Cricket's Historians

Differences in Style There are no complete sets of averages, just the leading ones in ‘average’ order. The author, Cecil Kent, states that he checked the Test reports in The Times . The match scores in these books gave no more than the detail printed in Wisden , so no fall of wickets, second innings batting order and not necessarily the names of captains and wicketkeepers or even who won the toss. Returning to E.L.Roberts, Edward Lamplough Roberts was born in Ecclesall, near Sheffield in 1880. Leaving school he went to work in a surveyor’s office, though by 1921 he had moved to Sutton Coldfield and then further south to Purley, where he remained for the rest of his life. His first article in The Cricketer appeared in 1931 and then nearly every year to 1953 he contributed at least one article and often three or four. Padwick lists 21 titles compiled by Roberts, several of which appeared in more than one edition. In two seasons, 1938 and 1939, he compiled a Test Cricket Annual . A number of his smaller booklets were sponsored by commercial firms, notably the bat manufacturers, Gunn & Moore. His flow of published works was on a par with Ashley-Cooper, but did not contain the erudite snippets of the latter, for he had little depth to his knowledge. Today his best known work is probably Cricket in England 1894 to1939 , published in 1946. The principal contents are details of each English first-class season between those dates. On one page are the top twenty batsmen of the year and the top twenty bowlers; on the facing page are notes on the season. During the early years of the Second World War, Roberts worked for a ‘pittance’ (in the words of the Assistant Editor, Langford) to help keep The Cricketer going. It was typical of the man, kind and helpful to his cricketing friends and fellow statisticians. The last of his numerous contributions to The Cricketer came in the Spring Annual of 1953 – the detailed statistics of Alec Bedser. Roberts died in February 1954. Another 1930s statistician of note was Samuel Canynge Caple. Born in Clifton, Bristol in 1910, he was educated at Clifton College and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. From 1928 to 1935 Caple appeared on the stage, but then switched from the acting profession to journalism. His name 119