Derbyshire and Middlesex players share a joke during the prolonged break for rain at Queen ’ s Park . From left : Jack Young , Bill Edrich , Les Jackson , Derek Morgan , Cliff Gladwin , Fred Titmus and Guy Willatt .
Play began 15 minutes late at Queen ’ s Park in difficult light on a pitch described as damp and easy paced . Uncharacteristically , Jackson ’ s first delivery was a long hop which Dewes hooked to the boundary . Gladwin soon made one move in slightly to bowl Robertson and Jackson got the occasional ball to kick . Such a delivery accounted for Dewes , the ball flying up off his bat and dropping on the stumps . Then a magnificent diving catch by Dawkes , who took a ball from Gladwin very low and far to his right , accounted for Brown at 17 . In his opening spell , Jackson ’ s figures were 10- 8-6-1 when he was relieved by Morgan and when rain forced the players off for lunch Middlesex were 23 for three , with Edrich 15 .
Play resumed at 2.25pm with the pitch , completely sodden and beginning to cut up , barely fit for play . At 32 , Jackson had Delisle caught behind and at this point the slight rain which had persisted since the lunch interval became heavier and at 3pm the players , slow hand clapped by some frustrated spectators , left the field . Edrich , “ playing immaculate defensive cricket ”, was on 18 and the Derbyshire bowling figures read : Jackson 14.4- 9-11-2 ; Gladwin 18-11-16-2 ; Morgan 4-3-5-0 , Middlesex 32 for four after 36.4 overs .
The figures tell the tale : Jackson and Gladwin on the kill , the hawks in the leg trap , Carr , Revill and Morgan , poised under heavy skies , the ever-present threat of rain and Edrich , aged 38 and with another tour of Australia in the offing , battling away with great courage and skill . The pangs of personal disappointment were sharp that day as play was called off and the homeward journey undertaken in heavy rain and they were not assuaged by Thursday ’ s repeated pitch inspections and mopping up before everybody gave up at 5pm .
Opportunity snatched away
Several Derbyshire players recalled , in later conversations , the acute disappointment of opportunity being snatched away , particularly as Surrey and Yorkshire were able to win their games elsewhere . Of course , there was no guarantee that Derbyshire would have beaten Middlesex , who included seven men who played for England in their side . Edrich was still there - he was to make an unbeaten 208 at Queen ’ s Park two years later - and Alan Moss , John Warr , Don Bennett , Jack Young and Fred Titmus might have made life difficult for their batsmen – but the feeling was that the visitors would have been dismissed for less than a hundred and enough runs would have been scraped together to allow Jackson , Gladwin and co . to do the rest .
Donald Carr had fond memories of Edrich :
“ When I was 18 , I played for England in a Victory Test at Lord ’ s against the Australians in 1945 and I was very nervous when I entered the dressing room . It was dear old Bill Edrich who really put me at ease . “ Come and sit next to me here ,” he said . He was a really nice chap , a lovely hearted man and I was grateful to him for the rest of my career . That day at Queen ’ s Park he gave a text-book masterclass in defensive batting against Jackson , Gladwin and Morgan in very miserable conditions .”
Decades later , Guy Willatt spoke at a cricket dinner of Edrich ’ s sportsmanship at Queen ’ s Park :
“ To this day , I remember the keen disappointment felt by the players and the spectators but the overriding memory is of Bill Edrich ’ s attitude . The ground staff did everything they could to get the match started on the second day but there was never any chance of this happening . We left it to the umpires to decide and I remember Bill saying ‘ Look , it ’ s your match ; we are prepared to play if it is all possible .’ He was a tremendous fighter and a wonderful sportsman .”
Derbyshire finished third
By Friday the Derwent at Derby was between three and four feet above its normal level and no decision could be reached in Derbyshire ’ s next match at Trent Bridge . Staying in the rain-sodden Midlands , Derbyshire were again held up at Grace Road , Leicester , declarations leaving them 147 in 88 minutes but the task was beyond them . Meanwhile Surrey won at Worcester in two days to clinch their third consecutive title . Derbyshire finished third – and would , indeed , have needed to have won their last four matches to take first place .
At Chesterfield , the scoreboard ’ s infuriating 32 for four had remained in place until common sense prevailed and the match was called off , a mocking example of the exasperation and enchantment which Championship cricket can provide and of what might have been . 32 for four in 36.4 overs , Edrich 18 not out . It was hardly T20 and two hours seven minutes of play merited a mere 22 words in the 1955 Wisden ’ s match report . But it contained cricket which made the ultimately futile journeys worthwhile and which remains in the memory .
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