rid of Fred Gardner and Tom Dollery. There was a fine spirit between the teams. The other big thing which was noticeable to me both as a player and an umpire was the vast improvement at Edgbaston and it was this which brought the return of Test cricket to the ground in 1957.” The Derby crowd developed something of a love-hate relationship with Dollery, Gardner and Hollies and there was a perfect example of this in the 1953 August Bank Holiday game. GuyWillatt and Revill shored up the Derbyshire innings but 233 was nowhere near enough as Hollies had his usual field day: 32-19-38-4. On Monday, 8,000 saw Gardner (143 in six hours) and Dollery add 180 for the fifth wicket before Dollery was run out by Donald Carr from the cover boundary with the scoreboard showing he had made 100. On checking it was found his score was 99. It had been a delightful innings and nobody would have begrudged him the extra run. At times in 1954 either side looked capable of becoming champions but both of the holiday clashes were ruined by rain in one of the wettest summers on record. Warwickshire stood at the head of the table when they visited Derby at Whit and they took control immediately, dismissing Derbyshire for 172. Jack Bannister, unchanged from the pavilion end, took five for 99 and Hollies four for 39. Gladwin soon got rid of Gardner but Horner and Wolton batted well and Warwickshire were 111 for two by the close. Heavy rain ruled out any play on Whit Monday and there was none until 4.15pm on Tuesday. What was left of the match became a fight for first innings points and the visitors won it with four wickets and four minutes to spare. By the time August Bank Holiday came around the boot was on the other foot. On the eve of the holiday, Yorkshire led the race with 142 points from 19 games. Derbyshire, who had just completed a stunning victory at Headingley, were second with 132 points from 17 matches and Warwickshire, 128 from 19, came next. Dollery won the toss and batted on Saturday but Warwickshire were well and truly pegged back by some accurate bowling from Jackson, Gladwin, Morgan and Edwin Smith. By lunch the score was 51 for three, with Gardner and Dollery together but Jackson had Dollery caught behind for three and wickets fell regularly. Warwickshire took over four hours to make 106, occupying 80 overs; had it not been for Gardner, eighth out for 40 after a 230-minute stay, their plight would have been even worse. Jackson took five for 28 and Morgan three for 18. Bannister soon accounted for Kelly but Arnold Hamer and Willatt took the score to 50 before the struggle began against Hollies and Ian King’s left-arm slows. By the close Derbyshire were 92 for seven with Carr and Gladwin together and the match evenly poised. On August Bank Holiday Monday rain held up play until 4.15pm, when Carr (62) and Gladwin (38) took their partnership to 82 before the innings closed for 158. Warwickshire ended the day on 41 for the loss of Horner, still 11 behind, but rain prevented any play on Tuesday. Ominously for both counties, Surrey found time to beat Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire crushed Lancashire by an innings. Surrey were champions in 1954, Derbyshire ending third and Warwickshire sixth. Hollies embarked on his final season in 1957 (Dollery finished in 1955) but he was not yet done with Derbyshire. They came to Edgbaston at Whitsuntide at the head of the table on the back of six consecutive victories but the 45-year-old had a match analysis of 10-99 as Warwickshire won easily. He bowled well at Derby in August, when Bannister took 11 wickets in the match and Horner and Warwickshire’s new skipper Mike Smith made hundreds, but the home side Derbyshire, Warwickshire and Others 150