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

40 performance of TG Freeman, who scored 318 runs and took 40 wickets. In the last match of the season, he took all ten Ashfield wickets for 52, but could not prevent an Ashfield win. On three other occasions, he took five wickets in an innings: 5 for 28 against Birmingham University, after Wilkins had scored 89 and KES had declared at 156 for seven, but despite Freeman’s efforts the bowlers could only take six wickets; 5 for 42 against Ratcliffe, when KES, batting second, fell nine runs short of the Ratcliffe total; and five against the Old Edwardians – one of the two matches won. Freeman’s efforts could not prevent another narrow defeat: after Bedford Modern had made 169, despite 96 from Freeman, batting first wicket down, KES finished six runs short. Freeman received little support from the rest of the side. Apart from Freeman, only EW Farr made more than two hundred runs, though Wilkins made 195 (and also kept wicket). KES were often dismissed for low scores, notably all out for 33 against the Common Room. After Freeman, the next best bowler was RA McIlveen, whose off-breaks secured 20 wickets. DA Hill did the hat-trick in taking 4 for 9 against the Old Edwardians, but he only played a few games – perhaps because, in the somewhat uncharitable words of the Chronicle, ‘his fielding varies from the deplorable to the merely pathetic and he is never really fit enough to play a good game’. 1938 was the first of TG Freeman’s two seasons as captain. He was once again the outstanding all-rounder with 502 runs and 32 wickets. Twice he reached the nineties. On the first occasion, against the Common Room, he was run out on 98; with RC Jones making 55, he was able to declare on 196 for five but the bowlers could only take six wickets. On the second occasion, Freeman made 91 after Wyggeston had been dismissed for 149, Freeman taking 5 for 39. KES won by five wickets but batted on to be all out for 172. This was the only victory of the season, out of 13 games played, five being lost. Freeman took five or more wickets in an innings on a further three occasions. He had the same analysis, 5 for 45, against both Ratcliffe and the Old Edwardians, but in the latter game he was unable to prevent the last pair making the eight runs required for victory. He took six wickets amid another defeat at the hands of Bedford Modern. The almost total reliance on Freeman this season is shown by comparing his batting and bowling aggregates with the next best. No other batsman made more than MA Tarmey’s 186 runs (which included 60 in one of the matches for which only the total scores on each side survive); after Freeman’s 32 wickets, the next best was 13, by both DA Hill and DH Goose. Two young batsmen, PDA Alabaster and RE Kirby, made their first appearances, and TA Podesta began a long spell behind the stumps. 1939 was another indifferent season. Only one match was won out of 11 played, and six were lost. Freeman was chiefly responsible for the solitary victory, against Bromsgrove, with 71 out of 143, followed by 4 for 26 (DA Hill 5 for 33); KES won by 84 runs. Otherwise, there was little to enthuse about. The batting was weak, totals of about a hundred being the norm. Freeman was often unlucky, and other batsmen such as PDA Alabaster and RE Kirby proved disappointing, though RF Jack made 59 not out against a scratch eleven captained by Freeman’s father. In bowling, Hill generally opened the attack with Freeman, and they were supported by the slow left-arm of DH Goose, who took 6 for 57 against the Old Edwardians. There is really no more detail: no averages were included in the Chronicle or in Wisden. However, we do learn of a weeding campaign to improve the pitch. According to TG