Bunty Longrigg
Encyclopedia
Edmund Fallowfield Longrigg, usually known as "Bunty", born at Batheaston
, Somerset
on 16 April 1906 and died at Bath, Somerset on 23 July 1974, played cricket
for Somerset
and Cambridge University
. He was captain of Somerset from 1938 to 1946 and later prominent in the county club administration.
, and made his Somerset debut in 1925, the year he left school. In his third match, he hit an unbeaten 60 against Kent
in a rain-ruined match at Taunton.
In 1926, he was at Cambridge University and arrived with a glowing testimonial in the 1926 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
report on 1925 public school cricket by H. S. Altham. "His record of 840 runs for an average of over 50 was remarkable," Altham wrote. "Above all he watches the ball, and is hard to bowl out. What with his success for Somerset in August, his clever fielding near the wicket, and a capacity to bowl slows of which he might have made more use, Longrigg will be watched very carefully at Cambridge."
In the event, Longrigg's first year at Cambridge was a disappointment: he made 77 in the Freshman's trial match and then played in five first-class matches for the university cricket team
, but without success, and did not win a blue
. Back in the Somerset side for much of the second half of the season, though, he again did well, improving his highest score first with 62 against Derbyshire
and then with an unbeaten 81 against Warwickshire
.
After his poor start in 1926, it took Longrigg a while in 1927 to break into the Cambridge side and with a top score of only 74 and a batting average of 27, he possibly benefited from the illness of Duleepsinhji and injury to Maurice Turnbull
in winning a blue. In the University Match, though, he justified his place with a second innings 57 that gave Cambridge the initiative and led to their victory over Oxford
. Wisden said that Longrigg displayed "much skill". By contrast, Longrigg's form for Somerset later in the 1927 was unimpressive, and he did not pass 50 in any innings.
In 1928, Longrigg's place in Cambridge's best side seemed to be assured. Mostly he opened the innings and against Sussex
early in the season hit an unbeaten 84, his highest score to that point. He achieved little in the University Match, but later in the season with Somerset he improved his highest score again, making 95 against Hampshire
after five wickets had fallen 90 on a wet wicket at Weston-super-Mare
. In all cricket in 1928, he made 800 runs with an average of 28.57.
at Taunton. Wisden noted that his average was lower than in the previous season and that "his batting was marked by stubborn defence".
1930 was Longrigg's best season as a batsman. He scored 1,567 runs at an average of 30.72 and hit four centuries. These included a double century, the only one of his career: he made 205 against Leicestershire
at Taunton, again as an opening batsman. The double century contributed to Somerset's first victory of the season after a depressing start that had brought 10 defeats in 14 games.
There were glimpses of what the county side might have been missing. Against Yorkshire
at Taunton in 1931, he scored exactly 100 out of a total of 177, which merely delayed the inevitable Yorkshire victory by 10 wickets. Two years later, there was 124 against Surrey
at Bath, made this time out of a total of 215 and a second century in the same 1933 season against Middlesex
at Weston-super-Mare when he shared a second wicket partnership of 184 with Box Case
. But these high spots became less frequent as his involvement declined.
. At the end of the season, amid some disgruntlement about the side's lack of drive under the amiable Ingle, Longrigg was appointed captain for the 1938 season. The move, Wisden reported in 1939, was a success: Somerset won 10 Championship matches for the first time ever and rose six places up the table to finish seventh. It wrote: "Better team-work played an important part in Somerset's achievements, and in this connection they owed much to E. F. Longrigg... if he did not altogether fulfil expectations as a batsman, he certainly left no doubts concerning his qualifications for leadership. Those who closely followed the county's fortunes were impressed by his tact and judgment as well as keenness which often manifested itself." The personal highlight of the season was an unbeaten 187 against Gloucestershire
at Bristol
, and he added an unbroken 143 in 90 minutes for the eighth wicket with John Barnwell
that was the Somerset record for the wicket until beaten by 172 by Viv Richards
and Ian Botham
in 1983.
The 1939 season was more difficult, and Somerset fell back to fourteenth in the Championship. Longrigg's best innings of the season was only 82, against Oxford University, when he had to bat with a runner because of a strain.
After the Second World War, Longrigg returned for one final season as Somerset captain and led the side to its best placing in the Championship since 1892. The team finished fourth with a record 12 victories, and Wisden again cited teamwork as an ingredient in the side's success. At the age of 40, Longrigg's was not a great contribution in terms of runs, though he managed four 50s in the season. At the end of the season he stepped down from the captaincy. He made only two further appearances in first-class cricket, both in the 1947 season.
as captain and his replacement by the unpaid Colin Atkinson
, and was forced to resign as chairman after a vote of no confidence at a special meeting amid reports of player rebellion.
Batheaston
Batheaston is a village and civil parish east of Bath, England , on the north bank of the River Avon. The parish has a population of 2,625...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
on 16 April 1906 and died at Bath, Somerset on 23 July 1974, played cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
for Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...
and Cambridge University
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
. He was captain of Somerset from 1938 to 1946 and later prominent in the county club administration.
Early career
Bunty Longrigg was a left-handed middle order batsman and an occasional right-arm bowler. The son of Major G. E. Longrigg, who was a long-time Somerset county cricket committeeman and a solicitor in Bath, the younger Longrigg was educated at Rugby SchoolRugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
, and made his Somerset debut in 1925, the year he left school. In his third match, he hit an unbeaten 60 against Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
in a rain-ruined match at Taunton.
In 1926, he was at Cambridge University and arrived with a glowing testimonial in the 1926 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
report on 1925 public school cricket by H. S. Altham. "His record of 840 runs for an average of over 50 was remarkable," Altham wrote. "Above all he watches the ball, and is hard to bowl out. What with his success for Somerset in August, his clever fielding near the wicket, and a capacity to bowl slows of which he might have made more use, Longrigg will be watched very carefully at Cambridge."
In the event, Longrigg's first year at Cambridge was a disappointment: he made 77 in the Freshman's trial match and then played in five first-class matches for the university cricket team
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
, but without success, and did not win a blue
University Sporting Blue
A Blue is an award earned by sportsmen and women at a university and some schools for competition at the highest level. The awarding of Blues began at Oxford and Cambridge Universities...
. Back in the Somerset side for much of the second half of the season, though, he again did well, improving his highest score first with 62 against Derbyshire
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...
and then with an unbeaten 81 against Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
.
After his poor start in 1926, it took Longrigg a while in 1927 to break into the Cambridge side and with a top score of only 74 and a batting average of 27, he possibly benefited from the illness of Duleepsinhji and injury to Maurice Turnbull
Maurice Turnbull
Turnbull was an eager sportsman as a youth, and played rugby for Downside School. He matriculated to Cambridge, and at university joined not only the cricket team, but also Cambridge University Rugby Club. One of the earliest rugby clubs he represented was St. Peters in Cardiff. His elder brother,...
in winning a blue. In the University Match, though, he justified his place with a second innings 57 that gave Cambridge the initiative and led to their victory over Oxford
Oxford University Cricket Club
Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...
. Wisden said that Longrigg displayed "much skill". By contrast, Longrigg's form for Somerset later in the 1927 was unimpressive, and he did not pass 50 in any innings.
In 1928, Longrigg's place in Cambridge's best side seemed to be assured. Mostly he opened the innings and against Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
early in the season hit an unbeaten 84, his highest score to that point. He achieved little in the University Match, but later in the season with Somerset he improved his highest score again, making 95 against Hampshire
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
after five wickets had fallen 90 on a wet wicket at Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare is a seaside resort, town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which is within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located on the Bristol Channel coast, south west of Bristol, spanning the coast between the bounding high ground of Worlebury...
. In all cricket in 1928, he made 800 runs with an average of 28.57.
Full-time cricketer
The 1929 and 1930 seasons were the only two where Longrigg was able to play fairly continuous county cricket until he became Somerset captain towards the end of the 1930s. In 1929 he played 25 matches, all but one of them for Somerset, and made 1,123 runs at an average of 24.41. Mostly he batted in the middle order, but it was as an opener that he made the first century of his career, 124 against WarwickshireWarwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
at Taunton. Wisden noted that his average was lower than in the previous season and that "his batting was marked by stubborn defence".
1930 was Longrigg's best season as a batsman. He scored 1,567 runs at an average of 30.72 and hit four centuries. These included a double century, the only one of his career: he made 205 against Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
at Taunton, again as an opening batsman. The double century contributed to Somerset's first victory of the season after a depressing start that had brought 10 defeats in 14 games.
Irregular cricketer
After 1930, Longrigg's career as a solicitor in Bath in the family business increasingly took him away from cricket. In the 1931, 1932 and 1933 seasons he played 12 matches in each season; that tailed off until in 1936 he played only four times. He played more often in home matches than away, and seemed to be available most often in the cricket festival at Bath, where he made at least one appearance every season except 1936.There were glimpses of what the county side might have been missing. Against Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
at Taunton in 1931, he scored exactly 100 out of a total of 177, which merely delayed the inevitable Yorkshire victory by 10 wickets. Two years later, there was 124 against Surrey
Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions...
at Bath, made this time out of a total of 215 and a second century in the same 1933 season against Middlesex
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...
at Weston-super-Mare when he shared a second wicket partnership of 184 with Box Case
Box Case
Cecil Charles Cole Case, known as Box Case, born at Frome, Somerset on 7 September 1895 and died at Keyford, Frome, Somerset on 11 November 1969, played first-class cricket for Somerset as an amateur batsman between 1925 and 1935....
. But these high spots became less frequent as his involvement declined.
Somerset captain
In 1937, Longrigg played for Somerset more often, turning out in 11 matches and captaining the side on occasion in the absence of the regular captain, his fellow Bath solicitor Reggie IngleReggie Ingle
Reginald Addington Ingle, known as "Reggie", was a cricketer who played first-class cricket for Somerset from 1923 to 1939 and captained the side from 1932 to 1937...
. At the end of the season, amid some disgruntlement about the side's lack of drive under the amiable Ingle, Longrigg was appointed captain for the 1938 season. The move, Wisden reported in 1939, was a success: Somerset won 10 Championship matches for the first time ever and rose six places up the table to finish seventh. It wrote: "Better team-work played an important part in Somerset's achievements, and in this connection they owed much to E. F. Longrigg... if he did not altogether fulfil expectations as a batsman, he certainly left no doubts concerning his qualifications for leadership. Those who closely followed the county's fortunes were impressed by his tact and judgment as well as keenness which often manifested itself." The personal highlight of the season was an unbeaten 187 against Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....
at Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, and he added an unbroken 143 in 90 minutes for the eighth wicket with John Barnwell
John Barnwell (cricketer)
Charles John Patrick Barnwell, born 23 June 1914 at Stoke-on-Trent and died 4 September 1998, at Fivehead, Somerset, played first-class cricket for Somerset as an amateur player before and after the Second World War....
that was the Somerset record for the wicket until beaten by 172 by Viv Richards
Viv Richards
Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards, KNH, OBE is a former West Indian cricketer. Better known by his second name, Vivian or, more popularly, simply as Viv or King Viv Richards was voted one of the five Cricketers of the Century in 2000, by a 100-member panel of experts, along with Sir Donald...
and Ian Botham
Ian Botham
Sir Ian Terence Botham OBE is a former England Test cricketer and Test team captain, and current cricket commentator. He was a genuine all-rounder with 14 centuries and 383 wickets in Test cricket, and remains well-known by his nickname "Beefy"...
in 1983.
The 1939 season was more difficult, and Somerset fell back to fourteenth in the Championship. Longrigg's best innings of the season was only 82, against Oxford University, when he had to bat with a runner because of a strain.
After the Second World War, Longrigg returned for one final season as Somerset captain and led the side to its best placing in the Championship since 1892. The team finished fourth with a record 12 victories, and Wisden again cited teamwork as an ingredient in the side's success. At the age of 40, Longrigg's was not a great contribution in terms of runs, though he managed four 50s in the season. At the end of the season he stepped down from the captaincy. He made only two further appearances in first-class cricket, both in the 1947 season.
Later life
Longrigg was an important figure in the administration of Somerset cricket for much of the rest of his life, acting as both county chairman and president. He was involved in some of the fractiousness that surrounded the departure of the professional Harold StephensonHarold Stephenson
Harold William Stephenson was an English first-class cricketer who played for Somerset. He captained Somerset from 1960 until his retirement in 1964....
as captain and his replacement by the unpaid Colin Atkinson
Colin Atkinson
Colin Ronald Michael Atkinson CBE - Cricketer, schoolmaster and headmaster of Millfield School....
, and was forced to resign as chairman after a vote of no confidence at a special meeting amid reports of player rebellion.