A History of Cricket at King Edward's School, BIrmingham

13 Chapter 3 THE MANTON ERA 1884-1893 The year 1884 began with cricket at King Edward’s firmly rooted in the life of the School, even though standards were still low; but in this year it is possible to discern the beginnings of a rise to the first pinnacle of success the School experienced, the peak being reached in 1891. As in later years, the chief sign of a general improvement was a rise in batting standards. In 1884 this began to be noticeable. For the first time a professional, G Brown of Nottingham was engaged. The level of interest in cricket was shown by the fact that for the first time since 1872, those responsible saw fit to publish the full averages in the Chronicle. From this good start, there was a gradual ascent to the great season of 1891. It is well, however, to realise at the outset just what limitations were imposed on the development of cricket by the prevailing conditions. The wicket at Eastern Road (which was generally referred to as Bristol Road until the First World War) was not conducive to high scores. There was little or no preparation of the pitch, and one can imagine that batting there in those years was a very different proposition from batting on the very good wicket existing today. Moreover, the grass off the square was uncut. As a result of the state of the wicket, bowlers flourished, as the high wicket aggregates for these years testify. In 1884, four matches were won, out of a total of 11 matches played. WB Haworth, the captain, had a good season, and Brown, the professional, played in the team and proved a useful acquisition. Against Suburban CC, Haworth and Brown had a partnership of 90, and both made fifties in an eventual total of 166 – and at Eastern Road. The batting was stronger, higher scores being more frequent – though there were also some disasters, such as the match against Wolverhampton Grammar School, when only eight players were available, three of whom normally played for the second eleven, and KES were dismissed for a mere five runs (including one bye). At the end of the season, Haworth was the leading scorer with 154 runs, and AT Wallis, F Arblaster and Haworth all bowled well. Cricket at KES was advancing. In 1885 five matches were won and six lost under the captaincy of HE Mason. The most notable achievement of the season was a score of 78 not out by Mason himself against Eighteen Masters and Boys of the Branch Schools. This was a very fine performance when one considers that it took place at Eastern Road, and when it appears that all 18 fielded. KES were eventually all out for 172, and in the time available the Eighteen scored 5 for four wickets; declarations were not possible at this time, and so the inability of the opposition to dismiss KES ruined the match as a contest. However, Mason’s was the highest individual score yet achieved, and no doubt it would have been worth well over a hundred against 11 fielders and under modern conditions. Besides Mason, AR Badger and MA Wood batted well, and AT Wallis was again the mainstay of the bowling, taking 46 wickets. During this season Block games were established for the junior boys; the Block teams played matches