Cricket's Historians

More County Histories and The Cricket Society grows which have been featured. Four, more substantial, county histories were published between 1952 and 1959. The first, in 1952, was Ron Roberts’ Sixty Years of Somerset Cricket . As the title implies it deals with the County Club since first-class status was restored in 1891. Anything prior to that date is bundled into four pages, one of which is solely devoted to the actual founding of the present County Club in 1875. The whole book runs to 208 pages including 13 pages of records provided by R.F.Trump and S.J.H.King, Reg Trump was the current County scorer, whilst King, described as a wizard with figures, resided in North Wembley, Middlesex. The book is pleasantly written with interesting comments on the principal personalities from Sammy Woods onwards. Ronald Arthur Roberts was born in Liverpool in 1925 and began his journalistic career with the Somerset County Herald , before moving up to the Bristol Evening World . From 1954 to 1956 he was a member of the Executive Committee of the County Club. Then he moved to London, joining the Hayter’s Sports Agency. During the winter he accompanied a number of England touring sides abroad and reported freelance for the Daily and Sunday Telegraph . In addition he organised and managed several tours, which included well- known cricketers, to lesser cricket playing countries including the United States, Canada and a number of African former British colonies. Roberts died in August 1965 after a long illness. Another journalist who wrote a history of his County was Archibald ‘Archie’ William Ledbroke – he was tragically killed in the Munich air crash of February 1958 along with members of the Manchester United team. Born in Woking in 1905 and educated at Leamington College, Ledbroke represented his school at cricket, rugby and lawn tennis. Leaving school for journalism he rose to become the Sports Editor of the Manchester Evening News and in 1934 was appointed principal sports writer to the Daily Dispatch . He was elected Chairman of the Cricket Writers Club in 1951 and was also Chairman of the Football Writers’ Association. His book, Lancashire County Cricket 1864-1953 came out in 1954. The idea and general format for the work had been the brain-child of John Arthur 161