Roy Kilner
Encyclopedia
Roy Kilner was an English professional cricket
er 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 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
: scoring 1,000 runs and taking 100 wickets in the same season, recognised as a sign of a quality all-rounder.
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 on the tour, his bowling subsequently declined in effectiveness, and did not trouble batsmen on good pitches. He was selected during the 1926 Ashes but 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 and 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.
, Barnsley
, Yorkshire
, England, the second son and one of eleven children of Seth Kilner and Mary Alice Washington. The Kilners attended Wombwell Parish Church and the boys were members of the Church Lads' Brigade
. His father and his uncle, Irving Washington
, the former Yorkshire
cricketer, encouraged him to play the sport from an early age. Displaying ability, Kilner played for the local colliery team, Mitchell Main. His brother, Norman
also played cricket, representing Yorkshire and later Warwickshire
.
In 1904, aged 14, Kilner first played for the Mitchell Main first team, appearing in two games without success. Although selected regularly from the 1905 season, Kilner usually failed when batting. He displayed aggression, attempting too many difficult shots and losing his wicket. His bowling was more effective but used infrequently. 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, attracting the attention of Yorkshire.
, Kilner was chosen to play for Yorkshire Second XI. In his first season, he took just three wickets and had a batting average of 12.50, although he continued to do well for Mitchell Main. For the 1911 season
, Yorkshire sent Kilner to play for Harrogate Cricket Club which provided a higher standard of cricket: the county had a system whereby promising young players were sent to gain experience in competitive matches for local clubs. Kilner began to record good batting and bowling performances. 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. In a further six matches for Yorkshire in 1911, his highest innings was 18 runs
, his average with the bat was just 6.66 in ten innings and he did not take any wickets. For Harrogate, he was more successful, with 519 runs and 28 wickets.
, Kilner showed good form for Yorkshire Second XI. In two games, he scored centuries, going on to take twelve wickets for 75 runs in the second match. These performances, coupled with his continued good form for Harrogate, led to Kilner's recall to the Yorkshire first team in June. He replaced the injured all-rounder
George Hirst for the match against Nottinghamshire
. On the first morning, Kilner was used as the sixth bowler and proved successful; he finished with four wickets for 66 runs. Although failing to score in the first innings, he came in to bat in the second innings with Yorkshire 133 for four, needing 249 for victory. He shared a partnership
of 113 for the fifth wicket and scored 83 not out
to take Yorkshire to a five wicket win. This performance kept Kilner in the team for the remainder of the season, even after Hirst's return, ending his appearances for the second team. He played 23 times for Yorkshire, who subsequently won the County Championship. He scored 570 runs at an average of 22.80 and took 16 wickets at an average
of 22.12, figures regarded as respectable for a first full season. Apart from one game in the 1913 season
, he ceased playing for Harrogate. In his years there, he scored 967 runs, averaging 38.68, and took 71 wickets at an average of less than ten runs per wicket.
The 1913 season saw Kilner score 1,586 at an average of 34.47, which remained his highest seasonal aggregate of runs and placed him third in the Yorkshire batting averages. He also took 18 wickets at 25.22. 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
. During his innings of 104, he hit 18 fours and shared a partnership of 184 in under two hours with his close friend Major Booth
, rescuing Yorkshire from 58 for five and taking the score to 300. Throughout the season, he played several valuable innings when his side was under pressure. His batting was always adventurous and attacking although he often made uncertain starts to his innings and showed impatience. The strength and variety of the Yorkshire bowling attack meant his left-arm spin was not often required. Even so, Yorkshire dropped to second in the Championship.
An illness during the winter of 1913–14 took its toll on Kilner at the start of the 1914 season
. He passed 1,000 runs for the second time but due to his uncertain form, his aggregate of runs and his average both fell. He scored 1,329 runs (average 30.90), placing him fourth in the Yorkshire batting averages. His bowling was rarely used and he took just one wicket. Kilner scored his second first-class century against Gloucestershire
late in the season; he made 169 in nearly three and a half hours, hitting 28 fours. His team finished fourth in the table.
at Old Trafford. Initially the government requested that cricket should continue, though several cricketers with existing military obligations, including Yorkshire's captain, Sir Archibald White
, were called up immediately. As the fighting started, and casualties began to mount, public opinion turned against the continuation of the season, and Yorkshire's match against Sussex at Hove, which concluded on 1 September, proved to be the last County Championship match until 1919
. The newspaper Cricket reported "The men's hearts were barely in the game, and the match was given up as a draw at tea." With the suspension of the championship, Kilner and Major Booth enlisted in the army together, joining the Leeds and Bradford "Pals"
in the West Yorkshire Regiment. Kilner trained as a mechanic before being stationed at Colsterdale
in North Yorkshire as a Corporal. While on leave in November 1914, Kilner married Annie Campbelljohn—the daughter of James Campbelljohn, an engineer—at Wombwell Parish Church; Booth served as best man. While the war was taking place, Annie gave birth to the couple's first child, Roy junior. Kilner was posted with his battalion to Egypt but was forced home with an injury. On recovery, he was sent to fight on the Western Front
in France. During the Battle of the Somme, he was wounded shortly before his battalion engaged in the fighting, receiving a shrapnel wound in the wrist; later in the same action, Booth was killed. Kilner recovered in a military hospital near Blackpool before being assigned to Preston Garrison as a mechanic. Before the war ended, Kilner suffered a second loss when his brother Bernard was killed at Ypres
in 1917.
Having previously shown his footballing ability for Mitchell Main in the winter of 1912–13, Kilner resumed his career in the sport while posted at Preston during the war. He played as a right-back for Preston North End F.C.
, a team which won promotion from the Second Division
in 1915, but only took their place in the First Division
when league football resumed in 1919. 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.
, County Championship matches were reduced from three days to two in a one-season experiment. Following the deaths of Booth in the war and Alonzo Drake
from illness, as well as the decline in the bowling of the aging George Hirst, Yorkshire lacked an effective attack. Subsequently, Kilner was asked to deliver more overs, although not to the extent of a main bowler. He took 45 wickets, more than his entire first-class wicket aggregate before the war, at an average of 18.12. This placed him third in the Yorkshire averages. With the bat he scored three centuries and reached 1,135 runs at 29.10. His performances earned his selection for the Players against the Gentlemen
in the end of season festival match at Scarborough, although he neither took a wicket nor scored. Kilner's brother Norman first played for Yorkshire in 1919, although he was ultimately unable to secure a permanent place in the team.
Kilner began the 1920 season
with an innings of 206 not out
in his first match, against Derbyshire
, and the effort remained the highest score of his career. He batted for four hours, hitting 24 fours and two sixes. He could have been caught when he had scored around fifty, but a local newspaper described the innings as brilliant, his driving and pulling being particularly effective. Kilner appeared in one representative match: at the end-of-season Scarborough Festival
, he played for CI Thornton's XI against the Marylebone Cricket Club
(M.C.C.) side which visited Australia in the winter—at the time, the M.C.C. administered English cricket, and the England team toured under its name. In total, he scored 1,316 runs at an average of 37.09 with two more centuries, placing him second in the Yorkshire averages. With the ball, he took 27 wickets but his average of 25.33 was relatively high. The county finished fourth in the Championship as Middlesex were crowned winners. Critics believed Kilner should have bowled more frequently, an opinion shared by Wilfred Rhodes
, Yorkshire's main slow left-arm spinner
. Conscious of his increasing age, the 42-year-old Rhodes wanted support with the bowling workload; he considered Kilner the best option and encouraged him to improve his left-arm spin. Consequently, during the winter, Kilner spent a lot of time practising in the yard of the Wombwell hotel where his father was landlord. Around the same time he celebrated the birth of his second son, named Major after Major Booth.
Kilner's bowling had greater success in 1921
, helping Yorkshire to rise to third in the Championship. Used more regularly, he took 61 wickets (average 18.80), including his first five wicket hauls in an innings, against Warwickshire
and Nottinghamshire. He scored 1,137 runs at an average of 27.73. He made centuries in the two matches against Northamptonshire
, sharing big partnerships in both games: 276 with Rhodes in the first and 299 with Percy Holmes
in the second. His overall performance left him sixth in the Yorkshire batting averages, while he finished fourth in the bowling averages.The placings for Yorkshire bowling averages include only bowlers who took ten wickets or more and batsmen who played ten innings. Through the winter, he continued to develop his bowling.
, Kilner's bowling had improved to the point where he passed 100 wickets in the season for the first time, taking 122 at an average of 14.72, helping Yorkshire to win the County Championship. Wisden recognised this was the first season when he was a front-line bowler, "[leaving] his previous form far behind." In the first five games of the campaign, he took 21 wickets for 142 runs. In the match against Essex
, he claimed ten wickets in a match for the first time, taking eleven for 51 runs. Against Hampshire
, he took ten wickets for 90 runs, including six for 13 in the second innings as Hampshire were bowled out for 44. At the same time, he maintained his batting form, having a similar record to the previous season. He scored 1,198 runs at 27.22 and scored two centuries. This meant he completed the double
—regarded as the sign of a quality all-round cricketer—for the first time. Kilner was fifth in the Yorkshire batting averages and fourth in the bowling averages. At the end of the season, he was again selected for CI Thornton's XI, as well as in two games at Eastbourne. Over the English winter, Kilner accepted a job coaching for the Maharaja of Patiala in India. He played in several first-class matches, and enjoyed himself enough to return the following winter.
Statistically, Kilner's peak as a bowler came in the 1923 season
, when he took 158 wickets at an average of 12.90 and finished second in the Yorkshire averages. With the bat, he failed to score a hundred for the first time since 1912, but still made 1,401 runs at 34.17 and including nine scores over fifty. This placed him third in the Yorkshire batting averages, his contributions helping his team to retain the County Championship. He made a very effective start to the season, taking 27 wickets in the first four matches for just 157 runs, including the best figures of his career, eight for 26 against Glamorgan
, and six for 14 against Middlesex
. Later that season against Surrey
, he performed what was regarded by Wisden as one of his best bowling feats. Surrey needed 184 runs to win and seemed certain winners when they had scored 127 for two. However, after Emmott Robinson
took a wicket, Kilner took the last five while giving away only 15 runs in a match-winning performance. 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 he was pale with effort and concentration. In the same season, Kilner was picked for the Gentlemen v Players
match at Lord's Cricket Ground
, the most prestigious such fixture at the time, where he scored eight in his only innings and took three wickets. Wisden commented that he seemed certain to be picked for the England Test match
side shortly (there were no Tests played that summer). He took a step towards this when he was selected for a Test trial match, scoring 26 and 11 not out, but only bowling 18 overs in the match to take two wickets. He also made another appearance for the Players, this time at Scarborough. His performances in the season earned him selection as one of Wisden's Bowlers of the Year
.
, placing him second in the national averages behind his teammate George Macaulay
. His batting suffered a decline; he scored 731 runs at 20.88, the lowest aggregate of his career and his first sub-1,000 total since 1912. Kilner took 33 wickets in the first six matches of the season, and his form earned selection for a Test trial match. In this game, he took three for 49 in the first innings and a further wicket in the second but only scored 20 runs in two innings. After 19 wickets in his next three matches, including seven in the match against the South African touring side, he was awarded a place in the England team for the first Test. In his maiden Test, he scored 59 out of a large total, batting at number seven. South Africa were dismissed for 30 runs in the first innings before Kilner had an opportunity to bowl. In the second innings, he delivered 22 overs
without taking a wicket and commentators were not impressed by his bowling. The selectors left Kilner out of the next two Tests, all-rounder J. W. Hearne taking his place, but he played in the Gentlemen v Players match at Lord's. He scored a rapid 113—his only century of the season—for the Players. By lunch on the last day, the Gentlemen had followed-on
but were well placed to secure a draw with the score at 112 for three. However, Kilner settled the match by taking quick wickets and ending the innings with figures of six for 20 as the Players won by an innings. Kilner was recalled for Hearne in the fourth Test, but rain prevented all play after the first day. He bowled 12 wicketless overs, meaning he had not dismissed anyone in his first two Tests and he did not play in the last Test as Hearne returned. For Yorkshire, he had a more successful time, three times taking ten wickets in a match, including twelve for 55 in the final championship match of the season, which Yorkshire had to win to have a chance of winning the title. Yorkshire's opponents, Sussex
, were bowled out twice for less than 100, and when other results went Yorkshire's way, the club were crowned champions for the third successive year. Kilner was chosen for the Players again in an end of season match at Scarborough.
Although his poor batting meant his form as an all-rounder was disappointing, he had a very good season as a bowler. Nevertheless, his selection to tour Australia that winter with the M.C.C. team surprised commentators.
, Kilner made 103 against Western Australia
on his maiden first-class appearance in Australia. He continued to show good all-round form in the less important, non first-class matches, but in first-class matches leading up to the Tests he was less successful. Kilner passed fifty runs just once after his century and with the ball took one wicket in 81 overs during seven innings. He did not play in the first two Test matches, both of which were lost by England, but was selected for the third when the selectors altered the bowling attack. During the match, a series of injuries to colleagues left Kilner with a heavy workload. Australia batted first and scored 489, a total which looked unlikely when they lost three wickets for 22 and later six wickets for 119. England's pace bowlers, Gilligan and Maurice Tate
, had to leave the field injured, allowing Australia to recover; later the spinner Tich Freeman
hurt his wrist and could not bowl. The only fit front-line bowlers remaining were Kilner and Frank Woolley
. England fielded for nearly nine hours, and Kilner bowled 56 eight-ball
overs to take four for 127, his first wicket in Test matches being Arthur Richardson. Given the injuries, Gilligan later said Kilner gave "a truly great performance". England could not match Australia's total, scoring only 365, but when the hosts 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 for 14 in his final spell of bowling to end with four for 51. Needing 375 to win, Kilner scored 24 but England fell just short to lose by 11 runs. Consequently, Australia took an unbeatable 3–0 series lead. Between the third and fourth matches in the series, Kilner recorded good bowling performances, with five for 35 against Tasmania
and match figures of ten for 66 against Victoria
, and kept his place for the final two Tests.
In the fourth Test, which England won comfortably, Kilner scored 79, his highest Test score, adding 133 with Dodger Whysall
, the largest partnership of the match. When Australia batted, Kilner took five wickets in the match and stood out as one of the best bowlers. In the final Test, Kilner took four for 97 in Australia's first innings, but could not prevent the home team's fourth victory of the series. Kilner finished the series with 129 runs and averaged 29.80, batting mainly at number eight in the order, and Wisden noted he scored runs when they were needed. In the Tests, he captured 17 wickets at an average of 23.47. Wisden noted that no-one but Kilner could take wickets to support Tate, the most successful bowler. Apart from these two, no other bowler could manage more than 11 wickets and the other main bowlers averaged around 50. In all first-class matches, Kilner scored 488 runs at 24.88 and took 40 wickets at 25.17.
, Kilner was awarded a benefit match
and had an improved batting record for the season but critics began to notice a decline in his bowling. He was effective on pitches which favoured spin bowlers, but not on the flatter pitches prevalent in the dry summer of 1925. Cricket journals, such as The Cricketer
, criticised his tendency to bowl leg theory
—a tactic regarded as negative and overly defensive—when confronted with batting-friendly conditions. He took 131 wickets at 17.92, finishing second in the Yorkshire averages and helping his team to their fourth successive County Championship. He scored 1,068 runs at an average of 30.51 with two centuries. This gave him the third double of his career. Kilner's popularity with the crowds peaked in 1925, when over three days, 71,000 people attended his benefit match against Middlesex. It raised £4,106 (the equivalent of around £175,000 in 2008), to set a new record for benefit proceeds. There were no Test matches in 1925, but Kilner was once again selected for the Gentlemen v Players match at Lord's, scoring 59 in his only innings and taking five wickets in the match, as well as some end of season matches for the M.C.C.'s team from the previous winter.
In the winter of 1925–26, Kilner was selected for the M.C.C. tour of the West Indies, during which no Test matches were played. It was not personally successful for him and he recorded few effective performances. He scored 249 runs in first-class matches at 22.63, with just one score over fifty, and took 34 wickets at 29.50.
Yorkshire's run of success ended in 1926
as fierce rivals Lancashire
relegated them into second place. While Kilner had some successful matches in the season and achieved at a consistent level, his performance showed signs of deteriorating. He scored 1,187 runs at 37.09, the highest seasonal average of his career. He completed the double for the fourth and final time by taking 107 wickets, but his bowling average of 22.52 was his worst since 1920, before he became a regular bowler. He finished sixth in the Yorkshire batting and third in the bowling averages. He played for the Players for the final time at Lord's, scoring 72, but failed to take a wicket. His final first-class century came against Middlesex, when he compiled 150 out of a total of 415, dominating the scoring while he was at the crease. During the summer's Ashes series
, he was selected for the first four Tests. He only batted twice with a highest score of 36. With the ball, he took seven wickets at 39.42, but the editor of Wisden criticised much of the English bowling; he described Kilner's only notable achievement as quickly ending Australia's innings in the second Test at Lord's. For the final Test, Kilner was dropped in favour of 48-year-old Wilfred Rhodes. According to the chairman of selectors, Pelham Warner, Rhodes was recalled because of the lack of an effective alternative left-arm spinner. 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. In nine Tests, he scored 233 runs at an average of 33.28 and took 24 wickets at 30.58.
Over the winter of 1926–27, Kilner declined an invitation to tour India by the M.C.C. In 1927
, which proved to be his final season, Kilner had his least effective season for several years in a disappointing summer for Yorkshire. The county fell to third in the Championship behind Lancashire and Nottinghamshire. He failed to achieve a century, scoring 1,004 runs (average 33.46), and did not reach 100 wickets for the first time since 1921, taking just 86 wickets at an average of 23.68. Wisden said his bowling had lost its effectiveness and was no longer dangerous even when the pitch was helpful to spinners. In the Yorkshire averages, he finished fifth in both batting and bowling. In Kilner's final County Championship match, he scored 91 not out and took eight wickets, including five for 21 in the second innings, helping Yorkshire to a nine wicket victory. In his final first-class match, for Yorkshire against M.C.C., Kilner scored an unbeaten
51 to guide Yorkshire to an eight wicket win. 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.
and Maurice Leyland
, who were also in India, believed 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. It was obvious he was seriously ill when he arrived in Southampton; a cricketing engagement was cancelled and he was confined to bed. He refused treatment in Southampton, wishing to return to his family, and asking for his wife. Arriving in Wombwell on 27 March 1928, he was examined by his doctor and taken home. Subsequently, his condition deteriorated and he was taken to Kendray
Fever Hospital, near Barnsley. Although it was thought he had passed the worst, his condition became critical in the first few days of April. On 5 April 1928, aged just 37, Kilner died from enteric fever
in the presence of his wife.
The town of Wombwell expressed enormous sympathy and tributes came from around the world. When Kilner's funeral took place on 10 April, the streets were packed with mourners. Many came from outside the town, and contemporary estimates suggested 100,000 people were present to pay tribute to Kilner, although there may have been more. Over a thousand people were at the cemetery for the burial, and Yorkshire cricketers carried the coffin. Two years later, the Australian team which toured England in 1930
visited Kilner's grave in Wombwell to lay a wreath. The rector at the funeral said in his tribute "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."
, but batted between number seven and number nine for England. If the circumstances of the game demanded it, he was able to play slowly and defensively and restrain his naturally aggressive style. He was particularly effective while playing the drive and pull shot. For most of his career, his effectiveness as a batsman was not compromised by his improvement and increasing workload as a bowler.
In terms of bowling, Kilner was an effective performer on rain affected pitches. His accuracy also enabled him to bowl on good pitches without the batsmen being able to score too many runs. In 1923, journalist Alfred Pullin
said Kilner spun the ball more than any other English bowler. He noted, as did Wisden, how Kilner often bowled over the wicket, meaning he bowled from the right hand side of the wickets, unusual for a left-arm spinner in this period. 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
. Kilner's Wisden portrait also credited him with the gift of imagination, describing how he always tried to think of new ways to beat and dismiss batsmen. He would experiment with his bowling, for example altering his pace slightly, if conditions were unfavourable towards bowlers. Kilner delivered left-arm wrist spin
at times, constantly practising it in the cricket nets
. His brother Norman believed Roy was the person who coined the term "chinaman" to describe such a style, although other players have also claimed to originate the phrase.
At a time when the Yorkshire team was successful but exhibited a grim and determined attitude, Kilner was very popular with spectators. They liked him for his cheerfulness and desire to entertain, an attitude not shared by all of his team-mates. He had many friends in the game at a time when Yorkshire were not always welcome in other counties due to their on-field attitude. When he was chosen as a Bowler of the Year in 1924, Wisden remarked that he was devoted to the game, possessed a cheery temperament and stood out among players for his personality, while his obituary described him as modest and generous. His Times obituary described him as "not only a notable exponent of the game, but a man of rare charm. Few modern professionals commanded such a measure of esteem and kindly regard from his own immediate colleagues and his opponents in the cricket field as did Roy Kilner".
Kilner was a favourite of cricket writer Neville Cardus
, who attributed several sayings to him in his prose. For example, Cardus described Kilner as saying about Yorkshire and Lancashire matches at the time: "What we want is no umpires and fair cheating all round," and "We say good morning and after that all we say is 'Howzat?'" Also, when asked about contemporary problems in the game, in particular the negative attitude of some teams, he replied the game was fine, it was "t'crowd that wants educating up to it."
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...
er who played nine Test matches
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
for England between 1924 and 1926. An all-rounder
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
, he played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club
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....
between 1911 and 1927. In all first-class matches
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
, he scored 14,707 runs
Run (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a run is the basic unit of scoring. Runs are scored by a batsman, and the aggregate of the scores of a team's batsmen constitutes the team's score. A batsman scoring 50 or 100 runs , or any higher multiple of 50 runs, is considered a particular achievement...
at an average of 30.01 and took 1,003 wickets at an average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
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
Double (cricket)
A cricketer is said to achieve the double if he scores a thousand or more runs and also takes a hundred or more wickets in first-class matches during the course of a single season. The feat is extremely rare outside England because of the smaller number of first-class matches played in most other...
: scoring 1,000 runs and taking 100 wickets in the same season, recognised as a sign of a quality all-rounder.
Kilner first played for Yorkshire as a batsman
Batting (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball with a cricket bat to score runs or prevent the loss of one's wicket. A player who is currently batting is denoted as a batsman, while the act of hitting the ball is called a shot or stroke...
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
Left-arm orthodox spin
Left-arm orthodox spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket.Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left arm bowler using the fingers to spin the ball from right to left of the cricket pitch...
. His form brought selection by England in 1924 and a visit to Australia for the Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
tour of 1924–25. Although the second most successful bowler on the tour, his bowling subsequently declined in effectiveness, and did not trouble batsmen on good pitches. He was selected during the 1926 Ashes but 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 and 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 WombwellWombwell
Wombwell is a small town near Barnsley, located in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 15,180.Its name's origin may mean "Womba's Well", or "well in a hollow"....
, Barnsley
Barnsley
Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster. Barnsley is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, of which Barnsley is the largest and...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, England, the second son and one of eleven children of Seth Kilner and Mary Alice Washington. The Kilners attended Wombwell Parish Church and the boys were members of the Church Lads' Brigade
Church Lads' and Church Girls' Brigade
The Church Lads' and Church Girls' Brigade is a Church of England youth organisation with branches in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Barbados, Bermuda, Kenya, South Africa, Newfoundland and St Helena...
. His father and his uncle, Irving Washington
Irving Washington (cricketer)
William Arthur Irving Washington was an English first-class cricketer, who played forty four matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1900 and 1902. He also appeared for Griqualand West , Transvaal and The Players...
, the former 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....
cricketer, encouraged him to play the sport from an early age. Displaying ability, Kilner played for the local colliery team, Mitchell Main. His brother, Norman
Norman Kilner
Norman Kilner was an English first-class cricketer, who played 69 matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1919 to 1923, and 330 matches for Warwickshire from 1924 to 1937...
also played cricket, representing Yorkshire and later 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...
.
In 1904, aged 14, Kilner first played for the Mitchell Main first team, appearing in two games without success. Although selected regularly from the 1905 season, Kilner usually failed when batting. He displayed aggression, attempting too many difficult shots and losing his wicket. His bowling was more effective but used infrequently. It was not until the 1909 season that his batting developed. He scored his first century
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
for the team and began to make consistently good scores, attracting the attention of Yorkshire.
Debut for Yorkshire
After scoring a second century for Mitchell Main at the start of the 1910 season1910 English cricket season
-Honours:*County Championship - Kent*Minor Counties Championship - Norfolk*Wisden - Harry Foster, Alfred Hartley, Charles Llewellyn, Razor Smith, Frank Woolley-External sources:*...
, Kilner was chosen to play for Yorkshire Second XI. In his first season, he took just three wickets and had a batting average of 12.50, although he continued to do well for Mitchell Main. For the 1911 season
1911 English cricket season
-Honours:*County Championship - Warwickshire*Minor Counties Championship - Staffordshire*Wisden - Frank Foster, J W Hearne, Sep Kinneir, Phil Mead, Herbert Strudwick-External sources:*...
, Yorkshire sent Kilner to play for Harrogate Cricket Club which provided a higher standard of cricket: the county had a system whereby promising young players were sent to gain experience in competitive matches for local clubs. Kilner began to record good batting and bowling performances. Although his form for Yorkshire Second XI was more inconsistent, he made his first-class debut for Yorkshire that season against 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...
in the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
. He scored 0 and 14 and did not bowl. In a further six matches for Yorkshire in 1911, his highest innings was 18 runs
Run (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a run is the basic unit of scoring. Runs are scored by a batsman, and the aggregate of the scores of a team's batsmen constitutes the team's score. A batsman scoring 50 or 100 runs , or any higher multiple of 50 runs, is considered a particular achievement...
, his average with the bat was just 6.66 in ten innings and he did not take any wickets. For Harrogate, he was more successful, with 519 runs and 28 wickets.
Yorkshire regular
At the beginning of the 1912 season1912 English cricket season
The 1912 English cricket season saw the much-criticised Triangular Tournament of Test Matches between England, Australia and South Africa. The contest was effectively ruined by one of the wettest summers on record and was never repeated.-Honours:...
, Kilner showed good form for Yorkshire Second XI. In two games, he scored centuries, going on to take twelve wickets for 75 runs in the second match. These performances, coupled with his continued good form for Harrogate, led to Kilner's recall to the Yorkshire first team in June. He replaced the injured all-rounder
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
George Hirst for the match against Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire 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 Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...
. On the first morning, Kilner was used as the sixth bowler and proved successful; he finished with four wickets for 66 runs. Although failing to score in the first innings, he came in to bat in the second innings with Yorkshire 133 for four, needing 249 for victory. He shared a partnership
Partnership (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in partnership, although only one is on strike at any time. The partnership between two batsmen will come to an end when one of them is dismissed or retires, or the innings comes to a close In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in...
of 113 for the fifth wicket and scored 83 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
to take Yorkshire to a five wicket win. This performance kept Kilner in the team for the remainder of the season, even after Hirst's return, ending his appearances for the second team. He played 23 times for Yorkshire, who subsequently won the County Championship. He scored 570 runs at an average of 22.80 and took 16 wickets at an average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
of 22.12, figures regarded as respectable for a first full season. Apart from one game in the 1913 season
1913 English cricket season
The 1913 English cricket season saw Kent take the title for the fourth time in eight seasons.-Honours:*County Championship - Kent*Minor Counties Championship - Norfolk...
, he ceased playing for Harrogate. In his years there, he scored 967 runs, averaging 38.68, and took 71 wickets at an average of less than ten runs per wicket.
The 1913 season saw Kilner score 1,586 at an average of 34.47, which remained his highest seasonal aggregate of runs and placed him third in the Yorkshire batting averages. He also took 18 wickets at 25.22. 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
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....
. During his innings of 104, he hit 18 fours and shared a partnership of 184 in under two hours with his close friend Major Booth
Major Booth
This page is about an English Cricketer. For other persons named William Booth, see William Booth .Major William Booth was a cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1908 and 1914, a season in which he was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the...
, rescuing Yorkshire from 58 for five and taking the score to 300. Throughout the season, he played several valuable innings when his side was under pressure. His batting was always adventurous and attacking although he often made uncertain starts to his innings and showed impatience. The strength and variety of the Yorkshire bowling attack meant his left-arm spin was not often required. Even so, Yorkshire dropped to second in the Championship.
An illness during the winter of 1913–14 took its toll on Kilner at the start of the 1914 season
1914 English cricket season
The 1914 English cricket season was called off at the end of August because of the outbreak of the First World War. The last four matches to be played all finished on 2 September and the remaining five scheduled fixtures were cancelled....
. He passed 1,000 runs for the second time but due to his uncertain form, his aggregate of runs and his average both fell. He scored 1,329 runs (average 30.90), placing him fourth in the Yorkshire batting averages. His bowling was rarely used and he took just one wicket. Kilner scored his second first-class century 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....
late in the season; he made 169 in nearly three and a half hours, hitting 28 fours. His team finished fourth in the table.
First World War
The United Kingdom declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914, while Kilner was playing in that season's Roses MatchRoses Match
The Roses Match refers to any game of cricket played between Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Lancashire County Cricket Club. Yorkshire's emblem is the white rose, while Lancashire's is the red rose. The associations go back to the Wars of the Roses in the 15th century...
at Old Trafford. Initially the government requested that cricket should continue, though several cricketers with existing military obligations, including Yorkshire's captain, Sir Archibald White
Archibald White
Sir Archibald Woollaston White, 4th Bart was an English amateur first-class cricketer, who captained Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1911 to 1914. He led the team to the County Championship title in 1912...
, were called up immediately. As the fighting started, and casualties began to mount, public opinion turned against the continuation of the season, and Yorkshire's match against Sussex at Hove, which concluded on 1 September, proved to be the last County Championship match until 1919
Cricket in the Great War
The onset of World War I in 1914 brought an end to the "Golden Age" of English cricket. Surrey called off their last two matches without forfeiting their position at the top of the County Championship, which they thus won for the first time since 1899, and the County Championship was then...
. The newspaper Cricket reported "The men's hearts were barely in the game, and the match was given up as a draw at tea." With the suspension of the championship, Kilner and Major Booth enlisted in the army together, joining the Leeds and Bradford "Pals"
Leeds Pals
The Leeds Pals were a First World War Pals battalion of Kitchener's Army raised in the West Yorkshire city of Leeds. When the battalion was taken over by the British Army it was officially named the 15th Battalion , The Prince of Wales's Own .The battalion was formed in September 1914 and...
in the West Yorkshire Regiment. Kilner trained as a mechanic before being stationed at Colsterdale
Colsterdale
Colsterdale is the valley of the River Burn, a tributary of the River Ure, in the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It gives its name to a hamlet and civil parish in the upper part of the dale. The area is in Harrogate district...
in North Yorkshire as a Corporal. While on leave in November 1914, Kilner married Annie Campbelljohn—the daughter of James Campbelljohn, an engineer—at Wombwell Parish Church; Booth served as best man. While the war was taking place, Annie gave birth to the couple's first child, Roy junior. Kilner was posted with his battalion to Egypt but was forced home with an injury. On recovery, he was sent to fight on the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
in France. During the Battle of the Somme, he was wounded shortly before his battalion engaged in the fighting, receiving a shrapnel wound in the wrist; later in the same action, Booth was killed. Kilner recovered in a military hospital near Blackpool before being assigned to Preston Garrison as a mechanic. Before the war ended, Kilner suffered a second loss when his brother Bernard was killed at Ypres
Ypres
Ypres is a Belgian municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote...
in 1917.
Having previously shown his footballing ability for Mitchell Main in the winter of 1912–13, Kilner resumed his career in the sport while posted at Preston during the war. He played as a right-back for Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...
, a team which won promotion from the Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
in 1915, but only took their place in the First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
when league football resumed in 1919. 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.
From batsman to bowler
When cricket resumed after the war in 19191919 English cricket season
The 1919 English cricket season was the first to stage first-class cricket since 1914. Yorkshire won the title but in their team as in everyone else's, the sense was of overwhelming loss. The county matches in this season were played over a course of two days...
, County Championship matches were reduced from three days to two in a one-season experiment. Following the deaths of Booth in the war and Alonzo Drake
Alonzo Drake
Alonzo Drake was an English first-class cricketer who played 157 matches for Yorkshire between 1909 and 1914...
from illness, as well as the decline in the bowling of the aging George Hirst, Yorkshire lacked an effective attack. Subsequently, Kilner was asked to deliver more overs, although not to the extent of a main bowler. He took 45 wickets, more than his entire first-class wicket aggregate before the war, at an average of 18.12. This placed him third in the Yorkshire averages. With the bat he scored three centuries and reached 1,135 runs at 29.10. His performances earned his selection for the Players against the Gentlemen
Gentlemen v Players
The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between one team consisting of amateurs and one of professionals . The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture was not revived until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter...
in the end of season festival match at Scarborough, although he neither took a wicket nor scored. Kilner's brother Norman first played for Yorkshire in 1919, although he was ultimately unable to secure a permanent place in the team.
Kilner began the 1920 season
1920 English cricket season
The 1920 English cricket season had no Test cricket as the post-war recovery continued. Middlesex rose from 13th in 1919 to take the first of two back-to-back titles...
with an innings of 206 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
in his first match, 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 the effort remained the highest score of his career. He batted for four hours, hitting 24 fours and two sixes. He could have been caught when he had scored around fifty, but a local newspaper described the innings as brilliant, his driving and pulling being particularly effective. Kilner appeared in one representative match: at the end-of-season Scarborough Festival
Scarborough Festival
The Scarborough Festival is an end of season series of cricket matches featuring Yorkshire County Cricket Club which has been held in Scarborough, on the east coast of Yorkshire, since 1876. The ground, at North Marine Road, sees large crowds of holiday makers watching a mixture of first class...
, he played for CI Thornton's XI against the Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
(M.C.C.) side which visited Australia in the winter—at the time, the M.C.C. administered English cricket, and the England team toured under its name. In total, he scored 1,316 runs at an average of 37.09 with two more centuries, placing him second in the Yorkshire averages. With the ball, he took 27 wickets but his average of 25.33 was relatively high. The county finished fourth in the Championship as Middlesex were crowned winners. Critics believed Kilner should have bowled more frequently, an opinion shared by Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets in and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in Test matches...
, Yorkshire's main slow left-arm spinner
Left-arm orthodox spin
Left-arm orthodox spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket.Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left arm bowler using the fingers to spin the ball from right to left of the cricket pitch...
. Conscious of his increasing age, the 42-year-old Rhodes wanted support with the bowling workload; he considered Kilner the best option and encouraged him to improve his left-arm spin. Consequently, during the winter, Kilner spent a lot of time practising in the yard of the Wombwell hotel where his father was landlord. Around the same time he celebrated the birth of his second son, named Major after Major Booth.
Kilner's bowling had greater success in 1921
1921 English cricket season
In the 1921 English cricket season, Australia emphasised a post-war superiority that it owed in particular to the pace duo of Gregory and McDonald...
, helping Yorkshire to rise to third in the Championship. Used more regularly, he took 61 wickets (average 18.80), including his first five wicket hauls in an innings, 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...
and Nottinghamshire. He scored 1,137 runs at an average of 27.73. He made centuries in the two matches against Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club
Northamptonshire 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 Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northants Steelbacks. The traditional club colour is Maroon. During the...
, sharing big partnerships in both games: 276 with Rhodes in the first and 299 with Percy Holmes
Percy Holmes
Percy Holmes was an English first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire and England.Holmes was born in Oakes, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England...
in the second. His overall performance left him sixth in the Yorkshire batting averages, while he finished fourth in the bowling averages.The placings for Yorkshire bowling averages include only bowlers who took ten wickets or more and batsmen who played ten innings. Through the winter, he continued to develop his bowling.
Established all-rounder
By 19221922 English cricket season
The 1922 English cricket season saw Yorkshire recover the County Championship and begin a run of four successive titles.- Honours :*County Championship - Yorkshire*Minor Counties Championship - Buckinghamshire...
, Kilner's bowling had improved to the point where he passed 100 wickets in the season for the first time, taking 122 at an average of 14.72, helping Yorkshire to win the County Championship. Wisden recognised this was the first season when he was a front-line bowler, "[leaving] his previous form far behind." In the first five games of the campaign, he took 21 wickets for 142 runs. In the match against Essex
Essex County Cricket Club
Essex 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 Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...
, he claimed ten wickets in a match for the first time, taking eleven for 51 runs. 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...
, he took ten wickets for 90 runs, including six for 13 in the second innings as Hampshire were bowled out for 44. At the same time, he maintained his batting form, having a similar record to the previous season. He scored 1,198 runs at 27.22 and scored two centuries. This meant he completed the double
Double (cricket)
A cricketer is said to achieve the double if he scores a thousand or more runs and also takes a hundred or more wickets in first-class matches during the course of a single season. The feat is extremely rare outside England because of the smaller number of first-class matches played in most other...
—regarded as the sign of a quality all-round cricketer—for the first time. Kilner was fifth in the Yorkshire batting averages and fourth in the bowling averages. At the end of the season, he was again selected for CI Thornton's XI, as well as in two games at Eastbourne. Over the English winter, Kilner accepted a job coaching for the Maharaja of Patiala in India. He played in several first-class matches, and enjoyed himself enough to return the following winter.
Statistically, Kilner's peak as a bowler came in the 1923 season
1923 English cricket season
-Honours:*County Championship - Yorkshire*Minor Counties Championship - Buckinghamshire*Wisden - Arthur Gilligan, Roy Kilner, George Macaulay, Cecil Parkin, Maurice Tate-External sources:*...
, when he took 158 wickets at an average of 12.90 and finished second in the Yorkshire averages. With the bat, he failed to score a hundred for the first time since 1912, but still made 1,401 runs at 34.17 and including nine scores over fifty. This placed him third in the Yorkshire batting averages, his contributions helping his team to retain the County Championship. He made a very effective start to the season, taking 27 wickets in the first four matches for just 157 runs, including the best figures of his career, eight for 26 against Glamorgan
Glamorgan County Cricket Club
Glamorgan 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 Glamorgan aka Glamorganshire . Glamorgan CCC is the only Welsh first-class cricket club. Glamorgan CCC have won the English County...
, and six for 14 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...
. Later that season 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...
, he performed what was regarded by Wisden as one of his best bowling feats. Surrey needed 184 runs to win and seemed certain winners when they had scored 127 for two. However, after Emmott Robinson
Emmott Robinson
Emmott Robinson was an English first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1919 to 1931. He was awarded his county cap in 1920. Robinson was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm fast-medium pace.-Life and career:Robinson was born in Keighley, Yorkshire, England...
took a wicket, Kilner took the last five while giving away only 15 runs in a match-winning performance. 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 he was pale with effort and concentration. In the same season, Kilner was picked for the Gentlemen v Players
Gentlemen v Players
The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between one team consisting of amateurs and one of professionals . The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture was not revived until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter...
match at Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
, the most prestigious such fixture at the time, where he scored eight in his only innings and took three wickets. Wisden commented that he seemed certain to be picked for the England Test match
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
side shortly (there were no Tests played that summer). He took a step towards this when he was selected for a Test trial match, scoring 26 and 11 not out, but only bowling 18 overs in the match to take two wickets. He also made another appearance for the Players, this time at Scarborough. His performances in the season earned him selection as one of Wisden's Bowlers of the Year
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
The Wisden Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season"...
.
Test debut
After another winter coaching in India and practising his bowling, Kilner took 145 first-class wickets at 13.28 during the 1924 English summer1924 English cricket season
Yorkshire secured a hat-trick of titles in the 1924 English cricket season, while England, in its first home series since 1921, proved too strong for South Africa.-Honours:*County Championship - Yorkshire*Minor Counties Championship - Berkshire...
, placing him second in the national averages behind his teammate George Macaulay
George Macaulay
George Gibson Macaulay , was a professional English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1920 and 1935. He played in eight Test matches for England from 1923 to 1933, achieving the rare feat of taking a wicket with his first ball in Test cricket...
. His batting suffered a decline; he scored 731 runs at 20.88, the lowest aggregate of his career and his first sub-1,000 total since 1912. Kilner took 33 wickets in the first six matches of the season, and his form earned selection for a Test trial match. In this game, he took three for 49 in the first innings and a further wicket in the second but only scored 20 runs in two innings. After 19 wickets in his next three matches, including seven in the match against the South African touring side, he was awarded a place in the England team for the first Test. In his maiden Test, he scored 59 out of a large total, batting at number seven. South Africa were dismissed for 30 runs in the first innings before Kilner had an opportunity to bowl. In the second innings, he delivered 22 overs
Over (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, an over is a set of six consecutive balls bowled in succession. An over is normally bowled by a single bowler. However, in the event of injury preventing a bowler from completing an over, it is completed by a teammate....
without taking a wicket and commentators were not impressed by his bowling. The selectors left Kilner out of the next two Tests, all-rounder J. W. Hearne taking his place, but he played in the Gentlemen v Players match at Lord's. He scored a rapid 113—his only century of the season—for the Players. By lunch on the last day, the Gentlemen had followed-on
Follow-on
Follow-on is a term used in the sport of cricket to describe a situation where the team that bats second is forced to take its second batting innings immediately after its first, because the team was not able to get close enough to the score achieved by the first team batting in the first innings...
but were well placed to secure a draw with the score at 112 for three. However, Kilner settled the match by taking quick wickets and ending the innings with figures of six for 20 as the Players won by an innings. Kilner was recalled for Hearne in the fourth Test, but rain prevented all play after the first day. He bowled 12 wicketless overs, meaning he had not dismissed anyone in his first two Tests and he did not play in the last Test as Hearne returned. For Yorkshire, he had a more successful time, three times taking ten wickets in a match, including twelve for 55 in the final championship match of the season, which Yorkshire had to win to have a chance of winning the title. Yorkshire's opponents, 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...
, were bowled out twice for less than 100, and when other results went Yorkshire's way, the club were crowned champions for the third successive year. Kilner was chosen for the Players again in an end of season match at Scarborough.
Although his poor batting meant his form as an all-rounder was disappointing, he had a very good season as a bowler. Nevertheless, his selection to tour Australia that winter with the M.C.C. team surprised commentators.
Tour of Australia
Playing for M.C.C. under the captaincy of Arthur GilliganArthur Gilligan
Arthur Edward Robert Gilligan was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Sussex, Surrey and England....
, Kilner made 103 against Western Australia
Western Warriors
The Western Australia cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team representing the state of Western Australia...
on his maiden first-class appearance in Australia. He continued to show good all-round form in the less important, non first-class matches, but in first-class matches leading up to the Tests he was less successful. Kilner passed fifty runs just once after his century and with the ball took one wicket in 81 overs during seven innings. He did not play in the first two Test matches, both of which were lost by England, but was selected for the third when the selectors altered the bowling attack. During the match, a series of injuries to colleagues left Kilner with a heavy workload. Australia batted first and scored 489, a total which looked unlikely when they lost three wickets for 22 and later six wickets for 119. England's pace bowlers, Gilligan and Maurice Tate
Maurice Tate
Maurice William Tate was a Sussex and England cricketer of the 1920s and 1930s and the leader of England's Test bowling attack for a long time during this period...
, had to leave the field injured, allowing Australia to recover; later the spinner Tich Freeman
Tich Freeman
Alfred Percy "Tich" Freeman was an English cricketer. A leg spin bowler for Kent and England, he is the only man to take 300 wickets in an English season, and is the second most prolific wicket taker in first class cricket history.-Career:Freeman's common name comes from his extremely short...
hurt his wrist and could not bowl. The only fit front-line bowlers remaining were Kilner and Frank Woolley
Frank Woolley
Frank Edward Woolley was an English cricketer, one of the finest all-rounders the game has seen. In a career lasting more than thirty years, he scored more first-class runs than anyone but Sir Jack Hobbs, and took over 2,000 wickets at an average of under 20...
. England fielded for nearly nine hours, and Kilner bowled 56 eight-ball
Delivery (cricket)
A delivery or ball in cricket is a single action of bowling a cricket ball towards the batsman.During play of the game, a member of the fielding team is designated as the bowler, and bowls deliveries towards the batsman...
overs to take four for 127, his first wicket in Test matches being Arthur Richardson. Given the injuries, Gilligan later said Kilner gave "a truly great performance". England could not match Australia's total, scoring only 365, but when the hosts 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 for 14 in his final spell of bowling to end with four for 51. Needing 375 to win, Kilner scored 24 but England fell just short to lose by 11 runs. Consequently, Australia took an unbeatable 3–0 series lead. Between the third and fourth matches in the series, Kilner recorded good bowling performances, with five for 35 against Tasmania
Tasmanian Tigers
The Tasmanian cricket team, nicknamed the Tigers, represents the Australian state of Tasmania in cricket tournaments. They compete annually in the Australian domestic senior men's cricket season, which currently consists of the first-class Sheffield Shield, the limited overs Ford Ranger Cup, and...
and match figures of ten for 66 against Victoria
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
, and kept his place for the final two Tests.
In the fourth Test, which England won comfortably, Kilner scored 79, his highest Test score, adding 133 with Dodger Whysall
Dodger Whysall
William Wilfrid "Dodger" Whysall was a cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire and England....
, the largest partnership of the match. When Australia batted, Kilner took five wickets in the match and stood out as one of the best bowlers. In the final Test, Kilner took four for 97 in Australia's first innings, but could not prevent the home team's fourth victory of the series. Kilner finished the series with 129 runs and averaged 29.80, batting mainly at number eight in the order, and Wisden noted he scored runs when they were needed. In the Tests, he captured 17 wickets at an average of 23.47. Wisden noted that no-one but Kilner could take wickets to support Tate, the most successful bowler. Apart from these two, no other bowler could manage more than 11 wickets and the other main bowlers averaged around 50. In all first-class matches, Kilner scored 488 runs at 24.88 and took 40 wickets at 25.17.
Decline as a bowler
During 19251925 English cricket season
The 1925 English cricket season did not have a Test series and the focus was ostensibly upon the County Championship, except that proceedings were dominated by Jack Hobbs who scored a then-record 16 centuries and 3024 runs. Along the way, Hobbs equalled and then surpassed the career record for...
, Kilner was awarded a benefit match
Benefit (sports)
A benefit or testimonial is a match or season of activities granted by a sporting body to a loyal sportsman to boost their income before retirement. Often this is in the form of a match for which all the ticket proceeds are given to the player in question.There have been occasions when a...
and had an improved batting record for the season but critics began to notice a decline in his bowling. He was effective on pitches which favoured spin bowlers, but not on the flatter pitches prevalent in the dry summer of 1925. Cricket journals, such as The Cricketer
The Cricketer
The Cricketer was an English cricket magazine published between 1921 and 2003 when it was merged with Wisden Cricket Monthly and relaunched as The Wisden Cricketer....
, criticised his tendency to bowl leg theory
Leg theory
Leg theory is a bowling tactic in the sport of cricket. The term leg theory is somewhat archaic and seldom used any more, but the basic tactic still plays a part in modern cricket....
—a tactic regarded as negative and overly defensive—when confronted with batting-friendly conditions. He took 131 wickets at 17.92, finishing second in the Yorkshire averages and helping his team to their fourth successive County Championship. He scored 1,068 runs at an average of 30.51 with two centuries. This gave him the third double of his career. Kilner's popularity with the crowds peaked in 1925, when over three days, 71,000 people attended his benefit match against Middlesex. It raised £4,106 (the equivalent of around £175,000 in 2008), to set a new record for benefit proceeds. There were no Test matches in 1925, but Kilner was once again selected for the Gentlemen v Players match at Lord's, scoring 59 in his only innings and taking five wickets in the match, as well as some end of season matches for the M.C.C.'s team from the previous winter.
In the winter of 1925–26, Kilner was selected for the M.C.C. tour of the West Indies, during which no Test matches were played. It was not personally successful for him and he recorded few effective performances. He scored 249 runs in first-class matches at 22.63, with just one score over fifty, and took 34 wickets at 29.50.
Yorkshire's run of success ended in 1926
1926 English cricket season
The 1926 English cricket season saw England regain the Ashes. Lancashire overcame its eternal rivals and began a hat-trick sequence of county titles.-Honours:*County Championship - Lancashire*Minor Counties Championship - Durham...
as fierce rivals Lancashire
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
relegated them into second place. While Kilner had some successful matches in the season and achieved at a consistent level, his performance showed signs of deteriorating. He scored 1,187 runs at 37.09, the highest seasonal average of his career. He completed the double for the fourth and final time by taking 107 wickets, but his bowling average of 22.52 was his worst since 1920, before he became a regular bowler. He finished sixth in the Yorkshire batting and third in the bowling averages. He played for the Players for the final time at Lord's, scoring 72, but failed to take a wicket. His final first-class century came against Middlesex, when he compiled 150 out of a total of 415, dominating the scoring while he was at the crease. During the summer's Ashes series
Australian cricket team in England in 1926
England won the 1926 Ashes series against Australia. England won the last Test of the series after the first four matches were drawn:*1st Test — drawn - *2nd Test — drawn - *3rd Test — drawn -...
, he was selected for the first four Tests. He only batted twice with a highest score of 36. With the ball, he took seven wickets at 39.42, but the editor of Wisden criticised much of the English bowling; he described Kilner's only notable achievement as quickly ending Australia's innings in the second Test at Lord's. For the final Test, Kilner was dropped in favour of 48-year-old Wilfred Rhodes. According to the chairman of selectors, Pelham Warner, Rhodes was recalled because of the lack of an effective alternative left-arm spinner. 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. In nine Tests, he scored 233 runs at an average of 33.28 and took 24 wickets at 30.58.
Over the winter of 1926–27, Kilner declined an invitation to tour India by the M.C.C. In 1927
1927 English cricket season
Five years before Bodyline, top of the averages in the 1927 English cricket season were Douglas Jardine and Harold Larwood. The season is notable for being the last one to date in which there was no Test series, apart from the years of World War II and 1970 .-Honours:*County...
, which proved to be his final season, Kilner had his least effective season for several years in a disappointing summer for Yorkshire. The county fell to third in the Championship behind Lancashire and Nottinghamshire. He failed to achieve a century, scoring 1,004 runs (average 33.46), and did not reach 100 wickets for the first time since 1921, taking just 86 wickets at an average of 23.68. Wisden said his bowling had lost its effectiveness and was no longer dangerous even when the pitch was helpful to spinners. In the Yorkshire averages, he finished fifth in both batting and bowling. In Kilner's final County Championship match, he scored 91 not out and took eight wickets, including five for 21 in the second innings, helping Yorkshire to a nine wicket victory. In his final first-class match, for Yorkshire against M.C.C., Kilner scored an unbeaten
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
51 to guide Yorkshire to an eight wicket win. 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.
Death
The Maharaja of Patiala again invited Kilner to play and coach in India in the winter of 1927–28. Kilner's sister Mollie later claimed he was very reluctant to take up the invitation and hesitated before accepting. The trip started badly when Kilner's uncle, Irving Washington, died the day after he departed, and several of Kilner's actions suggested he was suffering from some form of depression while in India. Despite this, Kilner recorded several large scores, including an unbeaten 283 in one (non first-class) match. Near the end of trip, Kilner began to suffer from a fever. His Yorkshire team mates, Arthur DolphinArthur Dolphin
Arthur Dolphin was an English first-class cricketer, who kept wicket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1905 and 1927...
and Maurice Leyland
Maurice Leyland
Maurice Leyland , christened 'Morris Leyland', was an English cricketer who played 41 Test matches between 1928 and 1938 and proved himself one of the best left-handers of his generation....
, who were also in India, believed 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. It was obvious he was seriously ill when he arrived in Southampton; a cricketing engagement was cancelled and he was confined to bed. He refused treatment in Southampton, wishing to return to his family, and asking for his wife. Arriving in Wombwell on 27 March 1928, he was examined by his doctor and taken home. Subsequently, his condition deteriorated and he was taken to Kendray
Kendray
Kendray is a village in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England that lies between Sheffield Road and Doncaster Road, both of which lead out of/ in to Barnsley town centre....
Fever Hospital, near Barnsley. Although it was thought he had passed the worst, his condition became critical in the first few days of April. On 5 April 1928, aged just 37, Kilner died from enteric fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
in the presence of his wife.
The town of Wombwell expressed enormous sympathy and tributes came from around the world. When Kilner's funeral took place on 10 April, the streets were packed with mourners. Many came from outside the town, and contemporary estimates suggested 100,000 people were present to pay tribute to Kilner, although there may have been more. Over a thousand people were at the cemetery for the burial, and Yorkshire cricketers carried the coffin. Two years later, the Australian team which toured England in 1930
Australian cricket team in England in 1930
Australia won the 1930 Ashes series against England, winning two of the matches and losing one, with the other two tests drawn:*1st Test — England won by 93 runs - *2nd Test — Australia won by 7 wickets -...
visited Kilner's grave in Wombwell to lay a wreath. The rector at the funeral said in his tribute "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."
Style and personality
Kilner first came into the Yorkshire side 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. For Yorkshire, he appeared high in the orderBatting order (cricket)
In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time...
, but batted between number seven and number nine for England. If the circumstances of the game demanded it, he was able to play slowly and defensively and restrain his naturally aggressive style. He was particularly effective while playing the drive and pull shot. For most of his career, his effectiveness as a batsman was not compromised by his improvement and increasing workload as a bowler.
In terms of bowling, Kilner was an effective performer on rain affected pitches. His accuracy also enabled him to bowl on good pitches without the batsmen being able to score too many runs. In 1923, journalist Alfred Pullin
Alfred Pullin
Alfred William Pullin, known by the pseudonym Old Ebor , was a British sports journalist who wrote about rugby union and cricket. He wrote mainly for British newspapers the Yorkshire Post and the Yorkshire Evening Post...
said Kilner spun the ball more than any other English bowler. He noted, as did Wisden, how Kilner often bowled over the wicket, meaning he bowled from the right hand side of the wickets, unusual for a left-arm spinner in this period. 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
Arm ball
An arm ball is a type of delivery in cricket. It is a variation delivery bowled by an off spin bowler or slow left-arm orthodox bowler. It is the finger spin equivalent of a wrist spinner's slider or zooter....
. Kilner's Wisden portrait also credited him with the gift of imagination, describing how he always tried to think of new ways to beat and dismiss batsmen. He would experiment with his bowling, for example altering his pace slightly, if conditions were unfavourable towards bowlers. Kilner delivered left-arm wrist spin
Left-arm unorthodox spin
Left-arm unorthodox spin, or chinaman, is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket using the hand wrist. Left-arm unorthodox spin bowlers use a wrist hand action to spin the ball which turns from off to leg side of the cricket pitch...
at times, constantly practising it in the cricket nets
Cricket nets
Cricket nets are practice nets used by batsmen and bowlers to warm up and/or improve their cricketing techniques. Cricket nets consist of a cricket pitch which is enclosed by cricket nets on either side, to the rear and optionally the roof. The bowling end of the net is left open...
. His brother Norman believed Roy was the person who coined the term "chinaman" to describe such a style, although other players have also claimed to originate the phrase.
At a time when the Yorkshire team was successful but exhibited a grim and determined attitude, Kilner was very popular with spectators. They liked him for his cheerfulness and desire to entertain, an attitude not shared by all of his team-mates. He had many friends in the game at a time when Yorkshire were not always welcome in other counties due to their on-field attitude. When he was chosen as a Bowler of the Year in 1924, Wisden remarked that he was devoted to the game, possessed a cheery temperament and stood out among players for his personality, while his obituary described him as modest and generous. His Times obituary described him as "not only a notable exponent of the game, but a man of rare charm. Few modern professionals commanded such a measure of esteem and kindly regard from his own immediate colleagues and his opponents in the cricket field as did Roy Kilner".
Kilner was a favourite of cricket writer Neville Cardus
Neville Cardus
Sir John Frederick Neville Cardus CBE was an English writer and critic, best known for his writing on music and cricket. For many years, he wrote for The Manchester Guardian. He was untrained in music, and his style of criticism was subjective, romantic and personal, in contrast with his critical...
, who attributed several sayings to him in his prose. For example, Cardus described Kilner as saying about Yorkshire and Lancashire matches at the time: "What we want is no umpires and fair cheating all round," and "We say good morning and after that all we say is 'Howzat?'" Also, when asked about contemporary problems in the game, in particular the negative attitude of some teams, he replied the game was fine, it was "t'crowd that wants educating up to it."