Lives in Cricket No 36 - WE Astill

121 England would almost certainly not have won and could easily have lost. A couple of non first-class games followed. Astill did not play in the first, but in the second, at East London, he completed an overwhelming victory for MCC by routing Border with six for 32. With high confidence, then, he faced South Africa in the Third Test at Durban, a match now straddling not a festival but a war-dance by 1,000 Zulu warriors put on for the visitors’ entertainment by Chief Mandhlakayise. In the match itself Astill was given only three overs in the first innings as Wyatt, Staples (replacing Geary) and Peebles dismissed South Africa for 246; but he subsequently scored 40 in even time with seven boundaries, mainly the result of ‘well-timed cuts’, in boosting England’s lead to 184. Although in South Africa’s second innings Freeman took three wickets, Astill came out with the most economical figures, two for 41 in 24 overs. In addition to having top-scorer Nicolson caught at first slip, the ball ‘run[ning] up [Hammond’s] arm and lodg[ing] under it’ ( The Times ), and in trapping Deane lbw when the South African captain was well set, he performed ‘a wonderful piece of work’ in catching the opener Herbie Taylor at mid on from a ‘full-throated drive’. But it was all to no avail and the game was drawn. The Fourth Test, at Johannesburg, resulted in a South African victory. Astill contributed merely three and 17 runs, the latter before being ‘brilliantly caught’ at point, but perhaps had a little consolation in that his three wickets (for 65 runs) were of recognized batsmen: Catterall was caught in the slips, Cameron first, after ‘a really beautiful innings’, completely bamboozled into spooning a return catch and in the second innings caught in the deep field. The final Test promptly followed at Durban, Astill’s county colleague Dawson replacing Peebles to bolster the batting. Astill made just a single in England’s 282, but then for the only time opened the attack in a Test match and by bowling both opener and Nicolson helped to reduce South Africa to a parlous 95 for four. His dismissal of Nicolson was The Test Player ‘Smile for the camera, Bert’ Astill and Herbert Sutcliffe seem more interested in posing for the camera than the festivities being provided for them.