Famous Cricketers No 82 - H.E. 'Tom' Dollery

134. Warwickshire v Yorkshire, Scarborough, August 16, 17, 18 (Yorkshire won by 106 runs) not out 38 158 403 c A.Wood b L.Hutton 8 310 171-4d 135. Warwickshire v Surrey, Edgbaston, August 19, 21, 22 (Surrey won by an innings and 1 run) c H.M.Garland-Wells b J.F.Parker 25 115 336 c H.M.Garland-Wells b E.A.Watts 41 220 136. Warwickshire v Gloucestershire, Edgbaston, August 23, 24, 25 (Warwickshire won by 110 runs) lbw b C.J.Scott 3 165 187 b G.E.E.Lambert 108 247 115 1 137. Warwickshire v Worcestershire, Dudley, August 26, 28, 29 (Match drawn) b A.P.Singleton 75 317 368 1 did not bat - 35-2 1 0 11 0 299-6d 138. Warwickshire v Middlesex, Lord’s, August 30, 31 (Middlesex won by an innings and 200 runs) lbw b C.I.J.Smith 5 194 525-7d 1 c and b J.M.Sims 32 131 SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St Players v Gentlemen 1 1 0 70 70 70.00 - 1 1 - County Championship 24 37 5 1362 177 42.56 4 3 11 - Other Warwicks matches 2 3 0 87 63 29.00 - 1 - - Season 27 41 5 1519 177 42.19 4 5 12 - Career 138 226 26 6872 177 34.36 15 28 62 - Bowling O M R W County Championship (8-ball) 1 0 11 0 Career (6-ball) 4.2 1 } 24 0 (8-ball) 1 0 1946 Like many other cricketers, Tom Dollery had to pick up the pieces of his career after a six-year break that had robbed him of what undoubtedly would have been his best seasons. He had endured a harder time than most, rarely finding opportunities to play any cricket, and was still suffering recurring bouts of malaria, (a particularly debilitating illness). Warwickshire struggled more than most counties to put a team together after the war, and at the first net session in April five men turned up: new coach “Tiger” Smith and four players, Dollery, Eric Hollies, Jimmy Ord and New Zealander Tom Pritchard (who wasn’t qualified)! The skipper, Peter Cranmer, and Cyril Goodway, an amateur wicket-keeper, soon joined them, but that was about it and they had to recruit local amateurs throughout the season just to put a team out, and the team has gone down in Edgbaston folklore as “Fred Karno’s Army”. Hollies carried the bowling virtually on his own and Dollery was far and away the only batsman of real class and he did exceptionally well in the circumstances to average 43 for nearly 2,000 runs. He easily headed the Warwickshire averages and scored over 800 more runs than anyone else, (he finished 16th in the first-class averages). Warwickshire finished 14th but took some consolation from winning seven matches. He found his form almost immediately and, thankfully for his county’s sake, didn’t have a bad spell. Owing to the shoulder injury he was now more of an on-side player than pre-war and he had left the covers for the slips when fielding. If he failed then his side struggled for runs and most of their wins were down to him and Hollies. His captain, Cranmer, helped him in both innings in the win against Hampshire at Coventry but against Leicestershire a week later he dominated the match with his batting with his first century since the war and a not out fifty to see his side to a big win. Another century and fifty in the Kent match at home wasn’t enough to avoid defeat however as none of his colleagues could get past forty against the Kent bowling. Next day, his third century of the season 24