1919 - A YEAR WHEN YORKSHIRE LOST TWO LEGENDS

Booth & Drake
By JMB
January 16 2007

Yorkshire cricket has lost several established First team players in recent months leading commentators to hypothesise about yet another crisis at the club. Let us put things into perspective, as Boris Becker once said after an unexpected defeat ‘no one has died.’

In 1919 Yorkshire found itself short of two fine all-rounders for very tragic reasons. William Booth and Alonzo Drake spearheaded the Yorkshire attack in the seasons prior to the outbreak of the First World War, which put a stop to first class cricket for its duration.

Major William Booth (known as William – Major was his real Christian name) was a Pudsey boy. He was a punishing batsman and tall medium-fast bowler. It was Booth’s batting that grabbed early attention. He debuted for the county in 1908 but it wasn’t until 1911 that he cemented his place in the side. In that year he scored his only century - a double ton at Worcester, of which a newspaper said: “the ease with which he made his runs was astonishing. Few finer examples of off-driving and square cutting can have been seen.”

In the three seasons before the war Booth took over 100 wickets each summer. His height was his major weapon, allowing him to extract bounce from the deadest of wickets, but he could also be a prodigious swinger of the ball. In 1913 he scored 1,228 runs and took 181 wickets and secured a place on the MCC winter tour of South Africa. He played in two tests on the tour, scoring 46 runs at 23.00 and taking 7 wickets at 18.57 including 4-49 in the 2nd innings at Port Elizabeth. On his return from the tour Booth found that he had been selected as one of Wisden’s five cricketers of the year (in the 1914 edition).

In 1914 Booth and Alonzo Drake formed a deadly bowling partnership. In a match against Gloucestershire at Bristol they bowled unchanged with Booth taking 12-89 in the match. Against Somerset at Weston-super-Mare it was Drake who shone in his best ever performance taking match figures of 15–51, including all 10 wickets in the first innings (the first Yorkshire player to achieve that feat). Booth played a supporting role taking 5-77 in that game. When the outbreak of the First World War brought a premature close to the season Booth had taken 157 first class wickets at an average of 17.85.

Despite making his debut in 1909 Alonzo Drake was a late developer and did not establish himself in the Yorkshire team until 1911 at the age of 27. In that season, Drake who was left handed at batting and bowling averaged 35 with the bat and took 61 wickets in county matches. Drake was ever-present in the county side from then on.

In 1913 Drake established himself as one of the best bowlers in England. He took 102 wickets and topped the Yorkshire averages followed closely by William Booth. In 1914, the 30-year-old Drake was at his peak taking 135 wickets, including the previously mentioned ‘ten for’. On a wicket that provided him with assistance Drake caused all batsmen problems.

In 1914 both Drake and Booth seemed destined for big futures in the sport. Both men were in their prime as cricketers. The First World War brought the English cricket season and the careers of these fine men to a premature end. The Yorkshire public would never see them play cricket again.

Alonzo Drake was a heavy smoker and had been rejected by the army twice following the outbreak of war. His health rapidly declined and before first-class cricket recommenced in 1919 he had died at the age of 34.

Booth joined the West Yorkshire Regiment alongside fellow Yorkshire colleagues Arthur Dolphin and Roy Kilner. After receiving a battlefield commission, Booth was known as Second Lieutenant Major Booth and went over the top on the first day of the Somme offensive (1st July 1916). Booth’s Regiment attacked and were followed shortly after by a second wave of soldiers which included Abe Waddington who would later play for both Yorkshire and England.

Waddington was hit and found himself in a shell hole alongside the mortally wounded Booth. Waddington held him in his arms until he died – Booth was 29. Stretcher bearers were able to rescue Waddington later in the day, but Booth's body remained in the shell hole until the following spring, when he was buried at Serre Road No 1 Cemetery. Lord Hawke (Yorkshire's President) summed up the county's loss saying "England lost one of the most promising and charming young cricketers it was ever my lot to meet".

The 1919 season that followed the war was bittersweet. Many counties had lost valued and much loved players, but the country was understandably keen to restore normality. What better way to do that than on the cricket field? Yorkshire found themselves in desperate need of bowlers to replace Booth and Drake.

The legendary Wilfred Rhodes dropped down the order so that he could concentrate on taking wickets. Herbert Sutcliffe and Percy Holmes more than filled the void left by Rhodes at the top of the innings and formed one of the most successful opening partnerships in the club’s history. Yorkshire found bowlers of the class of George Macaulay, Roy Kilner and the aforementioned Abe Waddington, who alongside Rhodes combined to terrorise opposition batsmen.

A season that started with sadness and thoughts of lost promise ended with Yorkshire winning the County Championship, something they repeated four times in the following six years.

As Dr Johnson once said (when he was obviously thinking about Yorkshire’s 2006/7 off-season): “Adversity leads us to think properly of our state, and so is most beneficial to us.”