The Twelfth Man 2013

24 A 100 years ago on a showery Headingley afternoon in June 1913, a 22-year-old left-handed batsman recorded the first major milestone of his fledgling career as a Yorkshire cricketer. The home side, having won the toss, had subsided to 58 for five against the Leicestershire bowling attack before Roy Kilner and his good pal from Pudsey, Major Booth, began a thrilling counter-attack. In 110 minutes the pair added 184 runs for the sixth wicket: Booth made 79 and Kilner, a maiden first-class century. Wisden (1914) described the knock thus: “Kilner enjoyed the distinction of putting together his first hundred in county cricket, strong defence combined with clean hitting making the innings as sound as it was attractive.” A seminal moment for a young player from Wombwell. Roy Kilner experienced the full spectrum of life in the 15 years that followed his special landmark innings at Leeds in 1913: shade and light, highs and lows, personal joy and private despair were all encompassed in his story. Having survived the First World War himself (not without injury), he lost his great friend, Major Booth, and a brother, Bernard, in those dark years. Married to Annie Camplejohn, in late 1914, before the war took him off to France, Kilner and his wife raised two sons, Roy junior and Major (named in memory of Booth). When first-class cricket returned in 1919, and until his untimely death in 1928, Kilner forged a reputation as an all-round cricketer of high merit: he did the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in a season on four occasions – 1922, 1923, 1925 and 1926. He became a Test cricketer, playing nine Tests for England and he also toured Australia and West Indies. The death of his uncle, and mentor, Irving Washington, the day before he departed for the fated coaching trip to India in October 1927, was the penultimate sad episode before Kilner returned to English shores in March 1928 a very ill man. He made it back to Wombwell, but enteric fever ended his life on 5 April at the age of 37. The contrasting, and enduring, fascination with Roy Kilner has been covered in depth previously. In 1965 the Society published Cricketers of Wombwell , compiled by Tony Woodhouse, Roy Wilkinson and Jack Sokell, which detailed not only Kilner’s achievements and times, but also those of his brother, Norman, and their uncle Irving Washington. Then in 1990 I compiled The Laughing Cricketer R OY K ILNER : R EVISITING A W OMBELL L EGEND Mick Pope explains why, in 2013, he was drawn once again to the joy and despair of a cherished Yorkshire and England cricketer