Рой Килнер: Англиялық крикетшінің өмірі мен мансабы

English cricketer

Roy Kilner (17 October 1890 – 5 April 1928) was an English professional cricketer who played nine Test matches for England between 1924 and 1926. An all rounder, he played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1911 and 1927. In all first class matches, he scored 14,707 runs at an average of 30.01 and took 1,003 wickets at an average of 18.45. Kilner scored 1,000 runs in a season ten times and took 100 wickets in a season five times. On four occasions, he completed the double: scoring 1,000 runs and taking 100 wickets in the same season, recognised as a sign of a quality all rounder. Kilner first played for Yorkshire as a batsman before the First World War, establishing a regular place in the side. After being wounded in the war, he returned in 1919 to a Yorkshire side which was short of bowlers. As a result, Kilner began to practise his bowling to the point where he became highly regarded as a slow left arm bowler. His aggressive batting and warm personality made him a popular player with both cricketers and spectators. His form brought selection by England in 1924 and a visit to Australia for the Ashes tour of 1924–25. Although the second most successful bowler of the tour, his bowling subsequently declined in effectiveness, and did not trouble batsmen on good pitches. He was selected during the 1926 Ashes but dropped for the final Test. Kilner went on several coaching trips to India during English winters, and on one of these, in 1928, he contracted an illness; on his return to England, he died aged 37. His funeral was attended by over 100,000 people and there was widespread sadness at his death.

Kilner was born on 17 October 1890 in Wombwell, Barnsley, Yorkshire, England, the second son and one of eleven children of Seth Kilner and Mary Alice Washington. His brother Norman also played cricket, representing Yorkshire and Warwickshire. His father and his uncle, Irving Washington, the former Yorkshire player, encouraged him to play cricket from an early age. He showed enough ability to join the local colliery team, Mitchell Main. By 1909 his batting improved; he scored his first century for the team and began to make consistently good scores, attracting the attention of Yorkshire.

After scoring a second century for Mitchell Main at the start of the 1910 season, Kilner was chosen to play for Yorkshire Second XI. In his first season, he took three wickets and had a batting average of 12.50 but continued to do well for Mitchell Main. For 1911, Yorkshire sent Kilner to play for Harrogate Cricket Club which provided a higher standard of cricket than Mitchell Main: the county had a system whereby promising young players were sent to gain experience in competitive matches for local clubs. Kilner began to record good batting and bowling performances. Although his form for Yorkshire Second XI was more inconsistent, he made his first class debut for Yorkshire that season against Somerset in the County Championship. He scored 0 and 14 and did not bowl. In a further six matches for Yorkshire in 1911, his highest innings was 18 runs, his average with the bat was just 6.66 in ten innings and he did not take any wickets. For Harrogate, he was more successful, with 519 runs and 28 wickets.

When cricket resumed after the war in 1919, County Championship matches were reduced from three days to two in a one season experiment. Following the deaths of Booth in the war and Alonzo Drake from illness, as well as the decline in the bowling of the aging George Hirst, Yorkshire lacked an effective attack. Subsequently, Kilner was asked to deliver more overs, although not to the extent of a main bowler. He took 45 wickets, more than his entire first class wicket aggregate before the war, at an average of 18.12. This placed him third in the Yorkshire averages. With the bat he scored three centuries and reached 1,135 runs at 29.10. Kilner's brother Norman also played for Yorkshire in 1919, although he was ultimately unable to secure a permanent place in the team. He could have been caught when he had scored around fifty, but a local newspaper described the innings as brilliant, his driving and pulling being particularly effective. Kilner appeared in one representative match: at the end of season Scarborough Festival, he played for CI Thornton's XI against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) side which visited Australia in the winter—at the time, the MCC administered English cricket, and the England team toured under its name. In total, he scored 1,316 runs at an average of 37.09 with two more centuries, placing him second in the Yorkshire averages. With the ball, he took 27 wickets but his average of 25.33 was relatively high. The county finished fourth in the Championship as Middlesex were crowned winners. Kilner's bowling had greater success in 1921, helping Yorkshire to rise to third in the Championship. He scored 1,137 runs at an average of 27.73. His overall performance left him sixth in the Yorkshire batting averages, and fourth in the bowling averages. Through the winter, he continued to develop his bowling. In the match against Essex, he claimed ten wickets in a match for the first time, taking eleven for 51 runs. Against Hampshire, he took ten wickets for 90 runs, including six for 13 in the second innings as Hampshire were bowled out for 44. At the same time, he maintained his batting form, having a similar record to the previous season. He scored 1,198 runs at 27.22 and scored two centuries. Kilner was fifth in the Yorkshire batting averages and fourth in the bowling averages. At the end of the season, he was again selected for CI Thornton's XI, as well as in two games at Eastbourne. With the bat, he failed to score a hundred for the first time since 1912, including the best figures of his career, eight for 26 against Glamorgan, and six for 14 against Middlesex. Later that season against Surrey, he performed what was regarded by Wisden as one of his best bowling feats. In the same season, Kilner was picked for the Gentlemen v Players match at Lord's Cricket Ground, the most prestigious such fixture at the time, where he scored eight in his only innings and took three wickets. Kilner took 145 first class wickets at 13.28 during the 1924 English summer, His batting suffered a decline; he scored 731 runs at 20.88, the lowest aggregate of his career and his first sub 1,000 total since 1912. In this game, he took three for 49 in the first innings and a further wicket in the second but only scored 20 runs in two innings. After 19 wickets in his next three matches, including seven in the match against the South African touring side, he was awarded a place in the England team for the first Test. In the second innings, he delivered 22 overs without taking a wicket and commentators were not impressed by his bowling. The selectors left Kilner out of the next two Tests, all rounder J. W. Hearne taking his place, but he played in the Gentlemen v Players match at Lord's. He scored a rapid 113—his only century of the season—for the Players. By lunch on the last day, the Gentlemen had followed on but were well placed to secure a draw with the score at 112 for three. Kilner settled the match by taking quick wickets and ending the innings with figures of six for 20 as the Players won by an innings. Kilner was recalled for Hearne in the fourth Test, but rain prevented all play after the first day. He bowled 12 wicketless overs, meaning he had not dismissed anyone in his first two Tests and he did not play in the last Test as Hearne returned. For Yorkshire, he had a more successful time, three times taking ten wickets in a match, including twelve for 55 in the final championship match of the season, which Yorkshire had to win to have a chance of winning the title. Yorkshire's opponents, Sussex, were bowled out twice for less than 100, and when other results went Yorkshire's way, the club were crowned champions for the third successive year. He continued to show good all round form in the less important, non first class matches, but in first class matches leading up to the Tests he was less successful. Kilner passed fifty runs just once after his century and with the ball took one wicket in 81 overs during seven innings. The only fit front line bowlers remaining were Kilner and Frank Woolley. England fielded for nearly nine hours, and Kilner bowled 56 eight ball overs to take four for 127, his first wicket in Test matches being Arthur Richardson. Given the injuries, Gilligan later said Kilner gave "a truly great performance". England could not match Australia's total, scoring only 365, but when the hosts batted again, rain fell and affected the pitch, making it responsive to spin bowling. Australia lost their last seven wickets for 39 runs in an hour and Kilner took four for 14 in his final spell of bowling to end with four for 51. In the fourth Test, which England won comfortably, Kilner scored 79, his highest Test score, adding 133 with Dodger Whysall, the largest partnership of the match. When Australia batted, Kilner took five wickets in the match and stood out as one of the best bowlers. In the final Test, Kilner took four for 97 in Australia's first innings, but could not prevent the home team's fourth victory of the series. Kilner finished the series with 129 runs and averaged 29.80, batting mainly at number eight in the order, and Wisden noted he scored runs when they were needed. In the Tests, he captured 17 wickets at an average of 23.47. Wisden noted that no one but Kilner could take wickets to support Tate, the most successful bowler. Apart from these two, no other bowler could manage more than 11 wickets and the other main bowlers averaged around 50. In all first class matches, Kilner scored 488 runs at 24.88 and took 40 wickets at 25.17. Cricket journals, such as The Cricketer, criticised his tendency to bowl leg theory—a tactic regarded as negative and overly defensive—when confronted with batting friendly conditions. He took 131 wickets at 17.92, finishing second in the Yorkshire averages and helping his team to their fourth successive County Championship. He scored 1,068 runs at an average of 30.51 with two centuries. This gave him the third double of his career. There were no Test matches in 1925, but Kilner was once again selected for the Gentlemen v Players match at Lord's, scoring 59 in his only innings and taking five wickets in the match, as well as some end of season matches for the MCC's team from the previous winter. He scored 1,187 runs at 37.09, the highest seasonal average of his career. He played for the Players for the final time at Lord's, scoring 72, but failed to take a wicket. His final first class century came against Middlesex, when he compiled 150 out of a total of 415, dominating the scoring while he was at the crease. During the summer's Ashes series, he was selected for the first four Tests. He only batted twice with a highest score of 36. For the final Test, Kilner was dropped in favour of 48 year old Wilfred Rhodes. According to the chairman of selectors, Pelham Warner, Rhodes was recalled because of the lack of an effective alternative left arm spinner. Rhodes had a successful match and England defeated Australia to win the Ashes for the first time since 1912, but Kilner had played his last Test. In nine Tests, he scored 233 runs at an average of 33.28 and took 24 wickets at 30.58. The 1927 season, which proved to be Kilner's last, was his least effective for several years and a disappointing summer for Yorkshire. The county fell to third in the Championship behind Lancashire and Nottinghamshire. In Kilner's final County Championship match, he scored 91 not out and took eight wickets, including five for 21 in the second innings, helping Yorkshire to a nine wicket victory. In his final first class match, for Yorkshire against MCC, Kilner scored an unbeaten 51 to guide Yorkshire to an eight wicket win. He ended his first class career with 14,707 runs at an average of 30.01 and 1,003 wickets at an average of 18.45.

The Maharaja of Patiala again invited Kilner to play and coach in India in the winter of 1927–28. The trip started badly when Kilner's uncle, Irving Washington, died the day after he departed, and several of Kilner's actions suggest this triggered some form of depression. He refused treatment in Southampton, wishing to return to his family, and asking for his wife. The town of Wombwell expressed enormous sympathy and tributes came from around the world. When Kilner's funeral took place on 10 April, the streets were packed with mourners. Many came from outside the town, and according to contemporary estimates 100,000 people were present to pay tribute to Kilner; there may have been more. Over a thousand people were at the cemetery for the burial, and Yorkshire cricketers carried the coffin. Two years later, the Australian team which toured England in 1930 visited Kilner's grave in Wombwell to lay a wreath. The rector at the funeral said in his tribute: "A Yorkshire wicket has fallen and one of Yorkshire's best men is out; and we lament his loss; not merely because it is the loss of a great cricketer, but because it is the loss of such a cricketer as Roy Kilner was." For Yorkshire, he appeared high in the order, but batted between number seven and number nine for England. If the circumstances of the game demanded it, he was able to play slowly and defensively and restrain his naturally aggressive style. He was particularly effective while playing the drive and pull shot. For most of his career, his effectiveness as a batsman was not compromised by his improvement and increasing workload as a bowler. Kilner's Wisden portrait also credited him with the gift of imagination, describing how he always tried to think of new ways to beat and dismiss batsmen. Kilner was a favourite of cricket writer Neville Cardus, who attributed several sayings to him in his prose. For example, Cardus described Kilner as saying about Yorkshire and Lancashire matches at the time: "What we want is no umpires and fair cheating all round", and "We say good morning and after that all we say is 'Howzat?'" Also, when asked about contemporary problems in the game, in particular the negative attitude of some teams, he replied the game was fine, it was "t'crowd that wants educating up to it."