Lives in Cricket No 9 - JH King

41) had him caught at the wicket for 29. No wonder that he was too injured to take any further part in the match. Just over two weeks later on the same ground he scored his first post-war century, 127, against Surrey, doubtless finding Hitch and Co light relief in a five-hour defensive display. This was in a losing cause, but in the very next match, after Leicestershire had conceded 479 for nine to Sussex and only just saved the follow-on, King’s three for 40 helped his county keep the target of victory within reasonable bounds and his unbeaten 110 brought about an unlikely victory by seven wickets with but a single ball to spare. Wisden called the victory ‘astonishing’ and further remarked that ‘Nothing more sensational was seen during the season’. At Old Trafford in June King hit hard to score 125 not out, and when Leicestershire appeared to have quite thrown away the advantage of leading by 81 on the first innings by stumbling to 37 for five, his 87 in two and a half hours enabled Astill to complete a rare victory over these opponents despite Hallows carrying his bat for 110. As for King, he thus narrowly failed to score for a third time two centuries in a match, which would have been a remarkable performance for one his age, especially against such redoubtable foes, but he was indubitably too good a team-man to let that sully his happiness. A good all-round performance of six wickets and 91 runs in the final home match of the season against Glamorgan confirmed his continuing worth. But in the annals of Leicestershire cricket the more significant match was the corresponding one at Swansea. The Welsh county had won its inaugural match, against Sussex at Cardiff, and now faced Leicestershire. After King’s 61 had helped the visitors to a lead of 143, they were humbled for a woeful 70 in the second innings, but eked out a victory by 20 runs thanks to King’s five wickets, which included the last man, Harry Creber, the professional and groundsman of the local club, who succumbed lbw. Thus Leicestershire became the first county to defeat the sixteen others that had been admitted to the Championship since it was placed on a regular footing in 1890, a record that it continued by being the first county to defeat Durham upon its accession in 1992. For King personally it meant that he had been a member of his county’s team in its inaugural Championship victory over no fewer than eleven counties: Derbyshire, Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Lancashire, Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Somerset, Sussex, Worcestershire and Yorkshire. Nestor 103