Lives in Cricket No 36 - WE Astill

142 The Captain The result of this equivocal endorsement was that 1935, the Silver Jubilee Year of King George V, was arguably Leicestershire’s finest season in their first 37 years in the Championship (and indeed in their first 48 until 1953). Whereas they finished sixth, one place lower than in 1905, they were only fractionally behind Nottinghamshire (50.27% to 50.71%) and fairly close to Lancashire and Middlesex, and they had now risen from 12th the year before and bottom the year before that; and they set a new record by winning eleven times, which was three more than in 1905. That they lost nine times was indicative of Astill’s disdain of defensive cricket, although it should be noted that two of the losses came when an amateur was captain, Webb against Kent and Sharp against Glamorgan. In what was generally throughout the country a batsman’s year, it could be said that Leicestershire’s bowlers were aided by the fact that the Aylestone Road pitch was unreliable since the county had for economic reasons released its groundsman Jim Smith; 259 but their own batsmen, only three of whom averaged over 20, 260 had to bat on the same wickets and the team did well also away from home. Just as King as senior professional had been a mentor to the inexperienced captain Fowke, so had Astill to the much younger Dawson; and, as we have seen, he had skippered the team in a single match nine years earlier. Probably his only rival on the county circuit for experience on the cricket field was Frank Woolley of Kent. Of Astill, Eric Snow said, ‘He was an exceptional man in many ways, extremely intelligent, and as captain he knew every trick of the trade. He got on very well with the players, who looked up to him because they knew his capabilities and knowledge of the game.’ Or as the youngsters Jim Sperry and Gerry Lester respectively remembered ‘he knew the game inside out’ and was ‘a fine tactician’. Moreover much of his success was due to his loyalty to his team-mates and their affection for, loyalty to and unfailing confidence and trust in him. Both Geary, now an elderly 42, and Smith, a 34-year-old fast bowler, gave their utmost with a combined total of 253 Championship wickets at an average of 16.79 and in June bowled unchanged through four consecutive innings; but all players rallied round their professional leader. In tactics Geary was his chief aide and the two often conferred on the field. Even more than his acumen his greatest strength was probably his ability to encourage the young. In a broader context some years later The Cricketer observed that ‘English cricket, above everything else, needs encouragement. Julius Caesar … who knew something of the art of leadership, was a great believer in encouraging his men to remember their former prowess, and his example may well be commended’. Astill was not, however, simply a knowledgeable, jolly leader. Lester remembered that 259 The vacant position was filled halfway through the 1935 season by Walter White, the assistant groundsman at Old Trafford, who produced excellent wickets for the remainder of the County’s sojourn at Aylestone Road and later at Grace Road. 260 Only Essex, who finished ninth, and wooden-spoonists Northamptonshire with five and four respectively scored fewer than Leicestershire’s six Championship centuries. The county scored its Championship runs at 19.53 per wicket, lower than all other counties apart from Northamptonshire, but took its wickets at 20.93, bettered only by the champions Yorkshire.