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

48 with 420 runs, followed by Gough with 301, and Revill and BA Hiscox with over two hundred. Two young players to show some promise were BC Homer, brother of the captain, and JL Wilkins. Charlesworth having left, CM Edwards and JM Young shared the wicket- keeping. Homer finished with a career record of 1,209 runs. Homer and Gough played for the Warwickshire Public Schools XI at the end of the season. In 1951 PA Gough, one of the most attractive and most complete batsmen of this period, and also a useful leg-spinner, became captain and led his side to eight victories, losing only four games. Wheatley was the leading bowler, with 55 wickets – a higher seasonal total than anyone else had achieved since Pringle-Brown and Plowright in the 1920s. The main problem was that there was no other seam bowler to give him support – Barraclough fell away and only took five wickets. The spinners provided good support for Wheatley, with 45 wickets from Hutchings, 28 from Benson and 25 from Gough. The fielding was excellent, 73 catches being held during the season – this is likely to be a record. BC Homer, one of the best close fielders the School has had, held 17 catches during the season, which is again a record, so far as can be ascertained. The batting was led by Gough, with 582 runs to his credit, even though Hutchings, who was only out once, came top of the batting averages. Gough was supported by Revill (388 runs), JL Wilkins (354 runs), Homer and JD Giles (over two hundred), and Benson, who opened the innings and scored 182 runs. CM Edwards kept wicket very well, and according to PA Gough in the Chronicle was the best wicket-keeper the School had had for some years. KES had no fewer than six players in the Warwickshire Public Schools XI at the end of the season; Gough, who left at the end of the year after scoring 1,167 runs for the School, was captain, and in his team were Revill, Benson, Homer, Wheatley and Wilkins. Now for the outstanding matches of the season. The major factor in the eight wins was good all-round bowling performances; even if only one or two of the batsmen did well, the bowlers generally managed to bring about victory. Wheatley (6 for 20) bowled out Solihull for 43, and Hutchings (6 for 16) was largely responsible for dismissing Warwick for 103. Wheatley had 5 for 45 as Nottingham High School were outed for 123; after the loss of an early wicket Gough (79 not out) and Benson (41 not out) knocked off the required runs. Wheatley had 6 for 33 against the Old Edwardians CC (Homer scoring 57 not out), Benson had 5 for 40 against Wyggeston (Revill 65), and Benson and Wheatley each took five wickets as RGS Worcester were dismissed for 66. In other matches, Denstone declared at 182 for seven, which left 170 minutes for KES to obtain the runs: KES made 151 for two, Gough (63 not out) and Revill (72 not out) putting on 101 for the third wicket. Malvern Second XI were dismissed for 122 (Hutchings 5 for 25), but a batting collapse resulted in KES losing by two runs. The School totalled 211 for nine declared against a strong Bedford Modern side which included two players later to play county cricket: RA Gale (Middlesex) and G Millman (Nottinghamshire). Gough scored 82 not out and Homer 64, and the School just failed to dismiss the opposition, Bedford finishing on 131 for eight. ‘An uneventful season’, reported DH Benson in the Chronicle, perhaps a little uncharitably. ‘With six members of the XI left, may we hope for better things to come?’