Abraham "Abe" Waddington, sometimes known as Abram Waddington (4 February 1893 – 28 October 1959), was a professional
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
er for
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, who played in two
Test matches for
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, both against
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in 1920–21. Between 1919 and 1927 Waddington made 255 appearances for Yorkshire, and in all
first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
played 266 matches. In these games, he took a total of 852
wickets
In cricket, the term wicket has several meanings:
* It is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a batsman out.
* ...
with his left arm
fast-medium
Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...
bowling. Capable of making the ball
swing, Waddington was admired for the aesthetic quality of his
bowling action
In the sport of cricket, the bowling action is the set of movements that result in the bowler releasing the ball in the direction of the batsman.
The bowling action can be broken down into a number of parts:
* Grip
*Approach
*Bound (pre deliv ...
. He was a hostile bowler who sometimes
sledged opposing batsmen and questioned umpires' decisions, behaviour which was unusual during his playing days.
Waddington first played for Yorkshire after the First World War, when the team had been weakened by injuries and retirements. He made an immediate impression in 1919, his first season; he took 100 wickets and was largely responsible for Yorkshire's victory in the
County Championship
The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...
that year. After a similarly successful season in 1920, he was selected for the 1920–21
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...
(MCC) tour of Australia, during which he appeared in two of the five Tests. However, the England team were outclassed; used in an unfamiliar tactical role, Waddington took just one wicket and never played for England again. He continued to be effective for Yorkshire, particularly against the weaker counties, but was often inconsistent. His reputation as an uncompromising opponent was cemented when he was found guilty of dissent and inciting the crowd in a game against
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
. A succession of injuries reduced his effectiveness and he retired from first-class cricket in 1927. He continued to play league cricket and worked for the family business, a fat-refining firm, but maintained his connection with Yorkshire cricket.
In the early 1920s, Waddington played several football matches for
Halifax Town
FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...
as a goalkeeper, and after his retirement from cricket enjoyed some success as an amateur golfer. He was in trouble with the police on more than one occasion and after the Second World War was charged with defrauding his wartime employers, the
Ministry of Food
An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...
; he was found not guilty. He died in 1959 at the age of 66.
Early life
Abraham Waddington was born in
Clayton,
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
, on 4 February 1893, the eldest of three brothers.
[ His family owned a fat-refining business managed by his father, Sam.][ When he left school, Waddington joined the family firm as a lorry driver, occasionally working in the refinery. He began playing cricket for Crossley Hall in the West Bradford League at the age of 11; as a teenager he played in the Bradford League for Lidget Green and then Laisterdyke, gaining a local reputation as a ]fast-medium bowler
Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. ...
. He helped Laisterdyke win the League championship in 1913,[Howe, p. 72.] before moving to Wakefield for the 1914 season, where he took 98 wickets at an average of 12.00.[Woodhouse, p. 303.] He played for Yorkshire Second XI in August 1914, alongside future First XI teammates Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe (24 November 1894 – 22 January 1978) was an English professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the period between the tw ...
and Cec Tyson, but the outbreak of the First World War prevented him making any further appearances for the county.
When war was declared, Waddington volunteered for Lord Kitchener's New Army, joining the Bradford Pals battalion
The Pals battalions of World War I were specially constituted battalions of the British Army comprising men who had enlisted together in local recruiting drives, with the promise that they would be able to serve alongside their friends, neighbour ...
of the West Yorkshire Regiment
)
, march = ''Ça Ira''
, battles = Namur FontenoyFalkirk Culloden Brandywine
, anniversaries = Imphal (22 June)
The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) wa ...
.[ On 1 July 1916, during the first day of the ]Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...
, Waddington was wounded by shrapnel at Serre, and took shelter in a crater in no man's land
No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...
with other wounded soldiers.[ One of these was the ]Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
cricketer Major Booth
Major William Booth (10 December 1886 – 1 July 1916) was a cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1908 and 1914, a season in which he was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.
Note that "Major" was a given n ...
, who was mortally wounded. Waddington comforted Booth while the cricketer died in his arms, an experience which haunted Waddington for the rest of his life.[Howe, p. 73.] After recovering, Waddington transferred to the Royal Flying Corps
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colors =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries =
, decorations ...
.
First-class cricketer
County debut
Yorkshire's bowling attack was severely depleted when cricket resumed in 1919 owing to a combination of retirements and deaths in the war. Additionally, George Hirst
George Herbert Hirst (7 September 1871 – 10 May 1954) was a professional English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1891 and 1921, with a further appearance in 1929. One of the best all-r ...
was past his best, meaning that Yorkshire needed to recruit new fast bowlers
Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling (cricket), bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', ...
.[ In May and June, the team struggled to dismiss opposing sides on hard pitches; their results were poor and when two important matches were lost in June, '']Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...
'' suggested that "things looked very black".
At this point in the season the Yorkshire cricketers Roy Kilner
Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin.
In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...
and Arthur Dolphin
Arthur Dolphin (24 December 1885 – 23 October 1942) was an English first-class cricketer, who kept wicket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1905 and 1927. He is part of a tradition of Yorkshire wicket-keepers, stretching from Ned Ste ...
, who like Waddington had also been wounded at the Somme, recommended him to the Yorkshire committee, probably after seeing him take part in cricket matches in the army.[ Having returned to play for Laisterdyke in the Bradford League,][ Waddington was called into the Yorkshire side at the beginning of July for the ]County Championship
The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...
match against Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
. On his first-class debut, he took four for 26 (four wickets for 26 runs) in 26 overs, and after missing the next match, he followed up with nine wickets against Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
in his second game, taking his first five-wicket haul
In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman.
Takin ...
in the second innings of that match.[ From Waddington's debut, Yorkshire's results improved and the team won the Championship. ''Wisden'' judged that Waddington's contribution was crucial: "Without him Yorkshire would certainly not have won the Championship".][ He and ]Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes (29 October 1877 – 8 July 1973) was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman ...
formed an effective bowling partnership and, according to ''Wisden'', "Rhodes and Waddington, with E. R. Wilson, for a few weeks, and Robinson">mmottRobinson to help them, carried the eleven from success to success".[ It described Waddington as bowling "left-hand, medium pace inclining to fast", with a "delivery that seems part of himself—free from any suggestion of labour or undue effort"; it noted that he always bowled a good length and made the ball bounce sharply after pitching. The writer judged Waddington's first season had been one of "exceptional promise" and predicted that Waddington would go on to "great things".][ In the official history of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Derek Hodgson suggests that Waddington's versatility brought him success, as did the line which he bowled to the batsmen.][Hodgson, p. 106.] He finished with 100 wickets at an average
In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...
of 18.74, with eight five-wicket returns. Waddington was only the sixth bowler in first-class cricket history to reach 100 wickets in his debut year.
Yorkshire fell to fourth in the Championship in 1920;[ most of the bowling responsibility fell once more on Waddington and Rhodes, and the other bowlers provided little support.] Despite a good start to the season, the team faded in the latter part of the year. ''Wisden'' suggested that "in the circumstances hodes and Waddingtondid wonders, Waddington having some irresistible days against the weaker counties."[ He took 141 wickets in the season at an average of 16.79.][ His best figures came in the two matches against ]Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
: in the first game he took 11 wickets, and in the second took 13 wickets for 48 runs, including seven for 18 in the first innings, and a hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...
.[ Waddington's season concluded with his selection for the professional "Players" teams in the prestigious ]Gentlemen v Players
Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of English first-class cricket matches. Two matches were played in 1806, but the fixture was not played again until 1819. It became an annual event, usually played at least twice each season, exc ...
match at the Scarborough Festival
{{No footnotes, date=July 2011
The Scarborough Festival is an end of season series of cricket matches featuring Yorkshire County Cricket Club which has been held in Scarborough, on the east coast of Yorkshire, since 1876. The ground, at North Ma ...
. He was one of four players from Yorkshire chosen to tour Australia that winter with the MCC. Hodgson suggests that he was chosen as "the discovery of the first post-war period".[
]
Test selection and leading bowler
The 1920–21 MCC tour to Australia was unsuccessful for the tourists. Captained by J. W. H. T. Douglas, the team was overwhelmed by Australia, losing all five Test matches. ''Wisden'' stated that the "chief cause of failure was the bowling". The MCC had been reluctant to tour so soon after the war, and critics had predicted the bowling would be weak in Australian conditions, where the pitches were generally hard and good for batting.
At the beginning of November, before the first-class matches began, Waddington was operated on for abscesses, and missed the first five games. He played only one first-class match before the first Test, but took wickets in several minor matches.[ Selected for the first Test, he took the first wicket to fall in the game, that of ]Charlie Macartney
Charles George Macartney (27 June 1886 – 9 September 1958) was an Australian cricketer who played in 35 Test matches between 1907 and 1926. He was known as "The Governor-General" in reference to his authoritative batting style and his flamb ...
, but failed to take another wicket in the match while conceding 88 runs, hampered by a leg injury in the later stages. He did not play another Test until the fourth, where he bowled five overs for 31 runs.[ Waddington ended the tour with seven wickets at an average of 46.71; his single Test wicket was at a cost of 119 runs.][ The tour was a frustrating experience for Waddington, who found the heat difficult to deal with; he was also unhappy that most of his appearances came in the non-first-class country matches, many against opponents fielding more than eleven players to make a more even fight. Throughout the tour, the press criticised Douglas for the way he used bowlers. Although Yorkshire used Waddington in short bursts with the objective of taking wickets, Douglas used him to bowl long defensive spells with the prime objective of run-saving, a task to which Waddington was unsuited.][Howe, p. 74.] Considered a failure[—''Wisden'' later described his tour as "a sad disappointment"]—Waddington did not play for England again and was never seriously considered for a recall.[ He did have one batting success on the tour, scoring his maiden first-class fifty against an "Australian XI".][
In the 1921 season, Waddington took 105 wickets at an average of 18.94.][ The introduction of the pace bowler ]George Macaulay
George Gibson Macaulay (7 December 1897 – 13 December 1940) was a professional English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1920 and 1935. He played in eight Test matches for England from 1923 to ...
into the team gave him more support,[ but according to a later edition of ''Wisden'', Waddington's form was poor that year.][ The almanack's review of the 1921 season suggested that, when at full strength, Yorkshire had the best bowling attack in the championship,] but the team finished third. Both Waddington and Yorkshire were more successful the following year:[ the county won the first of four successive championships,][ and Waddington took 133 wickets at an average of 16.08.][ He was often effective in the most important matches. ''Wisden'' suggested that "Yorkshire were very good at every point, but their main strength lay in the excellence and variety of their bowling ... addingtonwas, on occasions, more successful against strong sides than he had ever been before. He had days of astonishing success and once, at least, bowled with a bewildering swerve ._e._swing_bowling.html"_;"title="swing_bowling.html"_;"title="._e._swing_bowling">._e._swing_bowling">swing_bowling.html"_;"title="._e._swing_bowling">._e._swing_bowlingthat_recalled_George_Hirst_at_his_best."_Among_his_best_performances_were_figures_of_eight_for_34_against_Northamptonshire_(the_best_of_his_career),_seven_wickets_for_six_runs_in_a_]._e._swing_bowling.html"_;"title="swing_bowling.html"_;"title="._e._swing_bowling">._e._swing_bowling">swing_bowling.html"_;"title="._e._swing_bowling">._e._swing_bowlingthat_recalled_George_Hirst_at_his_best."
_Among_his_best_performances_were_figures_of_eight_for_34_against_Northamptonshire_(the_best_of_his_career),_seven_wickets_for_six_runs_in_a_Sussex_County_Cricket_Club">Sussex
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_total_of_20_and_eight_for_35_against_Hampshire_County_Cricket_Club.html" "title="Sussex_County_Cricket_Club.html" "title="wing_bowling">._e._swing_bowling.html" ;"title="swing_bowling.html" ;"title=". e. swing bowling">. e. swing bowling">swing_bowling.html" ;"title=". e. swing bowling">. e. swing bowlingthat recalled George Hirst at his best."[ Among his best performances were figures of eight for 34 against Northamptonshire (the best of his career), seven wickets for six runs in a Sussex County Cricket Club">Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...]