Lives in Cricket No 45 - Brief Candles 2

30 Never a run for Sarah added that she was told by one of his fellow-cricketers that it was almost impossible to bat against his spin bowling. He sounds like a strong club cricketer right to the last. In his club career, one day surely stood out: when he scored his first century, having three times previously passed 95. This was in the annual needle match between Peterborough Town and a team representing the Peterborough League in July 1933; he also took the first three wickets in the League’s innings before, one suspects, being withdrawn from the attack to give others a chance. The match ball was presented to him after the game, and remains a prized possession in the family even though (as Sarah told me) Harry’s wife’s excessive zeal in polishing it makes the inscription almost impossible to read! When Wilson made his maiden century for Peterborough Town in July 1933, his captain declared when the scoreboard showed a total of 200 for no wicket. Later recalculation found the total to be only 198, as shown when Wilson (left) posed with his opening partner F.Coles.