Homeeditors pickTom Sidwell gets lost in London Underground and is given out
Tom Sidwell gets lost in London Underground and is given out
When Tom Sidwell, one of the Leicestershire batsmen unbeaten overnight, got lost somewhere in the labyrinthine London Underground, and had to face dire consequences as a result.
August 26, 1921. Surrey and Leicestershire were gearing up for an intense last day of a crucial end-of-the-season encounter at The Oval. Unfortunately, Tom Sidwell, one of the Leicestershire batsmen unbeaten overnight, got lost somewhere in the labyrinthine London Underground, and had to face dire consequences as a result. Abhishek Mukherjee looks back at a bizarre dismissal.
1921. The gloom of the Great War had had finally passed over. On field, however, things were not that smooth for England, having been dished out the first ever 0-5 whitewash the previous winter. The return trip that summer resulted in a less humiliating 0-3, but it was still a dreadful scoreline.
The Australians were rounding up the remaining tour games of the summer. They thrashed Somerset at Taunton inside two days. This meant they had a day’s time to reach Eastbourne to play one of the greatest upsets in the history of the sport, against Archie MacLaren’s England XI.
But that is another story, narrated beautifully by Michael Jones on these pages. Our story took place during a match that coincided with Australia’s ruthless decimation of Somerset. Unlike the Taunton match, however, this match went into the third day — and was poised for an interesting result.
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Surrey were playing their penultimate match of the season, against Leicestershire at The Oval. Unlike Leicestershire, who were in contention for the Championship, Surrey were competing with Middlesex and Yorkshire for the top spot. A win, especially with home advantage, was necessary.
All poised for Day Three
Percy Fender opted to bat, but Surrey folded quickly against the pace of Alec Skelding and the in-the-air movement generated by George Geary, who would later have a more or less successful career for England.
Surrey reached 105 for 2, but Skelding and Geary kept pegging them back. They claimed 4 wickets apiece to bowl out the hosts for 228. Andy Sandham top-scored with 54 in the absence of Jack Hobbs.
Leicestershire were shot out for 138 the second morning. Things could have been worse from 78 for 6, but some stern batting from Geary made sure Leicestershire kept the lead under the three-figure mark. New-ball bowlers Tom Rushby and Alan Peach claimed 3 wickets each, as did Fender himself.
The 90-run lead gave Fender enough impetus to go for quick runs. Sandham failed, and though Andy Ducat scored 49, William Benskin sent him and a young Douglas Jardine back in quick succession. The score read 94 for 4, but it did not matter, for the lead was already approaching the 200-mark: Horace Bloomfield remained unbeaten on 53, and Fender declared as soon as Tom Shepherd reached his hundred.
Set 335, Leicestershire lost Ewart Astill before stumps. Tom Sidwell, the wicketkeeper, had already padded up to walk out as night-watchman. He joined his captain Aubrey Sharp, and the pair batted out till stumps.
Sidwell goes underground
It had been five years since London Underground had adopted Edward Johnston’s sans-serif typeface. The days of Lord George Hamilton were over. Sir Albert Stanley had taken over as Chairman of the Underground Group.
Central London Railway had extended from Wood Lane to Ealing Broadway, while plans to expand Hampstead Tube.
London Underground was indeed spreading in full swing. At the same time, it was also getting more and more complicated, especially for those outside the city.
That was probably what had happened to Sidwell that morning. Oval, the Tube station less than half a kilometre from the ground, had been around since 1890, so the name could not have been a reason.
Maybe Sidwell took the wrong train. Whatever it was, the reason remains unknown, and is perhaps not relevant. What is important is the fact that he did not reach the ground on time, and Sharp walked out to bat with John King. Sidwell had been ‘retired’ temporarily, though he would be eligible to bat later.
King held on gamely, helping Sharp put on 68 before being caught off the leg-breaks of, of all people, Jardine. The locals could not get Sharp out till lunch, which meant he was in a good mood. Nevertheless, Sidwell got the earful he deserved.
Fender, however, was not to settle for Sidwell’s absence so easily. He was not amused when he saw a fit Sidwell taking lunch. He walked up to William West and ‘Sailor’ Young, the umpires, insisting that Sidwell be given out.
Fender could hardly be blamed, for Sidwell was perfectly fit to bat. There was no reason he should be able to bat again, especially with the tournament at stake.
Richard Streeton later wrote in Fender’s biography that the Surrey captain “was a stickler for the proprieties, and could be intolerant if he felt the other person or team had only themselves to blame.”
West and Young responded that they thought Sidwell should be given out, but were not sure about it. The matter was raised, and Surrey Secretary Lionel Palairet sought the opinion of MCC Secretary Francis Lacey for opinion on telephone.
Lacey insisted Sidwell be given out provided Fender had no objection. Of course, Fender had no objection, and the scorers hurriedly struck out the entry next to Sidwell, replaced it with ‘retired out’, and added a ‘2/21’ to the fall-of-wickets section.
Random trivia: Exactly a year before the incident, Fender had smashed a 35-minute hundred against Northamptonshire. It remains the fastest First-Class hundred till date.
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The foxes fold
To their credit, Leicestershire fought on gallantly despite losing Sidwell without much activity and two more wickets in quick succession. Sharp and Geary took the score to 196 for 4 before Fender and Peach took charge.
Despite Sharp’s 114 (the highest score of the match) Leicestershire collapsed in a heap to 246 and lost by 88 runs.
What followed?
Surrey went to Lord’s to play Middlesex in the all-important decider of the season. Though they secured a 137-run lead, they collapsed to 184 against Nigel Haig. Richard Twining (yes, of the family of tea merchants) and ‘Young’ Jack Hearne scored hundreds, setting up an easy 6-wicket win.
Brief scores:
Surrey 228 (Andy Sandham 54; Alec Skelding 4 for 71, George Geary 4 for 83) and 244 for 4 decl. (Andy Ducat 49, Tom Shepherd 100*, Horace Bloomfield 53*) beat Leicestershire 138 (George Geary 40; Tom Rushby 3 for 55, Alan Peach 3 for 40, Percy Fender 3 for 23) and 246 (Aubrey Sharp 114, George Geary 48; Alan Peach 3 for 56) by 88 runs.
(Abhishek Mukherjee is the Chief Editor at CricketCountry and CricLife. He blogs here and can be followed on Twitter here.)
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