78 Facts About Norman Yardley

Norman Walter Dransfield Yardley was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England, as a right-handed batsman and occasional bowler.

Norman Yardley made his Yorkshire debut in 1936 and played for the county until 1955, when he retired as a player.

Norman Yardley followed Hammond as skipper in 1947, and captained England intermittently until 1950 when his business commitments allowed.

Norman Yardley remained in the position until 1955, during a time when Yorkshire had several difficult players in their dressing room.

Under Norman Yardley, Yorkshire were joint champions in 1949 but subsequently on a number of occasions, too often for the liking of supporters, finished second to Surrey in the County Championship.

Norman Yardley served as a Test match selector between 1951 and 1954, acting as chairman of selectors in 1952.

Norman Yardley was born in Royston, near Barnsley, on 19 March 1915 to a family with no real background in cricket.

Norman Yardley was sent to St Peter's, York, where he made a good impression as a cricketer, being in the school team for five years from 1930 and captain in his final two years.

Norman Yardley headed the bowling averages, with 40 wickets at 11.90 runs per wicket.

In 1934, Norman Yardley played in two further representative matches at Lord's, for The Rest against Lord's Schools, and for Public Schools against The Army, making 117, the first century in the fixture for Public Schools, and 63.

Norman Yardley played for Yorkshire Second XI once in 1932, twice in 1933 and twice in 1934.

Norman Yardley won the North of England Squash Championships every year between 1934 and 1939, and won his Blue in hockey, squash, and Rugby fives.

Norman Yardley played for the University team in his first year, the 1935 season, making ten first-class appearances without much success.

Norman Yardley passed fifty on just one occasion that season, scoring 319 runs at an average of 16.78, and bowled 69 balls without taking a wicket.

Norman Yardley topped the Cambridge batting averages and played an effective innings of 90 in the University Match.

Norman Yardley scored 12 in his only innings and took a wicket.

Norman Yardley played in a further seven matches for Yorkshire, scoring 309 runs in ten innings with a highest score of 89 against Hampshire, with further fifties against Surrey and Marylebone Cricket Club.

Norman Yardley continued to make progress in his batting in 1937.

Norman Yardley's form saw him selected for the Gentlemen against the Players at Lord's, although he scored only 7 and 4, and when he joined Yorkshire after the Cambridge season, he made his first century for the county against Surrey, as well as three other fifties.

Norman Yardley was picked for the winter MCC tour of India, under the captaincy of Lord Tennyson, where he scored 519 runs at an average 25.95 but only took one wicket.

Norman Yardley was chosen to captain Cambridge in his final season in the team; although his side did not win a match, Yardley enjoyed some personal success.

Norman Yardley was included in different representative sides; he was selected in a Test trial, playing for the Rest, and played a second game against the Australians for the Gentlemen of England, although he did not pass fifty in either match.

Norman Yardley did not make the full England side but was twelfth man in two Tests against Australia.

Norman Yardley made a good start to the tour, scoring centuries in his first two innings, both surpassing his previous highest score.

Hutton returned for the second match, and the successes of other batsmen meant that Norman Yardley was not required in the other Tests on the tour.

Norman Yardley played his first full season for Yorkshire, scoring centuries against Cambridge, Warwickshire and Sussex; in total, he scored 1,086 runs at an average of 27.84 and took 17 wickets.

War brought first-class cricket to an end in 1939, and Norman Yardley joined the 1st Battalion of the Green Howards, along with his Yorkshire team-mate Hedley Verity.

Norman Yardley scored 788 runs at an average of 23.17, with just one century, for Yorkshire against Nottinghamshire.

Norman Yardley was not selected for any Test matches, but appeared for England in a Test trial and scored 39 and 11.

Norman Yardley played twice for the MCC and represented the Gentlemen against the Players, making 29 and a duck in a heavy defeat for the amateurs.

Norman Yardley did not bowl in the first six matches, but in his first over of the tour dismissed Arthur Morris who had already scored a century.

The first time they seemed fairly amused, but when he was regularly breaking partnerships, their enthusiasm knew no bounds, and it is said that in Melbourne after he had obtained Bradman's wicket for the third time, Norman Yardley blushed profusely when one excited team-mate slapped him on the back and shouted "Well, bowled, Spofforth".

Bowling leg theory with a fielders concentrated on the leg side, Norman Yardley managed to move the ball off the seam.

Norman Yardley dismissed Bradman twice in the match, having figures of three for 67 in the second innings and taking five wickets in the match.

Norman Yardley had substantial bowling workload in the fourth Test, delivering 31 overs in Australia's first innings to take three for 101.

When Hammond did not play in the final Test, Norman Yardley became captain, doing so courageously according to Wisden, which pointed out that Norman Yardley used field placing more effectively than Hammond.

Norman Yardley played in the drawn Test on the short tour to New Zealand which followed, opening the batting scoring 22 and taking a wicket.

Norman Yardley enjoyed his most successful season with the bat in the 1947 season, scoring 1,906 runs at an average of 44.32 with five centuries; his bowling took eleven wickets.

England were unexpectedly made to follow on in the face of a large South African total; when Norman Yardley came to the crease in the second innings, England looked likely to be defeated at 170 for four, still 155 runs behind the tourists.

Norman Yardley scored 99, being caught in the slips just before reaching his century, but his batting had helped to save the game and earned praise from Wisden for "batting soundly".

Norman Yardley eventually became the first test captain to be dismissed for 99 in a test innings Yardley and Denis Compton added 237, which was a record partnership for the fifth wicket in England and remains, in August 2010, England's best fifth wicket stand against South Africa.

Norman Yardley scored 273 runs at an average of 39.00 in the series.

Norman Yardley captained the Gentlemen against the Players for the first time, at Lord's and Scarborough, and captained The Rest against Middlesex, the County Champions.

However, Norman Yardley resumed his leadership of England when Australia, captained by Bradman, toured the country without losing a match.

Norman Yardley led the MCC in an early match against the tourists, and captained England in a Test trial, but only played three other games, all for Yorkshire, before the first Test, with a top score of 46.

Norman Yardley then set defensive fields to keep down Australia's scoring rate, taking a wicket himself with his fourth ball as part of figures of two for 32.

Norman Yardley batted an hour in the second innings to score 22 but Australia recorded an eight wicket win.

Norman Yardley frequently changed his bowlers to unsettle the Australians in their first innings, and took two for 35 himself as England briefly held the advantage.

However, the lower order batsmen mounted a recovery, Norman Yardley being criticised for his reluctance to bowl Doug Wright.

Norman Yardley took two wickets in two balls in Australia's second innings, narrowly missing a hat-trick when Keith Miller only just got his bat down on the ball to avoid being bowled, and had figures of two for 36, but Australia scored 460 for seven and bowled England out for 186.

In between Tests, Norman Yardley scored his only century of the season, but his contributions to the third Test were minimal.

Norman Yardley's men scored 496 and achieved a first innings lead of 38, Norman Yardley contributing two wickets.

Norman Yardley kept the team batting for five minutes on the last day, allowing him to use the heavy roller to quicken the break-up of the pitch.

Norman Yardley seemed unsure of the best course of action as Bradman and Arthur Morris added 301 runs for the second wicket; he resorted to using the very occasional leg spin of Hutton, who was hit for 30 runs in four overs, although Norman Yardley himself dropped a catch from Hutton's bowling.

The pitch conditions were unfavourable for the faster bowlers, but the ineffectiveness of the spinners forced Norman Yardley to take the new ball.

Bowes later criticised Norman Yardley for allowing Australia to score quickly enough to win; he believed that Norman Yardley used Hutton's bowling to encourage the tourists to take risks against lesser bowling to keep up with required rate of scoring, but he miscalculated in using such bowling for too long.

Norman Yardley managed 150 runs at an average of 16.66, not passing fifty in a single innings.

Mann did well enough to retain the position for two Tests in the 1949 season; Freddie Brown captained the other two and Norman Yardley did not play for England that year.

Norman Yardley did not score a century in the County Championship, but passed three figures for Yorkshire against the New Zealand touring team and for the North against the South in a festival match.

Norman Yardley scored 1,082 runs at an average of 24.59, the final time he reached four figures in a season.

The West Indies toured England and Norman Yardley resumed the England captaincy; he captained MCC against the tourists and England against The Rest in a Test trial.

Brown assumed the captaincy of England for the final Test against West Indies and Norman Yardley was left out of the team.

Norman Yardley won the first Test but lost the next two, West Indies' first Test wins in England; the final Test was lost by Brown.

At the time, Norman Yardley was still considered the best amateur candidate.

In 20 Tests, Norman Yardley scored 812 runs at an average of 25.37 and four fifties.

Norman Yardley scored more than 850 runs in each season, but only managed two more centuries.

Norman Yardley used himself as a bowler more often in 1951 and 1952, delivering more overs than any other time in his career in the latter year.

Norman Yardley took 32 and 43 wickets respectively in each season, his highest two season totals, and taking five wickets in an innings on three occasions, having only done so twice before.

Norman Yardley was unquestionably one of the best captains I have ever played with or against.

Norman Yardley disliked confrontation, and Ray Illingworth, who played under him, described him as too nice to stand up to his players.

Between 1951 and 1954, Norman Yardley served as a Test selector, serving as chairman in 1952 at the time when Hutton was chosen as England captain.

Norman Yardley ended his first-class career with 18,173 runs at an average of 31.17, and 279 wickets at an average of 30.48.

Norman Yardley possessed a fluent, attractive style, and his height allowed him to reach the ball and drive more comfortably than most.

Norman Yardley performed best when his side was in difficulty, and he could play attacking or defensive innings depending on the situation.

Norman Yardley bowled intelligently, leading to greater rewards than his gentle style led opponents to expect, but remained a reluctant bowler who was surprised by his own success.

Norman Yardley was a good fielder in positions close to the batsmen.

Norman Yardley served on the Yorkshire Cricket Committee, and from 1981, he was Yorkshire President.

Norman Yardley resigned early in 1984 after a vote of no confidence, dismayed by the attitude of Boycott's supporters.