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

to Alec Bedser. Dollery showed he was far from past it however as he played a gem of an innings. Facing a deficit of 20 runs, the Players were 103-5 at one stage in their second innings, the Singhalese leg-spinner Goonesena causing problems, before he dominated proceedings with a masterly 82 out of an all-out 220. The Gentlemen were left 201 to win and they made an excellent attempt at getting them, but Dollery’s fine innings had put it just out of their reach and the professionals won by twenty runs with just five minutes to spare. He finished on a really low note as Warwickshire lost their last three games of the season, and he wound up his career with scores of one and two in both his farewell at Edgbaston against Essex and in his final match against Glamorgan at Neath. His farewell appearance at this unlikely cricket venue, much better known for its rugby team, was a good example of good intentions coming unstuck. There was a £300 prize for the fastest first innings total of 300 in the Championship that season, and as it was the last game with not too much at stake, his players thought it would be a nice idea to go for it and present it to him as a farewell gift. So it was with great surprise that Dollery and the Glamorgan team watched open-mouthed as the normally dogged Fred Gardner waltzed down the pitch to the first ball of the match. Not all good intentions go to plan however and although Gardner got a fifty, the so-called stroke players couldn’t follow suit and they were all out for a paltry 125, eventually made in just over three hours as the later batsmen tried to repair the damage caused by the early mayhem. The Glamorgan captain, Wilf Wooller, as cussed a character as they come, then batted for over seven hours for 128, thoroughly demoralising the Warwickshire team in the process, and they were then bowled out for a pathetic 98, and as Wisden put it “the batting lacked resolution”. Just what Tom thought of all this is not recorded, but the team gave him a tremendous farewell party in their hotel that night, the occasion reflecting their great respect and affection for the skipper. Warwickshire tried to tempt him to continue with the offer of a Testimonial, and MCC offered him the captaincy of the experimental “A” team tour to Pakistan that winter. In retrospect it was fortunate that he didnt sign off with that particular tour, which was bedevilled by the controversial “water treatment” of umpire Idris Begh. He had made his mind up though, and he was not one for changing it once he had weighed everything up; he knew the time was right to bring the curtain down on the career of one of Warwickshire’s best batsmen, and arguably their greatest captain. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct St Total Total 407. Warwickshire v Somerset, Edgbaston, May 7, 9, 10 (Match drawn) * b J.Lawrence 105 359 231 did not bat - 159-3d 66-1 408. Warwickshire v Worcestershire, Edgbaston, May 11, 12, (13) (Match drawn) * c R.G.Broadbent b R.Berry 4 142 223 c H.Yarnold b M.J.Horton 47 171-4 409. Warwickshire v Lancashire, Old Trafford, May 18, 19, 20 (Lancashire won by 72 runs) * st A.Wilson b M.J.Hilton 10 140 258 1 b M.J.Hilton 52 116 70 1 410. Warwickshire v Glamorgan, Edgbaston, May 21, 23, 24 (Warwickshire won by six wickets) * b J.S.Pressdee 47 199 205-8d not out 30 183-4 176 1 411. Warwickshire v Yorkshire, Bramall Lane, May 25, 26, 27 (Yorkshire won by five wickets) * b D.B.Close 5 148 73 c R.Booth b R.Appleyard 32 141 218-5 412. Warwickshire v Derbyshire, Edgbaston, May (28), 30, 31 (Match drawn) * c C.Gladwin b D.B.Carr 8 114 253-7d lbw b H.L.Jackson 30 145-5 413. MCC v Gloucestershire, Lord’s, June 1, 2, 3 (MCC won by eight wickets) c R.B.Nicholls b B.D.Wells 92 307-8d 213 did not bat - 110-2 201 2 414. Warwickshire v Northamptonshire, Courtaulds Ground, Coventry, June 4, 6, (7) (Match drawn) * lbw b F.H.Tyson 7 291-7d 149 77-4 56