Lives in Cricket No 16 - Joe Hardstaff

It was not enough, however, to bring about any improvement in Notts’ fortunes. Under a new captain, Bill Sime, Notts rose one place in the Championship to twelfth. The batting was powerful, but there was little support for Butler and Jepson who took 197 championship wickets between them: the other 13 bowlers could only manage 126 wickets, Joe taking eight of them. Still, the 1947 summer was one of the best of the century, rivalled up to then only by 1911, 1921 and 1933. Despite being overlooked for the South African Tests, Joe was selected for the tour to the West Indies the following winter. A meeting of the Imperial Cricket Conference in January 1946 had arranged a tours programme for the next few years. As a result, MCC found itself faced with the prospect of overseas tours for the next five winters – Australia 1946/47, West Indies 1947/48, South Africa 1948/49, India 1949/50 and Australia 1950/51. An Australian tour of England was scheduled for 1948. Bearing all this in mind the selectors decided not to invite the leading players such as Hutton, Compton, Washbrook, Bedser, Yardley and Wright. This also created a problem over the captaincy. Pearce, Cranston, Robins, Valentine and Allen were all touted as possibilities. In the end MCC went for Gubby Allen who had not appeared in Test cricket since the Australian tour of 1936/37. He was now 45 and had played in only 27 first-class matches since then. Joe’s name was not amongst the first thirteen named on 26 August – Allen, Cranston, Edrich, Griffith, Bailey, Robertson, Evans, Butler, Place, Howorth, Smithson, Brookes and Ikin. Edrich declined his invitation on 3 September and on 15 September it was announced that Joe had been invited to join the touring party. On 25 September Bailey withdrew and the team was finally completed by Laker, Tremlett and Wardle. 57 Cranston and Joe were respectively appointed vice-captain and senior professional. There was a lot of experience of life here, but not a great deal of cricketing experience and certainly not of touring. Only Allen and Joe had toured more than once. Joe’s selection was greeted with considerable pleasure in the West Indies, with The Cricketer correspondent, Philip Thomson, saying that they looked forward to ‘delightful innings from this great batsman.’ With hindsight, MCC acted rashly and without due regard for the demands and conditions which would be met, and certainly no real 98 Post-War Years, 1946-1948 57 Laker and Tremlett were added to the team on 9 October: Wardle did not receive his invitation until 22 October.