Although matches were generally noteworthy for their heavy and rapid scoring, in Ken Balcomb we had probably the second best left hand spinner the school has possessed. I wonder whether, as Inspector of schools in Northern Rhodesia, he can still show the youngster how to flight the ball. In the last of his four years in the First he took far more wickets than the rest of the boys combined. He,"Grubby" Pearce, and Hargreaves made a spinning trio that we have never improved upon. One of the best all-round cricketers of the early I930's was Jack Crawford, now a headmaster in Northern Rhodesia. He was a good attacking bat, with a long string of scores to his name, and with Ronnie Weightman (who collapsed and died while playing cricket in the Transvaal about a year ago) and Lex Kirk, he usually managed to dismiss the opposition for small scores. Jack Bertram, now a prominent citizen of Zululand, made a good captain and opening bat, though slow, with several half-centuries to his credit. If I may be permitted another personal reminiscence, it is of a match in which he and I put up SO for the first wicket, of which he scored 0! Probably the strongest side of the mid-30's was the one captained by John Larrington. They mowed the opposition down to such an extent that they asked for a game against Glenwood Firsts and beat them quite comfortably. This, although we still had a mere 75 boys. Regular practice, constant coaching, and unremitting enthusiasm was the secret. About this time Godfrey Jacobs came into the side and proved to be the school's soundest bat ever. He had the broadest bat that I ever bowled to. He ended his four years in the Firsts with six half centuries and a century, and an average, I believe, of 60. He has scored so many centuries since, in Johannesburg (seven in one season), for Zululand, Country Districts, and novy, 20 years later, in Maritzburg, that, had he lived in Durban rather than Amatikulu he might well have been the Province's wicket-keeperbatsman for years. The greatest hitter of them all was Eric Groom. Shades of Jessop! It would do some modern cricketers good to see how a fast half volley should be hit. Eric believed that every straight ball not actually short of a length should be hit back over the bowler's head, and the faster the bowler, the safer the shot. If the ball was short, it went over square leg. I have seen modern batsmen pat full tosses back tothe bowler. Against St. Henry's he scored 100 in 25 minutes. I still have the paper cutting. He hit eleven sixes from the end where I was umpiring, and my arms had no rest. As half the playing time was used up by the other batsman, Foss (53), and many minutes were lost finding the ball in neigh bouring fields, I imagine the actual scoring time may have been about ten minutes. Perhaps four overs! More recently I read that at Kokstad he ran from 90 to 120 with five consecutive sixes. This completely demoralises any bowler, es pecially a fast one. St. Henry's was our happy hunting ground. I think I am right in saying that in five consecutive visits one of the batsmen scored a century. Four of them I remember—Henry,Ken(now Dr.)Dyer,Groom and Bazley. The latter, one of Kearsney's greatest personalities and sportsmen ever, and our first Head Prefect at Botha's Hill, was killed in an air crash during the war. A tragic loss. A newspaper cutting reminds me that his 148 against St. Henry's was scored in 75 minutes, and that Kearsney scored 302. He also took four wickets and made two brilliant catches. A little later, against Durban Tech. Bazley scored 156 before lunch, by which time we had reached 300 for four wickets. He had a partnership of 260 for the third wicket with P. Foss(108, run out) in 90 minutes. This was entertaining cricket. Tech. were so demoralised that they were out for 20, Boyd taking 5for 6. In the same season Glenwood 2nd XI were dismissed for 12, Boyd taking 4for 2. In this same year, 1939, Kearsney scored, in consecutive innings, 257 for 6 (Foss 83,Balcomb 69),251 for4(Groom 100, Foss 53),300for 3(Bazley 86, Boyd 88, both not out, Foss 50)and the above 300for4(Bazley 156, Foss 108). This was the heyday of cricket. Amid such a welter of high scores, Boyd took 75 wickets for an average of 5 runs apiece. 231
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