Enjoying their place among the elite list of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year, the triumvirate of Gus Atkinson, Jamie Smith and Dan Worrall have created another notch in both Surrey and the almanack’s history – they are the third trio from the Club to dominate the list.
Richard Spiller profiles the previous two trios to achieve this feat…
Back in 1907, Wisden named Jack Crawford, Ernie Hayes and Neville Knox among the five while 51 years later it was the turn of Peter Loader, Arthur McIntyre and Micky Stewart.
Amid several variations, it is a tradition which began in 1889 when Surrey’s George Lohmann was named among “six great bowlers of the year” and finally settled down in 1897 in recognising the five outstanding players of the year in review.
In 1926, Surrey’s Jack Hobbs alone was named – a privilege previously extended only to WG Grace, John Wisden and Pelham Warner – after breaking Grace’s record of first-class centuries the previous season. That has yet to be repeated.
Jack Crawford
All-rounder Crawford first played for Surrey as a 17-year-old, doing the double of 1,000 first-class runs in 1906 and 1907 before just failing by two wickets the following year. Usually wearing glasses, his career did not run entirely smoothly, heading England’s bowling averages with 30 wickets at 24 on the Australian tour of 1907-08. But he fell into dispute with the Club in 1909 and moved down under. Happily, the dispute was settled after the First World War and he returned to play again between 1919 and 1921.
Ernie Hayes
Hayes was one of the great stalwarts of his time, having made his first-class debut in 1896 in a career which would last 30 years and saw him honoured with the MBE. He might have played longer but for his hands being damaged by fielding in the slips to pacers Tom Richardson and Bill Lockwood. He went on to coach Leicestershire before taking up the post at the Oval from 1929 to 1934, becoming licensee of a pub in West Norwood.
Surrey had finished sixth in the 1906 County Championship, Hayes a major factor given he scored 1,539 runs and claimed 33 wickets, overall making 2,309 first-class runs that year including seven centuries. He played five Tests for England.
Neville Knox
Knox’s career lasted just six years but in that time he earned the reputation of being one of the fastest bowlers of his era.
After making his debut in 1904, he claimed 121 wickets the following year and bettered that in 1906 with 144 at 19 apiece.
By the following year, the giant Knox was beginning to look beyond cricket, acute shin soreness being one of the reasons, appearing only sparingly and concentrating on his other main career as a singer.
Peter Loader
Step forward to 1958 and Surrey were on the verge of completing their historic seventh County Championship success in a row.
Fast bowler Loader had emerged to complement the all-conquering Alec Bedser, Jim Laker and Tony Lock, making his England debut against Pakistan at the Oval in 1954. International opportunities were limited, though, by competing with the likes of Fred Trueman, Brian Statham and Frank Tyson.
An injury to Statham in 1957 offered an opening though, and Loader took it keenly by claiming 6-36 against West Indies at Headingley, which included his country’s first post-war hat-trick. Loader would claim more than 100 wickets in a season seven times, playing 13 Tests and moving to Australia after retirement in 1963.
Arthur McIntyre
McIntyre had to be patient for his opportunity, making his debut just before the Second World War and then losing six seasons. He was 28 when peace was restored but he would go on to play a key role in Surrey’s supreme run in the 1950s, keeping superbly to Lock and Laker plus the medium-pace of Bedser, maximising the medium-pacer’s effectiveness by standing up to the stumps.
Seven first-class centuries underlined his all-round contribution and McIntyre was only limited to three Tests by being up against the great Godfrey Evans.
At the end of Surrey’s run, McIntyre succeeded Andy Sandham as county coach, a role he would fulfil for the next 18 years.
Micky Stewart
Stewart’s proficiency as a run-maker at the top of the order had become a feature for his county, his value doubled by brilliance as a short-leg fielder. Wisden’s award came after a remarkable season in 1957 in which he took 77 catches, including a world-record seven in one innings at Northampton, on top of 1,290 Championship runs.
There was much to come for Stewart – a Test career of eight matches the following decade, Surrey captain from 1963-72 and then becoming the first manager of both county and country. He is now England’s oldest men’s Test cricketer at 92 and was awarded the OBE in 1998.
