Published: Aug 12, 2015, 07:00 AM (IST)
Edited: Aug 11, 2015, 11:45 PM (IST)
Wilfred Wooller was one of the characters of cricket who could splash splendid colour even in the sombre communications with the MCC. Arunabha Sengupta recalls the response of this great Welsh sportsman when asked for Glamorgan’s views on a six-day Test match.
The storm came in from nowhere. Within moments the entire playing area of The Oval was submerged under ankle-deep water. The Australians were about to pack up their kit and go home with the series win under their belts when Colin Cowdrey hitched up his trousers, trod gingerly into the ground and requested the spectators to lend their hands — and their towels, rags, handkerchiefs — to dry the ground.
Play was finally possible for just about an hour and a quarter, and Derek Underwood bowled England to the famous victory with some six minutes remaining on the clock.
All that is part of well-documented history.
What is somewhat less widely known is that had the scoreline of the series been 0-0, 1-1 or 2-2 as the teams went into The Oval, there would have been none of this drama. In case of the deciding Test taking place with the series still in balance, there would have been an extra day added to the stipulated five, to ensure the contest had every chance of finishing decisively.
It was the idea of the Australians, and a request was cabled to the MCC well in advance of the series. The suggestion of a six-day final Test with a Wednesday start was discussed at an emergency meeting of the Advisory County Cricket Committee and the Board of Control on April 22.
Not surprisingly, the traditions of English cricket held sway, and the proposal was rejected.
Yet, the Australians kept insisting, and MCC secretary Billy Griffith was involved in long-distance telephone calls with Australian team Manager RJ Parrish. Within ten days there was a change of heart. On May 2, a letter went out to all the county secretaries from the office of MCC, asking them to reconsider. The principal reasons for second thoughts were two-fold:
1) If, at the end of the fourth Test, the scores were level, there would be a tremendous public demand for an extra day, and the Press would undoubtedly support the public view.
2) It seemed to MCC that they should do everything in their power to maintain the image of Test cricket, which was, after all, their life-blood.
The appeal was successful. The counties of Derbyshire, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Somerset, Sussex and Yorkshire accepted without reservation. Surrey, the county that would host the final Test, were reluctant at first, but later communicated that they were willing. Middlesex, Warwickshire and Worcestershire agreed with reluctance. Kent and Nottinghamshire were agreeable to a Wednesday start, but did not explicitly support the six-day Test.
However, the most fascinating response came from the inimitable Wilfred Wooller, Secretary of Glamorgan County Cricket Club.
A superb all-round sportsman, Wooller had represented Wales in rugby union in 18 internationals between 1933 and 1939. He was a brilliant cricketer as well, making his First-Class debut for Cambridge University, and later becoming a regular in the Glamorgan side; bowling medium fast, and batting with panache.
As captain-secretary he had led the unheralded side to the championship win in 1948. Through the 1950s and into the 1960s he had played with a lot of vim and vigour, doing the double in 1954, taking on men like Frank Tyson and Peter Loader, taunting them that they were not fast enough. But for business commitments, he could have played for England as vice-captain in South Africa and even as captain in India. From 1955 to 1961, he had served as a Test selector.
He also represented Wales in squash, played football for Cardiff City and bowls for Cardiff Athletic Club.
This splendid character was not known to mince his words. Besides, he had played much of his cricket during the 1950s when Surrey ruled the County Championship and wickets were specially prepared for Jim Laker and Tony Lock by the persevering Oval groundsman Bert Lock. Although Lock was no longer the groundsman at The Oval, Wooller had not forgotten him.
Hence, his response to Griffith was succinct.
“Dear Billy
Glamorgan have no particular views one way or the other on the time of the last Test. Personally I would suggest finishing the last one or alternatively ask Bert Lock to prepare the wicket in which case it would be over in three days.
Kind Regards,
Yours sincerely,
Wilfred Wooller
Secretary.”
The response was categorised under ‘accepted without reservation’.
(Arunabha Sengupta is a cricket historian and Chief Cricket Writer at CricketCountry. He writes about the history and the romance of the game, punctuated often by opinions about modern day cricket, while his post-graduate degree in statistics peeps through in occasional analytical pieces. The author of three novels, he can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/senantix)
