Reviews
Allsport Hulton/ArcHiveAll Ten: the
Ultimate
Bowling Feat
By Chris Overson
ACS Publications,
PB, 297pp, £20
The completists
Ivo Tennant enjoys a celebration of the
bowlers who have taken all 10 wickets,
many of whom had tragic storiesten wickets in an innings has been
achieved by only 81 bowlers in the course
of nearly 60,000 first-class matches. As
the years go by and there is less cricket,
alas, on outgrounds, to say nothing of less
first-class cricket altogether given the
proliferation of twenty20 programmes,
this feat will become even more rare.
What a thrill to join a club whose most
prominent members are Jim laker
and Hedley verity: for once, the word
‘exclusive’ is not over-used.
laker’s 10 wickets against Australia at
old trafford in 1956 remains the most
famous bowling achievement in the
history of the game. the story of him
stopping for a beer and a sandwich in
a pub on the way home, listening to his
fame being discussed and yet not being
recognised, is a familiar one. less well
known, as chris overson points out, is
that laker’s place in the england side
was far from secure, his record at the
time not exceptional.
now, of course, he is generally thought
to be the finest of all off-spinners. tony
lock, who bowled 55 wicketless overs
in that same innings, was not to be
completely outshone in that he took all
10 that same year for surrey against Kent
(laker was injured). What a bowler he
also was. When he was 62 and coach
at Mill Hill school in north london, he
picked up a ball and bowled an over for
the benefit of The Times photographer.
What a privilege it was to stand behind
the net and watch each ball land on the
same spot and turn and fizz away.
lock’s life ended in sad circumstances
and that is a recurring theme of this
meticulously researched paperback.
Harry pickett “the honest workman” took
all 10 for essex, but 12 years later died
penniless after disappearing, his body
found on a beach. Arthur Woodcock,
who had brought about victory for
leicestershire in that same match, chose
to poison himself. the celebrated Albert
trott, who not only cleared the pavilion
at lord’s but took all 10 for Middlesex,discharged himself from hospital and
shot himself. “He liked his drink and
visiting the bookies.” His will featured so
few possessions that it could be, and was,
scribbled on the back of a laundry ticket.
it was thought that tim Wall, whose 10
were taken for south Australia against
new south Wales, also killed himself,
but his death certificate does not
prove this. vallance Jupp took all 10 for
northamptonshire against a Kent side
including Frank Woolley and les Ames,
but was sent to jail for manslaughter.
it is well documented that verity and
colin Blythe, whose long fingers were
strengthened by being a fine violinist,
were both killed in the First World War.
All human life and death, it could be said,
features in this book.
on the one hand this makes for grim
reading; on the other, it lifts overson’s
match reports out of a welter of statistics,
some of which, as with laker’s great feat,RighT
Jim Laker gets
close to the stumps
will be familiar to most readers. All hail to
‘tich’ Freeman, the only bowler to have
achieved the feat three times, twice,
incidentally, on outgrounds, and once
at old trafford. Arthur Mailey, whose
ten came for the Australians against
Gloucestershire – on another outground,
cheltenham college – had a memorable
title for his autobiography: 10 for 66 and
All That.
Quite what laker would make of
being asked to practise his art in a
competition lasting 100 balls is best
not to contemplate, although he might
have enjoyed delivering a 10-ball over
and no doubt few batsmen would have
mastered him. this is really a panegyric
to the craftsmen of yesteryear who
often bowled on uncovered pitches. the
appendices and indexing are impressive.
Anyone wishing to find questions for a
cricket pub quiz could begin by delving
into this ultimate bowling feat.102 | thecricketer.com