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20 Surrey in 1909 things – to select himself as captain for the Reigate match cannot now be ascertained. Arthur Rutty’s credentials for captaining the side were passed over in favour of those of a man who was 54 years and 132 days old at the start of the match, and who had played no first-class cricket for 16 years (and only one major match in the meantime, a non-first-class game for Surrey against the West Indian tourists in 1900). The Surrey Mirror reported on 18 June that Shuter “has been indulging in a tremendous lot of club cricket lately, and is very fit” – though I have to say that his name does not appear in any of the club cricket scores printed in Cricket in the earlier part of 1909, and neither had he turned out even once in Club & Ground matches. We may surmise that Shuter’s aim in selecting himself was twofold – to provide some experience in what was otherwise likely to be a relatively inexperienced side, and as a sentimental gesture designed to make the fixture more attractive, in the absence of Surrey’s ‘big name’ drawcards who were all playing at The Oval. The shortage of experienced and in-form batsmen among the contenders from the season’s First and Second Elevens could perhaps excuse the selectors for looking elsewhere to fill some of the places in the top half of the order. The four who were selected were all amateurs, two of whom had an Oxford connection. Morice Bird , Liverpool-born but Surrey-qualified, had first made his name by scoring a century in each innings for Harrow against Eton in 1907 (still a unique achievement in that fixture, and likely to remain so, as for many years this match has been played as a one-day, single-innings fixture). He had played three first-class matches already in 1909 – one for MCC Two of the three past or future Test cricketers from the Surrey side at Reigate were John Shuter (left), who played his last match for Surrey in this game, and Morice Bird, who was making his debut for the county. (Both photos courtesy of Surrey CCC)