Chapter Thirty-Two Leicestershire v Northamptonshire Changes to the holiday programme by counties in the Midlands were part of attempts to stimulate the game as interest waned. The concern was justified. Spectator numbers had fallen alarmingly over the past decade and action was needed. Amidst the calls for a brighter or more positive approach some of the clubs tried to freshen up the fixture list with a new menu. The alterations began in the hot summer of 1959. It was a laudable move but what of the members accustomed to traditional Bank Holiday opponents? Personal recollections are vivid. It seemed unthinkable that any county other than Surrey should be at Trent Bridge over Whitsun, although attendances were in decline. Saturday’s close in 1961 found Edrich and Barrington the not out batsmen and an opportunity too good to miss on Whit Monday. There was a fair crowd from the start but no difficulty was experienced in finding a decent seat at the Radcliffe Road end. Edrich did not stay long but his departure brought a brief glimpse of pre-war skills from Bernard Constable, still three years away from the end of a career that was to span 25 years. In 1959, Leicestershire visited Derby in August instead of Warwickshire. Memories relate not to the loss of an old-established fixture but an absorbing battle for a lead on the first innings which occupied Monday’s play. Leicestershire appeared to be winning before Donald Carr and Laurie Johnson came together in a big stand, Carr going on to a stylish hundred. He declared once the lead had been secured but the game fizzled away into a third-day draw. In contrast, Northamptonshire were in the driving seat on Whit Monday at Derby in 1960. They gained a comfortable lead and then unleashed Frank Tyson and the giant David Larter – the past and future of England’s new ball attack – with the field in attacking positions. Runs came freely, but although he went for plenty that evening it is Tyson’s hostility from the Nottingham Road end in what was to be his final season which stays in the mind’s eye. Thus it was the quality of the cricket which became the talking point rather than the variation of opposition, always excepting the Roses matches and the West Country derbies which seemed set in stone. So, too, did the Leicestershire-Northamptonshire series which had survived the war intact and resumed in 1946 with Whit Monday rained off at Grace Road and victory by an innings for Leicestershire at Northampton. Dennis Brookes gave clear indications that had it not been for Hutton and Washbrook he might have enjoyed a long Test career, winning a fascinating duel with Jack Walsh. Northamptonshire were bottom and Leicestershire second-last on the eve of the August match; they finished 16th and 11th respectively and in 1947 Northamptonshire were back in their familiar territory of bottom place. Walsh yet again spun Leicestershire to an easy victory at the County Ground and in August it appeared to be the same old story on Saturday when five Northamptonshire wickets fell for 78 but Brookes and Eddie Davis added 259 for the sixth wicket in a little over three hours. Brookes batted five and a half 167