but finished fourth. They were runners-up to Lancashire in 1930, despite winning 15 of their 28 matches to Lancashire’s ten. A double over Somerset helped their cause, although they had to work hard at Taunton. Dar Lyon made 210 (he was dropped by Goddard at mid-off when he was two) in a Somerset total of 372 but Bev Lyon and Sinfield responded with hundreds and Gloucestershire ended Whit Monday on 385 for six. “Forget the holiday crowd – just stay there,” Bev Lyon told Sinfield, who went out and told the umpire: “Sorry about this but I’m here until half-past six.” He added: “I simply nailed my studs to the ground. The Bank Holiday crowd hated me for it. When they barracked me, I shouted back at them. I’d been told what I had to do.” Stay he did for six hours 20 minutes. Gloucestershire gained a lead of 69 on Tuesday and after bowling Somerset out for 144, got home by eight wickets. Dar Lyon was furious with his brother. “If I’d been watching that rubbish, I would have wanted my money back. And you call yourself an advocate of brighter cricket? That was disgraceful, Beverley.” The younger brother responded: “You took too much for granted. In the end we outmanoeuvred you.” The return took place on the Clifton College ground, Parker having another of those matches in which he carried all before him. In his 48th year, he took seven for 44 and six for 29 and with Hammond making an unbeaten 100, Gloucestershire won by nine wickets. Three seasons on, the topsy-turvy nature of these holiday fixtures was reflected in victory by an innings for Somerset, Gloucestershire promptly avenging this defeat at Bristol in August. In later years, neither side could mount a challenge for the title, although Gloucestershire were fourth in 1936 and 1937 and third in 1939 but some fine players took the stage as the older ones departed. There was aggression at the top of both orders. Charlie Barnett’s discipline and variety of strokes earned him 20 Test caps between 1933 and 1948 and a couple of centuries against Australia. With Hammond, who changed status from professional to amateur in November 1937 and captained his country and his county, Barnett helped give Gloucestershire formidable batting power. His opposite number as a destroyer of attacks in the Somerset team was Harold Gimblett. Goddard had a match to remember at Taunton in 1937 when he took six for 65 in the first innings and then made an unbeaten 61, Basil Allen scoring a century and Hammond taking six wickets in Somerset’s second innings as Gloucestershire cruised home. They completed the double at Bristol, in a match which produced some splendid holiday cricket. Barnett (85) and Hammond (110) shared a third wicket partnership of 162 after Arthur Wellard had captured two early wickets. Bev Lyon then made a hundred as the total reached 452, Wellard – an opening bowler of England quality but better-known for his feats of rapid scoring – taking six for 126. Gimblett, partnered by Frank Lee, responded with a savage assault on the bowlers which brought him 100 in 95 minutes, including five sixes and ten fours. Goddard and Sinfield recovered from the mauling to dismiss Somerset for 264 but Allen, probably to rest Goddard, did not enforce the follow-on, leaving his rivals 376 in five hours. Lee made 48 and at four o’clock on Tuesday, at 159 for three, Somerset were still in the game. Then an astonishing spell from Billy Neale’s rarely used leg breaks brought him six for nine in 25 balls and Gloucestershire won by 198 runs. This was a period of rich entertainment for the West Country holiday crowds and at Whitsuntide in 1938 they enjoyed one of the most thrilling finishes Taunton had seen in years. With half their wickets down in the second innings, In the West 94