Lives in Cricket No 26 - HV Hesketh-Prichard

62 late was better than never. At this point there must have been Hampshire supporters who couldn’t remember them beating anyone but Derbyshire – the previous win had been against them at the start of 1903. Hampshire had a break and Hex was now off to play in two games at Howsham Hall in the East Riding, the seat of Sir Montague Cholmeley. He played for Major Raitt’s team, possibly at Teddy Wynyard’s invitation. 32 In the first game they scored 373 (Wynyard 157) and dismissed the Yorkshire Gentlemen for 138 and 182. Hex had three wickets in the first innings and four in the second. They then played the York Garrison: this was a game in which Hex distinguished himself as a batsman, making 36* in the first innings of 223 and 33 out of 262 for eight declared. He also took six wickets in the first innings of 187 and two more in the second innings of 167. This is the first record we have of Hex playing country-house cricket, which is not to say that there were not earlier instances. There was to be a lot of it. The next county game started on 15 August against Sussex at Portsmouth. Sussex went on to 552 for seven declared, Hex bowling 33 overs and taking two for 101. At the end of day two Hampshire were 259 for eight, but the third day was rained off. Immediately after that it was Kent at Tonbridge. As usual, Hampshire could make nothing of Colin Blythe, who took nine for 30 as they were all out for 91. Kent made only 114, with Hex four for 37, but Hampshire’s second innings was 85 (six more for Blythe) and Kent lost two wickets, one of them to Hex, in making 65 to win. Three innings were completed in the first day so the game ended early on the second. On 25 August it was Warwickshire at Bournemouth. On the first day Hampshire made 248, rather slowly – it took 113 overs – and then managed to bowl Warwickshire out for 167, Hex taking four for 52. Hampshire made 187 at the second crack and bowled Warwickshire out again for 228. Hex had three for 77 from 32 overs and with Baldwin and Llewellyn took Hampshire to a win by 40 runs. So at least there were two wins this season even if, for the third consecutive season, the team was bottom of the Championship table. Cricket magazine, on 25 August, demonstrated another string to Hex’s bow, reproducing a piece of his fiction, a description of the end of a school match, taken from Pearson’s . It includes a pastiche of contemporary writing ‘from a cricket writer whose pen is more flowery than my own’: This let in A.A.Smith … who faced the devastator. He snicked the remaining deliveries off his timber yard in good style, but without increasing the aggregate. It was now the turn of Calkhurst to toss up the rubicund pillule. This he did to Chalbury’s entire satisfaction, The first delivery was smashed to the ropes for a quartet (65-8-0), the second was bludgeoned to the on for a brace (67-8-0), the third was too tweaky, and slowed the pace of scoring. Ditto Nos 4, 5, 6, all of which partook of the nature of the earthworm. Off the third delivery of the 32 Cholmeley had played for Lincolnshire in his time and Raitt for Devon. One of the Gentlemen