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Roy Kilner
Personal information
Full name
Roy Kilner
BattingLeft-handed batsman
BowlingLeft arm orthodox spin
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 214)14 June 1924 v South Africa
Last Test27 July 1926 v Australia
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1911–1927Yorkshire
Career statistics
Competition Tests First-class
Matches 9 416
Runs scored 233 14,707
Batting average 33.28 30.01
100s/50s 0/2 18/82
Top score 74 206 not out
Balls bowled 2,368 58,678
Wickets 24 1003
Bowling average 30.58 18.45
5 wickets in innings 0 48
10 wickets in match 0 10
Best bowling 4/58 8/26
Catches/stumpings 6/0 266/0
Source: [1], 23 April 2010

Roy Kilner (17 October 1890 – 5 April 1928) was an English professional cricketer who played nine Test matches for England between 1924 and 1926. An all-rounder, he played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1911 and 1927. In all first-class cricket matches, he scored 14,707 runs at an average of 30.01 and took 1,003 wickets at an average of 18.45. Kilner scored 1,000 runs in a season ten times and took 100 wickets in a season five times. On four occasions, he completed the double.

Kilner first played for Yorkshire as a batsman before the First World War, establishing a regular place in the side. After being wounded in the war, he returned in 1919 to a Yorkshire side which was short of bowlers. As a result, Kilner began to practise his bowling to the point where he became highly regarded as a slow left arm bowler. His form brought selection by England in 1924 and a visit to Australia for the Ashes tour of 1924–25. Although the second most successful bowler after Maurice Tate on the tour, his bowling subsequently went into a decline, and did not trouble batsmen on good pitches. He was selected during the 1926 Ashes but was dropped for the final Test. Kilner went on several coaching trips to India during English winters, and on one of these, in 1927–28, he contracted an illness; on his return to England, he died at age 37. His funeral was attended by over 100,000 people; there was widespread sadness at his death. He was a popular player with both cricketers and spectators due to his attacking batting and his warm personality.

Early Life

Kilner was born on 17 October 1890 in Wombwell, Barnsley, Yorkshire, England, the second son and one of eleven children of Seth Kilner and Mary Alice Washington.[1] From an early age Roy was encouraged to play cricket by his father and his uncle, Irving Washington, the former Yorkshire cricketer. He soon showed ability in cricket and football and played cricket for the Mitchell Main team as the sport came to take up much of his spare time. Roy, like the rest of his family, attended Wombwell Parish Church and, like his brothers, was a member of the Church Lads' Brigade.[2] Roy's brother Norman also played cricket, going on to play for Yorkshire and later Warwickshire.[2]

In 1904, at the age of 14, Kilner began to play for the Mitchell Main first team, playing two games without making much of an impression.[2] Although he played regularly from the 1905 season, Kilner was not successful as a batsman. He played very aggressively and played too many shots, losing his wicket as a result. He was more effective as a bowler but did not bowl a large number of overs.[3] It was not until the 1909 season that his batting developed. He scored his first century for the team and began to make consistently good scores, which attracted the attention of Yorkshire.[4]

First years at Yorkshire

Debut for Yorkshire

After scoring another century for Mitchell Main at the start of the 1910 season, Kilner was chosen to play for Yorkshire Second XI. In his first season, he only managed to take three wickets with the ball and had a batting average of 12.50, although he continued to do well for Mitchell Main.[5] For the 1911 season, Yorkshire allocated Kilner to Harrogate Cricket Club where he began to record good performances in batting and bowling. Although his form for Yorkshire Second XI was more inconsistent, he made his first-class debut for Yorkshire that season against Somerset in the County Championship. He scored 0 and 14 and did not bowl,[6] and in a further six matches for Yorkshire that season, his highest score was 18 and his average with the bat was just 6.66 in ten innings; his bowling did not take any wickets.[7][8] For Harrogate, he was more successful with 519 runs and 28 wickets.[9]

Yorkshire regular

At the beginning of the 1912 season, Kilner showed good form for Yorkshire Second XI in early matches, scoring two centuries. The second of these centuries was in a match against Rotherham where he also took 12 wickets for 75 in the game.[10] These performances, and Kilner's continued good form for Harrogate, led to a recall to the Yorkshire first team, replacing the injured George Hirst for the match against Nottinghamshire.[11] On the first morning, Kilner was used as the sixth bowler in the face of a big partnership and proved successful enough to keep bowling; he finished with four wickets for 66 runs. Although failing to score in the first innings, he came into bat in the second innings with Yorkshire 133 for four, needing 249 to win. He shared a partnership of 113 for the fifth wicket and scored 83 not out to take Yorkshire to a five wicket win.[10][12] Even after Hirst returned from injury, this performance kept Kilner in the team for the rest of the season, and he played 23 times for Yorkshire in a side that won the County Championship that year.[7][13] He scored 570 runs at an average of 22.80 and took 16 wickets at an average of 22.12. This would have been considered respectable for a first full season.[7][8][13] Kilner no longer played for the Yorkshire second team after 1912 and, following one game in the 1913 season, ceased playing for Harrogate. In his years at that club, he scored 967 runs at an average of 38.68 and taken 71 wickets at an average of under ten runs per wicket.[13]

The 1913 season saw Kilner score 1,586 at an average of 34.47, which remained the highest aggregate of runs he made in his career and placed him third in the Yorkshire batting averages.[7][14] He also took 18 wickets at an average of 25.22.[8] At the end of May and beginning of June, Kilner took part in century partnerships in four consecutive matches, culminating in his maiden first-class century against Leicestershire.[15][16] During his innings of 104, he hit 18 fours and shared a partnership of 184 in under two hours with Major Booth, rescuing Yorkshire from 58 for five and taking the score to 300.[13][16] Throughout the season, he played several innings which helped his side, and although often making uncertain starts to his innings and showing impatience, his best performances seemed to come when Yorkshire needed him to do well. His batting was always adventurous and attacking but his bowling was not needed very often due to the strength and variety of the other Yorkshire bowlers.[17]

An illness during the winter of 1913–14 took its toll on Kilner at the start of the 1914 season.[18] He passed 1,000 runs for the second time but due to his patchy form during the season,[19] his aggregate of runs and his average both fell. He scored 1,329 runs at an average of 30.90 during the season, placing him fourth in the Yorkshire batting averages.[7][20] His bowling was rarely used and he took just one wicket in the season.[8][19] Kilner scored his second first-class century against Gloucestershire late in the season. In the innings, Kilner scored 169, batting for nearly three and a half hours, and hitting 28 fours.[21]

First World War

With World War I looming, following Yorkshire's final County Championship match Kilner and Booth enlisted in the army. They joined the Leeds and Bradford "Pals" regiment in the West Yorkshire Regiment.[22] Kilner trained as a mechanic at the start of the war[23] and then was stationed at Colsterdale in North Yorkshire as a Corporal.[24] In November 1914, while on leave, Kilner married Annie Campbelljohn, the daughter of James Camplejohn, an engineer, at Wombwell Parish Church; Booth served as best man.[24] During the war, Annie gave birth to the couple's first child, Roy junior.[25] Kilner was stationed with his regiment in Egypt but was forced home with an injury. When he recovered, he was sent to fight on the Western Front in France.[25] During the Battle of the Somme, he was injured shortly before his regiment engaged in the fighting, receiving a shrapnel wound in the wrist; later in the same action, his friend Major Booth was killed.[25][26] Kilner was sent to recover in a military hospital near Blackpool before being assigned to Preston Garrison as a mechanic.[23][25] In 1917, his brother Bernard was killed at Ypres.[23]

Having previously shown his footballing ability for Mitchell Main in the winter of 1912–13,[13] Kilner resumed his career in the sport while posted at Preston during the war. He played for Preston North End F.C. at right-back. Sometimes playing under the name of Smith to avoid detection (although it is not certain why he did so), his first certain appearance for the team was in September 1918. However, it is unclear how often he actually represented the club.[23]

First-class career after the war

From batsman to bowler

When cricket resumed after the war in 1919, Yorkshire were short of good bowlers due to the death of Booth in the war and Alonzo Drake from illness as well as the decline in the bowling of George Hirst. As a result, Kilner was asked to do much more bowling, although he was not used as a front-line bowler.[26][27] He took 45 wickets, far more than he had previously managed, at an average of 18.12 which placed him third in the Yorkshire bowling averages.[8][28] With the bat he scored three centuries and reached 1,135 runs at an average of 29.10.[7] He was also selected to play for the Players against the Gentlemen in the end of season match at Scarborough, although he did not take a wicket and did not score.[29] In the season, many new players were tried, including Kilner's brother Norman.[30] Two-day matches were tried in the County Championship in a short-lived experiment; Yorkshire won the Championship again.[30]

County games returned to three days for the 1920 season, and in his first match Kilner scored 206 not out against Derbyshire which was to remain the highest score of his career. He batted for four hours, hitting 24 fours and two sixes.[31] He could have been caught when he had scored around fifty, but the innings was described in a local newspaper as a brilliant one, with his driving and pulling being particularly effective.[32] Kilner was selected for CI Thornton's XI in an end of season match at Scarborough to play the Marylebone Cricket Club (M.C.C.) side—at the time, the M.C.C. administered English cricket, and England teams toured under its name—which visited Australia that winter,[33] but was not chosen for any of the other representative games during the season.[15] In total, he scored 1,316 at an average of 37.09 with two more centuries which placed him second in the Yorkshire batting averages.[7][34] With the ball, he took 27 wickets but his average was relatively high.[8][35] Critics believed that he should have bowled more often and this opinion was shared by Wilfred Rhodes who was Yorkshire's main slow left-arm spinner. Rhodes was conscious that he was getting older and needed back up as a spinner; he considered Kilner to be the best option and encouraged him to practise to improve his bowling.[35] Consequently, during the winter, Kilner spent a lot of time bowling in the yard of the hotel in Wombwell where his father was landlord.[35] Around the same time he celebrated the birth of his second son, named Major after Major Booth.[36]

Kilner's bowling was more of a force in the 1921 season. Being used far more frequently than in previous seasons, he took 61 wickets at an average of 18.80,[8] including the first occasions on which he took five wickets in an innings in matches against Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire.[37][38] He scored 1,137 runs at an average of 27.73,[7] including centuries in two matches against Northamptonshire. In these games, he also shared two big partnerships: 276 with Rhodes in one game and 299 with Percy Holmes in the other.[39] However, his overall performance left him well down the Yorkshire batting averages in sixth place, while he finished fourth in the Yorkshire bowling averages.[note 1][40][41] He continued to practise bowling through the winter.[39]

Established all-rounder

By 1922, Kilner's bowling had improved to the extent that he passed 100 wickets in the season for the first time, taking 122 wickets at an average of 14.72.[8] Wisden recognised that this was the first season when he was a front-line bowler, "[leaving] his previous form far behind."[26] In the first five games of the season, he took 21 wickets for 142 runs.[42] In the match against Essex, he reached ten wickets in the match for the first time, taking eleven wickets for 51 runs in the match.[43] Against Hampshire, he took ten wickets for 90 runs, including six wickets for 13 in the second innings as Hampshire were bowled out for 44.[44] At the same time, he maintained his batting form with a similar record to the previous season. He scored 1,198 runs at an average of 27.22 and scored two centuries.[7] This meant that he completed the double for the first time, the sign of a quality all-round cricketer.[45] Yorkshire won the County Championship,[42] and Kilner was fifth in the Yorkshire batting averages and fourth in the bowling averages.[46][47] At the end of the season, he was again selected for CI Thornton's XI, as well in two games at Eastbourne.[15] Over the English winter, Kilner accepted a job coaching for the Maharaja of Patiala in India. He played in several first-class matches,[15][45] and enjoyed himself to the extent that he returned the following winter.[45]

Statistically, Kilner's peak as a bowler came in the 1923 season, where he took 158 wickets at an average of 12.90 and finished second in the Yorkshire bowling averages.[8][48] With the bat, he suffered a slight decline: he did not score a hundred for the first time since 1912,[49] but still scored 1,401 runs at an average of 34.17 and including nine scores over 50.[7] This placed him third in the Yorkshire batting averages, his contributions helping Yorkshire to retain the County Championship.[49] He made a very effective start to the season, taking 27 wickets in the first four matches for just 157 runs,[50][51] including the best figures of his career, eight for 26 against Glamorgan,[52] and six for 14 against Middlesex.[53] Later that season, he accomplished what was regarded by Wisden as one of his best bowling feats against Surrey.[26] Surrey needed 184 to win and when they were 127 for two, they seemed sure to win. However, Emmott Robinson took quick wickets before Kilner took the last five wickets while giving away only 15 runs, with three bowled, one leg before wicket (l.b.w.) and one caught by the wicket-keeper. He finished with bowling figures of six for 22 and took ten wickets in the match. He had been under the impression that Surrey had only needed seven runs (rather than the actual 27 they required) to win at the end, and his team-mates remembered that he was pale with effort and concentration.[51][54] His efforts were recognised as winning a game which seemed lost.[26] Also in that season, Kilner was picked for the Gentlemen v Players match at Lord's Cricket Ground, the most prestigious such fixture at the time.[49] Wisden commented that he seemed certain to be picked for a Test side shortly (there were no Test matches played in that summer),[26] and he took a step closer to this when he was selected for a Test trial match, as well as appearing for the Players team again, this time at Scarborough.[49] His performances in the season earned him selection as one of Wisden's Bowlers of the Year.[26]

Test match career

Test debut

After another winter spent coaching in India and practising his bowling,[55] Kilner took 145 wickets during the 1924 English summer at an average of 13.28,[8] which placed him second in the national bowling averages behind his teammate George Macaulay.[56] His batting declined considerably; he scored 731 runs, the first time he failed to reach four figures since 1912, at an average of 20.88, the lowest of his career.[7] As his bowling form was impressive early in the season, [57] Kilner was selected for a Test trial match, before being selected for the England team for the first Test match against the touring South Africans.[15] In his first Test, he scored 59 out of a big total but did not bowl in South Africa's first innings when they were bowled out for 30.[58] He bowled 22 overs in the second innings but did not look likely to take many wickets.[26] The selectors did not choose Kilner for the next two Tests,[57] but he did play in the Gentlemen v Players match at Lord's. He scored his only century of the season, making 113 for the Players, scoring quickly. By lunch on the last day, the Gentlemen had followed on but were well placed to secure a draw with the score 112 for three. Kilner then settled the match by taking quick wickets and ending the innings with figures of six for 20 as the Players won by an innings.[59][60] Kilner went on to play one more Test that season, being selected for the fourth match, but rain prevented any play except on the first day and Kilner bowled just 12 wicketless overs,[61] meaning that he had not taken any wickets in his first two Tests. For Yorkshire, he had a much more successful time, three times taking ten wickets in a match, including match figures of twelve wickets for 55 in the final, decisive championship match of the season which Yorkshire had to win to be crowned champions. With Yorkshire's opponents, Sussex, being bowled out twice for less than 100,[62] and other results going Yorkshire's way, the club were crowned champions for the third successive year.[56] Kilner was chosen for the Players again in an end of season match at Scarborough.[15] Although Kilner's poor batting meant that his form as an all-rounder was disappointing, he had a very good season as a bowler and so was, a little surprisingly, chosen as to tour Australia that winter with the M.C.C. team.[56]

Tour of Australia

Playing for M.C.C. under the captaincy of Arthur Gilligan, Kilner scored a century on his first first-class appearance in Australia, making 103 against Western Australia.[63] He continued to show good form with the bat and with the ball in the less important, non first-class matches but did not play in the first two Test matches, both of which were lost by England.[56] He was selected for the third Test and played in very difficult circumstances. Australia batted first and scored 489, which seemed unlikely when they had scored 22 for three and then 119 for six. England's main bowlers, Maurice Tate and Gilligan, had to leave the field injured, allowing Australia to recover; later a third bowler, Tich Freeman, hurt his wrist and could not bowl.[64] The only fit main bowlers were Kilner and Frank Woolley.[65] England fielded for nearly nine hours, and Kilner bowled 56 overs (which lasted for eight balls in this series) to take four wickets for 127, his first wicket in Test matches being Arthur Richardson.[66] Given the injuries, Gilligan later said that "this was a truly great performance".[67] England could not match Australia's total, scoring only 365, but when Australia batted again, rain fell and affected the pitch, making it responsive to spin bowling. Australia lost their last seven wickets for 39 runs in an hour and Kilner took four wickets for 14 in his final spell of bowling (he took four for 51 in the whole innings).[64][67] Needing 375 to win, England fell just short to lose by 11 runs, with Kilner scoring 24. This meant that Australia had won the series, after winning the first three Tests.[66] Between the third and fourth Tests, Kilner recorded good bowling performances against Tasmania, where he took five for 35, and Victoria, where he took ten for 66 in the match and he went on to keep his place for the final two Tests.[15][68][69]

In the fourth Test, which England won comfortably, Kilner scored what was to remain his highest Test score of 79, adding 133 with Dodger Whysall, the highest partnership of the match.[70] When England bowled, Kilner took five wickets in the match and stood out as one of the best bowlers.[70][71] The final Test saw Kilner take four for 97 in Australia's first innings, but Australia won to take the series by four matches to one.[72] Kilner finished the series with 129 runs at an average of 29.80,[73] and Wisden commented on the fact he scored runs when they were needed.[65] In the Tests, he also captured 17 wickets at an average of 23.47.[74] Wisden noted that no-one but Kilner could take wickets to support Tate, the main bowler.[65] Apart from these two, no other bowler could manage more than 11 wickets and the other main bowlers averaged around 50 runs per wicket.[75] In all first-class matches, Kilner scored 488 runs at an average of 24.88 and took 40 wickets at an average of 25.17.[7][8]

Final seasons

Decline as a bowler

During 1925, Kilner was awarded a benefit match and had an improved batting record for the season; critics began to notice however a decline in his bowling. He was effective on pitches which favoured him, but not on the flatter pitches prevalent in the drier summer of 1925.[76] Cricket journals, such as The Cricketer, criticised his tendency to bowl leg theory on these occasions, a tactic seen as negative and defensive.[77] He took 131 wickets at an average of 17.92 and finished second in the Yorkshire bowling averages, helping Yorkshire to their fourth successive County Championship.[8][77][78] His batting record was improved from the previous season, as he scored 1,068 runs at an average 30.51 with two centuries. This gave him the third double of his career.[7] Kilner's popularity with the crowds reached its peak in 1925,[77] when 71,000 people attended his benefit match against Middlesex. It raised £4,106 (which would have been the equivalent of around £175,000 in 2008) to establish a new record for the highest amount raised for a benefit.[79][80][81] There were no Test matches in 1925, but Kilner was once again selected for the Gentlemen v Players match at Lord's, as well as some end of season matches playing for the M.C.C. team which had toured Australia the previous winter.[15]

In the winter of 1925–26, Kilner was selected for the M.C.C. tour of West Indies, when no Test matches were played. It was not successful for him personally, with few good performances.[80] He scored 249 runs in first-class matches at an average 22.63 with just one score of over fifty,[7] and took 34 wickets at an average of 29.50.[8]

Kilner scored 1,187 runs at an average of 37.09 in the 1926 English cricket season, the highest average in a season of his career.[7] He completed the double for the fourth and final time by taking 107 wickets, although his bowling average of 22.52 was the highest he had achieved since 1920, before he became a regular bowler.[8] While Kilner was fairly consistent and still had some very effective matches, his performance in 1926 showed signs of deteriorating.[82] He finished sixth in the Yorkshire batting averages and third in the bowling averages.[83][84] He played for the Players for the final time at Lord's, scoring 72 in a big total but failed to take a wicket in the Gentlemen's innings.[85] His final first-class century came against Middlesex, when he scored 150 out of a total of 415 and dominated the scoring while he was at the crease.[80][86] During that summer's Ashes series, he was selected for the first four Tests. However, he only batted twice with a high score of 36.[73] With the ball, he took seven wickets at an average of 39.42,[74] but the editor of Wisden criticised much of the English bowling that year; he described Kilner's only notable achievement as quickly ending Australia's innings at Lord's.[87] For the final Test, Kilner was dropped in favour of 48 year-old Wilfred Rhodes, as the selectors felt that they were lacking an effective left-arm spinner, according to the chairman of selectors, Pelham Warner.[88] Rhodes had a successful match and England defeated Australia to win the Ashes for the first time since 1912, but Kilner had played his last Test match. In nine Tests, he scored 233 runs at an average of 33.28 and took 24 wickets at an average of 30.58.[89]

Over the winter of 1926–27, Kilner was invited to tour India by the M.C.C., but he elected to stay at home.[90] In what was to be his final season, 1927, Kilner was less effective than he had been for several years in a summer which was generally disappointing for Yorkshire.[90] With the bat, he did not reach a century, scoring 1,004 runs at an average of 33.46.[8] He failed to reach 100 wickets for the first time since 1921, taking just 86 wickets at an average of 23.68.[8] Wisden said that his bowling had lost its effectiveness, and that he was no longer dangerous even when the pitch was helpful to spinners.[79] In the Yorkshire averages, he finished fifth in both batting and bowling.[91][92] In the Kilner's final County Championship match, he scored 91 not out and took eight wickets in the match, including five for 21 in the second innings, helping Yorkshire to a nine wicket victory.[93] Then, for Yorkshire against M.C.C., in what was to be his final first-class match, Kilner scored an unbeaten 51 to guide Yorkshire to an eight wicket win.[94] He ended his first-class career with 14,707 runs at an average of 30.01 and 1,003 wickets at an average of 18.45.[89]

Death

The Maharaja of Patiala again invited Kilner to coach in India in the winter of 1927–28.[90] Kilner's sister Mollie later claimed that he was very reluctant to accept the invitation and hesitated before accepting.[95] The trip started badly when Kilner's uncle, Irving Washington, died the day after he departed, and several of his actions suggested that he was suffering from some form of depression while in India.[95] However, Kilner recorded several large scores, including an unbeaten 283 in one (non first-class) match.[95] At some stage near the end of trip, Kilner began to suffer from a fever. His Yorkshire team mates, Arthur Dolphin and Maurice Leyland, who were also in India, believed that he became unwell after eating oysters. However, it is not certain how or when Kilner became ill. He began to have shivering attacks and perspirations while travelling from Marseilles on the way home.[95] It was obvious that he was in a serious condition when he arrived in Southampton; a cricketing engagement was cancelled and he was confined to bed there.[96] He refused treatment in Southampton, wanting to return to his family, and asking for his wife.[97] Arriving in Wombwell on 27 March 1928, and after being examined by his doctor, he was taken home. His condition deteriorated, however, and he was taken to Kendray Fever Hospital, near Barnsley. Although it was thought that he had passed the worst, his condition became critical in the first few days of April. On 5 April 1928, Kilner died from enteric fever in the presence of his wife, aged 37.[79][97]

The town of Wombwell expressed enormous sympathy and grief and tributes came from around the world. When Kilner's funeral took place on 10 April, the streets were packed with people. Many came from outside of the town, and estimates at the time said that 100,000 people were present to pay tribute to Kilner, although there may have been more.[98] Over a thousand people were at the cemetery for the burial, with Yorkshire cricketers carrying the coffin.[99] Two years later, the Australian team which toured England in 1930 visited Kilner's grave in Wombwell to lay a wreath.[100] The rector at the funeral said in his tribute that "A Yorkshire wicket has fallen and one of Yorkshire's best men is out; and we lament his loss; not merely because it is the loss of a great cricketer, but because it is the loss of such a cricketer as Roy Kilner was."[98]

Style and personality

When Kilner first came into the Yorkshire side, it was as a batsman. He was considered a good, reliable batsman when he began, although his style was regarded by Yorkshire critics as unorthodox to the point where they disapproved of some of his unusual, eccentric shots.[101] If the circumstances of the game demanded it, he was able to play slowly and defensively. The player himself did not enjoy batting in this way though, and preferred to bat aggressively. He was particularly effective while playing the drive and pull shot.[79] For most of his career, his effectiveness as a batsman was not compromised by his improvement and workload as a bowler.[79]

In terms of bowling, Kilner was a very effective performer on rain affected pitch.[101] His accuracy also enabled him to bowl on good pitches without the batsmen being able to score too many runs.[79] A.W. Pullin said, in 1923, that Kilner spun the ball more than any other English bowler. He noted, as did Wisden, that Kilner often bowled over the wicket, meaning that he bowled from the right hand side of the wickets, unusual for a left-arm spinner in this period.[26][49] This established a contrast with his fellow left-arm spinner, Wilfred Rhodes, and increased their effectiveness. Furthermore, it allowed him to surprise batsmen with a different delivery, such as one which did not turn.[102] Kilner's Wisden portrait also credited him with the gift of imagination, stating that he was always thinking of new ways to beating and dismissing batsmen.[26] He would experiment with his bowling, for example altering his pace slightly, if conditions were unfavourable towards bowlers.[79] Kilner could bowl left-arm wrist spin at times, constantly practising it in the cricket nets. His brother Norman claimed that Roy was the person who coined the phrase "chinaman" to describe such bowling.[39]

At a time when the Yorkshire team was successful but grim, determined and humourless, Kilner was a very popular player with spectators. They liked him for his cheerfulness and desire to entertain, an attitude not shared by all of his team-mates.[49] He had many friends in the game and Wisden described him as a man of rare charm.[79] This was at a time when Yorkshire were not always welcome in other counties due to their attitude on the field.[101] When he was chosen as a Cricketer of the Year, Wisden remarked that he was devoted to the game, possessed a cheery temperament and stood out among players for his personality,[26] while his obituary described him as modest and generous.[79]

Kilner was a favourite of cricket writer Neville Cardus, who attributed several sayings to him in his writing. For example, Cardus described Kilner as saying about Yorkshire and Lancashire matches at the time that "What we want is no umpires and fair cheating all round," and "We say good morning and after that all we say is 'Howzat?'"[103] Also, when asked what was the problem with the game at the time, in particular the negative attitude of some teams, he replied that the game was fine, it was "t'crowd that wants educating up to it."[103]

Notes

  1. ^ When discussing the Yorkshire averages, only bowlers who took ten wickets or more in that season, and those batsmen with ten innings are included in the placings.

References

  1. ^ Pope, p. 2.
  2. ^ a b c Pope, p. 4.
  3. ^ Pope, p. 6.
  4. ^ Pope, pp. 6–7.
  5. ^ Pope, pp. 8–9.
  6. ^ "Somerset v Yorkshire in 1911". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "First-class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Roy Kilner". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "First-class Bowling in Each Season by Roy Kilner". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
  9. ^ Pope, p. 10.
  10. ^ a b Pope, p. 12.
  11. ^ Pope, p. 11.
  12. ^ "Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire in 1912". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
  13. ^ a b c d e Pope, p. 14.
  14. ^ "First-class Batting and Fielding for Yorkshire in 1914". CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h "First-Class Matches played by Roy Kilner". CricketArchive. Retrieved 24 March 2010.
  16. ^ a b "Yorkshire v Leicestershire in 1913". CricketArchive. Retrieved 24 March 2010.
  17. ^ Pope, p. 17.
  18. ^ Pope, pp. 18–19.
  19. ^ a b Pope, p. 21.
  20. ^ "First-class Batting and Fielding for Yorkshire in 1914". CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  21. ^ "Gloucestershire v Yorkshire in 1914". CricketArchive. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  22. ^ Pope, p. 21.
  23. ^ a b c d Pope, p. 25.
  24. ^ a b Pope, pp. 21–22.
  25. ^ a b c d Pope, p. 22.
  26. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Roy Kilner - Bowler of the Year 1924". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. John Wisden & Co. 1924. Retrieved 28 March 2010. Cite error: The named reference "coy" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  27. ^ Pope, pp. 26–27
  28. ^ "First-class Bowling for Yorkshire in 1920". CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  29. ^ "Gentlemen v Players in 1919". CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  30. ^ a b Pope, p. 27.
  31. ^ "Yorkshire v Derbyshire in 1920". CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  32. ^ Pope, p. 28.
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Bibliography

  • Hodgson, Derek (1989). The Official History of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire: The Crowood Press. ISBN 1852232749.
  • Pope, Mick (1990). The Laughing Cricketer of Wombwell. London: Darf Publishers. ISBN 1850772193.
  • Woodhouse, Anthony (1989). The History of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0747034087.

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