Bertie Shardlow (15 December 1909 – 30 April 1976) was an English

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 str ...

er. Shardlow was a left-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

who bowled

slow left-arm orthodox Left-arm orthodox spin, Left-arm off spin also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of left-arm finger spin bowling in the sport of cricket. Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left-arm bowler using the fingers to spin ...

. He was born at

Stone, Staffordshire Stone is a canal town and civil parish in Staffordshire, England, north of Stafford, south of Stoke-on-Trent and north of Rugeley. It was an urban district council and a rural district council before becoming part of the Borough of Staffor ...

. Shardlow made his debut in county cricket for Staffordshire in the 1936 Minor Counties Championship against the Lancashire Second XI. Before the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in 1939, Shardlow made 24 appearances for the county in the Minor Counties Championship. Following World War II, he made a further 115 appearances for Staffordshire in Minor Counties Championship, with his final match coming against

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

in 1957. In his career with Staffordshire, he took 558 wickets. It was the opinion of

Sydney Barnes Sydney Francis Barnes (19 April 1873 – 26 December 1967) was an English professional cricketer who is regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time. He was right-handed and bowled at a pace that varied from medium to fast-medium wit ...

that if Shardlow had accepted several offers he received to qualify for a first-class county, he may well have possessed enough quality to play at

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

level 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 ...

. It was also after the war that he made his debut in

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 officia ...

for a combined

Minor Counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

team against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

at Lord's. Yorkshire batted first and made 231 all out, during which Shardlow bowled three wicketless overs. Responding in their first-innings, the Minor Counties made 210 all out, with Shardlow ending the innings

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

on 24. In Yorkshire's second-innings of 250 all out, he took a single wicket, that of

Norman Yardley Norman Walter Dransfield Yardley (19 March 1915 – 3 October 1989) was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England, as a right-handed batsman and occasional bowler. An amateur, he c ...

, to finish with figures of 1/20 from twelve overs. Chasing 272 to win, the Minor Counties could only manage 135 all out in their second-innings, with Shardlow being dismissed for 5 runs by Allan Mason. Yorkshire's margin of victory was 136 runs. The following season he made a second first-class appearance for the Minor Counties against the

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 ...

at Lord's. Batting first, the Marylebone Cricket Club were dismissed for 127, with Shardlow leading the way with five wickets, taking figures of 5/25 from twenty overs. The Minor Counties responded in their first-innings by making 172 all out, with Shardlow making 16 runs before he was dismissed by Fred Titmus. He went wicketless in the Marylebone Cricket Club second-innings of 229 all out, which left the Minor Counties with a target of 185 for victory. They fell short in their chase, making just 129, with Shardlow being dismissed for a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

during the innings by Francis Appleyard. The Marylebone Cricket Club won the match by 55 runs. Away from cricket he worked as a boat carpenter. He died in hospital at Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, following a long illness on 30 April 1976. His son,

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

, also played

Minor counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

cricket for Staffordshire. He was also a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, playing for Northwich Victoria and Stoke City.

References

External links

Bertie Shardlow
at

ESPNcricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...

Bertie Shardlow
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Shardlow, Bertie 1909 births 1976 deaths People from Stone, Staffordshire English cricketers Staffordshire cricketers Minor Counties cricketers English carpenters British boat builders 20th-century British businesspeople Cricketers from Staffordshire