Lives in Cricet No 33 - Jack Robertson and Syd Brown

108 Rebuilding season. 148 Finishing with 1,169 runs at 28.51 it would be the only season between 1939 and 1958 that he failed to reach 1,500 runs. Having said that, when he made 27 for Middlesex against the Australians in mid July, Jack Fingleton thought the large crowd had seen ‘as perfect an innings by an opening batsman as they are ever likely to see’ and that he would have done well on Australian pitches. 149 And he should know! Syd was involved in two century opening partnerships in the season, however. They were made in successive matches at Trent Bridge and Old Trafford with the ever reliable Sharp who opened in Jack’s place. The 1954 season was wet, very wet. All counties suffered, but Lancashire suffered more than most, Wisden estimating that out of a possible 84 championship days of playing time they lost the equivalent of 28! Middlesex again flattered to deceive. Equal second at the beginning of July, just behind Yorkshire, they again faltered and finished in shared seventh place. Jack’s record was marginally better than in the previous summer, but his form was patchy and he often fell because of a lapse in concentration or poor shot-selection. He made five centuries, but four of these came in the last fortnight in July, including three in successive innings, and again he then finished the season moderately. The only batsmen who had previously scored three-in-three for Middlesex were Hendren (twice) and Compton. One of Jack’s centuries was memorably made at Northampton against an attack led by an aspiring Frank Tyson, keen to impress the selectors who were meeting that weekend to select the MCC side to go to Australia and New Zealand the following winter. 150 He was probably vying with Fred Trueman for a place. Syd wasn’t playing. Sharp opened, but went quickly, bowled Tyson, but then Jack, placing the ball well, and Edrich, who also reached a hundred, put on 203. When the second new ball became available Tyson, in a well-timed burst, showed what he was capable of, dismissing four men in six overs, including Jack, and breaking a stump when he bowled Bennett . Henry Tilly was making his first-class debut and vividly remembered Tyson’s pace. He went in after Bennett. Taking guard he looked around and realised just how far away wicketkeeper Keith Andrew and the slips were standing. The only fielder within talking distance was Vincent Broderick at silly mid on. ‘Don’t worry,’ said the Lancastrian helpfully, ‘he can only bowl one ball at a time.’ For a while Tyson would arguably bowl as fast as anybody had ever bowled. Australia beckoned; Yorkshire fumed. Syd, like Jack, found the season’s wet slow pitches not to his liking. He missed a few matches through injury and, for the first time since the war, 148 This was his only century against Derbyshire and he had now reached three figures against all 16 other counties, the third Middlesex batsman after Hendren and Edrich, and the sixteenth in all, to have achieved this feat. Perhaps surprisingly Denis Compton never achieved a full house: in eight matches against Glamorgan he never got past 75. Derbyshire were probably Jack’s least favourite opponents: in 19 matches against them he made one century and one fifty. 149 Fingleton.J.H., The Ashes Crown the Year , Collins, 1954. 150 They did things differently then. The touring party would be announced on 27 July with over a month of the season, including one Test match, still to be played.