Lives in Cricket No 36 - WE Astill

124 The Test Player After an unproductive start in the loss at Hove, he alone checked the Cambridge batsmen at Fenner’s with a six-wicket haul, and then, when the visitors followed on, hit 14 fours (four in consecutive balls) in an exhilarating 89 in 95 minutes, sharing a stand of 100 with débutant Cambridge undergraduate Oscroft, who never played for the county again. Helping to reduce the university to 73 for six with two quick wickets, he could perhaps have forced a most unexpected win from a very unpromising position, but time ran out. Returning to more serious work he checked Kent with six for 72 when they tried to score fast to set a fair target, but rain precluded even the possibility of a definite conclusion. His bowling was crucial in Leicestershire’s first win of the season as, on a deteriorating pitch, he skittled Northamptonshire out with five for 16 in 14.4 taxing overs to enable the tail-ender Bale to end the match triumphantly and completely unexpectedly with a four and a six in consecutive balls off Vallance Jupp. Following a competent half-century against Surrey, he then entered a comparatively barren period of eleven matches enlivened only by a spell of captaincy of the Players against the Gentlemen at The Oval when Hobbs went lame and had to retire from the match – but rain allowed him little time to display his talents in this sphere. Perhaps stung by the loss of a valuable diamond and platinum ring presented to him by Sir Ernest Oppenheimer on the South African tour, which was announced on the day of Leicestershire’s encounter at home with Gloucestershire, he promptly returned to form. After the unusual excitement of a spectators’ stand catching fire his 48 steadied his county and enabled them, with a half-century from tail-ender Haydon Smith, to gain the first-innings advantage. Dipper and Sinfield then set about saving the match with a dour opening stand of 88 in over two hours before Astill struck by removing Dipper caught in the leg-trap and with pronounced spin running through the rest of the team to finish with eight for 81. His dismissal of Hammond, however, will not have given him the usual satisfaction because his opponent appeared low in the order after injuring his fingers in a deck chair. Shortly after, at Worcester, as a batsman he made his team’s second-highest score (49) before as a bowler forcing the home team to follow on and ultimately admit defeat with match figures of nine for 81 in a game of 907 runs, when his variations in pace and spin from round the wicket had batsmen continually worried. Most notable in August were his 80 at Northampton, which rescued his county from a parlous position, a bold 68 against the County Palatine during which he knocked McDonald out of the attack despite his dislike of fast bowling, and an all-round performance against Essex with five for 75 in a total of 340 and then 62 runs in 70 minutes; but all three games were drawn. Astill was doubtless disappointed, but hardly surprised, not to be chosen with Geary (it was expected that his elbow would stand the strain again) in the hunt for the Ashes in Australia during the northern winter of 1928/29. Instead he went with Dawson on Sir Julien Cahn’s brief tour to Jamaica where in three first-class matches he had a top score of 83 against a West Indian XI and was easily the leading bowler with 19 wickets, 232 232 Wisden and The Cricketer both give 20.