both the bowling and batting, against Australia at Old Trafford, for England, a remarkable performance by a spin bowler who played only 10 games. He was known as a great character in the dressing room but his outspoken views often saw him clash with the cricketing authorities of the time. He was dropped from the England team when he criticised England Captain Arthur Gilligan in a newspaper article and fell out with the Lancashire Committee two years later which ended his first-class career. After leaving Lancashire he returned to league cricket and continued to prove a heavy wicket taker for many years. He was Lancashire's best bowler in 1923, taking 209 wickets at 16.94, and 1924, 200 at just 13.67, but in 1925 took 'only' 121 wickets at 20.79. Ted McDonald and Dick Tyldesley began to dominate the attack for the powerful Lancashire team as they sought to end Yorkshire's dominance of the County Championship. His benefit match with Middlesex in 1925 realised £1,880 and in 1926 he played in eleven county matches, taking 36 wickets at 15.13 and helped Lancashire win the championship for the first time since 1904. A dispute with the powers that be saw his first-class career end at 40. He was equally unorthodox and inventive as a batsman, if rather less skilled, but plucky even if a risky runner between the wickets. He wrote lively accounts of his cricketing days and was, characteristically, a talented conjurer and magician. He used to experiment with new deliveries by bowling them at his wife in the nets and occasionally sent her home with bruised fingers. Books Cricket Reminiscences: Humorous and Otherwise (1923) Parkin Again: More Cricket Reminiscences (1925) Cricket Triumphs and Troubles (1936) References External links Wisden Cricketer of the Year article 1886 births 1943 deaths England Test cricketers English cricketers Lancashire cricketers Yorkshire cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year People from Eaglescliffe Cricketers from County Durham Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Players cricketers North v South cricketers Durham cricketers Sportspeople from Yorkshire English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club Australian Touring Team cricketers