DURING THE following year, 1907, with Goole first XI now captained by teacher William Appleyard, Jeeves’s reputation continued to grow but his ego did not. He just loved playing cricket and was equally at home representing the first team against arch-rivals or the Grasshoppers on a village green.
He did not play in the opening match of the season at Doncaster Plant Works but was back for the visit to Beverley on 11 May. It was a day of unseasonably scorching sun, under which Goole’s team suffered at the whim of a home captain who took umbrage at their late arrival.
Again, they had trouble with the trains. It was a mishap which could happen to anyone who depended upon public transport, but Beverley’s skipper showed no empathy. He punished them severely for their tardiness by allowing his team to bat on – and on and on. The ordeal of the Goole fielders at least gave Spectator the chance to wax lyrical – and he was at his most lyrical.
“Compared with the previous week, last Saturday’s weather was extremely welcome. Our grandmothers’ maxim ‘Ne’er change a clout till May be out’ was somewhat unsatisfying. In fact, the sun was so absurdly generous that one felt like casting anything rendered not strictly necessary by the police regulations. It was hot. So, by the way, was the Beverley team, in more ways than one.
“Probably the fixture with the Minster Men is the most ambitious on the Goole Town programme, for it is only a year or two since the Beverley men had regular fixtures with the Hull First XI. Unfortunately, the mighty have fallen, to some extent.
“The Goole team which took the journey on Saturday was a fairly good one on paper. Unhappily, there was no chance of testing its capabilities except in the bowling and fielding departments.
“To begin somewhere near the commencement, the Goole men had the privilege of steaming into the Hull station as the Beverley train was departing. Naturally there was weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. This was intensified later when the team arrived on the ground and found that there was only time for three hours’ play. To aggravate matters, the Goole captain lost the toss – almost a penal offence on a hot day.
“Of the subsequent proceedings much might be said were the libel laws a little more elastic. To put it gently, the Beverley captain was so incensed with the railway company for their unpunctuality that he promptly decided to penalise the Goole team. He therefore took up a position on the refreshment side of the ground – in itself an unfriendly act on such a thirsty day – and complacently watched his batsmen help themselves to runs. It may be added that they did this on the slightest provocation. The early dismissal of Mitchell flattered to deceive, and the subsequent eviction of Cooper was merely a device to lure the Goole men to disaster. Davis and Handley took full advantage of a splendid wicket and carted the ball to the four corners of the earth.
“This went on with the utmost regularity despite the fine bowling of Jeeves and Horsnell, and some good groundfielding by the Goole men. At intervals the Minster clock intimated the passing hour, but nothing interfered with the serenity of the Beverley captain. Maintaining his position near the refreshment tent, the chiming of quarters, half-hours and hours disturbed him not. He had arranged to draw stumps at six o’clock and evidently he did not care whose stumps were drawn so long as he was not required to vacate the shade of the sheltering, etc.
“Close on half-past five, however, some sportsmanlike feeling – probably hitherto dormant, or newly-born – agitated his more or less manly bosom. It struck him that, after all, it was hardly the fault of the Goole team that the train was late. Overcome with remorse, he declared his innings closed, and generously allowed Goole to go in and riot for a whole half-hour. His reward may not be of this world, but it is more or less certain later on.
“Goole started badly and never seemed likely to get the 170 runs required within the half-hour. To commence with, one of the bowlers rejoiced in the name of Wilde, and the other bore the ominous cognomen of Duck. Goole therefore retired within their defences, and refused to be comforted. They even declined to get runs when the ball was clear away. This, I am inclined to think, was bad policy. If the Beverlonians were dead to all sportsmanship, the visitors were hardly doing the right thing in following a bad example. However, the Goole score stopped short at 13 for the loss of three wickets.
“It could not be called a particularly lively day’s cricket, but there were compensations. Apart from the utter unselfishness of the Beverley men, the outstanding feature was the fielding of the Goole team. Appleyard brought off a really good catch in the long field. He watched the ball carefully for the whole of the fortnight during which it appeared to remain in the air and, after a wrestling match with a sub who was also after the catch, the Goole captain pouched the ball as if he would never, never let it go. It might, however, be just as well to remind the Goole men that the wicket-keeper prefers to have the ball thrown in to within a couple of yards of his hands when possible. Last Saturday, and the week before, the stumper had quite a warm time running after the ball. It should be remembered that a wicket-keeper, if he be a wicket-keeper, would just as soon the fieldsmen threw the ball at his nose as anywhere else.”
Goole’s reply to Beverley’s 169/3 amounted to a bizarre 13/3. It was an afternoon during which tolerance and generosity of spirit were in short supply but if that match was ill-tempered and unsatisfactory, Jeeves soon figured in four which exuded the simple joy of cricket. The opposition: Adlingfleet, Luddington, The Ladies and Mr Baker’s XI.
On Whit Monday, an informal game at the Pleasure Grounds saw Goole face Mr Baker’s XI. It was an afternoon of low scoring and high hospitality. After Goole made 36, Mr Baker’s XI replied with 31. Jeeves took two wickets while Petty took eight for…something. Spectator admitted: “I can’t say for how many as the scorer was so busy writing ‘bowled Petty’ and digesting his lunch that he had no time to keep the analysis.”
A Wednesday evening at the Pleasure Grounds then brought an enthralling tussle between the Ladies and Gentlemen. In Edwardian England, many men still regarded the roles of women in cricket firmly as those of decorative spectator or preparer of tea and the chaps somewhat condescendingly bowled left-handed and batted with broomsticks.
The Suffragette movement, at its height in its courageous pursuit of women’s rights, might have baulked at that gesture but The Ladies of Goole played a straight bat and totalled 35 (Miss J. Hunter 19) before bowling out the Gents for 25. All very civilised – and around the corner were those exquisite afternoons at Adlingfleet and Luddington. Meanwhile, 5 July brought a happy event at 72 Manuel Street. At the age of 37, Nancy Jeeves gave birth to a fourth son, Harold. After a 17-year wait, Percy had a younger brother.