Lives in Cricket No 9 - JH King

These, though not outstanding, were no mean figures, especially for a man of 47, because, as Leslie Duckworth claims, ‘It is doubtful if ever before or since there has been a higher standard of cricket in any league in the world than there was in the Bradford League at that time . . . a roll-call taken among the clubs sounded like an England team, with enough notable names left over to make a very good side for The Rest’. This ‘roll-call’ included Frank Woolley, J.W.Hearne, Schofield Haigh, George Gunn, David Denton, J.N.Crawford, Bill Hitch and the two non-pareils, Jack Hobbs and Sidney Barnes. As if these were not enough there were many such as Herbert Sutcliffe, Ernest Tyldesley, Cecil Parkin and Leicestershire’s Alec Skelding destined to make high reputations in the ensuing decade. Of these four, all but Sutcliffe had played for their counties before the War. In total there were no fewer than 54 players with first-class experience who appeared in the Bradford League between 1914 and 1919. Matches were played in a chivalrous spirit: King himself ‘walked’ on at least one occasion, and was himself reprieved when the Keighley wicket-keeper acknowledged that he had not had the ball in his hands when taking off the bails. 94 Interlude