Double Headers

58 But the area in which the county side was most in need of finding new talent was in bowling, and in that the Edgbaston game was conspicuously unsuccessful. Neither the retained groundstaff members nor the newcomers to the side did anything with the ball to catch the eye for the future; indeed, quite the reverse, for the side’s bowling came in for consistent criticism in the local press. Commenting after the match the Birmingham Post noted that “the Warwickshire fielding on the whole was good, and their batting was much appreciated by a fair crowd of spectators, but the game revealed in a striking manner the weakness of their attack”. The Mail confirmed this conclusion, saying that “no new bowler of promise was discovered ... and the match merely clinched the fact that the present weakness is in attack”. Apart from Venn, the only other newcomer singled out for praise by the local press was Reginald Burton, though frequently the praise was accompanied by faint damns. The Mail commented “Another new player to win distinction is RHM Burton of Rugby, an enthusiast, who is making progress as a run-getter”. It is good to know of his enthusiasm; but all other reports commented one way or another on his defensive play, which reading between the lines one may interpret as concern that he was over- cautious, or else very limited in his skills: “Burton showed a fine defence in a rather poor light” ( Post , after Day 1); “No player in the match showed a sounder defence” ( Post , after Day 2); and the final surely-damning remark from the Gazette , after Day 2, which described Burton as “a batsman who has even more stolid patience than Quaife”. 57 All in all, the match at Edgbaston was not hugely successful as a venture for discovering new players to make good the known area of weakness in Warwickshire’s Championship XI. But seen in its true context, as part (but only part) of Warwickshire’s attempt to identify new talent from within the county, it surely served its purpose, even if no obvious new stars were identified. And it also served to provide Bank Holiday entertainment to “a large crowd” on Day 1 ( Evening Despatch ), and to a crowd of about 1500 people on Day 2 ( Birmingham Mail ) – not an insignificant consideration in this first summer after the Great War, where there was a need to keep the game in the public eye and to provide entertainment for a nation getting ready once again to enjoy itself. Additionally, although it did not uncover any special new talent for the visitors either, the fixture helped to maintain interest in cricket in Worcestershire during that county’s bleakest hour. So certainly not a waste of time and effort, then, even if the tangible results were meagre. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT The rest of the 1919 season Warwickshire’s next Championship match, a home game against 57 Even at club level Burton’s batting style was described as ‘dogged’, as he always kept the ball on the ground and “timed his progress from first ball to century to coincide with tea”. His only known six for the Rugby club was made when, after his official retirement, he volunteered his services to a depleted team and, batting at no. 10, hit a ball for two which then went for four overthrows, thereby winning the match. [Information kindly provided by Tim Caven, Rugby CC, October 2012.] Warwickshire in 1919