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41 JOIN OUR MAILING LIST FOR ALL THE LATEST: TRENTBRIDGE.CO.UK/MAILINGLIST HERITAGE T he original incumbent of the role was a man John Major described as “an unlikely missionary for cricket, being portly, one-eyed, short-tempered and not above sharp practice.” That was, of course,William Clarke, acknowledged as the ‘Father of Trent Bridge’, and the only man to have skippered both the county club and its predecessor, now usually known as the ‘Nottingham Old Club’. The Green and Golds’ new captain is unlikely to match Clarke’s 25-year tenure as skipper – not that he spent all that time in Nottingham, as he was often away running the All England XI – albeit Clarke did have the advantage of playing until he was 57 years old. Given the 20th Century obsession with picking amateurs as captains for club and country, it is perhaps surprising that the next five Notts skippers after Clarke were professionals, including some of the most famous players of that era – George Parr, Richard Daft, William Oscroft, Alfred Shaw and Mordecai Sherwin. Though after Sherwin, it was seven decades and as many captains before the next professional took the reins at Trent Bridge, John Clay in 1961. The first amateur to be captain was John Auger Dixon – commemorated by the Dixon Gates at Trent Bridge – who was succeeded by Arthur Owen (AO) Jones when the County Championship was established as a points-based table. ‘Jonah’ Jones led the county to their first Championship title in the now for- malised structure in 1907. Although an amateur, he was thoroughly professional in the way he organised his team, mar- shalled his bowlers and, in particular, raised the quality of the fielding. Under his captaincy, Notts went throughout that season undefeated – winning 15 of their 20 matches. The normally dry-as-dust Committee report read: ‘…Team, which, captained by Mr. Jones in a manner beyond all praise, played throughout the season with great vigour and pluck…Hallam andWass were almost invincible and to their performance the result was greatly due.’ Jones could not repeat that feat – not least because cricket was interrupted by the FirstWorldWar – and it was his successor who next led Notting- hamshire to the title, another Arthur – Arthur Carr. Hameed – a hard-grafter personifying the professional era – stands in stark contrast to Carr, who took charge in 1924. Duncan Hamilton, in his excellent book on Harold Larwood, said: “Carr loved cricket, gambling (especially poker), drinking, smoking, dancing and country sports – though not necessarily in that order. He embodied the spirit of the decade.” The stories about Carr are legion and, as is so often the way with larger-than- life characters, the more bizarre they are, the more likely it is that they are true. For instance, he delayed responding to his call-up papers inWorldWar One until he had finished batting against Surrey. Despite this rather cavalier approach, he was very successful, winning, according to research done by the late PeterWynne-Thomas, a greater proportion of the matches in which he skippered than any other Notts captain. Of course, it helped that in the triumphant 1929 Championship season he had a formidable bowling partnership to call on, namely Harold Larwood and Bill Voce. Other controversies around Carr include his role in the development of ‘leg theory’ bowling – a tactic passed to Douglas Jardine ahead of the now infamous ‘Bodyline Series’, of which Carr never repented. In 1934, he was among those who challenged the NCCC Committee in a members’ rebellion that resulted the mass resignation of that Committee. Carr and several of his supporters put themselves up for election to the Committee but only he and one other were voted in – the remainder were re-elected. He missed much of the 1934 season due to ill health and with his relation- ship with the club also impaired, he never played for Notts again. After Carr, it was more than fifty years before Notts raised the Championship trophy again. But in the interim there came perhaps the most illustrious name to captain the county – Garry, now Sir Garfield, Sobers. That Notts, languishing at the bottom of the league table, should capture the signature of the world’s best cricketer as the First-Class competition was opened up to overseas stars was nothing short of remarkable. If he wasn’t able to lead Notts to the title, Sobers certainly had an immediate William Clarke Arthur Carr