Norman Yardley
Encyclopedia
Norman Walter Dransfield Yardley (19 March 1915 – 3 October 1989) was an English cricket
er who played for Cambridge University
, Yorkshire County Cricket Club
and England, as a right-handed batsman and occasional bowler. An amateur, he captained Yorkshire from 1948 to 1955 and England on fourteen occasions between 1947 and 1950, winning four Tests
, losing seven and drawing three. Yardley was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1948 and in his obituary in Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
, he was described as Yorkshire's finest amateur since Stanley Jackson
.
Yardley played schoolboy cricket at St Peter's, York. A highly talented all-round sportsman, he went to St John's College, Cambridge
, and won Blues at cricket, squash
, rugby fives
and field hockey
. In the university matches
, he scored 90 in his second year, 101 in his third and was captain for his final year. He made his Yorkshire debut in 1936 and played for the county until 1955, when he retired as a player. He made his Test match debut against South Africa in 1939 and after the Second World War
was chosen as vice-captain to Wally Hammond
on the 1946—47 tour of Australia
where he captained England in the fifth Test. He followed Hammond as skipper in 1947, and captained England intermittently until 1950 when his business commitments allowed. In 1948 he succeeded to the Yorkshire leadership when Brian Sellers
resigned. Yardley remained in the position until 1955, during a time when Yorkshire had several difficult players in their dressing room. Under Yardley, Yorkshire were joint champions in 1949 but too often for the liking of supporters, finished second to Surrey
in the County Championship
. He served as a Test match selector
between 1951 and 1954, acting as chairman of selectors in 1952. He was President of Yorkshire C.C.C. from 1981 to 1984, when he resigned after becoming involved in controversy over the decision to release Geoffrey Boycott
in 1983. He died after a stroke in 1989.
, near Barnsley
, on 19 March 1915 to a family with no real background in cricket
. He was sent to St Peter's, York
, where he made a good impression as a cricketer, being in the school team for five years from 1930. In his final two years, he captained the team in succession to Brian Sellers
. In 1933, his first season in charge, he scored 973 runs at an average of 88.45, scoring three centuries in consecutive innings. He headed the bowling average
s, with 40 wickets at 11.90 runs per wicket. His form that season saw him selected for the match between Young Amateurs and Young Professionals at Lord's Cricket Ground
, in which Yardley scored 189 in his first representative match, playing against his future England team-mate Denis Compton
. In 1934, Yardley played in two further representative matches at Lord's, for The Rest against Lord's Schools, and for Public Schools against The Army, making 117, the first century in the fixture for Public Schools, and 63. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
later cited these successes as a demonstration of his ability to perform well on important occasions. While still at school, he came to the attention of Yorkshire County Cricket Club
, playing for the Yorkshire Colts side and receiving coaching from George Hirst. He played for Yorkshire Second XI once in 1932, twice in 1933 and twice in 1934.
, Cambridge University, where he immediately began to show all-round ability at sports. He won the North of England Squash Championships
every year between 1934 and 1939, and won his Blue in hockey
, squash, and Rugby Fives
. However, his main distinction came from cricket, where he was a Blue in each his four years at Cambridge. He played for the University team
in his first year, the 1935 season, making ten first-class appearances without much success. His Wisden obituary noted that "class rather than performance guaranteed his place." He made his first-class debut against Sussex
, scoring a duck
in his first innings and 24 runs in the second. He passed fifty on just one occasion that season, scoring 319 runs at an average of 16.78, and bowled 69 balls without taking a wicket. Nevertheless, he played in the University Match
, scoring just 19 and 36.
In the following season, Yardley improved considerably, becoming a dominant force in University Cricket according to Wisden. His maiden first-class century
came in a narrow Cambridge victory over the Army, and he scored a second against Surrey, remaining not out
for 116 in a total of 359. Bowling much more regularly, his maiden wickets in first-class cricket came in a performance of four wickets for 45 against Yorkshire, including the wicket of Len Hutton
. Yardley topped the Cambridge batting averages and played an effective innings of 90 in the University Match. This display impressed Stanley Jackson
, an influential former Yorkshire amateur cricketer, and he urged the Yorkshire selectors to include Yardley in the first team. Yardley was still appearing in the county second team at this stage, but at the end of August, he made his debut for the Yorkshire first eleven, appearing in the County Championship match against Derbyshire
. He scored 12 in his only innings and took a wicket. He played in a further seven matches for Yorkshire, scoring 309 runs in ten innings with a highest score of 89 against Hampshire
, with further fifties against Surrey
and Marylebone Cricket Club
(M.C.C.). In all first-class cricket that season, Yardley scored 1,017 runs at an average of 37.66 and took 12 wickets at an average of 26.08.
Yardley continued to make progress in his batting in 1937. For Cambridge, he scored fifties against the Army and Surrey. Against Hampshire he took four for 47 and five for 41, and when Cambridge collapsed to 35 for six chasing a victory target of 141, he scored 64 not out to take the side to a win. Playing Sussex
, he scored a century and took four for 36, while in the University match, he scored 101 in two and a half hours. Yardley's form saw him selected for the Gentlemen against the Players
at Lord's, although he scored only 7 and 4, and when he joined Yorkshire after the Cambridge season, he made his first century for the county against Surrey, as well as three other fifties. His overall first-class figures were 1,472 runs at an average of 33.45 and 31 wickets at an average of 21.87. He was picked for the winter M.C.C. tour of India, under the captaincy of Lord Tennyson
, where he scored 519 runs at an average 25.95 but only took one wicket. No official Tests were played on the tour, but Yardley played in the representative matches which took place, scoring 96 in the first game, but his highest score in four other innings was 31.
Honours continued to come Yardley's way in the 1938 season
. He was chosen to captain Cambridge in his final season in the team; although his side did not win a match, Yardley enjoyed some personal success. Among his fifties were innings of 67 against the touring Australian team and 61 in the University Match. He was included in different representative sides; he was selected in a Test trial, playing for the Rest, and played a second game against the Australians for the Gentlemen of England, although he did not pass fifty in either match. For the Gentlemen against the Players, Yardley scored 88. He did not make the full England side but was twelfth man in two Tests against Australia. His highest innings of the season was 97 for Yorkshire against Gloucestershire
, and in all first-class matches, Yardley accumulated 1,217 runs at an average of 31.20 and took 22 wickets at 35.45.
as captain, and the England Test selectors also began to prepare him to assume the England captaincy. At the end of the 1938 season, Yardley was chosen to tour South Africa with M.C.C. as vice-captain to Wally Hammond
. He made a good start to the tour, scoring centuries in his first two innings, both surpassing his previous highest score. Wisden noted that he made a good impression on spectators in these early matches. In his fourth match, he captained the M.C.C. in Hammond's absence for the first time. When Len Hutton was injured in a tour match and missed the first Test, Yardey made his debut but scored just seven runs in a total of 422 and did not bat in the second innings. Hutton returned for the second match, and the successes of other batsmen meant that Yardley was not required in the other Tests on the tour. However, he scored a third century when he captained the M.C.C. against Border.
Having built up a reputation as one of the best amateur cricketers in England, Yardley played three early season matches for the M.C.C., but he was selected for neither the Gentlemen nor for England that year. He played his first full season for Yorkshire, scoring centuries against Cambridge, Warwickshire
and Sussex; in total, he scored 1,086 runs at an average of 27.84 and took 17 wickets.
War brought first-class cricket to an end in 1939, and Yardley joined the first battalion of the Green Howards, along with his Yorkshire team-mate Hedley Verity
. After training in Omagh
, Northern Ireland, where he played several cricket matches with Verity, he served in India, Iran, Syria, Egypt, Sicily, Italy and Iraq. In January 1944, he was wounded in Italy, rejoining the First Battalion in Iraq on his recovery to become an instructor, before being demobilised at the end of the war.
, continuing his pre-war role.
It was intended that Yardley would appear lower down in the batting order, batting with a substantial total accumulated by the previous batsmen. However, the frailties of the England batting meant he often appeared in a crisis and had to rebuild several innings. Bill Bowes
, the Yorkshire and England bowler who covered the tour as a journalist, was impressed by Yardley's approach, noting that he did not back away from the fast bowlers, who frequently bowled bouncers
at him: "In fact, Yardley played cricket with a determination we had never seen in Yorkshire or in his days at the university." He made the greatest impression as a bowler, surprising commentators with his effectiveness. He did not bowl in the first six matches, but in his first over of the tour dismissed Arthur Morris
who had already scored a century. From that point, he was used effectively to break up partnerships. In the Tests, he removed Donald Bradman
in three successive innings, while in the third Test, he took two wickets, including Bradman, in two deliveries. Bowes believed the natural length of Yardley's bowling was perfect for Australian pitches—he was not skilful enough to alter the length at which he bowled so his bowling in other conditions was less effective. The Australian reporter Clif Cary
wrote "It was always amusing to watch the Englishmen when Yardley took a wicket. The first time they seemed fairly amused, but when he was regularly breaking partnerships, their enthusiasm knew no bounds, and it is said that in Melbourne after he had obtained Bradman's wicket for the third time, Yardley blushed profusely when one excited team-mate slapped him on the back and shouted "Well, bowled, Spofforth
".
In the Tests, Yardley's only scores over fifty, his first in Test cricket, came in the third Test, where he scored 61 and 53 not out
. In England's first innings, he helped his side to recover from a batting collapse, surviving for two hours. His second innings lasted 89 minutes and helped England to avoid defeat for the first time in the series. In the same match, Yardley bowled more overs than he had done previously on the whole tour, following injuries to Bill Voce
and Bill Edrich
, two of England's main bowlers. Bowling leg theory
with a fielders concentrated on the leg side
, Yardley managed to move the ball off the seam
. He dismissed Bradman twice in the match, having figures of three for 67 in the second innings and taking five wickets in the match. This was the first time that an England player had scored fifty runs in both innings and taken five wickets in a Test. Yardley also had substantial bowling workload in the fourth Test, delivering 31 overs in Australia's first innings to take three for 101. When Hammond did not play in the final Test, Yardley became captain, doing so courageously according to Wisden, which also pointed out that Yardley used field placing more effectively than Hammond. In the series, Yardley scored 252 runs at an average of 32.50, His ten wickets at an average of 37.20 placed him first in the series bowling averages. He played in the drawn Test on the short tour to New Zealand which followed, opening the batting scoring 22 and taking a wicket.
, scoring 1,906 runs at an average of 44.32 with five centuries; his bowling took eleven wickets. Following Hammond's retirement immediately after the 1946–47 tour, Yardley captained England against South Africa throughout the season. In the first Test, he made his highest Test score. England were unexpectedly made to follow on in the face of a large South African total; when Yardley came to the crease in the second innings, England looked likely to be defeated at 170 for four, still 155 runs behind the tourists. Yardley scored 99, being caught in the slips just before reaching his century, but his batting had helped to save the game and earned praise from Wisden for "batting soundly". Yardley and Denis Compton
added 237, which was a record partnership for the fifth wicket in England and remains, in August 2010, England's best fifth wicket stand against South Africa. Yardley's only other score over fifty in the series came in the drawn fifth Test when he scored 59. However, he scored 41 in just over an hour in helpful conditions for fast bowlers in the third Test and 36 on a difficult pitch in the fourth Test. Yardley scored 273 runs at an average of 39.00 in the series. In contrast to his efforts in Australia, he bowled just six overs in the series without taking a wicket. England won the second, third and fourth Tests to win the series, helped by a negative approach from the tourists. Yardley captained the Gentlemen against the Players for the first time, at Lord's and Scarborough, and captained The Rest against Middlesex, the County Champions. His batting and captaincy in the season earned him selection as one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year.
captained the side. However, Yardley resumed his leadership of England when Australia, captained by Bradman, toured the country without losing a match. Yardley led the M.C.C. in an early match against the tourists, and captained England in a Test trial, but only played three other games, all for Yorkshire, before the first Test, with a top score of 46.
In the first Test, England were bowled out for 165 after Yardley won the toss and batted in difficult conditions. Wisden did not blame Yardley for the collapse as England did not bat well. He then set defensive fields to keep down Australia's scoring rate, taking a wicket himself with his fourth ball as part of figures of two for 32. The Australian batsmen found it difficult to score quickly against the negative tactics but still established a lead of 344. Yardley batted an hour in the second innings to score 22 but Australia recorded an eight wicket win. Before the second Test, Yardley played for Yorkshire against the Australians, and although unsuccessful with the bat, took two for nine with the ball, his first wickets of the season for his county.
England adopted an aggressive strategy in the second Test, but could not avoid a second defeat. Yardley frequently changed his bowlers to unsettle the Australians in their first innings, and took two for 35 himself as England briefly held the advantage. However, the lower order batsmen mounted a recovery, Yardley being criticised for his reluctance to bowl Doug Wright
. The England captain then arrested a batting collapse by adding 87 with Denis Compton, scoring 44 himself, but Australia led by 135 on first innings. Yardley took two wickets in two balls in Australia's second innings, narrowly missing a hat-trick
when Keith Miller
only just got his bat down on the ball to avoid being bowled, and had figures of two for 36, but Australia scored 460 for seven and bowled England out for 186. In between Tests, Yardley scored his only century of the season, but his contributions to the third Test were minimal. He scored 22 and bowled four wicketless overs. However, the home side fought back in the match, for which Len Hutton was dropped. England scored 363 and bowled out Australia for 221. They scored 174 for three before declaring, but rain intervened to prevent Yardley pushing for a win.
England maintained their newly confident approach, being on top for most of the fourth Test. Yardley's men scored 496 and achieved a first innings lead of 38, Yardley contributing two wickets. England increased their lead by 365 before Yardley declared. He kept the team batting for five minutes on the last day, allowing him to use the heavy roller
to quicken the break-up of the pitch. Australia had to score 404 in 345 minutes, a target considered unlikely as such a large total had never been made to win a Test match. In addition, the pitch was difficult to bat on by now and the spinners could turn the ball sharply. However, England made several errors: Godfrey Evans
, the England wicket-keeper
had a bad day and missed some stumping chances; three catches were dropped by fielders, and England's only specialist spinner, Jim Laker
, bowled poorly. Consequently, Yardley was forced to use Denis Compton's bowling. Compton was not a specialist bowler and although he caused problems for the batsmen, Bill Bowes believed the selectors were mistaken in expecting him to be as effective as a front line spinner. Yardley seemed unsure of the best course of action as Bradman and Arthur Morris
added 301 runs for the second wicket; he resorted to using the very occasional leg spin of Hutton, who was hit for 30 runs in four overs, although Yardley himself dropped a catch from Hutton's bowling. The pitch conditions were unfavourable for the faster bowlers, but the ineffectiveness of the spinners forced Yardley to take the new ball. Australia won by seven wickets; the spectators were unhappy with the inadequate English bowling and the absence of a suitable bowler to exploit the pitch on the last day. Bowes later criticised Yardley for allowing Australia to score quickly enough to win; he believed that Yardley used Hutton's bowling to encourage the tourists to take risks against lesser bowling to keep up with required rate of scoring, but he miscalculated in using such bowling for too long. Wisden also stated that England should have won the match.
Around this time, and particularly after the fourth Test defeat, critics suggested that Walter Robins
, one of the selectors, should captain England to bring a more attacking approach to the job. However, Robins' age counted against him; the selectors were satisfied with Yardley's captaincy in what were difficult circumstances, and retained him for the final Test. In that match, he failed twice with the bat, scoring 7 and 9 as England were humiliated, bowled out for 52 and 188 to lose by an innings. England lost the series 4–0. Yardley managed 150 runs at an average of 16.66, not passing fifty in a single innings. However, he once again topped the England bowling averages, taking nine wickets at an average of 22.66. Bowes believed that the pressure of captaincy had affected Yardley's batting. Bowes also cast doubt on Yardley's future, stating that other commitments may have prevented his continuing to play cricket much longer.
Yardley's only other representative appearance in 1948 was as captain of the Gentlemen against the Players at Lords, where he scored 61. In the whole season, he scored 1,061 runs at an average of 29.47 and 14 wickets at an average of 35.14—he took just five wickets outside of the Tests.
; Freddie Brown captained the other two and Yardley did not play for England that year. In all first-class matches that season, he scored 1,612 runs at an average of 37.48 and took 22 wickets at an average of 33.86. He did not score a century in the County Championship, but passed three figures for Yorkshire against the New Zealand touring team and for the North against the South in a festival match. His only representative game outside of festival matches was for the Gentlemen against the Players at Lord's; Mann was appointed captain for the game. That season, Yorkshire shared the County Championship with Middlesex, the only time Yorkshire won the competition during Yardley's leadership.
Yardley's batting form dipped in the 1950 season
. He scored 1,082 runs at an average of 24.59, the final time he reached four figures in a season. With the ball he took 19 wickets at an average of 32.10. Yorkshire finished third in the County Championship behind joint winners Lancashire and Surrey. It took seven matches for Yardley to reach fifty runs in an innings, but he hit centuries against Surrey, Somerset
and Scotland in the second half of the season. The West Indies toured England and Yardley resumed the England captaincy; he also captained M.C.C. against the tourists and England against The Rest in a Test trial. However, neither Yardley nor Mann, the two likeliest candidates, were able to accept the captaincy of the M.C.C. side in Australia that winter. The selectors spent much of the season assessing other players. Although Yardley represented the Gentlemen against the Players, the side was led by Brown, who scored a century and was appointed captain of the touring side. Brown also assumed the captaincy of England for the final Test against West Indies and Yardley was left out of the team. In the three Tests he played, Yardley scored 108 runs at an average of 18.00 with a top score of 41. He won the first Test but lost the next two, West Indies' first Test wins in England; the final Test was also lost by Brown. Following this series, Yardley did not play any more Tests, although his name was mentioned as a potential captain in 1953 before Hutton was appointed as England's first professional captain of the twentieth century. At the time, Yardley was still considered the best amateur candidate. In 20 Tests, Yardley scored 812 runs at an average of 25.37 and four fifties. With the ball, he took 21 wickets at an average of 33.66. On the fourteen occasions he was captain, he won four times, lost seven and drew three.
Yorkshire finished second in the County Championship to Warwickshire in the 1951 season
and second to Surrey in the 1952 season
. However, in following season
, Yorkshire dropped to equal twelfth, their worst ever finish at that time. In the following two seasons, the team were again runners up, Surrey winning on both occasions. Yardley scored more than 850 runs in each season, but only managed two more centuries. These were 183 not out
against Hampshire in 1951, the highest innings of his career, and an unbeaten score of exactly 100 against Gloucestershire in his final season. His batting average was generally between 24 and 31, except in 1953 when in matches in England he averaged 36.53. Yardley used himself as a bowler more often in 1951 and 1952, delivering more overs than any other time in his career in the latter year. He took 32 and 43 wickets respectively in each season, his highest two season totals, and taking five wickets in an innings on three occasions, having only done so twice before. However, he bowled less often during his final three seasons, with a subsequent drop in his tally of wickets. His only representative cricket, apart from annual matches at the Scarborough Festival for the Gentlemen against the Players and occasionally for T. N. Pearce's XI, was the Gentlemen v Players match at Lord's in 1954.
Judgements were mixed on Yardley's performance as Yorkshire's captain. His record would have been considered good at any other county, but not by the standards set by previous Yorkshire sides. Critics felt that Yorkshire should have won the Championship with the players available. Contemporaries believed him to be the best captain in the country tactically, taking reasonable chances without too many risks and judging players strengths and weakness. Alan Gibson believed that unlike some county captains, Yardley was worth his place in the side on cricketing ability. However, he seemed unable to extract the best from his players. Jim Kilburn noted that he used orthodox tactics, even when a different approach was called for, while other critics believed that he was shocked by the attitude of some difficult players in the side. Neither Yardley nor Hutton, his senior professional, were disciplinarians in the dressing room and kept apart from others. Both were frequently absent, playing in representative matches. This may have inflamed the situation, leading to accusations that some players were out of control. Yardley disliked confrontation, and Ray Illingworth
, who played under him, described him as too nice to stand up to his players. But Bob Appleyard
, another of his former players, gives Yardley credit for recognising his potential and encouraging him to become a spinner
, and believes that he and Hutton made a formidable pair of tacticians. Generally, he was popular with his players.
Between 1951 and 1954, Yardley served as a Test selector, serving as chairman in 1952 at the time when Hutton was chosen as England captain. Following the 1955 season
, aged 40 and increasingly bothered by lumbago
, Yardley retired from the team. He ended his first-class career with 18,173 runs at an average of 31.17, and 279 wickets at an average of 30.48. Wisden later described him as "the finest Yorkshire amateur since F. S. Jackson
".
, using his strong wrists to turn the ball away when it was aimed towards his legs. Yardley performed best when his side was in difficulty, and he could play attacking or defensive innings depending on the situation. He bowled intelligently, leading to greater rewards than his gentle style led opponents to expect, but remained a reluctant bowler who was surprised by his own success. He was a good fielder in positions close to the batsmen.
; according to David Frith
, the only time he was moved to express severe disapproval was when Brian Close
was dismissed after a poor shot in the Fourth Test in 1961 at Old Trafford; this was part of a final-day England collapse that handed Australia the match and a 2–1 series win after the hosts had been on course for victory and the series lead. He served on the Yorkshire Cricket Committee, and from 1981, he was Yorkshire President. However, he became involved in the controversy surrounding Geoffrey Boycott
, to whom the committee had decided not to give a new contract. Yardley resigned early in 1984 after a vote of no confidence, dismayed by the attitude of Boycott's supporters. Anthony Woodhouse wrote in his history of Yorkshire: "he conducted affairs in a fair and unbiased manner. Alas, he should never have been burdened with the politics of Yorkshire cricket in the 1980s." He died at Lodge Moor, Sheffield
on 3 October 1989 following a stroke
.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who played for Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
and England, as a right-handed batsman and occasional bowler. An amateur, he captained Yorkshire from 1948 to 1955 and England on fourteen occasions between 1947 and 1950, winning four Tests
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
, losing seven and drawing three. Yardley was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1948 and in his obituary in Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
, he was described as Yorkshire's finest amateur since Stanley Jackson
Stanley Jackson
Sir Francis Stanley Jackson, GCSI, GCIE, PC, KStJ , known as the Honourable Stanley Jackson during his playing career, was an English cricketer, soldier and Conservative Party politician.-Early life:...
.
Yardley played schoolboy cricket at St Peter's, York. A highly talented all-round sportsman, he went to St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
, and won Blues at cricket, squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
, rugby fives
Rugby Fives
Rugby Fives is a handball game, similar to squash, played in an enclosed court. It has similarities with Winchester Fives and Eton Fives....
and field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
. In the university matches
The University Match (cricket)
The University Match in a cricketing context is generally understood to refer to the annual fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club...
, he scored 90 in his second year, 101 in his third and was captain for his final year. He made his Yorkshire debut in 1936 and played for the county until 1955, when he retired as a player. He made his Test match debut against South Africa in 1939 and after the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
was chosen as vice-captain to Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond was an English Test cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning his career as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed captain of England...
on the 1946—47 tour of Australia
MCC tour of Australia in 1946–47
The Marylebone Cricket Club tour of Australia in 1946-47 under the captaincy of Wally Hammond was its eighth since it took official control of overseas tours in 1907-1908 and the first since the Second World War. The touring team played as England in the 1946–47 Ashes series against Australia, but...
where he captained England in the fifth Test. He followed Hammond as skipper in 1947, and captained England intermittently until 1950 when his business commitments allowed. In 1948 he succeeded to the Yorkshire leadership when Brian Sellers
Brian Sellers
Arthur Brian Sellers was an English amateur first-class cricketer, who played in 334 first-class matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1932 and 1948, and later became a prominent administrator at the club....
resigned. Yardley remained in the position until 1955, during a time when Yorkshire had several difficult players in their dressing room. Under Yardley, Yorkshire were joint champions in 1949 but too often for the liking of supporters, finished second to Surrey
Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions...
in the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
. He served as a Test match selector
Selector (sport)
In many team sports, a selection panel consist of selectors who choose teams or individuals to represent a country or club in sporting competitions.Selectors tend to be past players....
between 1951 and 1954, acting as chairman of selectors in 1952. He was President of Yorkshire C.C.C. from 1981 to 1984, when he resigned after becoming involved in controversy over the decision to release Geoffrey Boycott
Geoffrey Boycott
Geoffrey Boycott OBE is a former Yorkshire and England cricketer. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's most successful opening batsmen...
in 1983. He died after a stroke in 1989.
Early life
Yardley was born in RoystonRoyston, South Yorkshire
Royston is a suburban village within the Metropolitan borough of Barnsley, in South Yorkshire, England. Historically it was in the West Riding of Yorkshire, but was incorporated in to the Metropolitan borough of Barnsley in 1974 and is now on the border with West Yorkshire...
, near Barnsley
Barnsley
Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster. Barnsley is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, of which Barnsley is the largest and...
, on 19 March 1915 to a family with no real background in cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
. He was sent to St Peter's, York
St Peter's School, York
St Peter's School is a co-educational independent boarding and day school located in the English City of York, with extensive grounds on the banks of the River Ouse...
, where he made a good impression as a cricketer, being in the school team for five years from 1930. In his final two years, he captained the team in succession to Brian Sellers
Brian Sellers
Arthur Brian Sellers was an English amateur first-class cricketer, who played in 334 first-class matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1932 and 1948, and later became a prominent administrator at the club....
. In 1933, his first season in charge, he scored 973 runs at an average of 88.45, scoring three centuries in consecutive innings. He headed the bowling average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
s, with 40 wickets at 11.90 runs per wicket. His form that season saw him selected for the match between Young Amateurs and Young Professionals at Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
, in which Yardley scored 189 in his first representative match, playing against his future England team-mate Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
. In 1934, Yardley played in two further representative matches at Lord's, for The Rest against Lord's Schools, and for Public Schools against The Army, making 117, the first century in the fixture for Public Schools, and 63. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
later cited these successes as a demonstration of his ability to perform well on important occasions. While still at school, he came to the attention of Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
, playing for the Yorkshire Colts side and receiving coaching from George Hirst. He played for Yorkshire Second XI once in 1932, twice in 1933 and twice in 1934.
University Cricketer
Leaving St Peter's School, Yardley went to St John's CollegeSt John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
, Cambridge University, where he immediately began to show all-round ability at sports. He won the North of England Squash Championships
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
every year between 1934 and 1939, and won his Blue in hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
, squash, and Rugby Fives
Rugby Fives
Rugby Fives is a handball game, similar to squash, played in an enclosed court. It has similarities with Winchester Fives and Eton Fives....
. However, his main distinction came from cricket, where he was a Blue in each his four years at Cambridge. He played for the University team
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
in his first year, the 1935 season, making ten first-class appearances without much success. His Wisden obituary noted that "class rather than performance guaranteed his place." He made his first-class debut against Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
, scoring a duck
Duck (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a duck refers to a batsman's dismissal for a score of zero.-Origin of the term:The term is a shortening of the term "duck's egg", the latter being used long before Test cricket began...
in his first innings and 24 runs in the second. He passed fifty on just one occasion that season, scoring 319 runs at an average of 16.78, and bowled 69 balls without taking a wicket. Nevertheless, he played in the University Match
The University Match (cricket)
The University Match in a cricketing context is generally understood to refer to the annual fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club...
, scoring just 19 and 36.
In the following season, Yardley improved considerably, becoming a dominant force in University Cricket according to Wisden. His maiden first-class century
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
came in a narrow Cambridge victory over the Army, and he scored a second against Surrey, remaining not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
for 116 in a total of 359. Bowling much more regularly, his maiden wickets in first-class cricket came in a performance of four wickets for 45 against Yorkshire, including the wicket of Len Hutton
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...
. Yardley topped the Cambridge batting averages and played an effective innings of 90 in the University Match. This display impressed Stanley Jackson
Stanley Jackson
Sir Francis Stanley Jackson, GCSI, GCIE, PC, KStJ , known as the Honourable Stanley Jackson during his playing career, was an English cricketer, soldier and Conservative Party politician.-Early life:...
, an influential former Yorkshire amateur cricketer, and he urged the Yorkshire selectors to include Yardley in the first team. Yardley was still appearing in the county second team at this stage, but at the end of August, he made his debut for the Yorkshire first eleven, appearing in the County Championship match against Derbyshire
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...
. He scored 12 in his only innings and took a wicket. He played in a further seven matches for Yorkshire, scoring 309 runs in ten innings with a highest score of 89 against Hampshire
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
, with further fifties against Surrey
Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions...
and Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
(M.C.C.). In all first-class cricket that season, Yardley scored 1,017 runs at an average of 37.66 and took 12 wickets at an average of 26.08.
Yardley continued to make progress in his batting in 1937. For Cambridge, he scored fifties against the Army and Surrey. Against Hampshire he took four for 47 and five for 41, and when Cambridge collapsed to 35 for six chasing a victory target of 141, he scored 64 not out to take the side to a win. Playing Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
, he scored a century and took four for 36, while in the University match, he scored 101 in two and a half hours. Yardley's form saw him selected for the Gentlemen against the Players
Gentlemen v Players
The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between one team consisting of amateurs and one of professionals . The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture was not revived until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter...
at Lord's, although he scored only 7 and 4, and when he joined Yorkshire after the Cambridge season, he made his first century for the county against Surrey, as well as three other fifties. His overall first-class figures were 1,472 runs at an average of 33.45 and 31 wickets at an average of 21.87. He was picked for the winter M.C.C. tour of India, under the captaincy of Lord Tennyson
Lionel Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson
Lionel Hallam Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson was known principally as a cricketer who captained Hampshire and England...
, where he scored 519 runs at an average 25.95 but only took one wicket. No official Tests were played on the tour, but Yardley played in the representative matches which took place, scoring 96 in the first game, but his highest score in four other innings was 31.
Honours continued to come Yardley's way in the 1938 season
1938 English cricket season
The 1938 English cricket season was notable for England's remarkable total at The Oval with Len Hutton contributing a record 364.-Honours:*County Championship - Yorkshire*Minor Counties Championship - Buckinghamshire...
. He was chosen to captain Cambridge in his final season in the team; although his side did not win a match, Yardley enjoyed some personal success. Among his fifties were innings of 67 against the touring Australian team and 61 in the University Match. He was included in different representative sides; he was selected in a Test trial, playing for the Rest, and played a second game against the Australians for the Gentlemen of England, although he did not pass fifty in either match. For the Gentlemen against the Players, Yardley scored 88. He did not make the full England side but was twelfth man in two Tests against Australia. His highest innings of the season was 97 for Yorkshire against Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....
, and in all first-class matches, Yardley accumulated 1,217 runs at an average of 31.20 and took 22 wickets at 35.45.
Test debut and war service
By this stage, Yorkshire regarded Yardley as the heir to Brian SellersBrian Sellers
Arthur Brian Sellers was an English amateur first-class cricketer, who played in 334 first-class matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1932 and 1948, and later became a prominent administrator at the club....
as captain, and the England Test selectors also began to prepare him to assume the England captaincy. At the end of the 1938 season, Yardley was chosen to tour South Africa with M.C.C. as vice-captain to Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond was an English Test cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning his career as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed captain of England...
. He made a good start to the tour, scoring centuries in his first two innings, both surpassing his previous highest score. Wisden noted that he made a good impression on spectators in these early matches. In his fourth match, he captained the M.C.C. in Hammond's absence for the first time. When Len Hutton was injured in a tour match and missed the first Test, Yardey made his debut but scored just seven runs in a total of 422 and did not bat in the second innings. Hutton returned for the second match, and the successes of other batsmen meant that Yardley was not required in the other Tests on the tour. However, he scored a third century when he captained the M.C.C. against Border.
Having built up a reputation as one of the best amateur cricketers in England, Yardley played three early season matches for the M.C.C., but he was selected for neither the Gentlemen nor for England that year. He played his first full season for Yorkshire, scoring centuries against Cambridge, Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
and Sussex; in total, he scored 1,086 runs at an average of 27.84 and took 17 wickets.
War brought first-class cricket to an end in 1939, and Yardley joined the first battalion of the Green Howards, along with his Yorkshire team-mate Hedley Verity
Hedley Verity
Hedley Verity was a professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire and England between 1930 and 1939. A slow left arm orthodox bowler, he took 1,956 wickets in first-class cricket at an average of 14.90 and in 40 Tests he took 144 wickets at an average of 24.37...
. After training in Omagh
Omagh
Omagh is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule. The town, which is the largest in the county, had a population of 19,910 at the 2001 Census. Omagh also contains the headquarters of Omagh District Council and...
, Northern Ireland, where he played several cricket matches with Verity, he served in India, Iran, Syria, Egypt, Sicily, Italy and Iraq. In January 1944, he was wounded in Italy, rejoining the First Battalion in Iraq on his recovery to become an instructor, before being demobilised at the end of the war.
Tour to Australia in 1946–47
When County cricket resumed in England in 1946, Yorkshire won the County Championship. Yardley scored 788 runs at an average of 23.17, with just one century, for Yorkshire against Nottinghamshire. With the ball, he was used less frequently than before the war and took only nine wickets. He was not selected for any Test matches, but appeared for England in a Test trial and scored 39 and 11. He also played twice for the M.C.C. and represented the Gentlemen against the Players, making 29 and a duck in a heavy defeat for the amateurs. Critics regarded his season as unsuccessful, but he was chosen as vice-captain to Hammond on the tour to Australia that winterMCC tour of Australia in 1946–47
The Marylebone Cricket Club tour of Australia in 1946-47 under the captaincy of Wally Hammond was its eighth since it took official control of overseas tours in 1907-1908 and the first since the Second World War. The touring team played as England in the 1946–47 Ashes series against Australia, but...
, continuing his pre-war role.
It was intended that Yardley would appear lower down in the batting order, batting with a substantial total accumulated by the previous batsmen. However, the frailties of the England batting meant he often appeared in a crisis and had to rebuild several innings. Bill Bowes
Bill Bowes
Bill Bowes was one of the best bowlers of the interwar period and, for a time, the most important force behind Yorkshire's dominance of the County Championship...
, the Yorkshire and England bowler who covered the tour as a journalist, was impressed by Yardley's approach, noting that he did not back away from the fast bowlers, who frequently bowled bouncers
Bouncer (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a bouncer is a type of delivery, usually bowled by a fast bowler. It is pitched short so that it bounces on the pitch well short of the batsman and rears up to chest or head height as it reaches the batsman.Bouncers are used tactically to drive the batsman back on to his...
at him: "In fact, Yardley played cricket with a determination we had never seen in Yorkshire or in his days at the university." He made the greatest impression as a bowler, surprising commentators with his effectiveness. He did not bowl in the first six matches, but in his first over of the tour dismissed Arthur Morris
Arthur Morris
Arthur Robert Morris MBE is a former Australian cricketer who played 46 Test matches between 1946 and 1955. An opener, Morris is regarded as one of Australia's greatest left-handed batsmen. He is best known for his key role in Don Bradman's Invincibles side, which made an undefeated tour of...
who had already scored a century. From that point, he was used effectively to break up partnerships. In the Tests, he removed Donald Bradman
Donald Bradman
Sir Donald George Bradman, AC , often referred to as "The Don", was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time...
in three successive innings, while in the third Test, he took two wickets, including Bradman, in two deliveries. Bowes believed the natural length of Yardley's bowling was perfect for Australian pitches—he was not skilful enough to alter the length at which he bowled so his bowling in other conditions was less effective. The Australian reporter Clif Cary
Clif Cary
Clif Cary was an Australian cricket reporter of the 1930s and 1940s. He was the "sports editor on the commercial radio network with the largest sports audience in the Commonwealth" and in 1946 he published Test Cricket and Records, "a splendid, authentic and comprehensive history of the many great...
wrote "It was always amusing to watch the Englishmen when Yardley took a wicket. The first time they seemed fairly amused, but when he was regularly breaking partnerships, their enthusiasm knew no bounds, and it is said that in Melbourne after he had obtained Bradman's wicket for the third time, Yardley blushed profusely when one excited team-mate slapped him on the back and shouted "Well, bowled, Spofforth
Fred Spofforth
Frederick Robert "Fred" Spofforth , also known as "The Demon Bowler", was arguably the Australian cricket team's finest pace bowler of the nineteenth century and was the first bowler to take 50 Test wickets, and the first to take a test hat-trick in 1879...
".
In the Tests, Yardley's only scores over fifty, his first in Test cricket, came in the third Test, where he scored 61 and 53 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
. In England's first innings, he helped his side to recover from a batting collapse, surviving for two hours. His second innings lasted 89 minutes and helped England to avoid defeat for the first time in the series. In the same match, Yardley bowled more overs than he had done previously on the whole tour, following injuries to Bill Voce
Bill Voce
Bill Voce was an English cricketer. He played for the Nottinghamshire and England, and was an instrumental part of England's infamous Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932–1933.-Life and career:...
and Bill Edrich
Bill Edrich
William John "Bill" Edrich DFC was a distinguished cricketer who played for Middlesex, MCC, Norfolk and England.Edrich's three brothers, Brian, Eric and Geoff, and also his cousin, John, all played first-class cricket...
, two of England's main bowlers. Bowling leg theory
Leg theory
Leg theory is a bowling tactic in the sport of cricket. The term leg theory is somewhat archaic and seldom used any more, but the basic tactic still plays a part in modern cricket....
with a fielders concentrated on the leg side
Leg side
The leg side, or on side, is defined to be a particular half of the field used to play the sport of cricket.From the point of view of a right-handed batsman facing the bowler, it is the left hand side of the cricket field...
, Yardley managed to move the ball off the seam
Seam bowling
Seam bowling is a phrase used for a bowling technique in cricket whereby the ball is deliberately bowled on to its seam, to cause a random deviation. Practitioners are known as seam bowlers or seamers....
. He dismissed Bradman twice in the match, having figures of three for 67 in the second innings and taking five wickets in the match. This was the first time that an England player had scored fifty runs in both innings and taken five wickets in a Test. Yardley also had substantial bowling workload in the fourth Test, delivering 31 overs in Australia's first innings to take three for 101. When Hammond did not play in the final Test, Yardley became captain, doing so courageously according to Wisden, which also pointed out that Yardley used field placing more effectively than Hammond. In the series, Yardley scored 252 runs at an average of 32.50, His ten wickets at an average of 37.20 placed him first in the series bowling averages. He played in the drawn Test on the short tour to New Zealand which followed, opening the batting scoring 22 and taking a wicket.
England captain
Yardley enjoyed his most successful season with the bat in the 1947 season1947 English cricket season
The 1947 English cricket season is remembered for the batting performances of Denis Compton and Bill Edrich who established seasonal records that, with the subsequent reduction in the number of first-class matches, will probably never be broken...
, scoring 1,906 runs at an average of 44.32 with five centuries; his bowling took eleven wickets. Following Hammond's retirement immediately after the 1946–47 tour, Yardley captained England against South Africa throughout the season. In the first Test, he made his highest Test score. England were unexpectedly made to follow on in the face of a large South African total; when Yardley came to the crease in the second innings, England looked likely to be defeated at 170 for four, still 155 runs behind the tourists. Yardley scored 99, being caught in the slips just before reaching his century, but his batting had helped to save the game and earned praise from Wisden for "batting soundly". Yardley and Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
added 237, which was a record partnership for the fifth wicket in England and remains, in August 2010, England's best fifth wicket stand against South Africa. Yardley's only other score over fifty in the series came in the drawn fifth Test when he scored 59. However, he scored 41 in just over an hour in helpful conditions for fast bowlers in the third Test and 36 on a difficult pitch in the fourth Test. Yardley scored 273 runs at an average of 39.00 in the series. In contrast to his efforts in Australia, he bowled just six overs in the series without taking a wicket. England won the second, third and fourth Tests to win the series, helped by a negative approach from the tourists. Yardley captained the Gentlemen against the Players for the first time, at Lord's and Scarborough, and captained The Rest against Middlesex, the County Champions. His batting and captaincy in the season earned him selection as one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year.
Playing the Invincibles
Following Brian Sellers resignation, Yardley was appointed Yorkshire captain at the start of the 1948 season. With his England commitments and other absences, he only played in 12 County Championship matches. He had not toured the West Indies with M.C.C. in 1947–48, when Gubby AllenGubby Allen
Sir George Oswald Browning "Gubby" Allen, CBE was a cricketer who played for Middlesex, Cambridge University, MCC and England. Australian-born, Allen was a fast bowler and hard-hitting lower-order batsman, who captained England in eleven Test matches...
captained the side. However, Yardley resumed his leadership of England when Australia, captained by Bradman, toured the country without losing a match. Yardley led the M.C.C. in an early match against the tourists, and captained England in a Test trial, but only played three other games, all for Yorkshire, before the first Test, with a top score of 46.
In the first Test, England were bowled out for 165 after Yardley won the toss and batted in difficult conditions. Wisden did not blame Yardley for the collapse as England did not bat well. He then set defensive fields to keep down Australia's scoring rate, taking a wicket himself with his fourth ball as part of figures of two for 32. The Australian batsmen found it difficult to score quickly against the negative tactics but still established a lead of 344. Yardley batted an hour in the second innings to score 22 but Australia recorded an eight wicket win. Before the second Test, Yardley played for Yorkshire against the Australians, and although unsuccessful with the bat, took two for nine with the ball, his first wickets of the season for his county.
England adopted an aggressive strategy in the second Test, but could not avoid a second defeat. Yardley frequently changed his bowlers to unsettle the Australians in their first innings, and took two for 35 himself as England briefly held the advantage. However, the lower order batsmen mounted a recovery, Yardley being criticised for his reluctance to bowl Doug Wright
Doug Wright (cricketer)
Douglas Vivian Parson Wright, better known as Doug Wright was an English cricketer. A leg-spinner for Kent and England from 1932 to 1957 he took a record seven hat-tricks in first class cricket. He played for Kent for 25 years and was their first professional captain from late 1953 to 1956...
. The England captain then arrested a batting collapse by adding 87 with Denis Compton, scoring 44 himself, but Australia led by 135 on first innings. Yardley took two wickets in two balls in Australia's second innings, narrowly missing a hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
when Keith Miller
Keith Miller
Keith Ross Miller MBE was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. Because of his ability, irreverent manner and good looks he was a crowd favourite...
only just got his bat down on the ball to avoid being bowled, and had figures of two for 36, but Australia scored 460 for seven and bowled England out for 186. In between Tests, Yardley scored his only century of the season, but his contributions to the third Test were minimal. He scored 22 and bowled four wicketless overs. However, the home side fought back in the match, for which Len Hutton was dropped. England scored 363 and bowled out Australia for 221. They scored 174 for three before declaring, but rain intervened to prevent Yardley pushing for a win.
England maintained their newly confident approach, being on top for most of the fourth Test. Yardley's men scored 496 and achieved a first innings lead of 38, Yardley contributing two wickets. England increased their lead by 365 before Yardley declared. He kept the team batting for five minutes on the last day, allowing him to use the heavy roller
Roller (agricultural tool)
The roller is an agricultural tool used for flattening land or breaking up large clumps of soil, especially after ploughing. Typically, rollers are pulled by tractors or, prior to mechanisation, a team of animals such as horses or oxen....
to quicken the break-up of the pitch. Australia had to score 404 in 345 minutes, a target considered unlikely as such a large total had never been made to win a Test match. In addition, the pitch was difficult to bat on by now and the spinners could turn the ball sharply. However, England made several errors: Godfrey Evans
Godfrey Evans
Thomas Godfrey Evans CBE was an English cricketer who played for Kent and England.Described by Wisden as 'arguably the best wicket-keeper the game has ever seen', Evans collected 219 dismissals in 91 Test match appearances between 1946 and 1959 and a total of 1066 in all first-class matches...
, the England wicket-keeper
Wicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike...
had a bad day and missed some stumping chances; three catches were dropped by fielders, and England's only specialist spinner, Jim Laker
Jim Laker
James "Jim" Charles Laker was a cricketer who played for England in the 1950s, known for "Laker's match" in 1956 at Old Trafford, when he took nineteen wickets in England's victory against Australia...
, bowled poorly. Consequently, Yardley was forced to use Denis Compton's bowling. Compton was not a specialist bowler and although he caused problems for the batsmen, Bill Bowes believed the selectors were mistaken in expecting him to be as effective as a front line spinner. Yardley seemed unsure of the best course of action as Bradman and Arthur Morris
Arthur Morris
Arthur Robert Morris MBE is a former Australian cricketer who played 46 Test matches between 1946 and 1955. An opener, Morris is regarded as one of Australia's greatest left-handed batsmen. He is best known for his key role in Don Bradman's Invincibles side, which made an undefeated tour of...
added 301 runs for the second wicket; he resorted to using the very occasional leg spin of Hutton, who was hit for 30 runs in four overs, although Yardley himself dropped a catch from Hutton's bowling. The pitch conditions were unfavourable for the faster bowlers, but the ineffectiveness of the spinners forced Yardley to take the new ball. Australia won by seven wickets; the spectators were unhappy with the inadequate English bowling and the absence of a suitable bowler to exploit the pitch on the last day. Bowes later criticised Yardley for allowing Australia to score quickly enough to win; he believed that Yardley used Hutton's bowling to encourage the tourists to take risks against lesser bowling to keep up with required rate of scoring, but he miscalculated in using such bowling for too long. Wisden also stated that England should have won the match.
Around this time, and particularly after the fourth Test defeat, critics suggested that Walter Robins
Walter Robins
Robert Walter Vivian Robins was a dynamic English cricketer and footballer.Walter Robins was born in Stafford and was educated at Highgate School and Cambridge University. He played football for Nottingham Forest and first-class cricket for Middlesex, Cambridge University and England...
, one of the selectors, should captain England to bring a more attacking approach to the job. However, Robins' age counted against him; the selectors were satisfied with Yardley's captaincy in what were difficult circumstances, and retained him for the final Test. In that match, he failed twice with the bat, scoring 7 and 9 as England were humiliated, bowled out for 52 and 188 to lose by an innings. England lost the series 4–0. Yardley managed 150 runs at an average of 16.66, not passing fifty in a single innings. However, he once again topped the England bowling averages, taking nine wickets at an average of 22.66. Bowes believed that the pressure of captaincy had affected Yardley's batting. Bowes also cast doubt on Yardley's future, stating that other commitments may have prevented his continuing to play cricket much longer.
Yardley's only other representative appearance in 1948 was as captain of the Gentlemen against the Players at Lords, where he scored 61. In the whole season, he scored 1,061 runs at an average of 29.47 and 14 wickets at an average of 35.14—he took just five wickets outside of the Tests.
Captain of Yorkshire
Yardley was unavailable to captain the M.C.C. tour of South Africa in the winter of 1948–49, which was led by George Mann. Mann did well enough to retain the position for two Tests in the 1949 season1949 English cricket season
The 1949 English cricket season saw the County Championship being shared for the first time since the official competition began in 1890.-Honours:*County Championship - Middlesex, Yorkshire...
; Freddie Brown captained the other two and Yardley did not play for England that year. In all first-class matches that season, he scored 1,612 runs at an average of 37.48 and took 22 wickets at an average of 33.86. He did not score a century in the County Championship, but passed three figures for Yorkshire against the New Zealand touring team and for the North against the South in a festival match. His only representative game outside of festival matches was for the Gentlemen against the Players at Lord's; Mann was appointed captain for the game. That season, Yorkshire shared the County Championship with Middlesex, the only time Yorkshire won the competition during Yardley's leadership.
Yardley's batting form dipped in the 1950 season
1950 English cricket season
-Honours:*County Championship - Lancashire and Surrey shared the title*Minor Counties Championship - Surrey II*Wisden Cricketers of the Year from 1951 edition of Wisden for deeds in the 1950 season – Godfrey Evans, Sonny Ramadhin, Alf Valentine, Everton Weekes, Frank Worrell-County...
. He scored 1,082 runs at an average of 24.59, the final time he reached four figures in a season. With the ball he took 19 wickets at an average of 32.10. Yorkshire finished third in the County Championship behind joint winners Lancashire and Surrey. It took seven matches for Yardley to reach fifty runs in an innings, but he hit centuries against Surrey, Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...
and Scotland in the second half of the season. The West Indies toured England and Yardley resumed the England captaincy; he also captained M.C.C. against the tourists and England against The Rest in a Test trial. However, neither Yardley nor Mann, the two likeliest candidates, were able to accept the captaincy of the M.C.C. side in Australia that winter. The selectors spent much of the season assessing other players. Although Yardley represented the Gentlemen against the Players, the side was led by Brown, who scored a century and was appointed captain of the touring side. Brown also assumed the captaincy of England for the final Test against West Indies and Yardley was left out of the team. In the three Tests he played, Yardley scored 108 runs at an average of 18.00 with a top score of 41. He won the first Test but lost the next two, West Indies' first Test wins in England; the final Test was also lost by Brown. Following this series, Yardley did not play any more Tests, although his name was mentioned as a potential captain in 1953 before Hutton was appointed as England's first professional captain of the twentieth century. At the time, Yardley was still considered the best amateur candidate. In 20 Tests, Yardley scored 812 runs at an average of 25.37 and four fifties. With the ball, he took 21 wickets at an average of 33.66. On the fourteen occasions he was captain, he won four times, lost seven and drew three.
Yorkshire finished second in the County Championship to Warwickshire in the 1951 season
1951 English cricket season
The 1951 English cricket season produced a surprise championship win for Warwickshire, their first for forty years and only the second in their history. It was noteworthy for the period in being achieved under a professional captain, Tom Dollery...
and second to Surrey in the 1952 season
1952 English cricket season
The 1952 English cricket season saw the beginning of Surrey's period of dominance as they won the first of seven successive County Championships.-Honours:*County Championship - Surrey*Minor Counties Championship - Buckinghamshire...
. However, in following season
1953 English cricket season
The 1953 English cricket season saw a tight Test series between England and Australia that was settled, after four drawn matches, in the final Test at The Oval, where England won to reclaim The Ashes for the first time since the Bodyline series of 1932/33....
, Yorkshire dropped to equal twelfth, their worst ever finish at that time. In the following two seasons, the team were again runners up, Surrey winning on both occasions. Yardley scored more than 850 runs in each season, but only managed two more centuries. These were 183 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
against Hampshire in 1951, the highest innings of his career, and an unbeaten score of exactly 100 against Gloucestershire in his final season. His batting average was generally between 24 and 31, except in 1953 when in matches in England he averaged 36.53. Yardley used himself as a bowler more often in 1951 and 1952, delivering more overs than any other time in his career in the latter year. He took 32 and 43 wickets respectively in each season, his highest two season totals, and taking five wickets in an innings on three occasions, having only done so twice before. However, he bowled less often during his final three seasons, with a subsequent drop in his tally of wickets. His only representative cricket, apart from annual matches at the Scarborough Festival for the Gentlemen against the Players and occasionally for T. N. Pearce's XI, was the Gentlemen v Players match at Lord's in 1954.
Judgements were mixed on Yardley's performance as Yorkshire's captain. His record would have been considered good at any other county, but not by the standards set by previous Yorkshire sides. Critics felt that Yorkshire should have won the Championship with the players available. Contemporaries believed him to be the best captain in the country tactically, taking reasonable chances without too many risks and judging players strengths and weakness. Alan Gibson believed that unlike some county captains, Yardley was worth his place in the side on cricketing ability. However, he seemed unable to extract the best from his players. Jim Kilburn noted that he used orthodox tactics, even when a different approach was called for, while other critics believed that he was shocked by the attitude of some difficult players in the side. Neither Yardley nor Hutton, his senior professional, were disciplinarians in the dressing room and kept apart from others. Both were frequently absent, playing in representative matches. This may have inflamed the situation, leading to accusations that some players were out of control. Yardley disliked confrontation, and Ray Illingworth
Ray Illingworth
Raymond Illingworth, CBE is a former English cricketer, cricket commentator and cricket administrator. He was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in First class cricket, and the last one to do so...
, who played under him, described him as too nice to stand up to his players. But Bob Appleyard
Bob Appleyard
Bob Appleyard is a former Yorkshire and England cricketer.He was one of the best English bowlers of the 1950s, a decade which saw England develop its strongest bowling attack of the twentieth century...
, another of his former players, gives Yardley credit for recognising his potential and encouraging him to become a spinner
Spin bowling
Spin bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as spinners or spin bowlers.-Purpose:The main aim of spin bowling is to bowl the cricket ball with rapid rotation so that when it bounces on the pitch it will deviate, thus making it difficult for the...
, and believes that he and Hutton made a formidable pair of tacticians. Generally, he was popular with his players.
Between 1951 and 1954, Yardley served as a Test selector, serving as chairman in 1952 at the time when Hutton was chosen as England captain. Following the 1955 season
1955 English cricket season
The 1955 English cricket season saw a continuation of Surrey's complete dominance as they won a fourth successive title and a second consecutive Minor Counties.-Honours:*County Championship - Surrey CCC*Minor Counties Championship - Surrey II...
, aged 40 and increasingly bothered by lumbago
Low back pain
Low back pain or lumbago is a common musculoskeletal disorder affecting 80% of people at some point in their lives. In the United States it is the most common cause of job-related disability, a leading contributor to missed work, and the second most common neurological ailment — only headache is...
, Yardley retired from the team. He ended his first-class career with 18,173 runs at an average of 31.17, and 279 wickets at an average of 30.48. Wisden later described him as "the finest Yorkshire amateur since F. S. Jackson
Stanley Jackson
Sir Francis Stanley Jackson, GCSI, GCIE, PC, KStJ , known as the Honourable Stanley Jackson during his playing career, was an English cricketer, soldier and Conservative Party politician.-Early life:...
".
Style and technique
Yardley had a good technique for batting. He possessed a fluent, attractive style, and his height allowed him to reach the ball and drive more comfortably than most. His best shots were on the leg sideLeg side
The leg side, or on side, is defined to be a particular half of the field used to play the sport of cricket.From the point of view of a right-handed batsman facing the bowler, it is the left hand side of the cricket field...
, using his strong wrists to turn the ball away when it was aimed towards his legs. Yardley performed best when his side was in difficulty, and he could play attacking or defensive innings depending on the situation. He bowled intelligently, leading to greater rewards than his gentle style led opponents to expect, but remained a reluctant bowler who was surprised by his own success. He was a good fielder in positions close to the batsmen.
Career after cricket
Yardley worked as a wine merchant outside cricket. After his retirement from playing he worked as a cricket journalist and served as a commentator on Test Match SpecialTest Match Special
Test Match Special is a British radio programme covering professional cricket, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 , Five Live Sports Extra and the internet to the United Kingdom and the rest of the world...
; according to David Frith
David Frith
David Edward John Frith is a leading cricket writer and historian. Cricinfo describes him as "an author, historian, and founding editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly".-Life and career:...
, the only time he was moved to express severe disapproval was when Brian Close
Brian Close
Dennis Brian Close , usually known as Brian Close, is a former cricketer who is the youngest man ever to play Test cricket for England. He was picked for the Test team to play against New Zealand, in July 1949, when he was 18 years old. Close went on to play 22 Test matches for England,...
was dismissed after a poor shot in the Fourth Test in 1961 at Old Trafford; this was part of a final-day England collapse that handed Australia the match and a 2–1 series win after the hosts had been on course for victory and the series lead. He served on the Yorkshire Cricket Committee, and from 1981, he was Yorkshire President. However, he became involved in the controversy surrounding Geoffrey Boycott
Geoffrey Boycott
Geoffrey Boycott OBE is a former Yorkshire and England cricketer. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's most successful opening batsmen...
, to whom the committee had decided not to give a new contract. Yardley resigned early in 1984 after a vote of no confidence, dismayed by the attitude of Boycott's supporters. Anthony Woodhouse wrote in his history of Yorkshire: "he conducted affairs in a fair and unbiased manner. Alas, he should never have been burdened with the politics of Yorkshire cricket in the 1980s." He died at Lodge Moor, Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
on 3 October 1989 following a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
.