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| Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham |
If cricket teaches anything it must be the lesson that the game is never over until the final wicket taken or the final run scored. There have been memorable matches where teams seemingly up against the odds have managed to salvage unlikely results.
Many of these remarkable matches are spoken about fondly, and as television cameras have been in attendance, many of them can be relived. Headingly 1981, Eden Gardens 2001, Cardiff 2009 and Headingly again in 2019 spring to mind immediately. However, June 2022 will mark 100 years since the most remarkable comeback of them all.
Following the First World War, cricket as with most of society in England was rebuilding from the loss of so many young men. The English Counties were headed by the powerhouse professional teams, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire and Surrey. The rest including Hampshire and Warwickshire relied on a nucleus of high-quality players and others kindly described as ‘making up the numbers.’
In 1921 Warwickshire had finished next to bottom of the championship, which then was a single division rather than the two we have today, above only first-class newcomers Glamorgan. Hampshire by contrast were competing with Kent as “the best of the rest” behind the four leading counties.
The fixture between the sides at Edgbaston began on 14th June 1922 under sunny skies. Contemporary reports say that the pitch was damp, but dried quickly. Hampshire’s captain Hon. Lionel Tennyson, grandson of the illustrious poet, won the toss and invited Warwickshire to bat.
They mustered a creditable 223 all out. Top scores came from captain Warwickshire captain Freddie Calthorpe with 70 and Santall with 84 made in sharing a stand of 122 for the fourth wicket.
Hampshire had bowled the weaker side out in 55 overs, and now with the pitch dry and the weather set fair, they expected to build an impressive and commanding total.
At 4pm the opening partnership of Boswell and Kennedy began the innings. They were both to become the first of eight batsmen dismissed without scoring, as Hampshire were dismissed in the ninth over of their innings for just 15 runs. The Warwickshire opening bowlers Howell and Calthorpe got the new ball to swing and picked up 6-7 and 4-4 respectively. The Birmingham Post reported that the Batsmen got into a “funk” and that every possible chance was taken by Warwickshire. As a result, just 40 minutes after they began, Hampshire were invited to follow on with a deficit of 208 runs.
At their second attempt the Hampshire batsmen managed to reach 98-3 at the close, with captain Tennyson unbeaten on 17.
Resuming on the next morning Hampshire progressed to 127 before losing their first wicket of the day. Still 81 behind much now depended on the captain. He was the next to depart however for an aggressive 45 leaving his side at 152-5 a deficit of 56.
They were soon 177-6 as Mead was caught and bowled by leg spinner Billy Quaife. Hampshire’s hopes now lay with George Brown, averaging just 15 for the season at this point.
He batted with patience completing his half century after two hours of diligent defence. He shared an 85-run partnership with W.R. Shirley to take the total to 262-7 a lead of 54. Brown was able to complete his 185-minute century but the score was 274-8 at tea, a lead of 66 with plenty of time left for Warwickshire to compete an inevitable victory.
Hampshire’s next batsmen was Lionel Tennyson’s Valet and their wicketkeeper Walter Livesey. This was to be the pivotable partnership of the match. By the time Brown was dismissed for 172, they had shared in a ninth wicket stand of 177 runs in just 140 minutes. The score was now 451-9, a lead of 243.
Was this stand just down to good batting by Brown and Livesey? Or perhaps the Warwickshire bowlers had started to lose some potency. Maybe the Warwickshire team so unfamiliar with winning matches against strong opposition began to suffer the self-doubt that can affect teams in such a position. The truth may be a combination of the three, but the damage had been done, Hampshire had now taken control of the match.
Livesey though was not finished, batting into the final morning, he completed his century, finishing 110 not out, before last man Stuart Boyes was dismissed after a stand of 70.
Hampshire were finally dismissed for 521, setting Warwickshire 314 runs to win in five hours. Despite resistance from E.J “Tiger” Smith scoring 41 and Billy Quaife with 40, Warwickshire were never really in the hunt. They were dismissed for 158 in 68 overs to lose by the margin of 155 runs.
Will we ever see such a dramatic turn around in a first class match again? Probably not. Keep watching though as one thing is certain. We just might.
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