Abe Waddington

Yorkshire's bowling attack was severely depleted when cricket resumed in 1919 owing to a combination of retirements and deaths in the war. Additionally, George Hirst was past his best, meaning that Yorkshire needed to recruit new fast bowlers.[6][8] In May and June, the team struggled to dismiss opposing sides on hard pitches; their results were poor and when two important matches were lost in June, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack suggested that "things looked very black".[9]

At this point in the season the Yorkshire cricketers Roy Kilner and Arthur Dolphin, who like Waddington had also been wounded at the Somme, recommended him to the Yorkshire committee, probably after seeing him take part in cricket matches in the army.[6] Having returned to play for Laisterdyke in the Bradford League,[4] Waddington was called into the Yorkshire side at the beginning of July for the County Championship match against Derbyshire. On his first-class debut, he took four for 26 (four wickets for 26 runs) in 26 overs, and after missing the next match, he followed up with nine wickets against Essex in his second game, taking his first five-wicket haul in the second innings of that match.[4][5] From Waddington's debut, Yorkshire's results improved and the team won the Championship. Wisden judged that Waddington's contribution was crucial: "Without him Yorkshire would certainly not have won the Championship".[9] He and Wilfred Rhodes formed an effective bowling partnership and, according to Wisden, "Rhodes and Waddington, with E. R. Wilson, for a few weeks, and [Emmott] Robinson to help them, carried the eleven from success to success".[9] It described Waddington as bowling "left-hand, medium pace inclining to fast", with a "delivery that seems part of himself—free from any suggestion of labour or undue effort"; it noted that he always bowled a good length and made the ball bounce sharply after pitching. The writer judged Waddington's first season had been one of "exceptional promise" and predicted that Waddington would go on to "great things".[9] In the official history of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Derek Hodgson suggests that Waddington's versatility brought him success, as did the line which he bowled to the batsmen.[10] He finished with 100 wickets at an average of 18.74, with eight five-wicket returns.[11] Waddington was only the sixth bowler in first-class cricket history to reach 100 wickets in his debut year.[12]

Yorkshire fell to fourth in the Championship in 1920;[13] most of the bowling responsibility fell once more on Waddington and Rhodes, and the other bowlers provided little support.[14] Despite a good start to the season, the team faded in the latter part of the year.[15] Wisden suggested that "in the circumstances [Rhodes and Waddington] did wonders, Waddington having some irresistible days against the weaker counties."[14] He took 141 wickets in the season at an average of 16.79.[11] His best figures came in the two matches against Northamptonshire: in the first game he took 11 wickets, and in the second took 13 wickets for 48 runs, including seven for 18 in the first innings, and a hat-trick.[notes 2][5][16] Waddington's season concluded with his selection for the professional "Players" teams in the prestigious Gentlemen v Players match at the Scarborough Festival. He was one of four players from Yorkshire chosen to tour Australia that winter with the MCC.[notes 3][18] Hodgson suggests that he was chosen as "the discovery of the first post-war period".[10]

Waddington (right) and Wilfred Rhodes on tour in Australia in 1920

The 1920–21 MCC tour to Australia was unsuccessful for the tourists. Captained by J. W. H. T. Douglas, the team was overwhelmed by Australia, losing all five Test matches.[19] Wisden stated that the "chief cause of failure was the bowling".[19] The MCC had been reluctant to tour so soon after the war, and critics had predicted the bowling would be weak in Australian conditions, where the pitches were generally hard and good for batting.[19]

At the beginning of November, before the first-class matches began, Waddington was operated on for abscesses,[20] and missed the first five games.[21] He played only one first-class match before the first Test, but took wickets in several minor matches.[5] Selected for the first Test, he took the first wicket to fall in the game, that of Charlie Macartney, but failed to take another wicket in the match while conceding 88 runs, hampered by a leg injury in the later stages.[22][23] He did not play another Test until the fourth, where he bowled five overs for 31 runs.[5] Waddington ended the tour with seven wickets at an average of 46.71; his single Test wicket was at a cost of 119 runs.[5][11] The tour was a frustrating experience for Waddington, who found the heat difficult to deal with; he was also unhappy that most of his appearances came in the non-first-class country matches, many against opponents fielding more than eleven players to make a more even fight. Throughout the tour, the press criticised Douglas for the way he used bowlers. Although Yorkshire used Waddington in short bursts with the objective of taking wickets, Douglas used him to bowl long defensive spells with the prime objective of run-saving, a task to which Waddington was unsuited.[10][24] Considered a failure[10]—Wisden later described his tour as "a sad disappointment"[25]—Waddington did not play for England again and was never seriously considered for a recall.[24] He did have one batting success on the tour, scoring his maiden first-class fifty against an "Australian XI".[5]

In the 1921 season, Waddington took 105 wickets at an average of 18.94.[11] The introduction of the pace bowler George Macaulay into the team gave him more support,[24] but according to a later edition of Wisden, Waddington's form was poor that year.[25] The almanack's review of the 1921 season suggested that, when at full strength, Yorkshire had the best bowling attack in the championship,[26] but the team finished third.[13] Both Waddington and Yorkshire were more successful the following year:[25] the county won the first of four successive championships,[13] and Waddington took 133 wickets at an average of 16.08.[11] He was often effective in the most important matches. Wisden suggested that "Yorkshire were very good at every point, but their main strength lay in the excellence and variety of their bowling ... [Waddington] was, on occasions, more successful against strong sides than he had ever been before. He had days of astonishing success and once, at least, bowled with a bewildering swerve [i. e. swing bowling] that recalled George Hirst at his best."[25] Among his best performances were figures of eight for 34 against Northamptonshire (the best of his career), seven wickets for six runs in a Sussex total of 20 and eight for 35 against Hampshire. His season ended with festival games at Eastbourne, where he represented the North against the South and played for a team of ex-Royal Air Force servicemen.[5]

Waddington was less effective in 1923, and despite a good bowling average, he was inconsistent.[27] In July, he slipped on wet grass when he was about to bowl against Leicestershire at Fartown Ground, Huddersfield; the subsequent shoulder injury effectively ended his season,[10][28] apart from one match against Lancashire in which he bowled just six overs.[5] In September, the injury required an operation to repair a torn ligament.[29] The injury affected the remainder of his career and his bowling was never as effective.[4][30] In total, before his injury, he took 65 wickets at 18.23 in 1923.[11] That season, he recorded his best figures with the bat; after never having a first-class batting average better than 12 in an English season, he scored 317 runs at 24.38, including his first fifty in England.[31]

On his return in 1924, Waddington bowled little in his first matches,[5] but was used more in Yorkshire's defeat by Middlesex at Lord's where he bowled 42 overs to take three for 116. Several Yorkshire players were absent, playing representative matches,[notes 4] but the game had consequences later in the season.[32][33] In the return match at Sheffield in July, the Yorkshire players seemed determined to have revenge but could only secure a draw. Critics thought that the Yorkshire bowlers appealed excessively to the umpires, and the Middlesex players were barracked by the crowd. The journalist Alfred Pullin described the match as "a sorry exhibition of ill feeling and bad manners."[33]

The umpires reported Waddington to the cricket committee of the MCC for inciting the crowd through his appeals and gestures of displeasure when batsmen were not given out. Waddington maintained his innocence but the MCC supported the umpires, finding him guilty of dissent,[33][34] and the Yorkshire president Lord Hawke persuaded him to write a letter of apology to the MCC secretary.[33] After the game, Middlesex threatened to cancel their future matches against Yorkshire;[notes 5] rumours circulated that the Yorkshire captain Geoffrey Wilson had offered to resign and that Waddington would be dropped.[30] Later in 1924, Yorkshire had another controversial match, this time against Surrey, where there were disputes on the field, but no official complaint was made.[10] The editor of Wisden suggested that a handful of players were the root cause of Yorkshire's problem;[35] Geoffrey Wilson resigned at the end of the season,[36] and these events probably cost Macaulay a place in the England Test team.[35] The Yorkshire cricketer and journalist Bill Bowes later recalled a story in circulation that Waddington had deliberately tripped and injured the Middlesex player J. W. Hearne around this period, although he did not specify if it was during the 1924 Sheffield match.[37] Waddington ended the season with 69 wickets at an average of 21.55, but appeared less effective than before his injury.[11][38]

Waddington took more than 100 wickets in a season for the final time in 1925. Although his form was mixed, he achieved some good performances.[39] Wisden attributed Yorkshire's championship victory to their bowlers and suggested that "Waddington enjoyed a well-merited success".[40] In total, he took 109 wickets at an average of 20.24.[11] In 1926 both he and the other bowlers were less successful as Yorkshire slipped to second.[13][41] Wisden noticed a decline in his bowling, but expected him to recover his form.[41] He took 78 wickets at an average of 23.30,[11] and scored his highest aggregate with the bat in a season, making 525 runs with two fifties.[31] In the English winter of 1926–27, he travelled to India and worked as a cricket coach.[30]

Waddington's bowling declined further in 1927, to the point where Wisden suggested his record was poor and his "work was only occasionally worthy of his reputation".[42] The effectiveness of the other bowlers was similarly reduced, and combined with a cautious, safety-first approach, Yorkshire had a mixed season and finished third.[13][43] Waddington took 45 wickets at 32.02,[11] and conceded a high number of runs on many occasions.[44] However, in what was his last season, he scored his only first-class century, an innings of 114 against Worcestershire.[30] His final first-class appearance was for the North against the South at the Folkestone Festival, where he bowled 16 overs without taking a wicket.[45] At the end of the season, Waddington was offered a new contract despite his decline in bowling and continuing problems from his injured shoulder. He turned it down, ending his county cricket career.[30] In all first-class matches, Waddington took 852 wickets at an average of 19.75 and scored 2,527 runs at an average of 12.89 with four fifties as well as the century.[1] The following season, Yorkshire awarded him a testimonial of £1,000.[46]