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

58 and took 28 wickets, including 5 for 63 in the last match against Harborne CC. Evans with his leg-breaks was moderately successful and took 17 wickets. Tindale tried very hard but only took 12 wickets all season. KES managed to bowl the opposition out on only two occasions, against Wolverhampton and Warwick – two of the three victories. The third win was rather different. Bromsgrove declared at 189 for one, leaving KES 140 minutes’ batting time, but Tracey made a rapid 88, Packham and Mason then put on 50 in 18 minutes, and the target was achieved for the loss of six wickets with three minutes to spare. KES failed to force a win against King’s School Worcester. King’s, set to make 184, were 25 for five at one point, but recovered to end up on 162 for eight. In 1962, RCJ Page had the first of two seasons as captain. Two matches were won, five lost, and as many as 12 drawn. Tracey, Packham, Babb, Jones and AJ Watts (an off- spinner who had played occasionally in 1961) remained of the previous season’s team. Of the new players, JA Barnfield arrived as a young batsman of definite class with an impressive record in junior sides. JD Rees opened the batting. MR Shenstone was a steady fast-medium bowler and fine close fielder. The batting was of variable standard – from 62 all out against Denstone to 208 for six declared against King’s School Worcester. Against King’s, Babb led the way with 50 not out, and four other batsmen made scores of between 22 and 35. However, Babb played a lone hand with 73 against Wyggeston. Against Warwick, with the School chasing 184 in 106 minutes, Babb led the way with 71 in 33 minutes: the School reached 116 for one in 52 minutes before the middle batting collapsed. One of the best batting performances of the season was 167 for three in reply to Manchester Grammar School’s 200 for six declared, Watts (68) and Barnfield (63 not out) putting on over a hundred for the third wicket. Good bowling performances, however, were few and far between: only three times before the last week of the season did KES succeed in dismissing the opposition. Then, against the Common Room, KES registered its first win, making 174 and bowling the Common Room out for 159, Watts, 5 for 36, returning his best figures for the season. The innovation this season of ‘Cricket Week’ proved an enormous success. The Midlands Club Cricket Conference, the Gentlemen of Worcestershire, Warwickshire Club and Ground and the MCC were played on successive days, and with good weather the School XI showed its best form of the season. BC Homer made 107 out of an MCCC total of 246 for four declared, but the School made the runs in 146 minutes with three wickets to spare – Babb 61, Tracey 42, Jones 41, Barnfield 32 and Packham 47 not out. The matches against the Gentlemen of Worcestershire and the Club and Ground were drawn, with KES batting second and not getting close to the opposition total but finishing with wickets to spare. Page took 7 for 59 against the Gentlemen of Worcestershire and Babb made 51. GE Phillips made 119 for the Club and Ground; Barnfield made 68 in the KES reply, and CJW Righton hit AV Wolton for 20 in an over before rain intervened. On the last day, WB Bridge, formerly of Warwickshire, made 117 out of an MCC total of 250 for six declared, but the School collapsed disappointingly for 116. In the season as a whole, Page led the bowling with 31 wickets, supported by Watts and Packham with over twenty. Packham was more accurate this season, with