An A to Z of Northamptonshire Cricketers

by Andrew Radd

Player number 97 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 9 July 1921) Birthplace Edmonton, Middlesex First-Class 2 matches, 11 runs @5.50 Harry Arkell played for the long-established Temperance club in Northampton Town League and was selected for both the league’s representative side (caught behind for a duck by Ben Bellamy, keeping wicket for the County League select) and Northants Club and Ground early in 1921. Called in as a late replacement to make his first-class debut for No

Player number 102 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 6 May 1922) Birthplace Sydenham, London First-Class 6 matches, 122 runs @11.09 After Westminster School and war service in France as an officer in the Grenadier Guards, Norman Andrews made an unpromising Northamptonshire debut in a grim defeat against Yorkshire at the start of the 1922 season – selection for which was surely the County’s answer to Lord Derby’s ‘Who? Who? Ministry’ of 1852. But the club persisted with him, r

Player number 2 (fc debut for Northamptonshire – 18 May 1905) Birthplace Croydon First-Class 2 matches, 0 runs @ 0.00; 1 wicket @ 154.00 Jim Allen was taken on Northamptonshire’s professional staff just a few days before the County’s inaugural first-class match, against Hampshire in May 1905. A skilful left-arm seam bowler, he was living in Raunds having played successfully the previous season for Sittingbourne in Kent – capturing 59 wickets at just six runs apiece. Earlier

Player number 163 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 29 June 1932) Birthplace Evenley, Northamptonshire First-Class 8 matches, 384 runs @ 25.60; 3 catches When long-serving Northamptonshire scorer Leo Bullimer was asked in 1937 to select his best-ever County team from the players he’d seen since taking up the pen back in 1900, he surprised the majority of supporters by selecting young batsman Tony Allen based on his handful of County appearances – as well as preferring ‘Bumper

Player number 123 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 28 June 1924) Birthplace Finedon, Northamptonshire First-Class 2 matches, 38 runs @38.00; 5 wickets @ 31.00; 1 catch ‘Cherry’ Addis was a towering figure for Finedon Dolben CC over many seasons, and his supporters felt he could have made a mark in county cricket had he chosen to make the game his profession. In 1923 he produced eye-catching figures of 7-19 in a losing cause against Northampton Saints (whose side could boast

Player number 212 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 29 June 1946) Birthplace Port-of-Spain, Trinidad First-Class 3 matches, 24 runs @ 12.00; 6 wickets @ 36.66 Trinidadian Ken Ablack achieved greater fame as a cricket commentator than as a player, but after turning out frequently in wartime matches (mainly for the fundraising British Empire XI, but also in fixtures between a West Indies XI and Northamptonshire at Spinney Hill) he appeared three times for the County – twice in