Lives in Cricket No 27 - CB Llewellyn

77 when it came down, he was yards away ‘having run himself dizzy’. Smith said that Fry was ‘so embarrassed that he pulled the peak of his cap to the back of his head and disappeared into the long field, a strange place for a captain to go.’ Buck’s brave innings was an atonement for his bowling – nine overs for 60 runs – and he was the only South African to reach 30 in either innings. By this time it was clear that the visitors from the Cape had no chance of success against either of their opponents, because of their lack of batting. Against England at Leeds, in the match starting on 8 July, they fared no better, losing by 174 runs. Interestingly, though outplayed, they utilised only four bowlers who restricted England to scores of 242 and 238. Llewellyn was not once entrusted with the ball. Nourse, Faulkner and Pegler shared the wickets. Buck could muster only nought and four; Faulkner, with only five and zero, fared as badly but could get some comfort from the number of his victims – six. No member of the team reached 40 in either innings. So to Lord’s for the match against Australia a week later. Facing a deficit of 127 on the first innings, South Africa had little to hope for in the light of their previous performances, but Buck, driving splendidly from the first, ensured that the arrears were hit off with six wickets in hand. The Yorkshire Post reported: ‘The fine free hitting of Llewellyn pleasantly illumined the afternoon’s cricket, and it is probably not assuming too much to say that it was enjoyed by His Majesty.’ King George V was paying the first visit by a monarch to a Test match. Buck had nine fours in his total of 59, when he was bowled by a fine ball from Macartney, with the total at 134. Alas for his effort, a collapse ensued and on the third morning Australia were victorious by ten wickets. South Africa actually led the same opponents on the first innings by 329 to 219 in a poorly attended match at Trent Bridge, before rain washed out the third day. Buck’s contribution was to score 12 and dismiss one Australian while having 60 runs hit off him. In the match starting on 12 August – and finishing on the thirteenth – England demolished South African by ten wickets, after dismissing them for totals of 95 and 93. Buck, who dismissed Reggie Spooner to finish with an analysis of 10-1-28-1, failed to score in either innings. This was a disappointing end to Llewellyn’s first-class career. It must have become clear that at the highest level his bowling skill Llewellyn and the Triangular Tournament