In My Mind's Eye number 6: William Storer (1868-1912)

I was first drawn to the name of William Storer because he was born at Ripley, like me. As a youngster I recall my Dad taking me to see his grave, though at that stage I knew little of his reputation or talent. Nor of his nature, because William, or Bill as he was more commonly known, was another member of a late nineteenth century team that suffered fools somewhat unwillingly.

In a dressing room full of strong characters, only the strong survived. Perhaps it accounted for the later decline of the county's fortunes up to the Great War, because many a talented young local player broke into the county side but failed to realise their promise. Bill Storer was one who got into the side as a Daryn Smit-style all-rounder. He was a fine batsman, good enough to become the first professional to score a hundred in each innings of a first-class match. He was a good enough wicket-keeper to play for England, while on occasion he could bowl leg breaks that turned a considerable distance. He took five wickets in an innings on four occasions, and over 200 first-class wickets confirms him as huge asset to a team, whatever role he played in it.

He was born at Butterley Hill, Ripley on January 25, 1867 and played for Butterley Cricket Club with considerable early success. He was only nineteen when he made his Derbyshire debut, though the step to the senior game proved problematic for a couple of seasons. Once he was tried behind the stumps, in 1890, he never looked back and became a key member of the side.His style behind the timbers was unusual, because he stood up to the wicket, regardless of the bowler's pace, his style perhaps similar to that of Karl Krikken in not crouching as the bowler ran in to bowl. He even stood up to Charles Kortright, reckoned the fastest of the day, and earned lavish praise in 1893 at Lord's, playing for the MCC against the Australians, when he held four catches, stumped another and didn't allow a single bye, even with the Essex man bowling.

His first great summer was 1896, when he scored over 1200 runs at an average in excess of fifty, including that two-century match against the powerful Yorkshire side of the period. When George Davidson scored his 274 against Lancashire, his own century aided in a partnership of 308 for the third wicket. He passed a thousand runs for the season in seven successive summers, making him perhaps the best wicket-keeper batsman to play for the county. He frequently headed the county batting averages and was often near the top of the national figures too, as well as maintaining a high standard behind the stumps.

He toured Australia in 1897-98 and in the words of commentators, only MacLaren and Ranji batted better than him. He did himself no favours, however, by running out the Australian batsman Charlie McLeod, who was deaf, and walked off after being yorked by Tom Richardson and failing to hear the no ball call. Storer shouted for the ball, which had gone down to third man, to be thrown in and removed a stump, the batsman declining MacLaren's offer of reinstatement. In the final Test he told the umpire 'You're a cheat and you know it', which resulted in censure by the MCC. They needed no further reason not to pick him.

At county level he could be hot-headed too. In a game against Essex at Leyton in 1895, he refused to play when his brother, Harry was omitted from the team. When play began he had still not left the team hotel, but eventually arrived and took his place. His protest continued, pulling his hands away to allow byes, and kicking balls for overthrows. Eventually the captain, Sydney Evershed asked Levi Wright what he should do, being told to send him off. Evershed, who appears to have been a considerate man, replied 'But what of his future'? and likely had a quiet word. Storer cooled down and subsequently kept wicket brilliantly, holding five catches.

Ill-health caused him to retire prematurely, in 1900, at the early age of 33. Having lost George Davidson the previous year, the detrimental impact on the county can be imagined. The club awarded him the Yorkshire fixture at Chesterfield in 1902 as a benefit, but life was thereafter a struggle for William, his wife and their five children.

He suffered from dropsy, or oedema as it is now known, usually a sign of congestive heart failure, liver or kidney problems. Poor diet can also be a contributory factor and his declining health eventually saw surgery to relieve the build up of fluid in the legs and ankles as the disease took hold. Fluid build up in the abdominal cavity often sees the patient 'tapped' to remove the pressure on internal organs, but Bill Storer must have been in considerable pain in his last years.

He died in Derby on February 28, 1912, not too long after his 45th birthday. He was buried at Ripley Cemetery on March 2, in a grave next to his brother Harry, who had pre-deceased him by four years and had only reached the age of 37. His county cricket career was limited to five matches, but he played football as goalkeeper for both Arsenal and Liverpool.

Harry's son of the same name became a gritty and long-time opener for Derbyshire, as well as a footballer and football manager worthy of a book in his own right. He was one of  small handful of men to represent both Derbyshire at cricket and Derby County at football, going on to manage the Rams for a long time too.

Both clubs sent wreaths to the funeral, which was attended by William Chatterton, Walter Sugg, Joe Humphries and the club secretary, Will Taylor, among many others. It was another sad and premature end to a cricket life and career that made a large contribution to the county side.

It would be some time before someone of comparable talent was to appear in the county colours.

(Image sourced courtesy of David Griffin from the Derbyshire CCC Archive)

The A-Z of Derbyshire Cricket - S is for Smith: Denis Smith

As with the 'R' category before it, the list of players whose surname began with the letter S is lengthy and most impressive.

The earliest was FR Spofforth, who spent three part-seasons with us between 1889 and 1891 when he had been one of the finest bowlers in the world for the previous ten to fifteen years. An Australian, he took 853 wickets at just under 15 in his career, but so few of them were in Derbyshire colours that he doesn't merit inclusion in the mix here.

The same could be said of two other players. Phil Sharpe was a fine batsman and outstanding slip fielder for Yorkshire over a number of seasons, before moving to us for the final two summers of his career. He still caught flies at slip, but Eddie Barlow's demands on fitness levels saw Sharpe retire after two years.

Similarly David Steele enjoyed three summers with us at the end of his career as an obdurate batsman and handy left-arm spinner. He produced some decent displays, but his greatest deeds were achieved in Northamptonshire colours and again he's not included in the top three here.

Other worthy cricketers have to be excluded too. David Smith, a stubborn and occasional explosive opening bat in the 1960's; Fred Swarbrook, a left-arm spinner of genuine talent and lower-order batsman who sold his wicket dearly; Keith Stevenson a decent seam bowler who could move it around, but had to move to Hampshire for regular cricket; Steve Stubbings, a popular and conscientious opening batsman, who always gave of his best.

There's also wicket-keeper batsman Luke Sutton, a fine player, especially in his first stint at the club, while Shahid Afridi flitted briefly across our firmament, but without the success that characterised most of his long and illustrious career. Going back in time, mention must also be made of Harry Storer, yet another obdurate batsman who went on to great success as a football manager at Coventry City and Derby County.

Yet the top three largely pick themselves. In third place is an off-spinner who would, if he played today, walk into the England team.

Edwin Smith took over 1200 wickets for Derbyshire, despite often playing on wickets that were prepared for Les Jackson, Cliff Gladwin, Harold Rhodes and Brian Jackson, not to mention Derek Morgan. To some extent he got the scraps that were left, but with the knowledge that he was expected to perform when conditions were in his favour. It was a peculiar kind of pressure, but he usually handled it well. He took five wickets in an innings on 51 occasions, ten in a match four times. He turned it enough, not excessively, and flighted the ball to keep batsmen guessing. When conditions were good for batting, his control of line and length kept it quiet; when it started to turn, he was always a handful.

He was a stubborn bat too, capable of holding an end up to secure an extra point, or a valuable first innings lead, while he was a safe and reliable fielder in most positions.

A fine player, yet not good enough to break the top two, because this is top quality company.

In second place is William Storer, a professional of exceptional talent on the variable wickets of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Uncle of Harry Storer, he gave wonderful service over an eighteen-year career, scoring 13,000 runs at the respectable, for that time, average of 28. He was a good enough leg-spinner to take 232 wickets at 33, while also a  very competent wicket-keeper who held nearly 400 catches and took over fifty stumpings. Now that's real, all-round talent! Good enough to play six Test matches, Storer was a player who helped to keep Derbyshire a solid side before the First World War, in stark contrast to the years that immediately followed it.

Yet first place simply has to go to a batsman who, on the good days that were many, was often compared to the great Kent left-hander, Frank Woolley. Denis Smith (second right in the back row in the above photo of the 1936 champions) was a tall, elegant left-hander who, until the advent of Kim Barnett, was the club's leading run-scorer. He tallied almost 22,000 runs over a career that ran from 1927 to 1952, although a number of seasons were lost to the war, that would otherwise have put him out of sight of anyone. From 1934 to the outbreak of war, his season aggregates were, successively, 1599, 2175, 1421, 1914, 1234 and 1597. Given that when he returned after the war he passed the thousand mark another four times, it is fair to say that his peak years and perhaps six to eight thousand runs were taken from him.

He usually opened the batting and the ethos of those highly successful years was for the batsmen to score runs quickly enough to give the bowlers time to win games. A career average of 32 probably doesn't reflect Smith's true value to the side as a batsman who invariably gave the side a sound but brisk start, often in the company of Albert Alderman. He earned two Test appearances and averaged a respectable 32, but his career was largely spent in Derbyshire colours.

I never saw him play, but descriptions suggest him as a left-handed Barnett, full of glorious shots through the covers but, like all left-handers, strong off his pads. His footwork wasn't the fastest, but you don't score the volume of runs that he managed through being slow.

When his career ended he became county coach, a post he held for many years. He was a hard task master who insisted on nets being taken in the proper manner, with a withering put down for anyone who he felt was getting above themselves.

"My old suit has cleaned up well" he said to one young player who was showing off his new threads, while a would-be fast bowler who drove off fast and loud in his car after nets was dismissed with the comment "if he drives like he bowls, he'll not hit owt..."  His hard attitude was explained as being because cricket was a hard game "and no one holds your hand out in the middle".

One of the game's characters and one of Derbyshire's finest.