All Ten: The Ultimate Bowling Feat

132 was one of cricket’s unluckier batsmen. In only ten Test appearances he made five centuries: three against Warwick Armstrong’s Australians and the other two in the same match against South Africa, after which he never played for England again! Perhaps the selectors didn’t warm to his utilitarian style, perhaps he just played for an unfashionable county, perhaps competition for places was too great. After that it was all Kent. Freeman’s first victim had been Leonard Crawley. Cousin Aidan redeemed the family honour by hitting a brilliant 175 in just under three hours, no doubt taking advantage of an outfield made none too reliable by the passage of summer. Two years previously, captaining Oxford University, he had made a century against Kent. Crawley had a remarkable life becoming, among many other things, both a Labour MP and later a Conservative MP. Playing for Free Foresters against Oxford University in 1949, he was the last person to appear in a first-class match whilst still a serving member of the House of Commons. Setting Essex 400 to win, Kent triumphed by 277 runs. Left all day to reach their improbable target, Essex lasted only two and a half hours. Deputy-deputy-captain Franklin had a modest career record, but he at least provided some leadership by top scoring with 38, albeit in a losing cause. Freeman took six more wickets and finished with sixteen for 94 in the match. Umpire Bestwick (again) no doubt looked on approvingly. With the ground now off the county circuit after hosting 130 first-class matches, Freeman’s innings and match analyses are Southchurch Park records unlikely to be beaten. The previous innings record had been set in the inaugural first-class match on the ground when J.W.H.T. (Johnny) Douglas took eight for 33 against Leicestershire in 1906, with Freeman’s cousin Alf Russell the Essex wicketkeeper. Aged 48 Douglas would make his final first-class appearance a week after Freeman’s feat, and tragically drown in a collision off the Danish coast four months later whilst attempting to save his father’s life. Freeman had now made it 11 successive five-fors against Essex, a sequence he would eventually extend to 17. He probably liked bowling against Essex; he took more wickets (269) against them than against any other team. To be fair he probably liked bowling against quite a few counties, taking over 200 against nine in all. The day after the Southend match, Saturday, was the first day of the deciding Fifth Test at The Oval between England and Australia. The 14 players from whom the final England side would be selected included two wicketkeepers, Les Ames and Lancashire’s George Duckworth. In the event, Ames had taken a blow on the knee on the last day at Southend and Duckworth played, unfortunately having a poor game by his high standards. Meanwhile the overlooked Freeman went on taking wickets for Kent, first innings figures of five (including Bradman and Ponsford) for 78 when the Australians came to Canterbury, again raising the question of the briefness of his Test career. Tich Freeman