Lives in Cricket No 36 - WE Astill

143 The Captain he was always an honourable man on and off the field, one who would have been as appalled as he was himself in 1948 when Bradman appealed for lbw from cover; and, though not a martinet like Dempster, he had standards of discipline and expected proper behaviour and effort from everybody. Philip Snow recalled how he once ‘berated in the dressing room Harry Graham, the young Irish professional with strong potential aiming to be a regular Leicestershire player, on his use of the wash-basin for a purpose customarily reserved for the bathroom’, and was at least in part responsible for Graham’s lack of re-engagement on the staff. 261 Bob Wyatt recalled: One of the first times I really noticed him was on board going out to India. We were having lunch in the dining room on board, and one member of the side did not treat the steward as he should have done with much respect when he was serving, and Ewart went for this chap and ticked him off telling him how bad it was that he should speak to somebody who was serving with disrespect. And that impressed me quite a lot that he − after all he was just the ordinary professional – should give this chap quite a dressing down, and I very much approved of it and I had even more respect for Ewart Astill because he was able to do that. A letter 262 from Astill himself in the early part of the Second World War to Hugh Wright corroborates this belief in honourable behaviour: Dear Hugh, Someone informed the C.O. that Sgt Hutton did not turn out for you on Sunday, after promising to do so. If that is so, the C.O. is very annoyed & wishes me to write & say how sorry he is. I have spoken to Hutton & he says he had a bad foot, & as Alec Snowden was away, did not know how to get in touch with you. A very mean story in my opinion, & I have advised him not to do that sort of thing. He must also realize that he is in the Army now, & that the C.O. can stop all these privileges if he so desires. I hope you were not greatly inconvenienced. Yours sincerely W.E.Astill Capt. This, it must be remembered, was written about the holder of the world’s highest Test score. On a lighter note was the enthusiasm that he generated in the changing room. In 1927 ‘Cover’, musing 263 why at the time the county was having considerable success, light-heartedly concluded that it was down to music. Before a match, during a portion of every interval, and for certain spells during each Leicestershire innings, can be heard the strains of a ukulele and a silver throated choir in full song. ‘Glorious’ seems to be one of the principal battle songs. It calls for an especial fortissimo on 261 H.C. Graham played for the county in 1936 and the following season, scoring 589 runs at 17.32 in 23 matches with four fifties, the highest being 75 against Glamorgan. 262 In the David Frith archive. 263 Leicester Sports Mercury , 11 June, p 4.