Lives in Cricket No 27 - CB Llewellyn

90 The Bradford League There was continuing interest in the performances of the big stars too, in inter-club matches. The Priestley Cup final at the end of the 1916 season attracted 7,000 spectators who paid £118. That year bank holidays were suspended and licensing hours were curtailed to assist productivity; these restrictions were counterbalanced by the Summer Time Act 1916, which introduced the concept of ‘daylight saving’ by which UK clocks were put forward for one hour in the spring. This enabled organisers to start cup matches at 5 pm on the erstwhile August bank holiday. On a Saturday in July, there were 4,800 spectators at Undercliffe, who a little later dismissed Tong Park for only 48 in the Cup final, greatly to the disappointment of the crowd who had paid £190 – in contrast to the relief of the charities which received the proceeds. By 1917, the League was attracting around 25,000 spectators each Saturday, yet the following summer some clubs were beginning to find it difficult to make ends meet, because of the burden of the professionals’ wages. In 1918, Undercliffe finished fourth out of 20 in the League, to follow their successes in the Priestley Cup. Buck did not fare well enough to figure in the League averages in the Athletic News Cricket Annual in 1916 or 1917, but in 1918, now 41, he did appear with these figures: Batting: 16 2 416 69* 29.71 Bowling: 215.2 31 667 53 12.58 to finish thirteenth in the batting table and fifteenth in the bowling. Seven well known county professionals all finished with batting averages in the thirties. In bowling Syd Barnes of Saltaire easily headed the averages, capturing 112 wickets in 236 overs – his average 5.20. In 1919, the professional element was greatly diminished, though the arrangement of two-day matches played over biliously long hours in county cricket gave some northern pros ample time for league cricket. Buck did not figure in the batting averages, for which the qualification was 12 innings, average 25, but with the ball he recorded figures of 273.1 overs, 34 maidens, 930 runs, 52 wickets, with an average of 17.88 . No fewer than 29 bowlers finished above him in the averages, which were headed by Syd Barnes, 62 wickets at 8.43 and Frank Woolley of Keighley, with 47 victims at 8.47. One of Buck’s feats deserves recall though. In 1917 he accomplished a hat-trick of stumpings in the match against Bankfoot; the wicketkeeper was William Close, grandfather of the admirable Brian.