there, although, like most Carthusians and unlike most Yorkshiremen, he was apt to give considerable encouragement to the slips. About 1910 he went out to Vancouver, where for years he did much to help and encourage young players, and in 1939 published a book entitled What matters in Batsmanship. He played billiards for Oxford in 1906 and 1907, was Amateur Billiards Champion of Canada in 1927 and 1928 and had been Amateur Golf Champion of British Columbia. A cousin of M. W. Payne, against whom he played in his two University matches, he was at the time of his death the oldest living Oxford cricket blue.

GEORGE EMMETT

Mrs. J. McMurray, sister of the late George Emmett whose obituary appeared on page 1039 in the 1977 Wisden, points out that on his retirement as coach to Gloucestershire C.C.C. he was appointed General Secretary of the Imperial Athletic Club in Bristol, and that never at any time was he a groundsman.