Lives in Cricket No 21 - Walter Read

91 record, though I admit that the Indian Prince’s beating it is only a matter of time. 162 It was time to move on, time to pass on the torch to the younger generation. Appropriately, Read’s farewell appearance was in the same fixture as the first – Yorkshire at The Oval. On the first occasion Yorkshire had won by nine wickets; this time it was a draw. Read began with three and ended with a single. Of the twenty-two players who took the field in 1873, only Read had survived the intervening twenty-four years. His 31 first-class centuries for Surrey were about a quarter of the total scored for the county. H.S.Altham had no reservations about the rôle Read’s batting had played in their Championship successes. In batting as in bowling, Surrey in their great years were blessed with one pre-eminent match-winner, Walter Read, easily the greatest run-getter in the county’s history up till that date, and probably the finest batsman that had appeared in its ranks since William Beldham. In him defence and attack were admirably combined, and few amateurs have excelled him for consistency over a long period of years; but most of all will he be remembered for the power and frequency of his driving, at first straight and to the off, but towards the end of his career favouring the pull, of which he became the greatest known exponent, and eventually something of a slave. 163 Read himself explains: ..that stroke was the outcome of experience. The idea lay dormant in my mind for some time, then I began to work it out. When I saw nearly all the fieldsmen on the ‘off-side’, I thought…’What a glorious chance for the man who can safely play the ball to the on’. One side was safeguarded everywhere, the other was the yawning gulf. So it occurred to me that it was possible to ‘pull’ balls from the ‘off’ to the ‘on’ side. I know it was not considered orthodox cricket, but it brought me runs and that was the main thing. 164 He had had a huge impact, both on the field and off. In an obituary of Thomas Padwick, Cricket commented: 162 Cricket 27 May 1897 163 Altham History of Cricket pp173-174 164 Cricket 23 May 1895 Surrey and England 1888/97