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

158 chipping in with two for none. These star batsmen, Billy Sutcliffe and Maurice Leyland could obviously bowl a bit too. The Society did play one or two matches in these early days in the summer too although one must assume that Johnny would have been too busy in Somerset to get to play in these. Anti-climax with the bat came in 1950 with a duck but he did rather make up for it with the ball with seven wickets for 19! Arthur Booth took four for 10. Woman international Barbara Wood was wicketless. Society again won what was a 12-a-side match by 12 runs. We see from the photograph that Collingham – now quite a large village – was still a rural setting with a small stone pavilion. Whitkirk became the first side to beat Society on Boxing Day in 1951 but Johnny had top-scored with 20 and had been top wicket-taker for Society with four for 24. Len Bannister played in that match for Whitkirk – and for all his childhood memories years earlier of Johnny’s accurate and guilesome bowling he succumbed to Johnny’s googly and was bowled. In 1952 the match moved to Bramhope – and we now have Two phenomena Johnny at the crease one Boxing Day. The weather was unusually fine for such matches.