hours for 210 (14 fours); Davis reached the boundary nine times in 104, his maiden century. The captain, Arthur Childs-Clarke, weighed in with 68, his highest score for the county and the total reached 455. Walsh, scourge of Northamptonshire, again took five wickets but they cost him 157. Leicestershire, bemused by the leg breaks of the West Indian doctor Bertie Clarke, followed on and although Leslie Berry made a hundred, Northamptonshire won with six wickets to spare. It was their first success at Leicester for 20 years. “There was such rejoicing in the Northants dressing room afterwards as would not be fully understood among the more regularly successful counties,” wrote John Arlott. Although conditions at Grace Road were then rudimentary, the local derby continued to attract the spectators and crowds of 8,000, 11,000 and 8,000 watched the Northamptonshire match at Whitsun in 1948. By 20 July, the counties were level pegging at the bottom but Walsh (13-108) was again in devastating form at Northampton, when Leicestershire won by 182 runs. They finished 11th to Northamptonshire’s 17th but change was in the air at the County Ground. Childs-Clarke’s two-year reign as captain ended and the 38-year-old Freddie Brown, the former Cambridge University, Surrey and England allrounder, was appointed as his successor. A winter job at British Timken Ltd, the roller bearing firm, was guaranteed and Brown took over in 1949. His leadership skills were schooled under Percy Fender and Douglas Jardine and honed under Errol Holmes and Monty Garland-Wells; five memorable seasons with Northamptonshire brought a transformation and of his 22 Tests, 15 were as captain, notably and courageously the 1950/51 tour of Australia. Brown began his Northamptonshire career by performing the double in 1949 but he could not manage the revival single-handedly. The county qualification rules had been relaxed by introducing special registrations and Northamptonshire took full advantage. From Lancashire came Norman Oldfield, one of the most promising young batsmen in England before the war, and allrounder Bert Nutter, who had both refused post-war terms at Old Trafford. Off spinner Gordon Garlick, his chances restricted in Lancashire’s team, joined the staff and two high-class Australians, Jock Livingston, a small, nimble left-handed batsman, and George Tribe, a slow left-arm bowler and an allrounder capable of doubles, arrived from league cricket. Brown was to make an interesting comparison between Tribe and Jack Walsh. Of the three great chinamen exponents of his time, he felt that the Australian Fleetwood-Smith turned the ball the most. “Walsh possessed the biggest box of tricks in that he bowled so many varieties and George Tribe was probably the most accurate.” Northamptonshire famously rose to sixth in 1949; Leicestershire were last but the positions were not reflected in the holiday fixtures, both of which were drawn. A late Whitsun – 4, 6 and 7 June – saw hundreds from Frank Prentice and Eddie Davis and a determined innings from Maurice Tompkin which frustrated Northamptonshire’s hopes. In August, Berry (162) delighted the Grace Road faithful and Oldfield responded with a stylish hundred but rain on the final two days disrupted proceedings. There were mixed fortunes for Leicestershire in the 1950s; joint third in 1953 and sixth in 1952 and 1955 offset by bottom place in 1956 and 1957 and second-last in 1950, 1954 and 1959. Northamptonshire, by contrast, were runners-up in 1957 and fourth in 1956 and 1958; their lowest position was 13th in 1951. Northamptonshire’s superiority was not always to the fore in the holiday fixtures, although in 1950 they won a thrilling game at Grace Road by 22 runs. They were Leicestershire v Northamptonshire 168