Lives in Cricket No 36 - WE Astill

chances on the way. Apart from four wickets in the opening encounter with Derbyshire, he exceeded three wickets in an innings on only two further occasions, all in August. His returns in the home matches against the weak Northamptonshire and Glamorgan sides were five for 36 and five for 27 respectively, but apart from Jupp in the first match and opener Dyson in the second all his victims were tailenders. Nonetheless, when he had Ryan caught in the latter match he had the satisfaction of taking the 2,000th wicket of his career. As reward, perhaps, he was selected for his last Scarborough Festival match, unfortunately reduced to a single day’s play, and in the limited time available he was the only bowler to take as many as three wickets. ‘Hopper’ Levett had a favourite tale (originally from his fellow Kent colleague Ted ‘Punter’ Humphreys), which he used to tell when swapping yarns ‘around the bar over a pint or two’, involving Wilfrid Rhodes, Alf Attewell and Ewart Astill at Scarborough: 246 If my memory serves me right ... Ewart Astill was batting and Wilfred Rhodes was bowling and Wilfred hit Ewart on the legs about three times and appealed for lbw each time and … Alf Attewell said not out on each occasion. After the third appeal Wilfred said jokingly to Alf ‘Have you forgotten how to put your hand up, Alf?’ Later on when Wilfred was batting and Ewart Astill was bowling he hit Wilfred on the pads and appealed for lbw. As Alfred put his hand up to give him out he said ‘I haven’t forgotten, Wilfred’. Old ‘Punter’ did not vary it much no matter how many pints he had had, so I see no reason why it should not be true. … it used to make us laugh. In late June Astill had become only the second Leicestershire cricketer, after Jack King, to be granted a second benefit match (they were to be joined in 1936 by Geary). A week before ‘The Cardinal’ in the Leicester Mercury had predicted ‘a real bumper’, for, ‘without in any way wishing to minimize the work of other stalwarts [of Leicestershire cricket], I hold the opinion that Ewart Astill is the greatest of them all, and one of the greatest personalities in the game’. The weather, for once in a Leicestershire beneficiary’s match, was good and the home county made 271 largely owing to opener Shipman and wicketkeeper Sidwell. Astill himself contributed 23 at No.7. Gloucestershire made light of this total by making 439 themselves before losing their last man to Astill for his only wicket at a cost of 123 runs in 39 long overs. As mentioned earlier, Dawson saved the game for Leicestershire, but Astill ultimately received as financial reward a mere £380 3s 4d 247 giving him a total of under £900 for his two benefits combined, less than the worthy but hardly comparable Alec Skelding had received (£977 16s 3d) in his single one of 1927. Astill must have regretted the absence of Hammond, who would surely have increased the gate substantially, but was doubtless hardly surprised at 246 I have not been able to trace this match. Few non-Yorkshiremen were honoured with selection for the Scarborough festival as often as was Astill. Did the incident occur in a non-first-class match, or did Levett’s memory slip up over names? Who was Alf Attewell? William retired as a first-class umpire in 1907, his brother Thomas was on the Lord’s Groundstaff from 1893 to 1925, and their cousin Walter was the coach at Shrewsbury School in Cardus’ time there. 247 About £21,000 at 2013 prices, according to measuringworth.com 133 The Last ‘Double’ and the Gentle Decline