Titmus Bowls Again-6 Wickets For 44

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31659, 20 April 1968, Page 15

Titmus Bowls Again6 Wickets For 44

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) LONDON. The English test cricketer, F. G. Titmus, has proved in his first match since his Caribbean boating accident that the loss of four toes has not finished his career, the “Daily Mail” reported.

Playing for the Cricketers’ Club of London against an Army side at Munchen Gladbach, Germany, he scored 63 not out and took six wickets for 44 runs. A jubilant Titmus said afterwards “The most marvellous thing is that I’ve proved my balance is not affected.” Only a squad of British soldiers and a handful of Germans watched Titmus play the match of his life. It was the first time be had played since the accident which cost him four toes in February, before England’s third test against the West Indies. Single-Handed Win Titmus won the game in Germany almost singlehanded, with an all-round performance that confirmed that he will be back to captain Middlesex again next season. Titmus, who flew 400 miles to play because he was impatient to know the best or worst, said: “I was dead tired,

naturally. But the real worry was whethqf 1 would fall flat on my face as soon as I tried to bowl. “Nothing of the sort happened. It pained a little bit but absolutely nothing was different. “In fact, I can’t think why I bothered to have toes there in the first place,” Titmus added. The secretary of the Cricketers’ Club, Mr F. Russell, said: “Freddie batted well, but his bowling was absolutely magnificent. Injured Left Foot “The opposition had some pretty good players, but after bowling one awful loose ball, he was the Titmus we all know.”

The toes lost by Titmus were all on the left foot, which bears all his weight at the critical moment of bowling. For the match in Germany Titmus said that fie did not even have to put any padding in the boot. “In fact, all I’m going to do is have a stiff toecap built on to my boot and carry on as before,” he said. That will probably mean another five years in top-class cricket for him, the “Daily Mail” said.