Lives in Cricket No 9 - JH King

notorious dislike of commas): ‘It seemed that another reliable bat had been found in King. Tried occasionally in 1897 he played in most of the matches up to the middle of July but after scoring 77 against Middlesex and 50 against Surrey he was not again seen in the field. For eleven innings he had an average of 24 so that his services could ill be spared.’ His local newspaper percipiently saw much promise in him and other youngsters: ‘Some of the present members of the Leicestershire eleven will be playing – aye, and making centuries – when many of their present opponents have been relegated to the ease and serenity of the umpire’s smock, or are enjoying the placid air of the pavilion’. For the following year he was again re-engaged (together with Edwin Smith) by Birkenhead Park even before the 1898 season was over; but we must assume that he had received at least encouraging comments by his county, for Birkenhead Park’s minute book has an entry for late August that reads: ‘The secretary was instructed to write to King and inform him that the committee while accepting his resignation would be pleased to give him any reference he might require’. In 1899 he became at last, at the age of 28, a regular for his county: his apprenticeship was over, his persistence rewarded, his father’s doubts assuaged. But before we trace his career further we should consider what manner of player he was. Apprenticeship 27