Bob Woolmer had been a Kent regular for seven years by 1975. For most of that time he had batted at No 8 and been a useful purveyor of swing at an amiable pace, most notably in the Canterbury Week of 1972 when he took 17 wickets. These days he would probably have shifted to another county with more space at the top of the order. Now he was showing what he could do when batting was his main purpose. His unbeaten 71 (with a break for injury mid-innings) was valuable support for Cowdrey in Kent’s win over the tourists. For MCC against the same opposition he made 56 and 85 with a hat-trick thrown in taken on the day of the funeral of the last man to take a hat-trick against the Australians in England, HS Enthoven for Middlesex in 1934. International selection was just a few weeks away.
The two
other Kent players at Lord’s did not do so well. Colin Cowdrey, leading MCC, bagged
a pair, ending sentimental speculation that he would play again for England.
Graham Johnson made two and one at No 3 and was not to catch the eye of the
selectors again.
Graham Gooch’s
first innings 75 attracted considerable praise and resulted in his notorious
England debut the following week. Both Arlott and Woodcock focus on Gooch’s
build, which led to comparison with Colin Milburn. The daily runs from ground
to hotel were still a thing of the future apparently.
I was at
Maidstone on Sunday to watch Kent beat Lancashire by 24 runs in a (by the standards
of the day) high-scoring game. Luckhurst, Johnson and Cowdrey all made fifties,
but the one memory I have of the game is of Clive Lloyd smiting a six over Mote
Park’s mock-Tudor pavilion, a mighty blow.
Kent also
won the Championship game against the same opposition at Tunbridge Wells. John
Woodcock was there for The Times. Most readers will know about Knott’s
greatness, as will anybody who has made the mistake of engaging me in
conversation at the Basin Reserve. Alan Ealham’s fielding prowess will be less
well-known. Being somewhat dumpy in stature, nobody would have picked him as
the gun fielder. New overseas players were often caught out in this way, the
middle stump flying out of its ground while they were still a couple of yards
short of completing what they had thought a safe single. What Woodcock has to
say about the Kent team and the captaincy of Denness (of which he was not a
fan) is interesting.
With Roberts roaring in from the car park end…Steele, Balderstone
and Davison were not sure whether it was Shrove Tuesday or Sheffield Wednesday.
Harrison was,
for many years, Anglia TV’s football commentator. His Yorkshire TV counterpart,
Keith Macklin, also reported cricket for The Times in 1975.
Middlesex’s
win was largely down to a century by Clive Radley, whose batting style was
captured by Alan Gibson:
Radley…was, as usual, a mixture of the classical, the baroque
and the Old Kent Road.
Radley’s
name often comes up as the scorer of key runs at crucial times, and continued
to do so for another decade or more. It seems wrong that his England career was
so short.
This was the
second week of Wimbledon, which was exciting, firstly for the tennis itself,
but also because it meant that Clive James would be reviewing the tournament’s
TV coverage in The Observer, an annual treat in this era.
In 2025 the BBC lists 39 commentators for the
TV coverage, which continues for 12 hours a day and ranges across all 18
courts. Fifty years ago it was limited to Centre and No 1. Harry Carpenter presented
coverage that lasted under six hours plus a highlights package in the evening.
The commentary team comprised no more than six led by Dan Maskell and Peter
West (Peter Walker filled in at the cricket during the fortnight). On the radio
Peter Jones presented three hours of commentary by Max Robertson and Maurice
Edelston, with expertise provided by Fred Perry and Bob Howe.
It has
always seemed a pity that Clive James was the only Australian with no interest
in cricket. I only came across him writing about the game once, when he
referred to the Chappel [sic] brothers. Cricket broadcasters may have been
relieved.
