All Ten: The Ultimate Bowling Feat

177 Jim Sims East v West, 1948 Leyland Motors Ground, Kingston-upon-Thames on 8, 9, 10 September 1948 (3-day match) East won by 223 runs Umpires: SA Hipple, GS Mobey East 392 (HA Pawson 128, RO Jenkins 5-84) and 304-8 dec (LJ Todd 107); West 294 and 179 (JM Sims 10-90) West second innings GM Emmett b Sims 35 RO Jenkins c Barling b Sims 8 F Cooper c Gray b Sims 16 JF Crapp b Sims 28 +AE Wilson b Sims 2 C Cook st Brown b Sims 2 R Howorth not out 37 *BH Lyon st Brown b Sims 10 MF Tremlett st McIntyre b Sims 32 AE Nutter b Sims 0 GEE Lambert b Sims 0 Extras (b 7, lb 2) 9 Total (all out, 45.4 overs) 179 Fall of wickets 1-26, 2-61, 3-66, 4-83, 5-90, 6-101, 7-113, 8-173, 9-173, 10-179 East bowling: LH Gray 9-1-16-0, R Smith 4-1-13-0, JM Sims 18.4-2-90-10, TPB Smith 8-1-36-0, HA Pawson 6-1-15-0 East: LJ Todd, TC Dodds, HT Barling, SM Brown, HA Pawson (capt), AJW McIntyre (wk), R Smith, TPB Smith, JM Sims, RR Dovey, LH Gray Tall and slim and renowned for his witty asides, Sims was one of cricket’s most popular characters. Bowling with a high arm and pushing the ball through, his googly was as good as anybody’s. The Middlesex 1947 Championship-winning side is particularly remembered for the power of its batting, the dynamic Denis Compton and Bill Edrich following prolific openers Jack Robertson and Syd Brown. However it also needed to get wickets, and although opener Laurie Gray (84 wickets) bowled accurately and unluckily, and Compton and Edrich did their bit, it relied particularly on Sims, who took 100 wickets despite missing some matches with a broken finger, and the left-arm spin of Jack Young (122). Born in Leyton, Essex in 1903 Sims came late to first-class cricket. He made his debut in 1929 but it was two more years before he became a Middlesex regular. Able to call on Walter Robins, Ian Peebles, Greville Stevens and Jack Hearne Middlesex weren’t short of wrist spin, and initially Sims was more a batsman who bowled. However, the emphasis gradually changed and by 1935 he was bowling for England. His four-match Test career would include two on Gubby Allen’s 1936/37 tour of Australia and New