Lives in Cricket No 5 - Rockley Wilson

the shade” as one of the party put it, to emphasise the point 66 – and the facilities at the grounds sometimes a little rudimentary, with pig sties adjoining the boundary at one of them. Six of the nine games played were won, one lost and two drawn. Of the three first-class matches against the Republic of Argentina, designated “Test” matches by the hosts but barely of county standard, two were won and one lost. In these matches, which attracted crowds varying between a few hundred and over two thousand depending on the state of the game, Rockley Wilson was top of the bowling averages with 17 wickets at 10.76, his accuracy proving a potent weapon against inexperienced opponents. His best return was six for 36 in the second innings of the second of the “Test” matches. His bowling certainly impressed Lord Hawke. With the bat, Wilson averaged 25.80 from six innings in the first-class matches. In one of these, the first innings of the first match of the three, Wilson scored 67 not out, out of 186, batting at No.10 in a last wicket stand of 106 with C.E.Hatfeild. The reward for such a competent display of batting was Wilson’s promotion to opener in all the remaining MCC innings in the “Tests”, but he achieved very little. Return to First-Class Cricket 60 Languor and style. Spectators attending an MCC match in Argentina, 1912. 66 Ibid., p.278