Lives in Cricket No 36 - WE Astill

138 ball, coming second in aggregate of Championship wickets with 76 at the much improved average of 24.80, although he waited until the beginning of June before he took more than two wickets in an innings. His 817 runs in all matches were made at the somewhat better average of 23.34, but he began the season in splendid form, averaging over 54 after the first six matches before he concentrated more on his bowling and tallied but a single further half-century. Only twice did he shine in both principal capacities: a lively 61 at very nearly a run a minute ‘gave Leicestershire a fine chance of getting in front’ ( Wisden ) following an analysis of six for 126 out of an Essex total of 463; later his lively whirlwind of 49 initially boosted his side v Worcestershire while his subsequent four for 87 brought about a lead of 247, although in the end his two further wickets to supplement three each by Geary and Smith were narrowly insufficient to force a victory. He began the season at No.9, at which position he scored a stubborn and undefeated 25 after considerable uncertainty in facing Fleetwood-Smith before defying the Australians a second time with mingled ‘audacity’ and ‘sound judgement’ in an undefeated 50 to prevent the visitors winning their second match of the tour after an overwhelming victory at Worcester. Next he, with Geary again, rescued Leicestershire from possible defeat against Lancashire with 52 not out after a loss of quick wickets. Northamptonshire, now entering the worst few years that any county has hitherto suffered in the Championship, were very easily beaten by an innings at Leicester and Astill’s 65 runs were hardly needed, but at least he gave the crowd enjoyment as he was the only home batsman to collar the bowling. Three matches later a hard-hitting 55 ensured a substantial lead and led ultimately to another very comfortable win over Gloucestershire. In the last home match of the season his 40 on the final day helped the county recover against Yorkshire, his runs being crucial in ultimately bringing about a famous victory, the first against the Tykes since 1911. The only survivor of that 1911 match was Astill, who now bowled very tightly and demonstrated how ‘very clever’ he was ‘in the real art of spinning the ball’, 254 allowed only 11 runs off nine overs for his two wickets before he fittingly sealed the match by catching the last two batsmen, Macaulay ‘brilliantly’ held at slip and Wood taken at point. Yorkshire were dismissed for a paltry 90, their smallest total of the season. His bowling season really began in the eighth fixture when with five for 66 he alone, by ‘serv[ing] up a mixture that helped keep the runs down’, was able to puzzle the Nottinghamshire batsmen in a game easily lost. Shortly after, for the last time in his career, he had match figures of ten or more wickets when his analyses at Edgbaston read four for 49 and eight for 50, the third time that he had taken so many wickets in a single innings against Warwickshire. In the first innings the four wickets were taken for seven runs in nine overs, and in the second he ensnared his eight victims at little cost in a spell of only seven overs. All was to no avail as Leicestershire in turn succumbed to Paine and Hollies. Mention should be made also of six wickets in Shipman’s benefit match against 254 G.A.Brooking in The Cricketer , 18 August, p. 500. The Last ‘Double’ and the Gentle Decline