Lives in Cricket No 9 - JH King

opening match with five for only 26 in 19 overs of ‘puzzling spin’ to bring his side a very comfortable victory, and had the personal satisfaction of bowling the opener Russell between his legs and twice dismissing the opposing captain, J.W.H.T.Douglas, then at the height of his form. And he will have been even more pleased with claiming Jack Hobbs in both innings at Loughborough, caught each time by that brilliant fielder Harry Whitehead. Nevertheless, despite further five-wicket hauls at Birmingham and Bradford (in both of which matches he took eight wickets in all) he faded later in the year and was frequently little used. Perhaps his most valuable innings for his club was an ‘obdurate’ 71 against Lancashire which helped to bring a rare and narrow victory over this opposition – and a reward of £5 from a Mr Ernest Clarke of Kilby Bridge, who had deposited the cheque with the secretary for the first batsman to reach 50 in the second innings. In contrasting mood for a score of similar magnitude he hit with some gusto in making 70 out of 91 while he was at the wicket in a losing cause against Fielder, Blythe and Woolley at Ashby-de-la-Zouch. His three centuries were all outstanding in different ways. First, in early June, he scored his only century against Yorkshire, an undefeated 114 on a drying pitch against an otherwise regnant Hirst (five for 94) out of 241. He gave only one chance in four hours and, after the opening hour brought him but a single, ‘hit freely’ in ‘forc[ing] the game with as much resolution as was possible, consistent with reasonable safety’ to give his side a first-innings lead for the first of two times in the season against his inveterate foes. In August at Northampton on a soft, rain-affected wicket his 124, over half of the total of 228 (212 from the bat), was a masterly, though not faultless, exhibition ‘of sound defence mingled with intermittent audacity’, while in the second innings an extra boundary added to his 24 out of 79 would have tied a thrilling match of low scores in which Leicestershire missed the services the second time round of A.T.Sharp who was called up for military duties. King’s third century marked a red-letter day in his career. On the outskirts of Coalville, a mining town so dominated by its industry that its name had been changed from Long Lane, a ground had been fashioned on the Boulder Clay over the ubiquitous Mercia Mudstone opposite the Fox and Goose Hotel, after which it was named; and it was well named, for in the county’s only two games on the ground, against Worcestershire in this and the preceding 88 Maturity