COVERED 2024 Winter

COVERED 38 TRENTBRIDGE.CO.UK The match limped on to an unspectac- ular draw, with Larwood bowling 26 overs at a cost of 71 Northants runs – and just that one wicket. But his debut had caught the eye – and there was a similar pattern the following season. With the foresight of a Mystic Meg, the Nottingham Guardian noted: “This somewhat diminutive recruit for a fast bowler has astonished everybody by his extraordinary pace and accuracy. “It is possible Notts have found another potential international.” Larwood had joined the books of Notts as a professional after being talent spotted by coach Jimmy Iremonger. “What Iremonger saw,” writes Duncan Hamilton, in his outstanding biography, ‘Harold Larwood’, “was a raw talent, malleable and promising enough to be shaped into a weapon.” It was to become a weapon that would bowl consistently at speeds of 94-100 miles per hour. And yet, Larwood’s personal assessment of his debut was decidedly low key. “I wasn’t ready,” he recalled. He even apologised to his mentor, telling Jimmy Iremonger he had let him down, and felt his call-up was premature. Iremonger reassured his young protégé: “You haven’t started yet and you’re talking as if your career’s over! “Don’t worry, lad, you’ll be fine.” In the 1925 season, Larwood didn’t play for the first team until the eighth match in mid-June, againstYorkshire at Bramall Lane, but he still went on to take 73 wickets at 18.01 each. The Cricketer newspaper noted at the time: “Larwood proved a distinct find. He is a fast-medium bowler, with an easy delivery that possesses great pace.” The England selectors soon came to call. “Larwood was tended as carefully as a thoroughbred colt, since England then had no other fast bowler,” wrote Phil Edmonds in his 100 Greatest Bowlers book. Larwood made his England debut against Australia in 1926 at Lord’s and helped them win the final Test of the series. The following year saw developments off the field as Larwood got married, while on it, he was stunted by injury. Such was the concern around his lay- off, veteran Sir Pelham “Plum”Warner commented: “The fate of the British Empire, so far as cricket is concerned, depends to a large extent on whether Larwood is fit.” Larwood was regarded as the saviour of English cricket and this tone was maintained for the next five years, until the Bodyline tour. Larwood – affectionately called ‘Lol’ by his team-mates – played for Notts until 1938, taking 1,247 First-Class wickets at 16.24. He took five wickets in an innings 89 times and ten in a match 19 times for his home county. In a neat touch of symmetry, his last First-Class match was at home to Northamptonshire. Although he did not bowl in the match, his last scoring stroke in First-Class cricket was a six off John Buswell – a template famously followed by Stuart Broad. It was not his final game at his home ground – that came in 1941 when he played for the ‘Other Ranks’ in a victory over an ‘Officers XI’ in one of the many war time matches staged at Trent Bridge. ‘Lol’ took the first two wickets for just 13 runs in front of 4,000 spectators. The cricket establishment did not shower one of the greatest of bowlers with the honours his talents deserved, but he was aWisden Cricketer of the Year in 1927 and, posthumously, was awarded theWisdenTrophy for Test Performance of 1928 as recently as 2023. That his MBE for ‘services to cricket’ came in 1993 when the self-confessed ‘cricket nut’ John Major was Prime Minister may not be coincidental. It is fitting now, 100 years after that First-Class debut and 120 years since his birth (November 1904) in North Nottinghamshire, to remember a great son of the county. A timely offer meant that a piece of history was presented toTrent Bridge by Ashfield District Council just as the club were marking the centenary. The historic illuminated certificate, presented to Nottinghamshire’s Vice Chair Richard Stevenson by Councillors Arnie Hankin, Chris Huskinson andTom Hollis, was originally gifted to Larwood following his first tour with England to Australia in 1928-1929, when he took 18 wickets on the way to a landmark 4-1 Ashes win for the Three Lions. The treasured item is on a long-term loan from Ashfield District Council and will find a home at Trent Bridge alongside other memorabilia marking Larwood’s historic achievements.