Sensational Scoring at Old Trafford

Martin Chandler | 9:15am GMT 17 December 2023

Published: 2023
Pages: 12
Author: Tebay, Martin
Publisher: Red Rose Books
Rating: 3.5 stars

The limitation of thirty copies on this one suggests that author/publisher Martin Tebay may not expect to sell too many copies beyond the diehards who have picked up the previous ten booklets in his Red Rose Cricket Records series. The formula is as before, a record breaking match from the ‘Golden Age’ is selected, the match reconstructed from contemporary reports and an introduction and afterword are then added.

The sub-title gives away the record in question, Lancashire’s largest victory in first-class cricket so, unlike the last title in the series, which looked at the Red Rose’s lowest ever total for a completed innings, there is no need for a content warning to those Lancastrians of a sensitive disposition.

The occasion was a match against Hampshire at Old Trafford in 1911. The home side batted throughout the first day of five and a half hours play for 621 for 6 and, in order presumably to allow Kenneth MacLeod to complete a century, for a little longer on the second morning.

As well as MacLeod  Jack Sharp made a century, JT Tydesley just missed out with 98, and what seems to have been the finest innings of them all, the hero of Neville Cardus, Reggie Spooner, made 186. It sounds from those bare figures a little like mayhem, but in truth it was not quite Bazball, the Hampshire bowlers sticking manfully to their task and sending down as many as 141.5 overs.

Come the end of the summer Lancashire finished fourth in the table, and Hampshire eleventh, so the gulf between the sides was not too wide, but the Lancashire batting display clearly left their visitors dispirited, and on what must have still been a decent wicket Hampshire were shot out for 102 and 119 before the end of the second day.

As ever the account of the match is littered with contemporary quotes and tells an interesting story. There is an error in the scorecard that wrong footed me for several minutes, but on the ‘people in glass houses’ principal I attach no significance to that. There is however one disappointment that being that this one is stated to be the last in this particular series, although there must surely be scope for a second innings later on?

Sensational Scoring at Old Trafford is available directly from its publisher, or in Australia from Roger Page.