History of Bucks CCC

Champions again Things began to look up for Bucks in 1937 when the team claimed seventh place in the table and then, in 1938, they were back at the top. The batting was strengthened by the return of Graham Skinner for just this summer. John Aubrey-Fletcher had developed into an opening batsman who was hard to dislodge. Leslie Baker, who partnered him, enjoyed his best season, winning a place in the Minor Counties side to play the West Indians the next summer. Peters was in good form and there were a few good innings from Geoffrey Walker from Wing, a solid batsman who had made a favourable impression the previous year. Meanwhile the bowling, which had become a perennial problem, benefited from the return of Rutter for some of the matches and, most conspicuously, from having Oliver Battcock also available for six games - for the first time since 1930. He now took 45 wickets at 9.56 each to top the averages for all the minor counties. Adding further power to the attack was Vic Lund, a swing bowler from Slough. After making his first appearance for the county in 1929, he played in only two more matches before gaining a regular place in 1936. He had enjoyed an outstanding season in 1937. This was the year in which he had lengthened his run-up but reduced the pace at which he bowled his prodigious inswingers. With greater control and well supported by his leg trap, where there was often a ring of four close fielders, Lund topped the averages with 43 wickets at 9.37. That same year he became yet another Bucks player to be selected for the Minor Counties. Nor were these the only bowlers of class now at Bucks’ command. One who played eight times between 1937 and 1939 as well as returning to play all matches in the 1947 season was DH Macindoe. A four-year Oxford blue, who later became master of cricket at Eton, in 1937 he took six wickets as a freshman in the Varsity Match and was chosen to open the bowling for the Gentlemen a week later. However, it seemed that his exertions had drained him and, as in other years, he was never able to show for Bucks the form that he revealed at Oxford. Another to disappoint for the county around this time was Alan Ratcliffe. In 1931, after coming into the Cambridge team only as a late replacement for an injured player, he had made the first double-century in the history of the Varsity Match; for Bucks he made 68 in his second match but few scores of significance thereafter. The 1938 season opened with a seven-wicket win against Hertfordshire followed by three victories, all by an innings, in the same week. The value of winning these matches so easily, the handbook shrewdly pointed out, was that the team did not have to tire themselves out with travelling through the night. Two more comfortable wins assured the county of a place in the Challenge Match and two draws to complete the programme meant that Bucks would be hosts at High Wycombe and it was Lancashire Second Eleven to travel. The visitors’ team included two future Test players, Winston Place and Ken Cranston, and there was a familiar face in their line-up - Alex Birtwell, who had been playing for Bucks only two years earlier. In miserable weather Lancashire won the toss and batted, obliging Bucks to bowl in a drizzle with a wet ball. A run out was missed off the first ball, but Battcock still managed to take a wicket in his first over and the Lancashire batsmen were contained to 69 for 3 at lunch. Then Battcock really got to work as the last seven wickets fell for just 12 more runs. A stubborn opening partnership was followed by a forceful 51 from Peters and an invaluable 30 not out from Franklin as Bucks built a lead of 104. Sterner resistance was expected from the visitors when they batted a second time, but instead there was a spineless display with wickets falling steadily as Bucks cruised to victory by an 54 Champions again