page_title: Hedley Verity
section_title: First-class debut
hierarchical_section_title: Hedley Verity / County cricketer / First-class debut
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of Wilfred Rhodes bowling taken by George Beldam in 1906.
context_page_description: Hedley Verity was a professional cricketer who played for Yorkshire and England between 1930 and 1939. A slow left-arm orthodox bowler, he took 1,956 wickets in first-class cricket at an average of 14.90 and 144 wickets in 40 Tests at an average of 24.37. Named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1932, he is regarded as one of the most effective slow left-arm bowlers to have played cricket. Never someone who spun the ball sharply, he achieved success through the accuracy of his bowling. On pitches which made batting difficult, particularly ones affected by rain, he could be almost impossible to bat against.
  Verity was born in Leeds and, from an early age, wished to play cricket for Yorkshire. After establishing a good reputation in local cricket, he signed a contract as a professional cricketer playing in the Lancashire League. His first season was not a success but, after moving clubs, he began to make a name for himself. Initially a medium-paced bowler, he switched to bowling spin in an attempt to secure a place in the Yorkshire team.
context_section_description: Early in 1930, Wilfred Rhodes announced that he intended to retire from first-class cricket at the end of the season. Several spin bowlers were considered as his replacement; Hirst, who watched them all bowl in the nets, considered Verity the most impressive. Verity made his first-class debut on 21 May 1930 in an early-season non-Championship match against Sussex. Rhodes, who missed the match, spent the game watching Verity and seemed convinced afterwards that his successor had been found. Bowling in two innings, Verity took three wickets for 96 in 46.1 overs; in the process, he won praise from the press, particularly for preventing the batsmen from scoring. Rhodes returned for the next match; Verity appeared only once more in May, taking eight wickets in the match against Leicestershire, and once in June. In his fourth game, he took nine for 60 in the second innings against Glamorgan and 12 wickets in the match. Rain had damaged the pitch, making it difficult to bat against spinners. After this, Verity played regularly alongside Rhodes, and, helped by a succession of rain-affected pitches, took a total of 64 wickets in 12 games at an average of 12.42, figures which placed him top of the national bowling averages. His best performance came against Hampshire when he took 13 wickets for 83 runs, including seven for 26 in the first innings.
  Rhodes and Emmott Robinson, the senior professionals in the Yorkshire team, discussed tactics with Verity and his friend and teammate Bill Bowes, to analyse their errors. Bowes later wrote: "To Wilfred Rhodes and Emmott Robinson ... I owe most for what I learned of first-class cricket—and Hedley Verity shared my debt." Verity enjoyed long technical discussions with Rhodes and, according to Hirst, took in the advice "like a sponge takes water". Even successful performances were critiqued, including Verity's against Glamorgan and Hampshire. At the end of the season, critics in the press seemed convinced a successor to Rhodes had been found, and Verity was spoken of as a certainty to become an England regular.
caption: Wilfred Rhodes, Verity's predecessor as Yorkshire's left-arm spinner
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