Lives in Cricket No 5 - Rockley Wilson

Rockley later felt that his break from serious cricket during the war years had a beneficial effect on his bowling. He did not know the reason, but after the War he was able to obtain a little more pace off the pitch, possibly because he brought his left foot down at the point of delivery rather more vigorously. For a slow bowler, Rockley certainly made unusually deep indentations in the pitch. Whatever the reason, in 1919 Wilson was third in the Yorkshire bowling averages behind the veteran Wilfred Rhodes and Roy Kilner, all of the leading three therefore being slow bowlers, though the emergence during the season of the fast-medium left-arm bowler Abram Waddington was gratifying for Yorkshire’s future. Wilson’s best bowling performances in the Championship were three for 58 and three for 56 (out of only four wickets to fall) against Surrey at The Oval, four for 35 against Middlesex at Headingley, and six for 28 off 18.3 overs on a perfect batting wicket and two for 64 in the second innings in the return match against Middlesex at Lord’s. In the Championship, his batting average was 15.16 and he took 26 wickets at 16.03. First-Class Cricket After the War 71 Return to normalcy. The Yorkshire side which won the County Championship in 1919. Standing (l to r): A.Dolphin, R.Kilner, A.Waddington, A.C.Williams, H.Sutcliffe. Seated: G.H.Hirst, W.Rhodes, D.C.F.Burton (captain), E.R.Wilson, D.Denton. On the ground: P.Holmes, E.Robinson.