Lives in Cricket No 36 - WE Astill

56 a merely mortal hand? But it was not only his batting, it was his whole attitude to cricket and perhaps even to life itself that had changed. War seems to have shown him how lucky he was to survive and taught him that success comes only through hard work, a thing that I have surmised he did not fully appreciate in 1914. He was now to defy Connolly’s gods and fulfill his boyhood promise. Since as an officer Astill was not ‘demobbed’ as early as most soldiers, he missed almost the entire season of 1919. In mid-August, however, he was selected, together with Private Geary the only member below the rank of Lieutenant, for The Army in a non-first-class match against The Royal Air Force at The Oval. He promptly showed his new confidence as a batsman with a score of 69 at No.5, the second-highest score of the very strong Army’s innings. He played a minor part with two wickets in dismissing the airmen for 99 and had only a single victim in their large second innings, while he did not bat in his own side’s almost successful attempt to score 70 runs in half an hour for victory. His performance, nevertheless, was sufficient for him to be welcomed into the Leicestershire side when on brief leave for the final two games of the season, both of just two wearily long days’ duration as had been decided before the game’s post-war resumption. In June Leicestershire had shocked Gloucestershire by beating them in the first match ever contested between the two teams, such was the contumely in which the midland county had been held by the south-western. In the return at Cheltenham Astill did not cover himself in glory as a bowler with but two wickets, albeit those of Nos.3 and 4, for 76 runs in the two innings of a low-scoring contest; but when his county was dismissed for a mere 79 he was second-highest scorer with a dogged and undefeated 15 in a vain attempt to save the follow-on, and he and Wood were the only batsmen to show much resistance at the second attempt. ‘Reynard’ found that ‘The day was memorable for the bright display of Astill, who very rarely in pre-war days showed the same mastery for the same enterprise with such success. His 54 in just over an hour was capital going.’ Victory did attend the county in the other game, at Coventry, where Astill, barely used as a bowler, top-scored with 73 not out, his second highest innings for the county. One more first-class match remained, for the Army and Navy against Demobilised Officers. The Times correspondent thought that Lieutenant Astill bowled well, despite conceding 52 runs without reward, and praised his new highest score, an undefeated 80, as ‘the best innings of his side’, and one made at considerable speed as he and Haig of Middlesex put on 140 for the eighth wicket in just 80 minutes. So he ended his season of three matches with just two wickets at 75.50 each, and, being dismissed only once, 222 runs at an average of 222. In his 248 pre- war innings he had reached a half-century on two occasions; now in four innings he had accomplished the feat three times. In its summation of Leicestershire’s season the local newspaper opined that ‘Lieutenant Astill, … gave sound evidence that he is a greatly improved batsman.’ What did this portend for 1920, when, at the comparatively advanced age of 32, he would be available for the whole of the season? The New Man