Dimming of the Day

57 continued to play Army cricket after the war then captained England’s tour of South Africa in 1927/28 without having played county cricket. He had three games for Yorkshire in 1928 and then went to the West Indies with MCC in 1929/30 as vice-captain, but did not play in the Tests. In 1935 he published a book called Wicketkeeping and during the Second World War was GSO1 of the 21 st Army Group. He toured with various private teams in Egypt and Canada and is last seen captaining the Lord Mayor of Newcastle’s XI in a one-day game at Jesmond in 1944 at the age of 52. On Friday 10 July there was word that the Representative Church Council had decided to give women the right to vote for and sit on parochial council – perhaps the very thin end of the wedge that led to women bishops one hundred years later. The Times’ first leader, as every day for some weeks now, was about Ireland. The Eton and Harrow match began at Lord’s. This was analysed as closely as the University match and took the headlines despite the start of the Gentlemen v Players match at the Oval. The Oval game was regarded as small beer by The Times , the score coming after the county matches (and Oxford University Authentics against the Household Brigade and Haileybury v Haverford). Somerset were out for 115 against Kent, with the only resistance coming from the captain, Mr E.S.M.Poyntz, who made 51*. The 1911 census shows Poyntz (then 28) as a hop merchant. He had played for Somerset for a few years and was appointed captain for 1913. A career average for the county of 16.07 and a highest score of 89 suggests a rather average amateur batsman – he did make 114 in 70 minutes for The Army against Cambridge University in 1919, when he also played a last couple of games for Somerset. Against Hampshire at Bristol, Gloucestershire were bowled out by Kennedy and Newman for 34. Hampshire made 216 with a century from Mead and Gloucestershire were 27-0 in their second innings. Cecil Parkin, at this point (like James Tyldesley) playing for Lancashire only when not required by his league club Church, had taken thirteen wickets as Leicestershire ended the second day with nine second-innings down and 17 runs ahead. The next report shows the London Clergy fairly beating up the Southwark Clergy in a one-day match (London 340-8, Southwark 105 and 82-8). The Rev’d R Sheppard who kept wicket for London was almost certainly Dick Sheppard, later known for founding the Peace Pledge Union. At the Oval the Players made 321, thanks to a last-wicket stand of 122 between Hitch and Strudwick after Hobbs, Tarrant and J.W.Hearne – the form men of the summer – were all out with only 12 scored. Two of them fell to Ernest Kirk, a somewhat surprising selection since at this point he had played only two games for Surrey, in one of which he had bowled only five overs: still it was at the Oval and he may have been a late selection. The Times muttered about Jaques bowling leg theory with only one man July 1914