Winter’s misery soon faded; Whit Saturday found 17,000 at Lord’s to see Edrich (106) and Compton (110) share a third wicket partnership of 223. At the close, Sussex had lost four wickets for 43 in reply to Middlesex’s 380 and on Whit Monday, when the crowd was nearly 30,000, they followed on. Cox and James Langridge fought hard but Middlesex were home and dry by the end of the second day. The Hove game was allocated to James Langridge for his benefit and it provided a perfect illustration of the type of cricket which brought the title to Middlesex. Robertson and Brown gave them a flying start, Edrich, Compton and George Mann maintained the pace and Robins was able to declare at 401 for four. Sussex followed on but Bartlett and Charles Oakes halted Middlesex’s progress with some clean and powerful strokes. They added 138 in 95 minutes for the sixth wicket, leaving Middlesex to make 111. Rain caused some anxiety on Tuesday but Brown took 17 from Jack Nye’s first over and Robertson and Edrich finished the job, knocking off the remaining 87 in 45 minutes. Sir Aubrey Smith, by now well-known as a film star, attended the game and at lunch Jack Holmes, chairman of the Test selectors, toasted him as the senior living county captain. The holiday fixtures became a natural choice for beneficiaries; Laurie Gray at Lord’s and, jointly, Harry Parks and John Langridge at Hove in 1948. Denis Compton’s benefit match took place at Whitsuntide in 1949. Rain prevented play until 2pm on Saturday, when Compton won the toss and took a wicket in his first over, Sussex making 269. On Whit Monday the gates were closed after 35,000 people had been admitted on a bright, sunny day. In his autobiography End of an Innings Compton said that he felt more taut and nervous than usual when he went out to bat to the generous applause of the crowd. He continued, “Usually a beneficiary gets one off the mark; but the usual thing didn’t happen that day – and I make no complaint about it; plainly Hugh Bartlett, in assessing the situation, had said to himself: “This is the best chance we have of getting this chap out – and we badly want him out.” The fielders crowded round me and got after me right from the start.” Compton spent 16 minutes getting off the mark but went on to make 182, his last 79 coming in 44 minutes. His brother Leslie then hit an unbeaten 59 while their 69-year-old father looked proudly on from the members’ stand. John Langridge deprived Middlesex of any chance of victory. During the three days 55,000 people were present, of whom 49,194 passed through the turnstiles. Compton’s benefit realised £12,200. Middlesex were joint champions in 1949 and Sussex only 14th but there was a remarkable turnaround at Hove in August. Sussex did well enough to make 302 but Jim Wood’s fast medium left-arm bowling accounted for seven Middlesex batsmen for 34 as the visitors were bundled out for 91. Set 148, Sussex lost four for 37 before Hubert Doggart and James Langridge shared an unfinished stand of 114. But it was impossible to keep Compton out of the headlines. During the 1949-50 football season, when he suffered from problems with his right knee, he was in the Arsenal team which defeated Liverpool in the FA Cup final at Wembley. In the Lord’s match at Whitsuntide he made 50 but next day was admitted to the London Clinic for a knee operation which put him out of the game for a large part of the season. Typically at Hove he arrived in plimsolls, having overslept. Robins put him on to bowl as a punishment and he responded with a couple of wickets. Middlesex won that game by 24 runs but, apart from Compton’s antics, it was notable for the performances of young batsmen weaned on the pitches at Fenner’s: John Dewes, the left-handed opener who made two hundreds in the match, David Sheppard and Hubert Doggart. Middlesex v Sussex 134