against him in poor light at Lord’s. He soon sent my stick flying . . . and I wasn’t sorry either!” “The matches against Surrey were always special. We all knew each other well and I was in the same Players’ side as Bobby Abel, Bill Lockwood, Tom Hayward, Ernie Hayes and Jack Hobbs and so on over the years. Another very fast bowler was Neville Knox, who took a lot of wickets for the Gentlemen in one match I remember.” The weather was bitterly cold on that February day, the nearby Trent Bridge ground covered in snow. One of Gunn’s former captains, Arthur Carr, had just died at 69, collapsing after shovelling snow at his Yorkshire home. Giving the roaring fire a poke (Nottinghamshire provided him with an allowance to buy coal) he expressed regret but added: “What did he think he was doing, shovelling snow at his age?” Gunn, himself, died in August that year at the age of 87, a legacy being his 2,646 runs off the Surrey bowlers, his average of 40.70 superior to George’s 37 andWilliam’s 31. The trio amassed nearly 8,000 runs, John taking 106 wickets to boot. On August Bank Holiday Monday 1914, 15,000 people saw Surrey reach 472 for five, Hobbs making 226 and sharing a third wicket partnership of 202 with Donald Knight. It was highly entertaining but insignificant when placed in the context of wider events. Across the river crowds thronged in Whitehall as the crisis in Europe deepened. Surrey’s innings closed at 542 on Tuesday and the spectators barracked some dour batting by George Gunn and Joe Hardstaff senior, police being called to eject some of the offenders. That day Great Britain declared war on Germany and in the evening Nottinghamshire’s captain Arthur Carr was called away for military duty. It hardly mattered for only 45 minutes play was possible on a rain-affected final day. Clash of Titans 34