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

24 responsible for dismissing Tettenhall for a total of 33. In an exciting match against Trinity College Stratford, he took 8 for 29 as Stratford were all out for 61. KES lost eight wickets in passing this total, assisted by a captain’s innings of 25 by TJ Tasker. In the other match against Stratford (at Stratford), Trinity College, batting on a wicket made sticky by rain, were shot out for 9 by Browett and HS Tasker. Why they chose to bat on winning the toss heaven only knows. Of the Stratford total, HO Rigby made no fewer than 8, including 4 for a missed chance in the slips. KES lost four wickets in making the runs. No masters played in the match against Warwickshire Club and Ground, for the first time for some years, and so the loss was not as discreditable as it might seem. The School beat Denstone by five wickets, and defeated Manchester Grammar School by one wicket after each side had had two innings. KES made 135 for six declared against Kynoch’s and TJ Tasker then took three wickets for six runs to win the match in the last over, the last man falling to a brilliant catch by L Whitcombe at short leg. AT Cond made 78 against The Oratory. The bowling was exceptionally strong: in addition to Browett, Cross and Cond (both fast-medium) and the Taskers all took wickets. Cond and TJ Tasker both made over two hundred runs, and HS Tasker and HJ Allday also batted well. WK Brown proved a promising discovery behind the wickets. With the new pavilion completed in 1904, the season opened on a promising note. AT Cond was captain, and again eight matches were won, despite the loss of TJ Tasker and Browett, who had left School. Cond, HS Tasker (who appears to have adopted the new swing bowling – reports refer to ‘Tasker’s swerves’) and F Eglington bowled steadily, and this together with good batting brought success. KES made 133 for six (Tasker 62) against Wintersloe Old Boys, and then suffered the disastrous reverse of being all out for 13 against Handsworth Wood CC. This, however, was not typical of the season’s fortunes. Several fifties were hit, and Tasker and HND Barker scored 90 for the first wicket against Knowle and Dorridge CC. Against Warwick, Tasker scored 132, the first-ever century for the School, and Cond was able to declare at 217 for four. Tasker then took 5 for 32 and Warwick were dismissed for 62. The School lost to Warwickshire Club and Ground, and to the Masters (Manton 93 out of 123). However, the season ended on a triumphant note. In the return match against Warwick, Warwick again suffered heavily: Warwick were dismissed for 24, Cond taking five wickets for 12 runs, and then Cond (101) and Brown (101 not out) added 177 runs for the fourth wicket, still a record, out of a total of 247 for four. The batting aggregates showed the trend towards higher scoring: Tasker 328, Cond 307, Brown 254 and HND Barker 251. Cond and Tasker both took more than thirty wickets. Thus ended a record- breaking season. Other features to note were the introduction of the House system, with consequent House cricket matches, and the first appearance of HG Bache. To end on a sombre note, HJ Allday, who had played in most of the matches and made 109 runs during the season, fell ill shortly afterwards and died in September. HS Tasker was captain in 1905, a rather disappointing season. Five matches were lost, and no victories were gained at all. Four matches were cancelled, four that KES might have expected to win. The cause of this misfortune was weak bowling, for only HS Tasker and AW Ibbotson, a medium-fast bowler who later became one of the School’s two Senior Wranglers, bowled at all well, and even then they only took 18 and 17 wickets respectively.