Famous Cricketers No 60 - Ernest Tyldesley

bad stroke”. After a three day rest (he missed the Somerset match at Old Trafford) he was down at The Oval adding 51 and 131 to his list. He was then called up for the Players side to meet the Gentlemen at Lord’s; the team comprised eight of the England side who had just seen service at Headingley, plus E.T., Holmes and Root. His entry was delayed for three hours while Hobbs and Sutcliffe put on 263 for the first wicket; unperturbed he proceeded to take 103 of the next 155 runs scored in just over two hours, the Players ending the day on 418 for 4. His fifth wicket stand with Holmes produced 139 runs in all and Tyldesley was eventually out at 483 for a most attractive 131. He was fortunate not to be required for the second innings, which finished at 97 for 1, but immediately dashing up to Nelson he took 106 off Essex with 11 fours and then at Taunton brought up his 2,000 for the season during an innings of 126 - his fourth successive century. A further curiosity of this knock came when he contrived to hit the ball through the same pane of glass which had been broken by Somerset’s Guy Earle in the morning session! His tenth and final 50 came, suitably, on his England recall at his home ground. Playing in place of A.P.F.Chapman, he put on 77 with Hobbs and 90 with Woolley before being dismissed for 81 at 225 for 3. Yet it was far from his best performance; Grimmett was denied his wicket on three occasions by fielding lapses. The following game, against Essex, saw him fail by just six runs to maintain the flow of fifties but he bounced back at once with an innings of 139 against Yorkshire, watched on the Bank Holiday Monday by an Old Trafford attendance of 38,600 – a record for the County Championship. The final contribution to his astonishing run was his 85 against Middlesex. Between June 26th and August 6th he had accumulated 1,477 runs for 12 dismissals at an average of 123.07. The season was still not quite over; despite suffering the indignity of being caught out by a Lancashire player in the match against Hampshire (Malcolm Taylor was on as substitute for H.L.V.Day) he added two further hundreds in Lancashire’s final two Championship games, whilst setting a new county record of 279 for the third wicket with Harry Makepeace against Nottinghamshire. That the Red Rose county secured the title for the first time since 1904 was due in no small measure to the wonderful summer enjoyed by its senior professional. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 326. Lancashire v Warwickshire, Old Trafford, May (1), 3, 4 (Match drawn) lbw b R.E.S.Wyatt 10 179 140 b N.E.Partridge 1 180-6d 91-3 327. Lancashire v Worcestershire, Old Trafford, May 5, 6, (7) (Match drawn) c R.H.Williams b G.C.Wilson 87 282-7 194 328. Lancashire v Gloucestershire, Gloucester (Wagon Works Ground), May 8, (10), (11) (Match drawn) c E.G.Morrison b C.W.L.Parker 2 145 79-1 329. Lancashire v Glamorgan, Cardiff, May 12, 13, (14) (Match drawn) 137-7d 330. Lancashire v Derbyshire, Old Trafford, May 15, 17 (Lancashire won by an innings and 214 runs) c H.Storer, jun. b T.S.Worthington 15 353 59 80 331. Lancashire v Leicestershire, Liverpool, May 19, 20, 21 (Lancashire won by 138 runs) c A.Lord b F.Bale 65 256 130 c G.H.S.Fowke b W.E.Astill 40 202-2d 190 332. Lancashire v Yorkshire, Bradford, May 22, 24, 25 (Yorkshire won by an innings and 94 runs) c H.Sutcliffe b W.Rhodes 52 159 326 1 c R.Kilner b G.G.Macaulay 13 73 333. Lancashire v Kent, Old Trafford, May 26, 27, (28) (Match drawn) lbw b A.C.Wright 48 310-5 164 1 334. Lancashire v Surrey, Old Trafford, May 29, 31, June 1 (Lancashire won by 34 runs) c H.Strudwick b T.F.Shepherd 10 181 276 1 b H.A.Peach 97 253 124 1 37