History of Bucks CCC

Postscript A task that has taken several years to complete is over. Inevitably the story set out in these pages has been selective and incomplete. Many heroic deeds on the field and many a devoted labour off it will have gone unrecorded. To those who should have been mentioned but haven’t I can only apologise. There is a certain sadness when a self-imposed task of this kind comes to an end. It has been a privilege to talk to so many of different generations who have played the greatest of all games and done their best for Bucks. As I have written this short history I have often wondered who might play in an all-time Bucks team. One former captain encouraged me to include such a team. I shall take him up. The career statistics, set in the context of the era in which the candidates played, will guide me, but I shall also be mindful of the testimony of their peers. The likes of Greg Ritchie are not going to be eligible. It is what the players did for Bucks over a sustained period that will be my criteria. Are there any who claim a place without argument or debate? I offer only three: Mat Wright, Frank Edwards and Malcolm Roberts. Let their figures do the talking. We need a captain. I can hardly envisage Franklin watching the team without wanting to take charge, and his record suggests that he should be allowed to do so. Franklin will keep wicket. He has powerful competition from Charles Cobb from the 1890s - like Franklin he stumped more than one batsman a match across his career - and from Test keeper Ben Barnett, another who could have been captain. Frommore modern times Neil Burns can stake a claim and, like Barnett, he would expect to make more runs than Franklin. But so long as Edwards is there Franklin must be our wicket-keeper. As opening partner for Roberts, I shall go for Charles Gresson, who was averaging over 35 before he left for the Boer War, excellent figures for those early days. Then RHJ Brooke must play, the only regular player to average over 30 before 1939. Until Malcolm Roberts came along the batting records belonged to David Johns, whose career figures undervalue his true worth. He seems not to have been a man for cheap runs, often sacrificing his wicket before a declaration. A useful bowler too, though with Edwards around his left-arm spin may be redundant. Mat Wright will bowl all day if the captain wishes, so will Edwards, but we need some pace. Hazelton, Jack Whiting, Vic Lund, Oliver Battcock, Fred Harris, Ray Bond…a case could be made for any of these as strike bowler, but I fancy that what I have heard of Ronnie Rutter, with his classical action, just tips the balance in his favour. Despite the claims of Steve Burrow and Tim Scriven, Colin Lever must also play as an all-rounder, and we will hope that his batting and bowling will both be on song together. We can do with a spinner who will offer a contrast to Edwards, and Alf Hughes’ record gives him the berth ahead of Andy Lyon. We have one place left to fill. There is plenty of bowling so let us find another batsman, preferably one who is a good fielder. A left-hander would be useful, and there have been plenty of them over the years. Bill Atkins springs to mind because of his fielding, but a case can be made for Norman Butler or Richard Hayward. Ray Hutchison, too, would give us a left-hander and another stunning fielder, but as with 116