Lives in Cricket No 9 - JH King

finish a creditable eleventh with six victories. It is perhaps significant that all of King’s better performances came in the August, but he had a very poor year by his standards, with an average of only 18.08 for batting in which he never really came to grips with the generally poor conditions. On occasions he batted as low as No.7. He did have an excuse: after opening the season for MCC he missed his county’s first three games because of an injury to a finger and perhaps returned too early. He came back for an exciting tied game against MCC, in which he did score a crucial second innings of 51, but then found it hard to score consistently. Past performances, however, kept him in the home crowd’s favour, and he received ‘a sympathetic cheer as he scored his first run’ against Derbyshire after four consecutive ducks in early August. His best innings, in August, was one of 80* in which he played ‘with great skill and judgment’ ( Wisden ) in helping to save the game against Hampshire. Although he bowled little, his average in this sphere was an excellent 17.63, with a best analysis of four for 33 v Derbyshire (combined with an innings of 57), while in the final game of the season he had match figures of six for 97 at The Oval. One landmark was that on 4 July he opened the bowling for the first time with one who was to become his partner on many successful occasions, Ewart Astill. Upon the conclusion of the season, on 25 September, King was married at St Andrew’s, Aylestone, a church best known for its huge fourteenth-century chancel – perhaps the largest of any village church – and for its record of the wedding of Dorothy Vernon to John Manners which disproves the romantic tale of an Successes and Disappointments 65 Bouquets, millinery and red bricks. Guests at King’s wedding reception in September 1907. A.E.Knight is third from the right in the middle row.