Brief Candles 2 More One Match Wonders

This second volume of ‘Brief Candles’ once again looks at the lives, in and out of cricket, of a batch of players who flickered only briefly on the first-class scene. Most earn their inclusion because of an unusual achievement that they recorded during their brief careers at that level. So you can read here about the five cricketers who played an innings in the 90s in their debut game, and the five who shared in century partnerships on debut when batting at number 11 - and yet none of them was ever picked again. Others are included because of something that happened to them during their one-and-only first-class matches - like the three cricketers who were no-balled for throwing on their debuts, whereupon they disappeared from the first-class game altogether. Another two earn their appearance because of a pair of unhappy coincidences: though unrelated they shared the same unusual surname, and both met their deaths in the most tragic of circumstances. And finally there’s the clergyman who played his only first-class match when just six months short of his 60th birthday. Brief Candles 2 explores the lives of these and some others who deserve to be better remembered for their unusual, if very short, contributions to the history of the first-class game.

Playing in a first-class match gives a cricketer a certain cachet. For ever after, opponents know that such-and-such played ‘big cricket’ and will expect him to perform accordingly. Even when his achievements lie elsewhere, biographers and obituarists will sagely note his appearances, however limited, and readers will infer that the subject has a special talent for the game. Nine thousand cricketers have played in just one first-class match, but for some their one appearance was more memorable than for others, for good reasons or otherwise. In 1924, Fred Hyland spent less than ten minutes on the field of play before rain washed out the game. Poor Josiah Coulthurst didn’t even step onto the playing area in a damp Lancashire contest in 1919. Emile McMaster’s only match, in South Africa in 1889, was later awarded Test match status. Bob Richards, playing for Essex at Leyton in 1970, didn’t learn till afterwards that his solitary appearance was a first-class game. Nobody can now be sure who was the Wilkinson who played a match at Oxford in 1939. Some one-match wonders have achieved much in their brief days in front of the cricket-watching public, centuries even and ‘eight-fors’: others have gone on to exceptional achievements in fields sporting, political and military. Keith Walmsley reports on the ‘struts’ and ‘frets’ of some players who appeared just once on the first-class ‘stage’ and then were ‘heard no more’.

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Description of the product: • 100% Exam Ready With 2023 CUET(UG) Exam Papers (2 Slots) – Fully Solved with Explanations • Fill Learning Gaps With Revision Notes & Chapter Analysis • Crisp Recap with Smart Mind Maps & Concept Videos • Smart Shortcuts To Solve lengthy problems • Final Boost With Tips & Tricks to ACE CUET (UG) in 1st Attempt

Description of the product: • 100% Exam Ready With 2023 CUET(UG) Exam Papers (2 Slots) – Fully Solved with Explanations • Fill Learning Gaps With Revision Notes & Chapter Analysis • Crisp Recap with Smart Mind Maps & Concept Videos • Smart Shortcuts To Solve lengthy problems • Final Boost With Tips & Tricks to ACE CUET (UG) in 1 st Attempt

Description of the product: • 100% Exam Ready With 2023 CUET(UG) Exam Papers (2 Slots) – Fully Solved with Explanations • Fill Learning Gaps With Revision Notes & Chapter Analysis • Crisp Recap with Smart Mind Maps & Concept Videos • Smart Shortcuts To Solve lengthy problems • Final Boost With Tips & Tricks to ACE CUET (UG) in 1st Attempt

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