Cricket's Historians

The Influence of W.G.Grace In 1893 he retired to the Isle of Man, dying there in June 1895. F.R.Reynolds, on behalf of Lancashire cricket, not only copied Spybey’s scheme, but improved upon it. In 1881 he published Lancashire County Cricket , which ran to 160 pages, plus adverts. The book covered all Lancashire matches from 1864 to 1880 on a season by season basis, with averages for each season (except 1864 and 1865) and a review of each season. The only additional information is the short section on the Laws. Reynolds did give the bowling analyses for all but a few lesser matches. Reynolds’ book was updated in 1882 and 1883. The work has in recent years been reprinted by Red Rose Books. Three other publications dealing with Lancashire at this time were annuals, which did not last beyond a season or two. Frederick Reginald Reynolds was born in Cambridgeshire in 1833 and played for his native county until 1867, even though he had been engaged as a ground bowler to the Manchester Club from 1860. In 1870 he was appointed Ground Manager and Assistant Secretary at Old Trafford. For ten seasons, 1865 to 1874 he played for Lancashire, being for the first five or so years one of the county’s principal bowlers. Reynolds retired from his Old Trafford post in 1908 and died in April 1915. County Cricket Club Yearbooks with full scores and the now usual format were not published by the Lancashire Club until 1930 – in the case of Nottinghamshire, apart from three issues in the 1930s, the Club did not publish an annual, with detailed scores until 1948. With C.W.Alcock at the helm it is hardly surprising that Surrey followed Kent as the second County Club to publish its own Yearbook containing detailed scores. The book had board covers of a distinctive chocolate colour. The book is twice the page size of the Kent one and is published by Wright & Co. The matches are printed but without any description. The members are listed, but no addresses. There is no record section, and only the basic seasonal averages. Yorkshire County Cricket Club became the third first-class county to issue its own Yearbook. In 1878 W.Duthoit had compiled and published The Yorkshire Cricketer’s Guide For 1878 . This contained the county 54