Summer Times is the Journal of the Old Scarborians Association

There were some great players before my
arrival at the school, most notably Ted Lester
(of whom more later), Jack Pearson, who bat‐
ted brilliantly for the town team in the pre‐
war years, and John Temple, a slow left‐arm
spinner who played for Yorkshire several
times in the 30s.
Players I looked up to as giants when I first
became interested in cricket were Mick Her‐
man, Bill Hume (a member of the 1 st XI for a
record five years), F. M.‘Tank’ Vokes, Bill
Temple, Ken Newton and ‘Lit’ Horswood.
The last of these appeared to me then to be
literally a giant. He seemed to be about seven
feet tall, and brought the ball down from a
towering height at what seemed to me, as a
thirteen‐year‐old, an awesome pace. In the
1948 season, he took 68 wickets in 14 games at
an average of 3.86, including 7 for 6 against
Malet Lambert.
Vokes, a left‐arm bowler of a more compact
build and with an aggressive charge up to the
wicket, was also frighteningly fast, an excel‐
lent batsman, and captained the 1 st XI in 1945,
his fourth year in the team..
Newton was a superb all‐rounder with a clas‐
sic fast bowler’s action and a thoroughbred
batting style. When still in the fourth form, he
played for the 1st XI and took 51 wickets in 14
games at an average of 3.8, (including 6 for 5
and 6 for 4 against Newburgh Priory). He was
so good that, while still at school, he was said
to have been invited to play for Yorkshire
Colts, but was unable to do so, because Mars‐
den wouldn’t let him take the time off. I often
wonder whether he later fulfilled his early
promise.
Bill Temple I remember as a cultured bats‐
man, and Herman and Hume were a very
sound opening pair, who both eventually
captained the side. Years later I had the great
pleasure of joining Mick’s Queen’s College,
Oxford, team as a guest player on their York‐
shire tour. Hume I remember best for his
extraordinary wicket‐keeping style. He stood
sideways, facing first slip, and I have since
32
wondered how he managed to take anything
down the leg side. Mick Herman remembers
that he did stop a lot of balls with his legs.
These are players I remember from my early
school days, but there were others who were
also outstanding, but who didn’t seem to have
registered in my very junior brain. For in‐
stance, Denis Saunders, a good batsman but
more noted for his footballing prowess, came
on the scene in 1941, my first year at SBHS,
and was captain in ’42, ’43 and ’44, having
played for the first team for five seasons..
Also in 1941, The Scarborian reported ‘Bill
Foord bowled his way through a glorious
season, taking 50 wickets at a little over six
runs each.’ He, of course, was a sixth former,
and as a mere lower prep pip‐squeak, I didn’t
see him play then. But years later I had the
privilege of playing alongside him for Scar‐
borough.
I can see him bowling now. A tall, wiry fig‐
ure, glasses glinting in the sun, the straight
upright run, the ball clutched somewhere near
his midriff up to the moment before delivery
when he stretched to the limit of his consider‐
able height before the full straight follow‐
through of his classic action. He was without
question the finest bowler ever to play for the
town team, and few bowlers could swing the
ball extravagantly either way at will as he did
if there was the slightest help in the seaside
atmosphere. Not surprisingly, he had quite a
few games for Yorkshire, and was at one time
spoken of as ‘the next Bill Bowes’.
I shall never forget my shock when, in a de‐
scription of his bowling in a county match, the
Yorkshire Post referred to him as ‘medium‐
paced’. I have to say it never felt like that
when I batted against him in the nets.
Two more notable names, Albert Marston and
Reg Atkinson, appeared in the 1 st XI report in
The Scarborian in 1941. Albert was the wicket‐
keeper and got a surprising number of vic‐
tims. Like Foord, he later played many sea‐
sons for Scarborough. However, I have to say
that, though he was a very congenial team‐