Famous Cricketers No 95 - P.A.Perrin

517. Essex v Lancashire, Blackpool, August 5, 6, 7 (Match drawn) [capt] [5] c C.Hallows b F.M.Sibbles 0 98 203-7d 1 [5] c J.Iddon b F.M.Sibbles 12 184-7 SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct County Championship 18 29 4 931 102 37.24 1 6 9 Other Essex match 1 2 0 92 85 46.00 - 1 - Season 19 31 4 1023 102 37.88 1 7 9 Career 517 889 86 29308 343* 36.49 66 150 285 1926 Perrin had been appointed as an England Test selector during the close season and the report in the Daily News Cricket Annual , that he had ‘threatened retirement’, was not altogether surprising. J.W.H.T.Douglas, still the Essex captain, had undergone an appendix operation in early 1926, and despite his famed steely determination, recovery took time. The county could have used the opportunity to assess candidates for the captaincy when Douglas retired. Instead the club committee, meeting in the last week of April, and perhaps surprised that Douglas would be unavailable, formally appointed Perrin, clearly the most experienced amateur available, as deputy captain. He played in fifteen matches until mid-July, and led the side in them all: during that time he missed four matches, apparently to carry out his selector’s responsibilities. The Essex annual report referred to ‘the conspicuous success of Perrin’s captaincy’, although his contributions as a player were clearly limited. When captain, he usually put himself sixth in the batting order, and Wisden reported that he ‘relied mainly on defence’. He reached fifty just once, against Yorkshire in the first game of the season, leading some stubborn second innings resistance to bowling from the likes of Kilner, Macaulay and Rhodes. Some weeks later he persuaded Rhodes to return to Test cricket. His brief period of captaincy was not without incident. He led the county against the touring Australians in early May during the General Strike, when the tourists scored 538 for 9 declared in a day’s play. At Colchester against Leicestershire at Whitsun, he brought himself on to bowl two balls to concede the runs to conclude the match. In mid June, he was at the wicket at the end of the first-ever Championship match at New Writtle Street, Chelmsford, on what is now the County Ground. The outcome of the match was a tie, when the Essex ninth wicket fell with the scores level with half a minute of playing time remaining. The umpires decided under the instructions in operation at the time that the last Essex man, G.V.N.Ridley from a brewing family, should not bat, and announced that the match was a draw. Later the MCC decided the result should be a tie. Last but not least, he was the subject of a prize-winning limerick in The Magnet . His batting average fell from 37 in 1925 to 17 in 1926 and it would be reasonable to attribute much of this large fall to the ‘cares of captaincy’. Even so it would seem that Perrin was a more successful captain than Douglas. Perrin captained the side in fifteen matches winning four with one tied. Douglas captained the side in ten matches, but won just two. In mid July, as soon as Douglas returned, Perrin, now past his fiftieth birthday, dropped out of the Essex side. He played no more that season in order to concentrate on his selecting duties. His career as a regular Essex cricketer, which had started when he was a teenager, thus came to an end, apparently without ceremony. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 518. Essex v Yorkshire, Leyton, May 1, 3, 4 (Yorkshire won by ten wickets) [capt] [6] c and b R.Kilner 1 110 359 [6] lbw b R.Kilner 59† 254 6-0 519. Essex v Australians, Leyton, May (5), 6, 7 (Match drawn) [capt] did not bat - 5-2 538-9d 520. Essex v Nottinghamshire, Trent Bridge, May 12, 13, 14 (Match drawn) [capt] [5] lbw b F.Barratt 4 146 254-1d [5] not out 1 102-3 67