Famous Cricketers No 90 - Roy Edwin Marshall

1958 - in England Roy Marshall’s brilliant and consistent batting had much to do with Hampshire’s rise from thirteenth to second place in the county championship this summer. He headed their averages with 2,118 runs (ave 39.22), including five centuries and sixteen scores altogether in excess of 50. Wisden chose him one of its ‘Five Cricketers of the Year’, declaring that “Match after match Marshall provided the runs which made victory possible”. Significantly, in mid-July, Gloucestershire set Hampshire 233 to win in two and half hours and they never looked like achieving this target in Marshall’s absence. But at Southampton, in late May, when Kent set Hampshire 305 to make for victory in four and a half hours, he laid the foundation with a sterling 131 in 210 minutes, hitting one six and 18 fours. Against Oxford University, in mid-June, he hit a scintillating 193, then his highest score in first-class cricket. It included 29 fours and was described by Wisden as “the real art of batsmanship”. A dashing 122 in just over two hours led Hampshire to an exciting victory over Gloucestershire at Bristol one week later. His 115 (out of a total of 237) against Lancashire in July took only 123 minutes and included one six and 17 fours. His brilliant 138 against Nottinghamshire a few days later took only 130 minutes to complete. It contained 22 fours and ended at 186/1 after Marshall and J.R.Gray had shared another of their numerous fruitful partnerships for the county. With Derek Shackleton and Malcolm Heath bowling finely all year on generally responsive pitches, Hampshire had little need of Marshall’s searching off-breaks. He was thus required to deliver fewer than 130 overs. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 164. Hampshire v Yorkshire, Bradford, May (10), (12), 13 (Match drawn) c J.V.Wilson b F.S.Trueman 14 105/7d 106/3 165. Hampshire v Nottinghamshire, Trent Bridge, May 14, 15, 16 (Nottinghamshire won by six wickets) b P.A.Taylor 0 150 241 c G.Gooneseena b P.A.Taylor 16 184 97/4 1 166. Hampshire v Lancashire, Old Trafford, May 17, 19, 20 (Lancashire won by seven wickets) c A.Wilson b M.J.Hilton 74 252 175 c C.Washbrook b K.Higgs 1 50 128/3 167. Hampshire v Worcestershire, Portsmouth, May 21, 22, 23 (Hampshire won by nine wickets) c R.Berry b L.J.Coldwell 76 256/7d - - - - 205 c R.Berry b J.A.Flavell 27 127/1 23 10 44 2 P.E.Richardson lbw 174 M.J.Horton c M.B.Heath 168. Hampshire v Kent, Southampton, May 24, 26, 27 (Hampshire won by five wickets) c A.Brown b J.C.T.Page 52 131 279/8d c sub b J.Pettiford 131 307/5 156/5d 169. Hampshire v Leicestershire, Leicester, May 28, 29, 30 (Match drawn) c J.Firth b B.S.Boshier 14 229 156/7d c W.Watson b C.T.Spencer 33 71 97/6 170. Hampshire v New Zealanders, Southampton, May 31, June (2), 3 (Match drawn) c W.R.Playle b J.R.Reid 33 99 249/7d c J.W.D’Arcy b R.W.Blair 18 98/4 171. Hampshire v Middlesex, Lord’s, June 4, 5, 6 (Middlesex won by 70 runs) c A.C.Walton b A.E.Moss 22 171 - - - - 149 1 b A.E.Moss 10 206 7 1 35 0 298/9d 172. Hampshire v Leicestershire, Cowes, June 7, 9 (Hampshire won by nine wickets) b C.T.Spencer 0 134 133 c A.C.Revill b B.S.Boshier 16 84/1 84 2 173. Hampshire v Somerset, Yeovil, June 11, 12 (Hampshire won by ten wickets) b B.A.Langford 81 207 112 not out 21 21/0 115 174. Hampshire v Oxford University, The Parks, June 14, 16, 17 (Hampshire won by nine wickets) c R.L.Jowett b J.G.Raybould 193 352/6d - - - - 192 did not bat - 10/1 3 0 10 0 166 175. Hampshire v Somerset, Bournemouth, June 18, 19, 20 (Match drawn) c W.E.Alley b K.E.Palmer 75 427/5d - - - - 131 1 13.5 9 21 1 W.E.Alley c A.C.D.Ingleby-Mackenzie 197/8 1 24