Lives in Cricket No 47 - Brian Sellers

81 Interlude – Team photographs What a contrast with Geoffrey Wilson, the captain from 1922 to 1924, and his team! Norman Kilner on the left and Maurice Leyland on the right were not wearing their blazer. Wilfred Rhodes (by then the greatly experienced all-rounder and the captain’s symbolic and presumably actual right-hand man) had his unbuttoned. These men were not uniform; in this team men could be different, or resisted uniformity – and authority? Who said so: the captain, or the players? The men were spread unevenly – Leyland as one of the youngest and most junior players, and the scorer on the right had most room, on the symbolic edge of the scene, while several men were wedged around their skipper. If you put your hand over the list of names and ignored the county caps, you might think that the man seated in the middle was a captive. Geoffrey Wilson, formerly of Harrow School and Cambridge University, the only man wearing a muffler, was very much the odd man out. Note particularly the taut arms of George Macaulay, resting on the bench behind Wilson. Was that a sign of Macaulay – though a junior bowler then - asserting himself? Note also Wilson’s defensively folded arms, while Arthur Dolphin and Percy Holmes had theirs more confidently open. Dolphin and Rhodes, not their captain, rested their shoulders against the wooden bench as if they owned it. Wilson was a Yorkshire captain with little room of his own. The images speak of how a workplace’s culture can change in a dozen years, and the difference that a man with force of character can make. Standing (l to r): Edgar Oldroyd, Norman Kilner, Roy Kilner, Herbert Sutcliffe, George Macaulay, Abe Waddington, Maurice Leyland, H Nottingham (scorer). Seated: Emmott Robinson, Wilfred Rhodes, Geoffrey Wilson (captain), Arthur Dolphin, Percy Holmes.