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

31 Chapter Seven THE TWENTIES 1921-1930 If Manton is the equivalent in KES cricket history of WG Grace, and Bache and the others of his period evoke Jessop, Fry, Ranjitsinhji and other leading lights of the golden age of first-class cricket, then the players of the twenties have the same aura about them of Hobbs and Sutcliffe, Hammond and Woolley. Thousands of runs were scored on the hard, firm Eastern Road wickets of this period, and many more batting records were set up. Although there was a slight falter in the middle of the decade, the twenties were in general a period of almost unbroken success. Mr W Baines joined the staff in 1921, and took charge of School cricket. IK Donovan, the captain in 1921, who was also the wicket-keeper, led his team to seven wins, as against six losses. The best batsman was EW Rigby, who made 324 runs, and R Pascal and F Welsh both made over two hundred. Mayell bowled not only his usual slow left-arm, but also at medium pace, using the seam, and took 31 wickets; WAS Welsh, who had been in and out of the side in previous seasons, at last bowled well enough to merit permanent inclusion and took 36 wickets, including six against the Common Room and five against the Old Edwardians. RJ Pringle-Brown, one of the best fast bowlers ever to play for the School, had a fine first season with 23 wickets. The season did not start well, Handsworth College dismissing KES for 26 in the first match, but revenge was gained in the return match, which KES, after being dismissed for 44, won by one run, thanks to five wickets from Pringle- Brown. Scores were generally low, but there was a dramatic improvement in the match against the Tudor Club: after Mayell took seven wickets to dismiss the opposition for 34, the School, batting on after winning, scored 237 for six, with EW Rigby making 96. R Pascal’s side won eight matches out of 12 in 1922. WAS Welsh had left, as well as Donovan, but both batting and bowling remained strong. Pascal had a very good season, scoring 363 runs. Rigby also batted well, and HA Cohen (the wicket-keeper), EA Knight and N Bedingfield also scored some runs. Pringle-Brown (37 wickets) and Mayell (33 wickets) were an excellent pair of bowlers, with Pascal in support at medium pace. The Chronicle suggests that the School as a whole were very keen, and that cricketing standards were on the rise. The first four matches were won, mainly thanks to Mayell, who took 5 for 25 against Handsworth College, and Pringle-Brown, who had figures of 7 for 14 against The Oratory and 5 for 29 against the Old Edwardians. All the main bowlers took wickets as Wrekin were dismissed for 48 and 88; KES replied to Wrekin’s first innings with 191 for two declared (Pascal 100 not out, Rigby 76 not out, the two putting on around 185 for the third wicket) and won by an innings. N Bedingfield, the secretary, succeeded to the captaincy in 1923, though Pascal was still at School. It appears that his side won at least eight matches – full results were not given in the Chronicle. The first four matches were won; then, in a close-fought match in