Cricket's Historians

Mainly County Histories and Overseas Annuals scores of every Test and brief notes with Test career records and some other interesting statistical data. His last hardback book was issued by Edward Arnold & Co in 1949, its title being Yorkshire’s 22 Championships 1893-1946 . The book provides some six pages for each Championship title with, in most cases full scores of really significant matches, but, rather oddly, not the seasonal averages. J.M.Kilburn provides profiles of 30 of the best known players. Most of the books compiled by Roberts had been published by E.F.Hudson Ltd of New Street, Birmingham, who were the best known retailers of cricket books in the 1930s and carried both new and secondhand titles. In their 1940 advertisement in Wisden , the firm put the following note ‘A complimentary copy of Mr Roberts’ new ‘Cricket Records 1940’ will be enclosed with each order’. It was a small 32 page paperback. Hudsons issued similar books for 1946, 1948, 1949 and 1951. According to J.S.Milner, Hudson’s made a loss on all the books they published for Roberts. The bulk of his income derived from his statistical work for newspapers and magazines. The Cricketer magazine continued almost unaltered in format through the 1940s and the 1950s – the page size reduced in 1940 compared to 1939, the only intrinsic change being a switch from full scores of first-class county matches to potted scores in 1952. H.H.Jarrett launched a rival magazine in 1948. Its initial title was South Wales Cricketers’ Magazine , but in July 1950 it went national under the heading The Cricketers’ Magazine . Harold Harvey Jarrett was born in Johannesburg in 1907. He emigrated to England, was educated at Highgate School and played 14 matches for Warwickshire in 1932 and 1933. He moved to South Wales and played one game for Glamorgan in 1938. The base for his magazine was Newport, Monmouth, his home town at that time. Unlike The Cricketer , which in the 1940s was fortnightly during the season, plus two annuals, Jarrett’s publication was normally monthly May to September, plus one annual. Principal contributors to the magazine were John Arlott, Ian Peebles (usually fictional essays), G.D.Martineau, Gerald Brodribb, Roy Webber, Louis Duffus from South Africa, G.A.Brooking (on Lancashire Leagues) 149