Dimming of the Day

37 batting by Mr Anson and Tarrant,” said The Times , punctilious as ever about the social niceties. At the end of the first day at Leyton Middlesex (put in to bat) were 245-1: they went on to 464-1 before declaring, Tarrant, 250* and J.W.Hearne 106*, and then bowled Essex out for 173 and 235: ‘Young Jack’ Hearne adding 14 wickets to his hundred. In 1912 and 1913 Essex had won only three matches and lost 17, in both seasons finishing 15 th out of 16 in the championship. These were the worst two seasons of their first-class life so far. They had begun 1914 where they left off, with consecutive heavy defeats by Leicestershire, Sussex and Yorkshire. Then came Middlesex, the worst of all. But under the captaincy of Johnny Douglas Essex, launching their policy of touring the county with games at Southend and Colchester, were to improve dramatically. On 26 May there was a substantial advertisement in The Times for the new Wolseley Torpedo Phaeton (with electrical lighting equipment). Wolseley at this time was owned by Vickers, an early conglomerate. This would have set you back £475. From Paris it was reported that M. Clement Bayard, a constructor of airships, had been arrested in Cologne, apparently for watching the descent of a Zeppelin. The headline is ‘German Spy Mania’. One could look through the theatrical announcements. The Royal Opera House had a formidable look – Montemezzi’s L’amore dei tre re tonight, Un ballo in maschera tomorrow, Rigoletto on Friday (with Melba herself), Aida on Saturday, Shaw’s Pygmalion at His Majesty’s, the 425 th performance of Kismet at the Globe (produced by Oscar Asche, a keen but untalented cricketer himself). And far more: you would have to admit that the intellectual level was slightly higher than the West End manages today (and, too, there were more theatres to choose from and that without counting the music halls). At this point, towards the end of May, it is interesting to see how many military men were turning out for various sides, MCC and Ground v Hampshire involved four, Major Fulton turned out for Worcestershire and the Household Brigade were playing Harrow. In the matches that finished on 27 May, the main news was that Surrey beat Yorkshire at Bradford by 28 runs in a game which changed throughout. Yorkshire, chasing 223, were 106 for 8, but Hirst and Birtles added 82 for the ninth wicket to take Yorkshire close. On the first day Jack Hobbs, opening with Hayward, had scored 100 out of 151 in 75 minutes with 11 fours and five sixes, but, despite that and 125 from Hayes, Surrey were dismissed for 317. Hobbs in 1914 at the age of 31 not only scored heavily but fast and was perfectly happy to hit the ball in the air. This was his first hundred of the season after a quiet start: he had given a hostage to fortune in 1913 by writing a book called How To Make A Century 25 . Wilfred Rhodes took six for 109 in 24 overs, quite unusually rough treatment for him, though he obviously had his revenge, adding five for 56 in the second 25 J.B.Hobbs, How To Make A Century , A&C Black, 1913 Opening Moves