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54 marked with much of his old-time vigour”. In all, Burrows’ 82 took about 1¾ hours and included ten fours (The Field) . Apart from Cave-Rogers all the top order batsmen made useful scores, and although the full fall of wickets is not available the Post indicates that the sixth wicket fell with the score on 252. The last five wickets fell relatively quickly to the bowling of Santall and Smart, who were not put on until the score had passed 200 and then proceeded to take 5-56 between them. Worcestershire’s innings ended for 330 at about 4.50pm, leaving Warwickshire two hours’ batting, in which time they reached 148-2. The captain Harris and newcomer Venn added 67 for the first wicket before Harris was bowled for 34. Smart did not last long (72-2), but Venn and Burton saw their side safely through to the close, by which time the light was “rather poor”. Venn’s cutting and off-driving “evoked much enthusiasm” as he advanced to 78*, while Burton’s “fine defence” saw him to an overnight score of 28*. Although Warwickshire’s ‘other eleven’ had not had a bad first day, they were not without their critics. In particular, their bowling came in for censure, notably from the reporter from the Birmingham Gazette , who described it as “the most innocuous and inept bowling that even an Edgbaston crowd has seen”, and stated that Worcestershire’s big total was due not to the strength of their batting but to the weakness of Warwickshire’s attack. Strong words, and perhaps a little harsh in view of the late successes of Santall and Smart, and the prematurely cut off promise of Albert Howell. But he was not alone in these opinions, even if others expressed them a little more circumspectly. Day 2 - Tuesday 5 August 1919 With the Bank Holiday over the weather cheered up, and the forecast for the Midlands was for fair or cloudy weather with moderate or rather high temperatures (The Times) . Rain fell overnight at Derby - though not, apparently, at Edgbaston – but play started on time in both games, and proceeded uninterrupted to its conclusion. This was of course the final day of both matches. At Derby, things quickly went wrong for the home team. After not much more than ten minutes’ play they had gone from their overnight 75-1 to a far less healthy 80-4. The overnight rain made the pitch slower but “it had not appreciably affected the surface, so that Derbyshire’s collapse was surprising”. The previous evening’s “fire and dash” was now replaced by a period of retrenchment, but once a stand of 83 between present and future captains John Chapman and Guy Jackson was broken, the collapse resumed, and Derbyshire subsided from 163-4 to 189 all out, made in 3½ hours (Manchester Guardian) . Harry Howell (5-65) and Willie Hands (4-36) shared nine of the wickets, but contemporary match reports do not single their bowling out for any special praise. It seems the batsmen were more responsible than the bowlers for Derbyshire’s poor second day showing. Derbyshire, 170 behind on first innings, were asked to bat again; in such a time-limited game, this was surely Warwickshire’s only option if they wanted to secure a win. This time two wickets fell quickly, but with most Warwickshire in 1919