saw the best of him. Statham's other ten matches were for an England XI (two matches in 1955 and one in 1964; these were not Test matches); the North v the South (two matches in 1957 and 1961); the International Cavaliers (four matches on this team's tour of South Africa in 1960–61); and the Bombay Cricket Association President's XI (one relief fund match in April 1968). Style and personality Gary Sobers commented upon the formidable challenge posed to batsmen by the combination of Statham and Trueman in tandem. He said of Statham, however, that he could be too accurate. Sobers explained that once a good batsman had established himself at the crease, he knew exactly where the ball was going to pitch and so, assuming he had the necessary skill, could move into position just as the ball was about to be delivered. It meant, said Sobers: "Brian had to get the good batsmen out early or he could bowl them into form". Sobers' view was echoed by Neville Cardus who wrote the post-retirement tribute to Statham in the 1969 Wisden. Cardus asserted that Statham sometimes bowled too superbly, meaning that tail-end batsmen could not cope with his unerring accuracy. Cardus acknowledged that good batsmen are not tail-enders and he famously quoted Statham as saying: "When I bowl and they miss, well, they are usually out". The onus was on the good batsman to not miss and that confirms the point made by Sobers about knowing where the ball would pitch and then getting into position before it arrived. Statham's bowling action was criticised by some people when he started playing (see above) but Cardus praised his rhythm and elasticity. Statham bowled with a somewhat chest-on style in that his left shoulder, in the delivery stride, didn't point in the direction of the delivery. Unlike Trueman, Statham did not bowl with a cartwheel action. Cardus had a theory that, because Statham was double-jointed, it was impossible for him to achieve what Cardus called forward shoulder rigidity and so a cartwheel was out of the question. Jim Laker, writing in 1960, said he had never met a more placid or pleasant character than Statham, whom he called an inspiration. Laker was struck by the accuracy of Statham's bowling because it was so rare in a fast bowler to have such sureness of aim. He cited an instance when Statham, because of