Double Headers

28 Their efforts at least ensured that the defeat was nothing like as big as had seemed likely when the seventh wicket went down, and belied the lack of confidence shown in them when the hours of play were extended on the previous evening. But could any of the Surrey players take any real satisfaction from the match? Well, surely Harry Budgen could – playing on his home ground he took his first three first-class wickets, scored 25 and 30, and was one of only three Surrey players to achieve double-figures in both innings. William Abel perhaps also took satisfaction from making his first-class debut and taking three wickets, even if his scores of 4 and 4 were not what he might have hoped for from his principal skill. And the two ‘unexpected amateurs’, Sarel and Raphael, let no-one down, Sarel top-scoring in the first innings, and Raphael reaching 30 in both innings. Perhaps Goatly too took satisfaction from his 69 in a losing cause - and maybe more importantly to him, from the fact that it earned him a recall to the Championship XI for the next fixture. And maybe John Shuter enjoyed playing a first-class match again after 16 years, even though his scores of 18 and 1 meant a minute decrease in his final career average (from 21.31 to 21.26, if you must know!) But more generally the Reigate match was probably just regarded by the Surrey players as best forgotten: one to put down to experience. AFTER THE EVENT Immediate post mortems, and longer-term consequences The immediate reaction to Surrey’s double-header concentrated only on its success in cricketing terms, and not on whether the venture had achieved any other successes – which perhaps tells its own story: “It cannot be said that Surrey’s experiment of playing two first-class matches simultaneously 24 met with much success, seeing that each team suffered a heavy reverse. The county gave a very disappointing display at the Oval ... [no further comment on the Reigate game].” Pavilion Gossip, in Cricket: A weekly record of the game , 24 June 1909 “Surrey will look back upon the past week with anything but pleasant recollections. The experiment of playing two first-class matches on the same day was hardly a success, and the dual defeat of the county will not encourage its repetition.” Sporting Notes, in Surrey Mirror , 29 June 1909 Whether the Surrey Mirror had more than just the results in mind when concluding that the ‘experiment’ was “hardly a success” is not clear, though the reference in the paper’s Day 1 report that “attendance during the day was disappointing” was perhaps also in their minds. Perhaps we can also read a lack of success into what was not said at the AGM of Reigate Priory CC in the spring of 1910. One might have expected some expression of satisfaction, not to say pleasure or even pride, from the club following the hosting of its first first-class match. But in contrast 24 Note the contemporary references here, and in the following quotation, to the first-class status of both games, and to the experimental nature of the double- header venture. Surrey in 1909