GEARY ESTABLISHES BOWLING RECORD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18889, 12 October 1929, Page 30 (Supplement)

GEARY ESTABLISHES BOWLING RECORD.

TOOK TEN WICKETS AGAINST GLAMORGAN.

When George Geary took all ten Glamorgan wickets at Pontypridd on August 15 he performed a feat without parallel in the annals of cricket L and gave Leicestershire a dramatic 15 run victory. The achievement of Geary came as the climax to a series of fine performances with the ball on a pitch which always gave great assistance to bowlers, and, after taking six wickets for 78 in the Glamorgan first innings, he secured the following figures in the second:—

Overs. Mdns. Runs. Wkts. 16.2 8 18 10

He emulated the deeds of G. O. Allen and Freeman, each of whom has taken ten wickets in an innings this season (says “Sporting Life”).

Careful search has revealed the fact that, of all the cases in which the full score and analysis of those men who have taken ten wickets in an innings is available, George Geary’s perform ance of getting ten wickets for 18 runs is a record.

Unfortunately, in those early days when Clarke, for Notts, in 1845; Hinkly, for Kent, in 1848; Wisden, for Gouth, in 1850; V. E. Walker, for England against Surrey in 1859; E. M. Grace, for M.C.C. against Gentlemen of Kent in 1862, and Wootten (G.), for the AllEngland Xl.v. Yorkshire in 1865, took ten wickets in an innings, no analyses were kept. Of those bowlers who obtained ter* wickets, and of which the records are known, the nearest approach to Geary's figures are those of A. E. Vogler, who, in the Currie Cup tournament in South Africa in the season of 1906-7, took ter. wickets for 26 runs for Eastern Province against Griqualand West at Johannesburg. In England, the previous best was ten for 28 in 1899, by W. P. Howell for the Australians against Surrey at the Oval, this being his first match in England. Next in order of merit comes the late Colin Blythe, with ten for 30 in 1907, for Kent v. Northamptonshire, at Northampton. In that match he took seventeen wickets altogether, sixteen of them in one day. Geary has been one of the leading bowlers in the country for several seasons. Thirty-six years of age, his allround skill has made him one of the mainstays of the Leicestershire eleven.

He first took 100 wickets in a season *n 1914, when his “bag” was 115, but, after the war, it was not until 1923 that he regained his early high level of excellence. Possessing a high delivery and easy action—he always seems as though he could bowl for ever—Geary is the ideal type of medium-pace bowler. His length is always beyond reproach, and on a wicket that is in the least damaged he can spin the ball with deadly effect. Geary, whose useful batting and splendid slip fielding add to his value on the field, has visited Australia, South Africa—where his spin on matting waa most effective—and India with M.C.C. teams. An admirable example of all a professional cricketer should be, Geary'* great feat will give the utmost satisfaction much farther afield than the borders of his native Leicestershire.