forced into the sidelines for two years. Hammond’s first full season was 1923 and thus began the career of one of the greatest batsmen in world cricket. He possessed all the strokes, although later on he eschewed the hook, and the power and grace of his cover driving has never been surpassed. A genuine allrounder, he could bowl anything from fast to fast-medium swing and as a slip fieldsman he was peerless. Two other notable names, one on either side, emerged around this time – the brothers MalcolmDouglas ‘Dar’ Lyon of Somerset and Beverley Hamilton Lyon of Gloucestershire, the West Country clashes often leading to ferocious sibling rivalry. They were born at Caterham in Surrey and attended Rugby School. From here, MD went up to Cambridge, earning Blues in 1921 and 1922 and making his debut for Somerset in 1920. A wicket-keeper and forcing right-hand batsman in the middle order, he was regarded as one of the best never to be capped by England. Lyon was called to the Bar in 1925 and an appointment as a magistrate in Gambia spelled the virtual end of his cricket career. Bev was also a hard-hitting batsman who gained a Blue at Oxford in 1922 and 1923 and played for Gloucestershire from 1921 to 1947. An apostle of positive cricket, Bev Lyon, who was captain from 1929 to 1934, originated a scheme in 1931 of counties declaring their innings closed after a nominal single ball in an attempt to gain a result in a rain-affected match. He also advocated county cricket on Sundays, an idea which took 36 years for the authorities to adopt. The batting of Hammond and Dipper and, inevitably, the bowling of Parker began to dominate the matches although Somerset ended a mini-drought of five games without a win with a 21-run success at the Fry’s Ground in 1926, a season when Gloucestershire were without Hammond, laid low after a tour of the West Indies. He returned in style at Taunton in 1927, reaching 197 before he was bowled by White. Somerset had made 427, with White and Cecil Charles Coles ‘Box’ Case making hundreds in sharing a fifth wicket partnership of 240 but the match was drawn. So, too, was the return at Bristol but through no fault of Parker. Reg Sinfield, whose all-round ability as a middle-order batsman and slow right-arm bowler earned him an England cap in 1938, took the first wicket when he bowled Jack MacBryan and then Parker took over. Somerset were all out for 201, Parker returning 57.5-20-103-9. Going in again 54 ahead, Somerset declared with nine wickets down for 101: Parker 34-15-51-7, but the match fizzled out. Even by Parker’s standards, match figures of 91.5-35-154-16 are exceptional, although they rank as only the third best of his career. Holiday fixture switches found Gloucestershire meeting Kent in 1929, 1932 and 1935, in which they won one and lost four of the six matches. Hampshire were their opponents in 1928, 1931 and 1934, these six bringing two victories and a defeat. Somerset failed to win any of their six games against Kent in 1928, 1931 and 1934, suffering five defeats. They were more successful against Hampshire (1929, 1932 and 1935), remaining undefeated in the six matches, with three victories. By 1930, Gloucestershire had emerged as one of the outstanding teams in the country. The signs had appeared in 1929, when Tom Goddard astonished everybody by taking 184 wickets. Goddard had been an ordinary fast bowler before Bev Lyon persuaded him to spend a season in the Lord’s nets with a view to converting him into an off spinner. Goddard’s height and long, powerful fingers were ideal physical attributes and he never looked back. For a time, Gloucestershire headed the table and were neck and neck with five matches left In the West 93