Gubby Under Pressure

understanding that neither Voce nor Harold Larwood would be considered. He was not impressed by the selectors’ argument that England’s bowling had been so weak in the Test series against India that it needed to be strengthened and Voce was the right man. The Committee must have been naïve to think Allen would go along with such a decision made in his absence. Allen was having none of it and threatened to withdraw. The committee assured him that Voce was a reformed character prepared to follow the orders of any MCC captain while on tour, including the abandonment of any form of ‘leg-theory’. Allen wanted to hear this commitment straight from the man himself and offered to talk personally with Voce and sound him out. It was agreed the two men should meet at The Oval during the August Bank Holiday when Surrey were playing Nottinghamshire. Chairman of the selectors, Sir Stanley Jackson and MCC president Lord Somers would also be present. Whatever assurances Allen expected from Voce, it seems they were forthcoming, including a signed statement saying the he regretted any trouble there had been in the past. Bill Voce was not the sort of man to go back on his word, but even so, there must have lurked at the back of Allen’s mind the suspicion that, after a few beers or the sight of Bradman carving his way to yet another century, the red mists might descend. Once the Voce problem was settled, MCC announced the remainder of the party would include C.J.Barnett, K.Farnes, J.M.Sims and Errol Holmes, the Surrey captain. Farnes had impressed everyone with the speed of his bowling in 1936, although since taking ten wickets in his debut Test in 1934, including Bradman, Ponsford, Woodfull (twice) and McCabe (twice), he had been inconsistent. Sims had only played in one Test, against South Africa in 1935, but was a developing leg break and googly bowler well known to Robins, his county captain, and Middlesex team-mate Allen. Holmes was another middle- order batsman and, unlike fellow amateurs Robins or Allen, enjoying a full season of cricket while scoring runs freely. Barnett was a strong, forceful opening bat with a positive attitude of which much was expected, although he had not played any Test cricket since touring India under Jardine in 1933/34. He, too, would find himself nominated in next spring’s Wisden as one of the five ‘Cricketers of the Year’. L.E.G.Ames returned to the Kent team in August and immediately struck top form, giving him the confidence to accept the invitation to tour. But then came the disappointing news that Holmes had withdrawn, giving ‘business commitments’ as the reason. It seems the Selection Committee were content to leave the party reduced to sixteen players, the usual number for such a tour. But Allen argued a case for a replacement for Holmes and dug in his heels until it was agreed to take his old friend and ex-England captain, Bob Wyatt. Many would have said that Wyatt should have been in the party from the start. The final composition of the touring party, which comprised four amateurs - Allen, Farnes, Robins and Wyatt - and thirteen professionals, was closely examined in the press and became a subject for considerable criticism. Even Warner, one of the actual selectors, when writing about it four years later in his Cricket Between Two Wars , admitted they had made mistakes. Surely it made sense to take the experienced Sutcliffe, even if he was a little slower in the field at the age of 41. Unfortunately, there was no love lost between the Preparing for the tour 10