# Somerset County Cricket Club in 1948

In the 1948 season, Somerset County Cricket Club competed in the County Championship, finishing twelfth out of seventeen teams. They were officially captained by three amateurs through the season; initially by Mandy Mitchell-Innes; then by Jake Seamer; and finally by George Woodhouse. The strains on consistent leadership were reflected in Somerset's variable form: after failing to win their first eight matches. Somerset did not win, lose or draw twice in consecutive matches in their following eight matches. In all, they won five times that season, and depended heavily upon the batting of Harold Gimblett, who scored 1,741 runs, and was Somerset's only player to score a century.
Other than Gimblett, only two Somerset batsmen scored over 1,000 runs in the County Championship, Bertie Buse and Miles Coope, but both players did so at a significantly lower average. The team's bowling was led Horace Hazell, who claimed 92 wickets in the Championship. Maurice Tremlett, who had been highly praised for his performance on debut in 1947 continued to show promise, scoring over 1,000 first-class runs in all first-class matches and claiming 86 wickets, positioning himself as the county's leading all-rounder.

## Background

County cricket had sojourned during the Second World War, and only returned in 1946. Most of the players had seen war service in some form or another, and very few of them had played much cricket of any form, which resulted in a temporary drop in quality. As most of the players were the same as those from before the war, it also meant that the average age of a county cricketer was higher than usual. The social change that was occurring all around Great Britain also had an effect on county cricket, and at Somerset it resulted in their professional players gathering together to ask for better playing conditions and greater pay. Despite these changes, and the relative weakness of amateur players in comparison to the professionals, Somerset, as like many other counties, insisted on naming amateurs as captains. In 1946, Bunty Longrigg, who had captained Somerset before the war had resumed his duties, but he retired at the end of the season as was replaced by Jack Meyer for 1947. Meyer had reluctantly agreed to captain the side in the absence of any other candidates, but stepped down at the end of his single season, citing his fading eyesight and lumbago.
   Somersetshire will be captained by three amateurs in rotation, N. S. Mitchell-Innes in May, J. W. Seamer in June and part of July and G. E. S. Woodhouse for the rest of the season.
—Manchester Guardian, 1948
As a result of Meyer's resignation, the Somerset committee was once more required to recruit a captain for the following season. Still limiting themselves by requiring an amateur to take on the role—Somerset would not appoint a professional captain until 1956— the committee found that there was no player "of a suitable pedigree who could make himself available for the whole summer." So, with no single candidate suitable, the Somerset committee announced that the club would be captained by three players; first by Mandy Mitchell-Innes and then by Jake Seamer during their respective periods of leave from the Sudan Political Service. Once both of these had returned to their duties, George Woodhouse would take over. In his history of Somerset County Cricket Club, Peter Roebuck describes the situation as a "remarkable state of affairs", while David Foot suggests that the true number of captains was closer to seven.

## Squad

The following players made at least one appearance for Somerset in first-class matches. Age given is at the start of Somerset's first match of the season (5 May 1948).

### Key

* † denotes that the player appeared as a wicket-keeper for Somerset in 1948
* Apps denotes the number of appearances made by the player for Somerset in 1948
* Ref denotes the reference for the player details
| Name | Nationality | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Apps |
| Les Angell | England | (1922-06-29)29 June 1922 (aged 25) | Right-handed | — | 2 |
| John Barnwell | England | (1914-06-23)23 June 1914 (aged 33) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 1 |
| Paddy Bucklan | England | (1916-09-24)24 September 1916 (aged 31) | Left-handed | Left-arm fast-medium | 1 |
| Bertie Buse | England | (1910-08-05)5 August 1910 (aged 37) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 28 |
| Fred Castle | England | (1909-04-08)8 April 1909 (aged 39) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 5 |
| Miles Coope | England | (1916-11-28)28 November 1916 (aged 31) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 29 |
| Harold Gimblett | England | (1914-10-19)19 October 1914 (aged 33) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 23 |
| Peter Graham | England | (1920-12-27)27 December 1920 (aged 27) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | 6 |
| Horace Hazell | England | (1909-09-30)30 September 1909 (aged 38) | Left-handed | Left-arm orthodox spin | 29 |
| Eric Hill | England | (1923-07-09)9 July 1923 (aged 24) | Right-handed | — | 22 |
| Trevor Jones | England | (1920-04-09)9 April 1920 (aged 28) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2 |
| George Langdale | England | (1916-03-11)11 March 1916 (aged 32) | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | 4 |
| Johnny Lawrence | England | (1911-03-29)29 March 1911 (aged 37) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break and googly | 24 |
| Wally Luckes † | England | (1901-01-01)1 January 1901 (aged 47) | Right-handed | — | 27 |
| Jack Meyer | England | (1905-03-15)15 March 1905 (aged 43) | Right-handed | Right-arm slow-medium | 2 |
| Mandy Mitchell-Innes (captain) | England | (1914-09-07)7 September 1914 (aged 33) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 5 |
| Jim Redman | England | (1926-03-01)1 March 1926 (aged 22) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | 2 |
| Stuart Rogers | England | (1923-03-18)18 March 1923 (aged 25) | Right-handed | — | 7 |
| Jake Seamer (captain) | England | (1913-06-23)23 June 1913 (aged 34) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break and googly | 11 |
| Harold Stephenson † | England | (1920-07-18)18 July 1920 (aged 27) | Right-handed | — | 8 |
| Michael Sutton | England | (1921-03-29)29 March 1921 (aged 27) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 1 |
| Maurice Tremlett | England | (1923-07-05)5 July 1923 (aged 24) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | 28 |
| Tony Vickery | England | (1925-08-26)26 August 1925 (aged 22) | Right-handed | — | 3 |
| Micky Walford | England | (1915-11-27)27 November 1915 (aged 32) | Right-handed | Left-arm orthodox spin | 4 |
| Hugh Watts | England | (1922-03-04)4 March 1922 (aged 26) | Left-handed | Right-arm leg break | 10 |
| Arthur Wellard | England | (1902-04-08)8 April 1902 (aged 46) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break, Right-arm fast-medium | 21 |
| George Woodhouse (captain) | England | (1924-02-15)15 February 1924 (aged 24) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 14 |
| Compiled from County Championship batting statistics, and three other matches, against Glamorgan, Oxford University, and the Australians. |||||||

## County Championship
### Season standings

Note: Pld = Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, LWF = Lost but won on 1st innings, DW1 = Won on 1st innings in drawn match played under 1-day rules, DL1 = Lost on 1st innings in drawn match played under 1-day rules, DWF = Won on 1st innings in drawn match, DLF = Lost on 1st innings in drawn match, ND = No Decision on 1st innings, Pts = Points, (C) = Champions.
| Team | Pld | W | L | LWF | DW1 | DL1 | DWF | DLF | ND | Pts |
| Glamorgan (C) | 26 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 172 |
| Surrey | 26 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 168 |
| Middlesex | 26 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 160 |
| Yorkshire | 26 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 156 |
| Lancashire | 26 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 152 |
| Derbyshire | 26 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 148 |
| Warwickshire | 26 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 132 |
| Gloucestershire | 26 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 128 |
| Hampshire | 26 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 120 |
| Worcestershire | 26 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 104 |
| Leicestershire | 26 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 96 |
| Somerset | 26 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 92 |
| Essex | 26 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 84 |
| Nottinghamshire | 26 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 80 |
| Kent | 26 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 76 |
| Sussex | 26 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 72 |
| Northamptonshire | 26 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 52 |
| Source: CricketArchive |||||||||||

### Match log

| No. | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result |
| 1 | 8–11 May | Derbyshire | County Ground, Taunton | Lost by 4 wickets |
| 2 | 15–18 May | Gloucestershire | County Ground, Taunton | Lost by an innings and 58 runs |
| 3 | 19–21 May | Middlesex | Lord's, London | Lost by 10 wickets |
| 4 | 22–25 May | Glamorgan | St. Helen's, Swansea | Lost by 137 runs |
| 5 | 29 May–1 June | Warwickshire | Rowdens Road, Wells | Drawn |
| 6 | 2–3 June | Essex | County Ground, Taunton | Lost by 9 wickets |
| 7 | 5–7 June | Derbyshire | Rutland Recreation Ground, Ilkeston | Lost by 11 runs |
| 8 | 9–11 June | Yorkshire | St George's Road, Harrogate | Drawn |
| 9 | 12–15 June | Worcestershire | New Road, Worcester | Won by 3 wickets |
| 10 | 19–22 June | Hampshire | Recreation Ground, Bath | Lost by 36 runs |
| 11 | 26–29 June | Nottinghamshire | Recreation Ground, Bath | Won by an innings and 25 runs |
| 12 | 30 June–1 July | Lancashire | Aigburth, Liverpool | Lost by an innings and 1 run |
| 13 | 3–6 July | Northamptonshire | Town Ground, Kettering | Drawn |
| 14 | 7–9 June | Lancashire | County Ground, Taunton | Lost by 9 wickets |
| 15 | 10–13 July | Warwickshire | Courtaulds Ground, Coventry | Drawn |
| 16 | 17–20 July | Leicestershire | Agricultural Showgrounds, Frome | Won by 166 runs |
| 17 | 21–23 July | Kent | Mote Park, Maidstone | Lost by 10 wickets |
| 18 | 24–27 July | Worcestershire | County Ground, Taunton | Lost by 174 runs |
| 19 | 28–30 July | Hampshire | Dean Park, Bournemouth | Won by 212 runs |
| 20 | 31 July–3 August | Gloucestershire | Ashley Down Ground, Bristol | Drawn |
| 21 | 4–6 August | Sussex | Clarence Park, Weston-super-Mare | Lost by 6 wickets |
| 22 | 7–10 August | Glamorgan | Clarence Park, Weston-super-Mare | Lost by 8 runs |
| 23 | 11–13 August | Surrey | Clarence Park, Weston-super-Mare | Lost by 8 wickets |
| 24 | 14–17 August | Essex | County Ground, Chelmsford | Won by 6 wickets |
| 25 | 18–20 August | Sussex | The Saffrons, Eastbourne | Drawn |
| 26 | 21–24 August | Yorkshire | County Ground, Taunton | Drawn |

### Batting averages

| Player | Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | Highest score | 100s | 50s |
| Harold Gimblett | 20 | 37 | 1,741 | 48.36 | 310 | 4 | 10 |
| Bertie Buse | 25 | 45 | 1,208 | 28.09 | 98* | 0 | 8 |
| Miles Coope | 26 | 48 | 1,107 | 23.55 | 89 | 0 | 8 |
| George Woodhouse | 13 | 24 | 484 | 23.04 | 75 | 0 | 3 |
| Maurice Tremlett | 26 | 46 | 924 | 22.00 | 96* | 0 | 3 |
| Arthur Wellard | 18 | 31 | 480 | 18.46 | 60 | 0 | 1 |
| Eric Hill | 21 | 40 | 670 | 16.75 | 85 | 0 | 3 |
| Johnny Lawrence | 23 | 39 | 604 | 16.32 | 73 | 0 | 4 |
| Qualification: 400 runs. Source: CricketArchive ||||||||

### Bowling averages

| Player | Matches | Balls | Wickets | Average | BBI | 5wi | 10wm |
| Horace Hazell | 26 | 5,179 | 92 | 19.45 | 7/35 | 7 | 0 |
| Johnny Lawrence | 23 | 3,327 | 76 | 21.57 | 6/29 | 6 | 1 |
| Maurice Tremlett | 26 | 4,236 | 80 | 24.82 | 8/31 | 4 | 0 |
| Arthur Wellard | 18 | 3,643 | 50 | 30.08 | 6/80 | 1 | 0 |
| Bertie Buse | 25 | 2,851 | 34 | 37.32 | 3/21 | 0 | 0 |
| Qualification: 30 wickets. Source: CricketArchive ||||||||

## Other first-class
### Match log

| No. | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result |
| 1 | 5–7 May | Glamorgan | Rodney Parade, Newport | Lost by 98 runs |
| 2 | 23–25 June | Oxford University | Recreation Ground, Bath | Lost by 125 runs |
| 3 | 28–30 August | Australians | County Ground, Taunton | Lost by an innings and 374 runs |