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

68 1936-1945 1946-1955 1956-1966 NH Wilkins AJ Homer GA Phillips EF Twiss GP Simpson JD Rees TG Freeman (capt) BC Homer JA Barnfield GA Pell PA Gough PB Rothwell JC Dark AC Smith (wk) PA Bowes (wk) RE Kirby FB Revill (capt) JC Mason RWF Penny JL Wilkins AM Paul CF Figures J Mulford AEH Hornig PT Richardson DH Benson RCJ Page (capt) GIA Taylor OS Wheatley RI Nuttall TA Podesta (wk) B Lobb DB Taylor At this point a further question occurs: can one select a ‘best-ever’ eleven to represent KES? One can begin by considering the greatest players in each department of the game produced by the School, for they would be members of such a side. In the first class as batsmen I would place HG Bache, HL Higgins, WE Sandbach, EW Elwood, FL Bland, WK Wyatt, PA Gough, FB Revill, BC Homer, AC Smith and JA Barnfield. As to the greatest bowlers I would nominate J Manton, E Wheeler, CL Breeden, RJ Pringle-Brown, JE Mayell, NAM Plowright, TG Freeman, OS Wheatley, DH Benson and B Lobb – and maybe also RI Nuttall and DB Taylor. Then the all-rounders – Manton, Bache, Breeden, Wyatt, Freeman and Plowright qualify as all-rounders, as do AT Cond, FN Bryan and JL Wilkins. The leading wicket-keepers are WK Brown, TA Podesta, AC Smith and PA Bowes. But the KES eleven must be a balanced side, and thus individual greatness must be subordinated to the necessity for producing a team with the necessary strength in batting and variety in bowling. With this in view I have selected a ‘First Eleven’ and a ‘Second Eleven’: XI XXII HL Higgins WE Sandbach (capt) WK Wyatt R Williams HG Bache R Pascal JA Barnfield PA Gough EW Elwood FL Bland FB Revill FN Bryan AC Smith (wk) TG Freeman J Manton (capt) PA Bowes (wk) CL Breeden NAM Plowright RJ Pringle-Brown DH Benson OS Wheatley JE Mayell