History of Bucks CCC

reporter later to become a singularly unpopular press officer at Wimbledon, was given a chance. Finally, for the last match of the season, a man was found who would keep throughout the following summer: JFN Mayhew, another Etonian, had won a blue at Oxford in 1930. Sliding down the table to thirteenth place, Bucks had had a poor season and for this the captain took much of the blame. His instinct to pile up large scores was in sharp contrast to Franklin, whose victories in the inter-war tears had typically been achieved by dangling a carrot and letting Edwards get to work, often on dodgy pitches. In fairness to Taylor, conditions in 1947 did not favour this tactic, nor had he an attack to press home an advantage; but he still fell foul of Tyson Chambers, a blunt Lancastrian who seldom favoured kid gloves. So Taylor’s brief career for Bucks ended in his resignation when, even at 44, his fluent batting still had much to offer. Alone of those who have played as many as his 16 matches, he departed with an average of over fifty. Battcock takes over It was now the turn of Oliver Battcock to assume the captaincy, a position he would hold for four years. One of the great characters of Bucks cricket, Battcock had been educated at Harrow and his adult life was divided between the stage and the cricket field. After making his name in the West End – it was Oliver Gordon on the stage – he ran the Theatre Royal, Windsor for the duration of the war, taking the opportunity to indulge his passion for pantomime. After the war he continued to return to the theatre as a guest actor, invariably being roped in to play the dame at Christmas. His freelance status ensured that the summer could be devoted to cricket. Apart from his matches for Datchet, for whom he took over 2,000 wickets, he turned out for MCC, Incogniti, the Butterflies and the Forty Club, frequently captaining sides and taking teams abroad. The new captain had an unhappy baptism. After travelling to Stone, he lost the toss and by the close of play Bucks had bowled 96 overs, seen a strong Staffordshire side rattle up 505 for 6 to equal the highest score ever recorded against the county, and still had time to reach 91 for 3 by close of play. Defeat by an innings and 45 runs came the next day. There were three debutants in the Bucks team that day. Francis Whiting was the son of a pre-war player and the nephew of the fearsome Jack Whiting of the early 1920s; the young Whiting achieved little. Albert Hayhurst, now 41, was a medium pacer and useful batsman. He had played a few games as a professional for Warwickshire in the 1930s and would chip in usefully over the next five years. The third newcomer was Alf Hughes of High Wycombe. Since the war Bucks had felt a desperate need for a spin bowler of quality. An initial return of one for 105 gave scant indication that Hughes was to be the answer; but by 1958 his 391 wickets, captured at 15.26 each, would take him to third place in the all-time list of Bucks’ wicket-takers behind Frank Edwards and Mat Wright. There were three defeats in a row to set Battcock on his way, but the third, by ten wickets at Bedford School, came after a daring declaration in which he had invited the home county to score 133 in 85 minutes. Twenty third place out of 28 reflected very weak batting. Taylor had departed, Bousfield was able to play only three matches and Prince and Isherwood both lost form. In the search for an opening batsman the county turned to the 40-year-old Aidan Crawley, who had played with distinction for Battcock takes over 60 Aidan Crawley