Lives in Cricket No 52 - Schooled in Cricket (2nd edition)

99 the only Yorkshireman ever penalised for not being a leg spinner as this great bowler was omitted because a leg-spinner was wanted on the hard slow Indian wickets. Appleyard told me that his own non-selection proved fortuitous as it was at this time that his tuberculosis must have been developing unbeknownst – and going to India – with those ongoing health issues – might have prevented the miraculous recovery he did eventually make. There is no doubt that in other circumstances Johnny would have loved the challenge of Test cricket and we can imagine how well he might have done and we can only conjecture that this would have happened with some success in Tests also (though Eddie Leadbeater was not so fortunate taking two wickets for 218 runs). Raising spirits of a county at rock bottom 1952-55 At a time when Somerset were at their weakest Johnny exerted a huge influence in keeping the spirits of his team- mates high. From a results point of view nothing abated at any time in the four seasons beginning with 1952. 1952 The visits of Harry Parkes, Somerset’s coach to Johnny’s school in the pre-season caused Somerset to recruit at least three players for trial at the start of the 1952 season. There was Dave Kitson, a batsman, and Malcolm Walker, an off-spin bowler, would go on and play several games each for the county. There was the promising Lewis Pickles, an all-rounder who bowled off-spin, who didn’t make his first- class debut till 1955 but also played quite a few matches for Somerset. A fourth, Eric Womersley, a fast bowler, is not heard of again in a Somerset connection but played the odd game for neighbouring Devon in the Minor Counties. Other players must have come down from Yorkshire as Mick Hanna remembers a trial match in early April where only two of the trialists – he and Philip Fussell – were from Somerset. Bill Dean seems to have joined the Yorkshire exiles at a slightly later point in the season though he may have played in the above trial match. A first class career with Somerset