Lives in Cricket No 36 - WE Astill

His highest score came in the Bank Holiday fixture at Northampton, where at No.6 ‘on a pitch drying under the effects of hot sunshine’ ( Wisden ) he again scored over half the runs from the bat, Berry’s 22 being the closest score to his 84, as he once more ‘pull[ed the] side round when all seemed lost’ to obtain the lead in the first innings of another drawn encounter. Among various smaller but important innings should be mentioned that at Buxton when, unusually at this stage of his career, he opened the innings with Berry, his top-scoring 37 (‘worth many a century’) going a long way to securing a slender lead on what ‘The Cardinal’ described as ‘a glue-pot’. Twice he took ten or more wickets in a match, on both occasions at Leicester to bring victory to his side. His four for 48, including top-scorer Sandham, ensured that Armstrong’s dour century on a difficult wicket was not wasted and that Leicestershire enjoyed a lead of 107 before being hustled out for 99. Surrey, however, never had a chance to win as Astill exploited the conditions superbly, dismissing both openers and the only other batsman, Gregory, to reach double figures and ending with seven wickets for only 32 runs. Just over two weeks later his six for 76 on a good pitch restricted Hampshire to a lead of 11 before overnight rain rendered the turf treacherous enough for the home team to collapse and leave the visitors needing just 105 to win, and at the tea interval they had reached 66 for three with Mead and Newman seemingly in control. Astill and Snary, however, had other ideas and brought their side an exciting victory by just three runs, the former claiming four wickets to give him match figures of ten for 121. In other matches his marked turn on rain-affected turf brought him six cheap wickets and his side the lead in a drawn game at Portsmouth; dropped catches made his five wickets expensive and may 131 The Last ‘Double’ and the Gentle Decline Astill clearly made an impression during his visit to Worcester in 1930.