Welcome to the third and final round. I wouldn’t expect anyone in their right mind to know the answers to these questions, but please do feel free to have a go, and I hope the quiz has provided some amusement along the way.
1. At a match between the United South and an 18 of Northampton in 1873, W.G. Grace, urged on by his brother E.M. (“If you don’t go and give him a good hiding, I shall”) laid into a spectator “with sledgehammer blows” and blacked both his eyes. What was the man’s offence?
a) He’d accused him of cheating?
b) He’d told him he needed a shave?
c) He’d complained he was taking too too long to get back on the pitch after a rain break?
2. The earliest, and perhaps most physically dangerous, of England’s fast bowling partnerships was between “Foghorn” Jackson and “Tear’em” Tarrant. Tarrant’s nickname was self-explanatory, but what was the source of Jackson’s?
Foghorn
Tear’em
3. What did George “Dickie” Wooster, for many years a stalwart of Kettering CC, have in common with Samuel Beckett?
4. The autobiography of which late-20th century Australian Captain begins by saying “I should be bitter, but I am not” and contains chapters entitled “Sacked” – “Fleeced” – “Still kicking” – “Skinned alive” – “Slaughtered” and “A Nasty business”?
5. Whose wife? An Australian society beauty “artistic in nature and noted for her fine singing voice” she married her husband, a well-known English cricketer, while he was on tour in Australia. Unfortunately, an “irreverent and indecent crowd” surged into the church before the service, occupied every possible vantage point “including the pulpit” and stole all the floral decorations as souvenirs.
6. Which team is this a description of?
“…… were genuinely hated. Apparently this stemmed from the time … when they beat everyone in sight and then went on to cause havoc off the ground. Some of the things they were supposed to have done defy description, and I also heard about fantastic brawls in pubs and hotels.”
a) The Yorkshire side of the 1920s and 30s?
b) The Australian side of the early 1970s?
c) The Surrey side of the 1950s?
7. Fast bowler Cyril Eales was sacked as a professional by Northants after hitting “the fiery Irish baronet” Sir Timothy O’Brien several times in an over at Lord’s and responding in kind when Sir Timothy instructed him to “Pitch the buggers up, Man!”. But what happened next?
a) He carried on playing for Northants as an amateur instead?
b) Sir Timothy took pity on him and offered him a job as a chauffeur?
c) He tried to burn Sir Timothy’s townhouse down in revenge?
8. Which Northamptonshire amateur of the 1940s played 3 Test matches, was one of the last men in England to be sent to prison for performing abortions and was later awarded the OBE?
9. The famously pugnacious A.N. “Monkey” Hornby (“of long ago”) once pursued a miscreant around Old Trafford until he eventually “cornered him in the Ladies’ Pavilion and gave him a good thrashing”. But who was the man and what was his offence?
a) A student who had released a monkey into the outfield as a prank?
b) A thief who had broken into the dressing room and stolen his watch?
c) A local newspaper journalist who had made some criticisms of his captaincy?
10. The rightful owner of this Sind Cricket Association cap from 1973
was an International Man of Mystery, who toured Australia with India in 1970*, but also popped up playing for another country in 1980. Which was that country? [*Thanks to Jonathan for pointing out that not only was there no World Cup in 1980, there was no Indian tour of Australia in 1970 either. I am reasonably confident, however, that this elusive character did, at some point, appear in an Indian squad of some description, without getting on to the pitch in a Test Match. Well, I did say he was a Man of Mystery.]
11. The minutes of which cricket club for a meeting of late August 1796 recorded the presence of “Mr. Thomas Paine, author of The Rights of Man”?
The Crimson Rambler 
Wonderful stuff. A guess at no. 3 is that they both played for Dublin University.
Thanks, Jonathan (and thanks for your RTs). That’s very close to the answer.
1980 world cup confuses me ? …q 11 is hambledon ?
is q4 kim hughes ??
Hi Sean. Not surprised it confuses you, because it’s nonsense. There was no World Cup in 1980. What he actually did was play for this country against the West Indies and England in 1980. What comes of relying on memory when you’ve had a couple. One of your other answers is right. Thanks for your answers and the correction!
More guessing from the pack leader:
1. C
2. Snoring
3. On the same scorecard in Wisden
4. Graeme Yallop
5. Cricketers’ wives remains my weak point
6. A
7. B
8. Not a clue
9. A
10. Canada
11. Paris CC
Thanks to all who have contributed. Very decent showings from Jonathan, Sean and Brian but an outstanding 4 in this round sees Chris into double figures and finishing well ahead of the field. Answers to this round are:
1. C. What E.M. should really have said was “Leave him, Gilbert, he’s not worth it.” A pity he chose to inflame the situation.
2. He used to blow his nose loudly every time he took a wicket (which was often).
3. They both made their only first-class appearances in the then annual fixture between Northants and Dublin University. They both played in 1925, when Reginald (not George) Wooster, in his only first-class match, took a hat trick (though it did not include Beckett).
4. It is indeed Graham Yallop.
5. A.C. MacLaren’s wife, Maud. She grew to find him exasperating (as did most people).
6. It is Yorkshire, in the heyday of Abe Waddington, George Macaulay and “Ticker” Mitchell, as reported by Fred Trueman in “Ball of Fire”.
7. A. He carried on playing for Northants as an amateur, though I have a suspicion his “sacking” was a ruse to placate Sir T. O’B.
8. This is Dr. Carlos B. “Bertie” Clarke, who played 3 Tests for the West Indies in 1939 and later came to England to work as a GP. http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/player/51475.html
9. C A journalist who’d criticised Hornby’s Captaincy of Lancashire. Perhaps A. Cook should think about adopting a similarly robust approach to his critics.
10. The country was Scotland and the Man of Mystery was Shiraz Dharsi http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/34/34442/34442.html
Our paths crossed because he also played as a pro for Blackpool and coached at my school. When he first came to England he stayed briefly in our house and very kindly gave me his Sind cap.
11. As Sean suggested, it was the Hambledon Club. Paine was supposedly in exile at France at the time, so the likeliest explanation is that this was a gesture of support for his opinions.
Thanks again, and a Happy New Year to you all.