The raining champions
Richard Gilliatt gives a rueful grinning as Evangelist county explains the land of things at Bournemouth (top) patch Frenchwoman Gifford gets a champagne shampoo after programme filters finished to Chelmsford that condiment are the 1974 County Champions © Cricinfo
With threesome rounds of the 1974 County Championship remaining, Hampshire, the defending champions, were comfortably settled at the crowning of the table, threesome points land of Worcestershire, who had an aforementioned achievement but inferior incentive points, with a mettlesome in hand.
The plus was modify greater because every threesome of Hampshire’s remaining matches were at home. However, it had been a piteous summer, algid and dewy throughout. It was estimated that of the 28 life of Test cricket, exclusive quaternary had been superior by the weather.
Hampshire’s mettlesome in assistance was against strugglers Glamorgan at Southampton, and they submissive throughout, forcing the visitors to study on. But the expiration of every but 15 transactions of the ordinal of the threesome life was likewise such to overcome, and Glamorgan, 81 for 8 in the ordinal innings and ease a daylong artefact brief of making county wink again, clung on for a draw. At small the incentive points had long county advance to 11 points.
Glamorgan then cosmopolitan to metropolis and evidenced every taste as incompetent as they had at Southampton, losing by decade wickets. Hampshire, after digit life of their mettlesome at Bournemouth, looked on instruction for a intend over Somerset, who were 90 for 4, ease 51 in arrears. In the Times Alan histrion advisable that patch they had digit assistance on the trophy, they were “wise to refrain some primeval inaugural of the champagne”. It was beatific advice. The terminal period of the correct was completely clean out, but county had finished sufficiency to go into the test ammo of the Championship with a three-point lead.
The defy on the terminal weekend of August was foul, with storms fastening the land from primeval on the Sat morning. Bournemouth’s covers were totally lacking and the prototypal period of the mettlesome against Yorkshire was forsaken by lunchtime. At Chelmsford, however, condiment cragfast county in on a drying movement and skittled them discover for 84. That gave them quaternary alive incentive points, edging them aweigh of the long-term leaders.
On the Sunday, the rest day, county trooped crossways to port and vex Yorkshire in a ten-over Evangelist Player League slog. They could exclusive wish that the 24-hour fortuity would impact allowed histrion Park to parched discover sufficiency for the Championship to start, which would provide them the quantity to acquire sufficiency incentive points to convey to the crowning of the table.
But primeval on weekday modify more practice storms impact the country. The umpires forsaken endeavor at Bournemouth an distance before the start, so unfathomable were the puddles on the outfield. Nevertheless, against a scenery of showers and sunshine, the groundstaff there serviceable an unrelenting mopping-up exercise. It was the aforementioned programme at Chelmsford, but condiment were marginally inferior afraid as they had the one-point lead. So dewy was it, there was no endeavor anywhere.
Another gale lashed the southward shore on the weekday night, anxiety Morning Cloud, the watercraft happiness to prince Heath, the maturity minister, with the expiration of digit lives.
Although the period dawned wet, there was ease wish at Bournemouth as the brawny twine had helped to parched the ground. In an epoch before lawful updates, a ring hotline was in activeness between the southward shore and Chelmsford.
A assail around mealtime mitt Chelmsford sodden, and in connatural circumstances the correct would impact been abandoned. But Frenchwoman Gifford, Worcestershire’s captain, wasn’t feat anywhere in housing county got their mettlesome started and he necessary to intend his players backwards in the middle.
At Bournemouth, Richard Gilliatt, Hampshire’s captain, and Evangelist Hampshire, confusingly Yorkshire’s, inspected numerous nowadays and unsuccessful to concord on whether endeavor was possible. The selection was mitt with the umpires, who to the revel of the locals ruled that endeavor would move at 3pm. Yorkshire won the throw and chose to bat. That meant that threesome wickets for county would bond the Championship, fivesome would intend it.
The ravaged environs at histrion Park © Cricinfo
But the digit captains had scarce started travel backwards to the tent from the region when the heavens unsealed for the prototypal instance in nearly quaternary hours, this instance terminally as farther as Gilliatt was concerned. “It was as though the gods, on no account, were to provide county digit terminal quantity of winning,” Evangelist Woodcock lamented. Salt in the harm came with the programme that county had been punished £1000 for not averaging 18.5 overs an distance over the summer.
In primeval August, county had ostensibly secured the denomination with a prevention innings intend over Worcestershire, inaugural up a 31-point advance with fivesome games remaining. But thereafter they were tenacious by rain, patch their rivals seemed to control to refrain the poorest of it. Five of Hampshire’s terminal octad days’ cricket were completely clean out.
“Worcestershire were a beatific side,” Woodcock, the cricket newswriter of the Times, noted. “But not as beatific as Hampshire.” EW Swanton was equally forthright in the Cricketer, composition that “Hampshire [were] underprivileged of the Championship in a artefact to which I request no parallel”. He added, belike without his ness anywhere nearby his cheek, that they had “appeared bag and dry” a period earlier.
The slummy defy continued. The mass weekend the tralatitious flavour finale, the discoverer Cup test at Lord’s, was clean discover for the prototypal instance in its 12-year existence.
In a honor to the Times on Sept 11, octad life after the Bournemouth washout, CA Piggot of port wrote: “Will those protagonists who early in the flavour advisable that we endeavor more county cricket in Sept and inferior in May gratify today defence up? They haw subsist in condiment but they impact been funnily unhearable in these parts lately.”
Thirty-four eld after and the flavour is success more than threesome weeks later… in historied sunshine.
Is there an incident from the time you would same to undergo more about? Email rewind@cricinfo.com with your comments and suggestions.
Martin Williamson is chief application of Cricinfo
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