The Cricket Statistician No 195

21 His first match was against Richmond, at the Old Deer Park, on 5 th July. He opened the batting and was out for 0. In his first season for the club he played in six matches and scored 69 runs, with a highest score of 53. This was the first of eight half-centuries and came against Oatlands Park at Weybridge. Conan Doyle’s bowling was more effective, however: he took 16 wickets with a best of 7 for 61 in a two-day match against Cambridgeshire at Lord’s. With a further wicket in the second innings his match analysis of 8 for 86 was a fine performance. The 7 for 61 would, ultimately, be his best bowling performance for MCC. Conan Doyle’s first-class match debut came on 23 rd August 1900, against London County at Crystal Palace. His selection is believed to have been an indulgence towards a well-loved public figure. He only scored 4 and 0, being dismissed in the second innings by future Test player Les Braund. But this was still to be the greatest match of his life: He didn’t bowl in the first innings, but in the second he bowled 13 balls and took 1 for 4. WG Grace had been piling on the runs when Conan Doyle came on to bowl. Grace dealt rather contemptuously with the first two deliveries and then heaved at the third. It went off the top edge, straight up in the air, and was caught by Bill Storer, the Derbyshire and England wicket-keeper. Grace was not amused, but so pleased was Conan Doyle with this prize wicket that he wrote a poem about it. It ends with the lines: Walking he rumbled and grumbled Scolding himself and not me One glove was off, and he fumbled Twisting the other hand free He forgot to mention that the 51-year old Grace had already scored 110! And Conan Doyle was to bowl only one more time in a first-class match, and failed to take another first-class wicket. In 1901 Arthur played ten games for MCC, the first three being first-class matches. In the return match against London County, at Lord’s, Grace took 7 for 30 in the first innings while Conan Doyle defended valiantly for 21 not out in a total of 94. In the second innings Conan Doyle hit Grace for two consecutive boundaries and then the bowler held one back. The shot was mishit and he was caught by Herbert Keigwin, brother of Essex player Henry. In 1902 Conan Doyle played eight games for the club, two in London and six in Devon. The two London-based matches were both first-class, and in the match against London County at Crystal Palace, 14 th to 16 th July, he made his highest first-class score of 43. This was on the first day and he was ultimately stumped by Edward French off the bowling of WG Grace (of course, it had to be). In the second innings he was out for 0. On 6 August 1902, Conan Doyle was knighted by King Edward VII. Match reports for the period often failed to establish who the captain or wicket-keeper was. However, it is known that Conan Doyle captained the MCC side in the six matches of its regular mini tour of Devon. The captain bowled himself infrequently, taking only 6 wickets, but batted ably, his nine scores including 64, 31, 27 and 27. These were his peak years. A young PG Wodehouse recalled watching Arthur bowl for the