Cricket's Historians

A Spate of County Histories David William Goodyear was born in Birmingham in 1938 and employed by Cadburys. He was at one time the official historian to Aston Villa F.C. and wrote a history of that club. Brooke and Goodyear tackled Worcestershire next. Both volumes were published by Robert Hale, who took subscriptions prior to publication in order to protect themselves against loss. Lancashire, again by Brooke and Goodyear, appeared in 1991, this time under the Breedon imprint. Glamorgan, by Andrew Hignell and Yorkshire by Tony Woodhouse came out in 1992. Sales were disappointing and here the series ceased. A fresh view of the county scene was a series of record books launched by Limlow Books in 1993 – the first volume covering Hampshire had in fact been awaiting a publisher for some time before Limlow took the plunge. The author was Victor Isaacs, the Hampshire scorer and the format was similar to that devised by Roy Webber for his Playfair Record Book, but with additions such as the career records of all the county players. Like most other ‘county’ series, this one failed to complete the course, but only just! The final book, covering Northants was published in 2000 and compiled by Philip Bailey, but Sussex’s author failed to provide a long- promised manuscript. Most of the compilers were connected with their county’s yearbook and have been noted previously in that capacity, but a few other names, some of whom later became yearbook editors, deserve notice. Michael Ayers (Surrey) was the county scorer from 1990 to 1994 and edited the county yearbook record section from 1991 to 1995. He was also for a time editor of The Scorer , a magazine designed for county scorers. David Baggett (Derbyshire) assisted Frank Peach with the county yearbook and was editor from 2001 to 2006. A qualified banker and computer consultant, he was born in Derby in March 1933 and educated at Derby School. A well-known local cricketer and latterly an umpire who stood in some County Second Eleven matches, he served on the Committee of the County Club for seven years and was President of the ACS from 2004 to 2007. Roy Wilkinson (Yorkshire) was a founding member of the ACS and an editor of the Yorkshire Yearbook from 1975. The Rev Malcolm Lorimer 269