Today, our best cricketers are tracked from a very young age. Initially, through their home associations and thereafter (if good enough) nationally. Talented players are identified and monitored through national under-age tournaments (including Gillette Cup). So there’s nothing hit or miss. The occasional late- developer might slip under the radar but most are well-known by “the system”.
This wasn’t always the case. The best player in my day was Glenn Turner. In 1968 he was given a chance to play in England for Worcestershire. To save money for his airfare he worked nights in a Dunedin bakery. Such was his drive to have a shot at playing county cricket.
But what about in the real olden-days? Ralph Barker wrote, among several, a classic cricket book about selected greats in cricket titled “Ten Great Bowlers”, published Chatto & Windus, 1967. It is from this source the following has been compiled. It outlines the intriguing ways some past English cricket legends started in the game. There are some lessons for the up-and-comers of today.
G.H. (George) Lohmann
1,841 first-class wickets at 13.73 average
Born Kensington, London, 1865. At eleven he played for his local Church Institute Club. As a boy he saved his pocket money, packed his sandwiches and made his first visit to the Oval. In 1883 (when he was 18 years old) Surrey county was looking for new talent. They arranged a colts match. George went along to watch a friend trial. The boys arrived early so together they had a knock in the nets. Some County regulars saw George bat and bowl, liked what they saw and then invited him to come back the following week for a trial in the nets. Here he again impressed and was subsequently invited to join the ground staff and within a month was playing for Surrey.
W.H. (Bill) Lockwood
1,376 first-class wickets at 18.34 average
Born Nottingham, 1868. He was of athletic build from good industrial stock. He was an all- rounder. When he scored his first century, in a club match, he went back to his lace machine at 6pm and worked through until midnight to make up the time. A year or so later, in 1886, at the age of 18 and after one match for his county, he was actually working at his lace machine when a message came that he was wanted unexpectedly to play as a fast bowler for Notts against the touring Australians.
T. (Tom) Richardson
2,104 first-class wickets at 18.43 average
Born Byfleet, London, 1870 (apparently in a gypsy caravan). It was on Mitcham Common that he learned his cricket, when bowling to the local gentry at their practice. They used to put a shilling on the stumps for the local boys to aim and with this incentive Tom quickly honed his line and length bowling. He built quite a reputation bowling at Mitcham. At the end of the 1892 season he was given his first chance to play in the Surrey county side. Tom used to walk (seven miles) from Mitcham to the Oval each day to play his cricket.
S.F. (Sydney) Barnes
719 first-class wickets at 17.09 average
Born Birmingham, 1873. He first gained notice as a tear-away fast bowler playing for Rishton in Lancashire League cricket. In 1895 (aged 21) he was invited to play for Warwickshire county. He turned up to find himself ostracised. For three days, only one Warwickshire player spoke to him; they were jealous of the money he made at Rishton. “As an exercise in mental cruelty it was fiendish” according to Barker. He went back to play successfully for Rishton. Then came another invitation to play for Warwickshire and when in midst of rescheduling his schedule a second telegram came which said “Do not come. An amateur is playing”. Barnes vowed he would never play for Warwickshire again.
He stayed with Rishton for five seasons before moving to Burnley in the same League. In 1899 he played a handful of games for Lancashire until by 1901 they were desperate to sign him full-time. £100 was paid to Burnley to release him from his contract. Now as a Lancashire player, just 13 days later he sailed with the England team on a tour of Australia. He went on to play 27 tests and gain a whopping 189 wickets.
M.W. (Maurice) Tate
2,784 first-class wickets at 18.16 average
Born Brighton, 1895. He was the son of a county cricketer Fred Tate. Fred played one test for England and was later a coach for Sussex. Maurice’s schooling was rudimentary and by age 14 he had started an apprenticeship at a local gas and coke company. At this time he showed no talent whatsoever for cricket; but because the old heads on the Sussex committee believed cricket ability is frequently inherited, they offered him a trial. Someone reckoned he could bowl a useful off-break with a lethal quicker ball. However Maurice was the worst of 15 boys on display, rated kindly as a “duffer”. Anyway, he played his first game for Sussex in 1912 but did nothing of note. It was after the 1st World War (at age 27 years) that he changed his bowling style altogether. In 1922 the Sussex captain, Arthur Gilligan, believed Tate would be better used as an opening bowler and gave him the new ball – to utilise his height and strength. Maurice went on to play 39 tests and take 155 wickets.
Now today, of course, these guys are mere names. But by looking back in excess of 100 years it is pertinent to note that such men came to the fore in different ways – spotted in the nets, recognised when playing club cricket, having a good playing record in the professional League, being the son of a test player and a late- developer who changed his bowling type on the instruction of his skipper.
The message: different opportunities can present themselves as you grow as a cricketer. Who will know when/if they will occur for you but it is wise to be ready for it should an approach come.