Famous Cricketers No 68 - Fred Tate

Despite so often lacking support and playing so much of his cricket on the batsman’s paradise of a wicket at Hove - Eastbourne was similar - runs seldom came easily when Tate was bowling. Only ten times in his entire career did Tate concede 75 or more runs without taking a wicket. Fred Tate as Batsman and Fielder In Fred Tate’s day overworked professional bowlers were often discouraged from developing ambitions as batsmen. In 1901 Fry describes him as a useful bat on fast wickets with a style “vastly improved of late”. Six scores over fifty would seem to show he was no rabbit and he more than once kept his end up when it mattered, notably in the first innings of his only Test match. As late as 1913 he hit 65* in a match at Hayward’s Heath which, given his age and increasing weight, points to a sound basic technique. In the field all seem to agree that he was a competent, reliable slip, at least by the not over exacting standards of the day. He also fielded mid-on and Fry refers to him as “a clever extra-cover” who “cannot throw but returns with an uncommonly good jerk”. Looking at his photograph, it is not easy to imagine dives or sliding stops but 235 catches in 320 games is a reasonable record. 1887 Tate’s debut was uneventful in a Sussex team lacking most of its amateur batsmen and thoroughly outgunned. He bowled his few overs economically, batted usefully in the second innings and with June 21, Jubilee Day, a national holiday, at least gained early experience of playing in front of a large crowd. When Yorkshire hit 148 without loss (G.Ulyett 111*) to win the match he was one of nine bowlers used. 26 would remain his personal highest score until 1893. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 1. Sussex v Yorkshire, Bradford, June 20, 21, 22 (Yorkshire won by ten wickets) lbw b R.Peel 1 254 5 2 15 0 304 b R.Peel 26 188 7 5 11 0 142-0 SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 50 Ct County Championship 1 2 0 27 26 13.50 - - Bowling O M R W BB Ave 5i 10m County Championship (4-ball) 12 7 26 0 - - - - 1888 Tate’s first full season included one of the most remarkable spells of bowling in the history of county cricket. On a damp wicket at Tonbridge, Kent began their second innings needing only 45 to win. At 41-4 scored from 44 overs captain C.A.Smith (later Sir Aubrey of Hollywood fame) handed the ball to Tate who then proceeded to take five wickets - all bowled - for one run. The actual sequence was …W ..W. .W.W .W.1 . The run scrambled by M.C.Kemp, notoriously erratic between the wickets, and F.Martin made the scores level. An equally risky single off Arthur Hide gave Kent the victory. Taking the season as a whole, Tate proved capable of sustained accuracy - as for example when Surrey totalled 698 at the Oval - but did nothing remarkable in a year in which bowlers up and down 7