Lives in Cricket No 36 - WE Astill

122 The Test Player a result of the bowler’s cunning for, according to The Times, Astill first ‘tempted him with a half volley which he despatched to the boundary in fine style, but the next ball …, although it looked very similar, possessed a well-disguised leg-break, and Nicolson was completely deceived.’ As Cameron and Catterall now came together the crowd had the unusual experience of seeing two essentially fast- scoring batsmen reduced almost to impotence. They were forced to watch every delivery from Astill and Staples right on to the bat and, even then, the Leicestershire bowler often beat them with clever variations of pace and break… The wonderfully consistent bowling was reflected in the figures of Astill who, at 133, was taken off… [He] had then sent down 21 overs, nine maidens, for 27 runs and two wickets ( The Times ). Upon his return Astill deceived Cameron into offering a simple catch to Staples at short leg, but as the batsman turned to walk back to the pavilion the ball, to everybody’s astonishment, then dropped from the hands of the Nottinghamshire man to reprieve the South African. Astill ultimately had 99 runs scored off him with only the consolation of century-maker Catterall’s wicket, caught in the deep, to add to his earlier pair. Behind 50 runs after a declaration England then collapsed to Bissett for 118, with no help from Astill who made the first of his two Test ducks, and South Africa ran out easy winners. In the final first-class match Astill shared a partnership of 110 with Wyatt at Cape Town, equalled his highest score of the tour with 66, forced Western Province to follow on by demolishing the tail and induced their opening bat de Klerk to hit his wicket in their second innings before he left his colleagues to complete the victory. For the tour he scored 340 runs at 22.66, eighth in total and average, and dismissed 35 batsmen at 23.55, third equal in total and fifth in average. In the Tests his 102 runs were the seventh-highest total, but his average of a paltry 12.75 only ninth, not figures expected of an all-rounder. In bowling, however, his 12 wickets were beaten only by Hammond’s and Staples’ 15 apiece, and Freeman’s 14, while his average of 27.50 was inferior only to those of Geary and, again, Hammond and slightly better than that of ‘Tich’ Freeman, the incomparable destroyer of county batsmen. 102 runs and 15 wickets seem statistically a poor reward for five matches, but examination of his performances indicate that, especially in bowling, he was an important member of England’s team. These performances were thus summed up in The Cricketer : 229 ASTILL. A very useful bowler. Is best against the wind, when he can flight the ball. Keeps a beautiful length, but is just a little too slow. Played some very useful innings, and hit the ball good and hard. Weak to fast bowling. In any analysis of his contribution it must be remembered that without his batting and bowling in the Second Test there can be little doubt that England would have lost rather than tied the series. 229 Spring Annual 1928, p 114.