The Greatest Ever?
Liam Norwell's 9/62 on the final day of the 2022 season was the 12th-best bowling analysis for Warwickshire in first class cricket.
But factor in conditions and match situation and a case could be made for it to be the best ever bowling performance ever for the county. Here are the top 12 rated for greatness by a panel of experts exclusively gathered together by Reports from Arbroath.
1. 23.3-11-41-10: Jack Bannister v Combined Services (M&B Ground), 1959
Greatness rating: 12th
The medium-pacer has the best analysis for Warwickshire but Bannister himself, a wise and honest critic as a journalist for many years after his playing career, admitted that it doesn’t rank as the best bowling display. The Combined Services XI equated to a good club side and the Portland Road pitch was wet and helpful to bowlers. Bannister took the first seven wickets on the first afternoon and the remaining three on the second morning. A historic all-ten was duly banked but the bowler was briskly brought down to earth. Bannister is perhaps the only man ever to take an all-ten and then be dropped…he made way in the next game when the senior bowlers returned!
2. 20.4-4-49-10: Eric Hollies v Nottinghamshire (Edgbaston), 1946
Greatness rating: 2nd
Nottinghamshire made untroubled progress to 47 without loss against the seamers then on came Hollies – and it was soon 62 for five. The master of metronomic accuracy and variation took all-ten…without the assistance of his colleagues; seven of his victims were bowled and the other three were lbw. A work of genius delivered to acclaim from spectators in the Rea Bank Stand, later to take his name, this is a serious contender for best bowling performance for Warwickshire.
3. 25.5-5-51-10: Harry Howell v Yorkshire (Edgbaston), 1923
Greatness rating: 4th
Howell’s all-ten, the first for Warwickshire, is another genuine contender for best ever because his wickets included some of the finest batters of the day including legendary openers Percy Holmes and Bert Sutcliffe. Howell removed them both for single figures and kept going through a middle order which included the likes of Wilfred Rhodes, Roy Kilner and Morris Leyland.
4. 17.1-4-32-9: Harry Howell v Hampshire (Edgbaston), 1925
Greatness rating: 5th
Another masterclass here as Howell unpicked a strong Hampshire batting order on a good batting pitch. Hampshire advanced to 89 without loss then spinner Billy Quaife broke through and the rest fell in a heap to former Wolves striker Howell.
5. 16.3-4-35-9: Sam Hargreave v Surrey (The Oval), 1903
Greatness rating: 7th
This may or may not be the best but it’s certainly the quirkiest. When the game (the opening match of the season) was due to begin, Hargreave was on board a ship in the English Channel on his way home from Australia with the England squad. But rain washed out the first day at The Oval, giving the slow-left-armer time to get there to make hay on the wet pitch. After taking six for 41 in Surrey’s first innings 82 all out, he was even more potent second time round with nine for 35 as mighty Surrey lost their last eight wickets for 26 to fold to 69 all out.
6. 17-6-35-9: Harry Howell v Somerset (Taunton), 1924
Greatness rating: 10th
Howell and Bob Wyatt took five apiece first time round to bowl Somerset out for 99 and, after Warwickshire replied with 137 (in 80.4 overs!), Howell exploited bowler-friendly conditions to the full. He dismissed numbers three, four, five and six for ducks and was on his way to a second career all-ten until Wyatt took the eighth wicket.
7. 15.2-5-35-9: Jack Bannister v Yorkshire (Sheffield), 1955
Greatness rating: 9th
When fiery Fred Trueman got busy on a lively pitch to take five wickets to help bowl the Bears out for 148, the notoriously partisan Bramall Lane regulars were well-pleased. But Trueman was trumped by the milder medium-pace of Bannister. Yorkshire were all out for 73 as Bannister took nine, only the wicket of Brian Close (lbw to Roly Thompson) eluding him. Victory was to elude the Bears, however. After 20 wickets fell on the first day, the wicket flattened out and Yorkshire, set 217 (much the biggest total of the match) to win, reached it for five wickets thanks to Willie Watson’s unbeaten 64 in 98 overs.
8. 20.4-6-36-9: Chris Woakes v Durham (Edgbaston), 2016
Greatness rating: 3rd
“90 mile-an-hour leg-cutters” was how Durham captain Paul Collingwood described Woakes’ work on this grey May afternoon May. Durham eased to 92 for one with only Olly Hannon-Dalby having broken through. Then Woakes sent an unplayable delivery into Mark Stoneman’s stumps to launch a spell of magnificent fast bowling which accounted for the other nine.
The Bears’ bowling attack in this match – Woakes, Hannon-Dalby, Chris Wright, Keith Barker and Jeetan Patel – is arguably the finest ever fielded by the club and Durham just happened to cop Woakes at his world-class best.
9. 19.1-3-39-9: Charlie Grove v Sussex (Edgbaston), 1952
Greatness rating: 8th
On the morning of June 18th, 1952, Sussex skipper James Langridge chose to bat…bad idea. Thirty-nine overs later his side was 86 all out and Grove had a nine-for. Fourteen years after his debut, the medium-pacer showed he could still swing it round corners when the clouds rolled in. Grove took the first eight before Eric Hollies had Doug Wood caught at mid on to scupper the potential all-ten.
10. 31-9-55-9: Harry Pallett v Essex (Leyton), 1894
Greatness rating: 11th
Pallett’s off-spin was integral to Warwickshire’s rise to first class status in 1894 and he soon showed his class when the Bears visited east London at the end of May. Essex chose to bat but their batters were undone by Pallett’s flight and guile. He bowled James Burns in the first over and Henry Pickett in the last and, in between, took out seven others as Essex folded for 133. Aston-born Pallett added 30-11-45-5 in the second innings (match figures of 61-20-100-14) but Essex were saved from a heavy defeat by rain.
11. 31.4-13-56-9 : Eric Hollies v Northamptonshire (Edgbaston), 1950
Greatness rating: 6th
After the Bears piled up 378 on a good batting pitch, Hollies set about showing that great bowlers don’t need conditions in their favour. Brought on for the fifth over, he oppressed the life out Northamptonshire’s batting in tandem with Abdul Kardar. The visitors were bundled out for 121 and the trueness of the pitch on which Hollies had just taken a nine-for was illustrated when, second time round, Northants batted out comfortably for a draw despite Hollies’ 51-20-89-3.
12. 18.5-3-62-9: Liam Norwell v Hampshire (Edgbaston), 2022
Greatness rating: 1st
The equation was simple and stark. Warwickshire had to bowl Hampshire out for fewer than 139 to avoid relegation. At the end of an injury-plagued season, Norwell was nowhere near fully fit and was also undercooked. But the Bears knew that if ‘Pasty’ blew hot, then he could blow Hampshire away.
And that is exactly what happened!