User:Sarastro1/Sandbox3

Bob Wyatt Committee problems with Calthorpe, Pawle 15 Ryder description, 10 Reggie Santall, debut and problems with Calthorpe, p 15 Committee problems with Quaife and Smith, p. 16 Teetotaller, fitness fanatic, enjoyed talking to old players. p. 23 Quaife sort of sacked, p 34 More on Ryder and Wyatt, p. 60 Committee gossip, p. 62 More on Ryder, p. 74 Parsons, p. 84 Bowes view of Wyatt, pp. 117-18 Opposition to lbw law: pp. 148–49 Santall injured Hollies while drunk, putting him out of a 1935 Test match; subsequent cover-up by the Warwickshire committee; plenty of other examples of cover-ups and favouritism shown to Santall despite Wyatt's efforts to discipline him. Conspiracy? (But doesn't really fit here) pp. 156–59

Early life

Wyatt was the son of John Holland Wyatt and his wife Edith Elliot, the eldest of the couple's six children. At the time of Wyatt's birth, his father was the successful head of a school in Milford, Surrey which specialised in preparing boys for Public School. However, Wyatt senior's poor financial sense necessitated a series of moves throughout his son's youth as he acquired different partners each of whom caused him further monetary loss; he eventually abandoned education and became a journalist. At Kingswood School, for a time one of his father's establishments, Wyatt became a boarder. There, he established a reputation as a good cricketer and his father arranged for specialist coaching to further develop his talent. This was his father's last school before abandoning teaching, and when he left the post, Wyatt moved to Milbourne Lodge School where he continued his cricketing success. While regarded as a promising all-rounder, Wyatt's school cricket was not particularly distinguished outside of the environment of his schools. In 1914, the family moved to Warwickshire; their poor financial circumstances meant they lived in a small house in Berkswell near Coventry while Wyatt senior established his new career in journalism. In 1918, they moved to Meriden, where they remained for 20 years.

Wyatt left preparatory school in 1914, and was coached extensively by his father at this time. Plans to send him to Marlborough College were halted when the family could not afford the fees, so he went to King Henry VIII School, Coventry, where he cycled daily from home. His academic performance was unremarkable but he rose to captain the school cricket team. Although the poor quality of the practice pitches at the school hampered his batting development, he came to the notice of Warwickshire County Cricket Club, for whom he played schoolboy cricket. Leaving school in 1918, Wyatt joined the Royal Flying Corps and when the First World War ended, he joined the Rover Car Company where he worked as a trainee in the repair shop at Coventry. At first, the working class men with whom he shared the repair shop resented him and made his life uncomfortable; when he was attacked by a workmate and defeated him in a fight, the others accepted him. He worked his way through the different departments of the repair shop, with a view to eventually reach management or sales. In his spare time he played local league cricket, although he was discouraged by the poor standard of pitch and the lack of sportsmanship shown during the games. After two seasons playing in the leagues, he was invited to join the Coventry and North Warwickshire Cricket Club, a strong team with good facilities. The members there encouraged and coached Wyatt, and he practised assiduously. He reached the club first team and played several matches for the Warwickshire Colts team. However, the Warwickshire first team showed little interest in him until a member of the club, frustrated by Warwickshire's attitude to Wyatt, wrote to Surrey saying that Wyatt was a promising cricketer who qualified for them by birth. Surrey approached Warwickshire to ask permission to ask Wyatt to play for them; Warwickshire realised that Wyatt was potentially too valuable to lose and immediately invited him to play for them in the County Championship at the start of the 1923 season.

First-class cricketer

Warwickshire debut

Wyatt decided his future with his parents and Rowland Ryder, the Warwickshire secretary. He gave up his position with Rovers, but rather than become a professional cricketer, Ryder offered to employ his as Warwickshire's Assistant Secretary until a more suitable job could be found; this enabled Wyatt to play as an amateur. He made his first-class debut for Warwickshire on 5 May 1923 against Worcestershire and scored 37. By June, he was opening the batting and scored his maiden fifty against Middlesex at Lord's Cricket Ground. In his first matches, Wyatt bowled little as his captain, F. S. G. Calthorpe, was unsure of his best role in the team. However, Warwickshire had few effective bowlers at the time and Calthorpe concluded that Wyatt was best used primarily as a bowler. He dropped him down the batting order where he had few opportunities to play long innings, and used him extensively as a medium-paced bowler, in which role he had some success. He found the step between club and first-class cricket to be steep and found it difficult to bat at his home ground of Edgbaston, where the ball travelled slowly off the pitch. As an amateur, he was awarded expenses to cover the costs of his travel, but as these were meagre, he also found the season a financial struggle. However, he enjoyed his first season, particularly the travelling and the opportunity to meet famous people. Warwickshire finished 12th in the County Championship; Wyatt's ability with bat and ball meant that he was chosen throughout the season. By the end of his first season, Wyatt had scored 784 first-class runs at an average of 18.23, with three scores over fifty, and taken 37 wickets at an average of 31.35. That winter, Wyatt went to work with Ryder in the Secretary's office but found that the latter preferred to do all the work himself, leaving little to do. Consequently, Wyatt joined the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA), working in advertising.

Climbing the batting order

During the 1924 season, Calthorpe decided that Wyatt was better suited to play as a bowler and generally made him bat at number nine in the order. This gave him few opportunities to bat for long periods; he finished the season with 349 runs at an average of 15.86 and did not pass fifty in an innings. With the ball, he took 64 wickets at 22.37; against Somerset he took five for 47 (five wickets while conceding 47 runs), the first time he took five wickets in a first-class innings. Even so, Wyatt was unhappy at being used as an all-rounder and wanted to move up the batting order. He was more successful batting in 1925. Although continuing to bat down the order, he scored four fifties and against Worcestershire he scored his maiden first-class century while batting at number nine. He began his innings with the score 79 for seven and shared a partnership of 228 with Alfred Croom. However, his opportunities remained few as Calthorpe still refused to move him up the order; he scored 729 runs at 23.51. With the ball, he was the main support for Warwickshire's leading bowler Harry Howell, and bowled many overs. He took 46 wickets at 36.52. At the end of the season, Ryder wrote to Wyatt's father to complain that Wyatt was too close to William Quaife, the senior professional in the team. Wyatt ignored this, but it was the first of many clashes between Wyatt and Ryder.

Wyatt began the 1926 season continuing to bat in the lower order, but scored his second century against Derbyshire in under two hours. When Calthorpe missed several matches with an illness, Wyatt was asked to open the batting by the replacement captain and performed well against Yorkshire, a very strong team at the time. When he scored a century against Somerset while opening the batting, he had established himself as a batsman and remained in the top order when Calthorpe returned. Over the course of the season, Wyatt was extremely successful as both batsman and bowler and the press remarked on his consistency. At Lord's, he scored 70 and took seven for 43, and this success brought him to general attention. He was subsequently selected in two prestigious Gentlemen v Players match, playing for the amateur "Gentlemen" against the professional "Players". He scored 55 in the first and 75 in the second. In an end-of-season game at the Scarborough Festival, he took ten wickets in a game for H. D. G. Leveson-Gower's team against Glamorgan. His successes earned him an invitation to tour India during the winter of 1926–27 with the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) under the captaincy of Arthur Gilligan. In total, Wyatt scored 1,485 runs at 32.28 and took 92 wickets at 29.95. At the end of the season, he left his job at BSA, dissatisfied with the work.

MCC tour of India

The tour of India lasted from October 1926 to March 1933 and comprised 34 games of cricket and an intense social programme. The team found the pitches—a combination of matting and turf of poor quality—and weather to be demanding, and Wyatt was disturbed by the poverty he saw. Nevertheless, the team enjoyed the experience and the tour was a successful one—the MCC did not lose a game. Wyatt enjoyed all-round success. He scored runs in difficult circumstances in matches against teams representing "All India"; in the first game he scored 83 and 49 when confronted by hostile short-pitched bowling from Ladha Ramji and in the second he scored 97 not out on a very worn pitch which made batting difficult. He was only deprived a century in the latter game when the last ball of the game was delivered outside leg stump and went for four wides; the game ended as the MCC had reached their target. In a match against Ceylon, he scored 124 and took a hat-trick on the same day—in total he took five for 39 in an innings in which he bowled leg breaks instead of his normal medium pace. In first-class matches on the tour, Wyatt scored 1,747 runs and took 32 wickets.

Leading batsman

Test debut

When Wyatt returned from India for the 1927 season, he was afflicted by an illness which he picked up that winter. It began when he was, in the temporary absence of Calthorpe, captaining Warwickshire for the first time; while fielding, he suddenly became blind and had to be led away. No doctors managed to diagnose what was wrong—his symptoms included weakness, weight loss and peeling skin—but after three weeks he recovered and returned to cricket. One lasting side-effect was that he could never move his right arm as freely, which in turn affected his bowling and he never swung the ball as much afterwards. Given the lack of effectiveness of the other Warwickshire bowlers, Wyatt's loss of bowling form impacted on the team, which struggled to bowl other sides out. He took 52 wickets at 28.53, a substantial reduction on the number of wickets he took in the previous season. In contrast, Wyatt quickly regained his batting form, and scored 1,175 runs at 41.96. His form during the tour of India placed him in the minds of the England selectors, and he was chosen for a trial match for prospective England players. He did not bat in a rain-affected game, and was not chosen for any other trials, but was included in the MCC team to tour South Africa in 1927–28 and play a Test series. Wyatt ended the season playing several festival matches in Scarborough and Folkestone.

The MCC tour was led by R. T. Stanyforth, a wicket-keeper who rarely played county cricket, after the original captain withdrew through ill-health. Wyatt's plan to prepare for the first match by retiring to bed early were disrupted by a prank; his team-mates arranged for a scantily-clad woman to wake him in the night while they watched, concealed in the room. The ensuing mirth and Wyatt's efforts to make everyone leave his room left him little rest and the next morning he was dismissed without scoring. Wyatt initially found the matting pitches difficult to bat on, finding it difficult to keep the ball down and prevent catches; he realised the importance of quick footwork and playing back to the ball, and watched the South African players to improve his technique. Wyatt made his Test debut at the Old Wanderers Cricket Ground in Johannesburg. He failed to score in his only innings, and bowled just four overs in the game, but England won by ten wickets. England also won the second Test; Wyatt scored 91 in the second innings, when the team were in a strong position, including 58 of the last 68 runs scored by England. Soon after, in a game against Eastern Province, the MCC were bowled out for 49, of which Wyatt scored 13 not out, struggling against the fast bowler Arthur Ochse. In the second innings, Wyatt opened the batting and scored 101 not out, taking the team to a ten-wicket win.

In the third Test, Wyatt opened the bowling, in the absence of the injured George Geary, and finished with three wickets at a cost of 4 runs in 13 overs, but failed to score with the bat. He scored a half-century in the fourth Test, but England lost the final two games to lose the series. In the Tests, Wyatt scored 232 runs at 33.14, and took four wickets. In first-class matches, he scored 592 runs at 42.28 and took 19 wickets at 29.52.

Success with Warwickshire and England

In England, Wyatt continued to work as Assistant Secretary at Warwickshire, but to boost his income also worked occasionally in journalism, writing for magazines. He felt that his experiences in South Africa benefitted his batting technique, and when he returned the 1928 cricket season began, he scored prolifically. He began in good form and by the end of June had scored four centuries and passed 1,000 first-class runs. On several occasions, opposing fast bowlers, including the Lancashireformer Australian Test bowler Ted McDonald, the Nottinghamshire and England bowler Harold Larwood, and West Indies' Learie Constantine targeted him with short-pitched bowling but he was generally successful. Despite Wyatt's success, he was not chosen to play for England; in a season of high scoring, the competition for places was intense and five batsman totalled more than 3,000 runs. Although one of the England selectors later told him that he was in contention for a place, he was not included in the MCC team which toured Australia in 1928–29. Warwickshire's season was affected by their weak bowling; although the side scored heavily, their attack struggled to bowl out the opposition. In other cricket, Wyatt scored 70 for the Gentlemen against the Players and was again successful in festival cricket. In total, he scored 2,408 runs at 57.33 and took 58 wickets at 34.44. During the winter, Wyatt kept fit playing golf and hockey before helping in the cricket school of Aubrey Faulkner in the spring.

Calthorpe missed most of the 1929 season and Wyatt occasionally captained in his absence. The Warwickshire team still struggled to bowl out the opposition but Wyatt was once again very consistent with the bat. Despite his form, he was not selected for the first three Test matches of the summer, played against South Africa. In June, he suffered two broken ribs when, in the match against Nottinghamshire, Larwood bombarded him with short-pitched bowling. Declining to rest, Wyatt began to score prolifically. The day after his injury, he scored 150; later in the week, he scored 161 not out; chosen to play for the Gentlemen against the Players, for whom Larwood was playing, he scored 115 and 55; then for Warwickshire, he scored another century. In the space of two weeks following the Nottinghamshire match, Wyatt scored over 600 runs in five matches despite being heavily bandaged. Wyatt continued to score fluently, and was selected for the fourth Test. When Wally Hammond withdrew with an injury, Wyatt was included in the team and scored 113, his first Test century and the first by an English amateur since before the First World War. Among the telegrams of congratulations that he received was one from his former colleagues in the Rover repair shop. Wyatt remained in the England team for the final Test, but was unsuccessful. At the end of the season, he was chosen to captain "The Rest of England" against Nottinghamshire, the county champions that season. He ended the season with 2,630 first-class runs, the third highest aggregate of the season, at an average of 53.67; he led the Warwickshire batting averages. With the ball, he took 62 wickets at 30.98. At the end of the season, Warwickshire gave him a pay increase in his job as Ryder's assistant.

For the 1929–30 season, Wyatt was included in the MCC team to tour West Indies. He began well, scoring fifties in each of the two opening games against Barbados, but in the course of the second innings, he was struck on the toe while batting against the fast bowler E. A. Martindale. The bone was broken, and while Wyatt continued his innings, he was forced to miss several games, including the first two Test matches. When he returned, Wyatt was not particularly successful until he scored 58 in the fourth Test. In total, he hit 367 first-class runs at 33.36 and took seven wickets. In Tests, he scored 96 runs in four innings and took four wickets. Off the field, Wyatt formed a close friendship with Wilfred Rhodes, one of his team-mates; although Rhodes began his cricket career before Wyatt was born, but the two men shared a similar outlook on the game and enjoyed discussing tactics.

Appointed Warwickshire captain

Before the 1929 season, Calthorpe resigned the Warwickshire captaincy. The county initially approached Norman Partridge but when he was unavailable, they asked Wyatt to assume the leadership. He accepted, but made it clear from the start that he would not accept interference in the running of the team from the county committee; Calthorpe, who privately disliked the frequent criticism the committee aimed at him, did not complain during his captaincy but Wyatt was prepared to fight back. Wyatt took control at a time when Warwickshire were in financial trouble—which affected player wages and recruitment—and continued to lack effective bowlers; the subsequent lack of success, as Warwickshire proved unable to bowl out the opposition, was affecting attendances as supporters grew disillusioned with the team. Wyatt was dependent on Danny Mayer as his leading bowler, who had to bowl many overs; Wyatt tried unorthodox field-placing tactics to increase his effectiveness with the new ball. The team batting was stronger, and most of the players were supportive of Wyatt when he took over. The only exception was E. J. "Tiger" Smith, the senior professional, with whom he had a mutually distrustful relationship. However, Wyatt clashed with Sydney Santall, the team coach. Wyatt felt that Santall was deliberately as unhelpful as possible, and was only concerned with promoting and protecting the interests of his own son, Frederick. Additionally, although Frederick had potential as a cricketer, he was too often unfit to play effectively, suffering from the effects of hard living. Any complaints that Wyatt made to the committee were unheeded.

Warwickshire began the 1929 season well under Wyatt's captaincy, but once again suffered from a lack of depth in their bowling. Wyatt was less effective than usual with the ball but continued to be successful as a batsman. He played for the Gentlemen against the Players, appeared for the "Rest of England" in a Test trial and had reached 1,000 first-class runs by the end of June. Despite his success, he was not chosen for England in the Test series against Australia as competition for batting places was fierce and other batsmen had better claims in the eyes of the selectors. However, he had been invited to tour South Africa in the 1930–31 season with the MCC under the captaincy of Percy Chapman.

Replacement of Chapman

Chapman had captained England in the first four Tests against Australia, scoring a century in the second game. England had won the first Test, Chapman's ninth win in nine Tests as England captain. When the next game was lost and the following two drawn, Chapman's captaincy came under increasing criticism; his tactics, field-placings and cavalier approach were questioned. The selectors also became concerned over his risky approach to batting, and according to Leo McKinstry in his biography of Jack Hobbs, were concerned over his heavy drinking and by rumours that he had taken to the field drunk in the fourth Test. Following an extended meeting of the selectors, Chapman was left out of the team for the final Test and replaced as captain by Wyatt. In his survey of England captains, the writer Alan Gibson observes: "In 1930, despite the occasional criticisms, Chapman's position did not seem in any danger. He was still the popular, boyish, debonair hero. He had been having his most successful series with the bat, and as a close fieldsman England still did not contain his equal ... Wyatt, though nothing was known against him ... was a figure markedly lacking in glamour."

The first Wyatt knew of the matter was a letter which reached him before a match against Gloucestershire, in which he was invited to captain England. He was told to keep the matter quiet but the press suspected something was happening and questioned him closely when he arrived in London to meet the selectors. When Chapman's sacking was leaked to the press, Wyatt was bombarded with enquiries. The press were united in attacking the decision, praising Chapman's batting and captaincy while denigrating Wyatt's lack of experience. He received several hostile letters, including a death threat; most of this reflected both Chapman's popularity and also Wyatt's cool attitude towards the press, which consequently regarded him with suspicion. Other controversial decisions by the selectors left Wyatt with a team weak in bowling and fielding; Australia scored 695 runs and won comfortably. However, Wyatt had a successful match. England batted first and were in difficulties when he came out to bat. After being given an ovation by the crowd, he scored 64 and shared a partnership of 170 with Herbert Sutcliffe. As captain, Wyatt did what he could but a combination of poor fielding and limited bowling meant that he could not stop Australia easily passing the England score as Donald Bradman scored 232 runs. When England batted again, rain affected the pitch and they were bowled out cheaply. In all first-class games in 1930, Wyatt scored 1,918 runs at 41.69 and took 36 wickets at 46.08.

Warwickshire intrigue and second South African tour

Before leaving to tour South Africa, Wyatt was called before Herbert Bainbridge, the chairman of the Warwickshire committee, the treasurer Harold Thwaite, and the secretary Ryder. According to Gerald Pawle, Wyatt's biographer, Ryder disliked Wyatt for his independent attitude; Wyatt in turn distrusted Ryder. According to the account given by Pawle, the three men discussed Wyatt's tactics, the performances of the players and Warwickshire's generally poor results. Then Bainbridge suggested that, in view of the poor results, Wyatt should perhaps stand aside to allow George Kemp-Welch to assume the captaincy. Bainbridge also suggested that Wyatt himself should ask Kemp-Welch to take over. Surprised, Wyatt replied that such an offer should come from the committee and asked what was behind the idea. Bainbridge replied that Wyatt seemed more interested in his international career than in captaining Warwickshire. Considering this to be unfair, Wyatt said that the three men could do as they wished and made to leave. Bainbridge called him back, told him nothing more would be said of the matter and asked him to keep it to himself. Pawle suggests that the idea came from Ryder and that he hoped to put pressure on Wyatt in order to tell the committee that he had resigned of his own accord and therefore be rid of a captain the committee did not like; however, the three men had no right to do so without the committee's approval and so wished to keep the matter secret. Research by Pawle revealed no official record in Warwickshire of these events, and the only other mention of Kemp-Welch came in the review of Warwickshire's 1931 season in Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, which stated that he had agreed to captain the team in 1932, which he never did. Pawle remarks that the meeting with Wyatt came a year earlier, and that Wyatt had been sworn to secrecy, leading him to speculate that this was a further attempt to put pressure on Wyatt.

When Wyatt arrived in South Africa with the MCC team, he scored a century in the opening match, an innings victory for MCC. During the tour, Wyatt generally opened the batting for the MCC, although he was not a regular opening batsman for Warwickshire. An early injury to his opening partner, and the only specialist opener in the team, Andrew Sandham, meant that Wyatt opened with several different batsmen during the tour. The team suffered with injuries, and the bowlers struggled to adjust to playing on both turf and matting pitches. Wyatt scored just one fifty in the five-Test series, won 1–0 by South Africa. He scored 205 runs at 22.77 in the Tests, but was more successful in other games. In all first-class matches, he scored 768 runs at 34.90. He bowled little on the tour; he took one wicket in the Tests, and seven in all first-class games. Chapman preferred to use the occasional spin-bowling of Maurice Leyland. Despite his relative lack of success, Wyatt was praised in the South African press for his batting and fielding.

Chapman's decline as a batsman during the tour placed Wyatt among the favourites to assume the captaincy of the England team in the 1931 season. When the selectors chose Douglas Jardine as captain, and chose two new opening batsmen for the first Test match, there was no place for Wyatt in the England team against New Zealand that season. As Warwickshire captain, Wyatt clashed with Jack Parsons, one of his players. During one match, Parsons audibly criticised the bowlers and Wyatt took him aside to say that he should direct any complaints to him, as captain. The following day, Parsons refused to play, stating that Wyatt had publicly humiliated him. He went home and missed the following two games. Wyatt subsequently sent a telegram to him which stated that the team needed him; mollified, Parsons returned, and there was no further trouble between him and Wyatt. On one occasion during the season, Wyatt was criticised by Ryder and Thwaite for not encouraging young players; Wyatt refused to speak to them afterwards until they had apologised. Warwickshire made a poor start to the season, but recovered well and lost only once between the beginning of June and the end of the season. The club finished ninth, their best result for many years. Wyatt was successful with bat and ball; in one match, against Northamptonshire he took five for 36 in the first innings and then scored 161 not out. Although overlooked by England, Wyatt played three times for the Gentlemen against the Players, and for the concluding match of the season he was chosen to play for the Rest of England against Yorkshire, the county champions. In the second innings, he was struck on the hand by a delivery from Bill Bowes; the ball broke a bone and he was told by a specialist to take no further part in the match. However, a jibe from a fellow amateur, Vallance Jupp, that Wyatt was afraid to bat again, provoked Wyatt into resuming his innings, and his unbeaten 57 was instrumental, along with a century from Jardine, in preventing a Yorkshire victory. His bravery was praised in The Cricketer magazine, edited by the influential Pelham Warner. Wyatt scored 1,764 runs at 42.00 in 1931, and took 59 wickets at 29.38. Wyatt spent the English winter working at Edgbaston as Ryder's assistant, but wanted more fulfilling employment. As Warwickshire had not kept their promise to find him work, he was briefly tempted to take a position as sub-editor on The Times, but decided against it as it would have meant the end of his cricket career.

England regular

Selection for Australia

Wyatt hoped to be selected for the 1932–33 MCC tour of Australia, but feared that his omission against New Zealand in 1931 meant the selectors would overlook him. During the 1932 season, he was chosen in two trial games organised for potential England players. He was unsuccessful in the first, and although he captained one of the two teams in the second, the match was severely curtailed by rain. However, during that second game Jardine, who was captain of the MCC touring team, told Wyatt that he had been chosen, and an official letter arrived from the MCC a few days later. Having included him in the touring side, the selectors left him out of the team for that season's only Test match. Under his captaincy, Warwickshire again finished ninth; batting very effectively, Wyatt topped the team's batting averages, and scored 1,808 first-class runs at 43.04. He also took 68 wickets at 28.04. At the end of the season, he captained the MCC touring team against a side representing the "Rest of England"; he scored 81 and 171 not out.

Bodyline tour

England won the 1932–33 Ashes series 4–1, but the cricket was overshadowed by controversy over the team's use of Bodyline tactics. Bodyline consisted of bowling short on the line of leg stump, making the ball rise towards the batsman's body to create deflections that could be caught by leg-side fielders. Wyatt was made vice-captain for the 1932–33 tour. He hardly knew Jardine before the tour but found him pleasant company once he got to know him. The only disagreement they had during the tour was when Jardine wanted to allow George Duckworth to see the Pyramids in Egypt, when their ship was sailing through the Suez Canal en route to Australia; Wyatt did not think they had enough time. In contrast, Jardine clashed frequently with Pelham Warner, one of the team managers. Wyatt claimed that the Bodyline tactics were not preconceived by Jardine. He stated that the first time the team pursued the idea was in a match against an Australian XI; Jardine missed that game and Wyatt captained the team. Wyatt remembered that the pace at which the ball bounced off the pitch made the bowling of Harold Larwood difficult to face in that game, and that he moved the fielders to the leg side when the ball stopped swinging for Larwood in an attempt to prevent the scoring of runs. Wyatt also believed that the Australian batsmen had many problems against Larwood because the ball did not bounce predictably on the Australian pitches that year.

In the first-class games before the Test series began, Wyatt was in good batting form. He shared two century opening partnerships with Sutcliffe. In the first Test, he and Sutcliffe added 112 for the first wicket before Wyatt was out for 38. Larwood took five wickets in each innings, and England won the game by ten wickets. Before the second Test, Jardine decided to include four fast bowlers in the team at the expense of a spinner; Wyatt disagreed and told Jardine so. In the game, England played badly against Australia's two spinners, the Bodyline tactics were ineffective on a slow-paced pitch, and Australia won by 111 runs to level the series. Wyatt was out twice leg before wicket to Bill O'Reilly, his third consecutive dismissal in this way. For the next game, with the intention to bring in the left-handed Eddie Paynter, Wyatt's place came under threat but he was eventually preferred to the Nawab of Pataudi. He exchanged places in the batting order with Jardine, who batted as opener to offset the nerves from which he suffered while waiting to bat. Jardine won the toss and chose to bat. Batting at number six, Wyatt came out to bat after England had lost their first four wickets for 30 runs. At the lunch interval, Jardine told Wyatt to bat cautiously; Wyatt and his partner, Maurice Leyland, believed that an attacking approach would be more effective. Wyatt quickly struck Clarrie Grimmett for six and soon repeated the shot, at which point he observed Jardine leave his seat on the balcony in apparent displeasure. Wyatt later added a third six as he and Leyland scored 156 for the fifth wicket to retrieve England's situation. He was out for 78 but England's recovery continued and the score eventually reached 341. At the start of England's second innings, Australia lost quick wickets and there was uproar from the crowd when a delivery from Larwood struck the Australian captain, Bill Woodfull, over the heart. At the end of the day, the England team held a meeting to express their support for Jardine. Wyatt, although opposed to Jardine's tactics, felt it was important to back his captain. Later in the same Australian innings, Bert Oldfield was struck on the head by a delivery from Larwood; Australia were out for 222, giving England a substantial lead. Batting again, the touring team scored 412, of which Wyatt scored 49, and Australia were bowled out for 193 chasing a total of 532 to win. Following the use of Bodyline, and the incidents during the third Test, relations were strained between the two teams for the remainder of the tour, which Wyatt found difficult. He and G. O. "Gubby" Allen were both opposed to Jardine in private but did not share their feelings with the team, not wishing to split the players; instead, they discussed the matter with each other and struck up a close friendship.

England won the fourth Test by six wickets to secure the series—Wyatt scored 12 in his only innings—and the fifth by eight wickets. Wyatt scored 51 in the first innings and an unbeaten 61 in the second. He finished the Test series with 327 runs at 46.71, but bowled just two overs in the series. Additionally, as each six hit by the team contributed to a bonus from a sponsor, the sixes that Wyatt hit in the series added substantially to that total; the appreciative professional contingent of the team thanked him by buying him a camera. The team played a few more games after the Test series ended and Wyatt took his first-class total of runs to 883 at 38.39. He took just one wicket in total. The team then travelled to New Zealand to play two Tests. Wyatt played in both, scoring 60 in the second game, in which he also captained the team in Jardine's absence.

England captain

When Wyatt returned to England, he was offered a position with a sporting goods shop in Coventry. Still wanting to find secure employment outside cricket, he mentioned it to Ryder, who discouraged him by saying that it was an inappropriate job for an amateur. Although not wealthy, Wyatt continued to survive on his Warwickshire salary and his earnings from journalism. During the 1933 season, he captained Warwickshire to seventh in the Championship, their highest position since the First World War. The team was strong in batting and consequently difficult for other teams to beat. Wyatt played a leading role with the bat, and critics suggested that his batting had been improved after his time in Australia. At one point in the season, he scored three centuries in four innings, and he was successful against teams like Derbyshire and Yorkshire which possessed strong bowling attacks. England played three Tests against the West Indies that season; Wyatt did not play in the first Test, but was recalled for the second game. When Jardine, who remained England captain, withdrew from the team with an injury before the third Test, Wyatt was appointed captain and led England to an innings victory, although he had little success with the bat. He finished the season with a succession of high scores in festival games, hitting 582 runs in seven innings. In all first-class cricket, Wyatt scored 2,379 runs in 1933 at 59.47; less successful than usual with the ball, he took 15 wickets at 48.13. Wyatt was invited to take part in the MCC's 1933–34 tour of India, but declined deciding that he needed a rest, but also because the poverty he had seen on his previous visit to India had disturbed him and he did not wish to return.

During the winter, the Warwickshire committee wrote to Wyatt to inform him that, in view of his services to the club, they had taken out an Endowment policy which would give him £1,000 in ten years. The policy was misleading; Wyatt later discovered that the money would have gone to the club and the policy was valueless to him.

The Australian Test team toured England again in 1934. Wyatt faced them early in the season when he played for the MCC at Lord's under the captaincy of Chapman. Against the touring team's Test attack of Clarrie Grimmett and Bill O'Reilly, Wyatt scored an unbeaten century to save the MCC from defeat on the final day. He was subsequently asked by the chairman of the Test selectors, Stanley Jackson, to captain England in the Test series—Jardine had effectively retired from cricket following the India tour and informed the selectors that he did not wish to be included in the Test team. Wyatt's season was interrupted shortly after this when, playing in a Test trial game, his thumb was broken by a short delivery from Ken Farnes. Wyatt missed the first Test—Cyril Walters captained in his absence and England lost the game—and had to wear a metal shield to protect his thumb for the rest of the season. He returned in time for the second Test, although in the course of scoring 33 runs, he was struck on his bad thumb, which became badly swollen. Wyatt was criticised when he extended the England innings into the second day rather than declare, but the extra runs were crucial and England won by an innings after Hedley Verity took 15 wickets on a rain-damaged pitch. This was England's only victory over Australia at Lord's in the 20th century. The third Test was a high-scoring draw, although Wyatt was dismissed for 0 on the first day by O'Reilly, who later described the delivery which removed Wyatt as one of the best he bowled. Another good batting pitch, and an ineffective English bowling attack, allowed Australia to post another big score in the fourth Test, but the English batting failed and only rain prevented Wyatt's team losing. In the final Test, Australia made another large total; England's batsmen could not match it and the team lost by 566 runs. Australia won the series 2–1, and Wyatt faced criticism from the press and public for his performance as captain. The president of the MCC and the Jackson, as chairman of selectors, both congratulated him in writing for his performance and to offer commiserations for losing the series. With the bat, Wyatt scored 135 runs in the Test series at an average of 22.50, without reaching fifty runs in any innings, and bowled just four overs with the ball without taking a wicket.

In other first-class cricket in 1934, Wyatt was very successful. For the Gentlemen against the Players, he scored a century; his innings, scored at a fast pace when time was short, gave the Gentlemen their first victory over the Players at Lord's for 20 years. He also scored heavily for Warwickshire, although he missed many games owing to his England commitments, and finished top of the team's batting averages. He kept wicket in one game after he broke his toe while batting—he reasoned that as he could not move very much, he was best placed behind the wickets. However, batting with the strain of a broken thumb made it painful to hold a bat, and by the end of the season his hand and fingers were very strained. In all first-class matches he scored 1,776 runs at 50.74, and bowling less frequently than usual, took only four wickets.

Series against West Indies and South Africa

Wyatt captained an MCC team which toured the West Indies in 1934–35. Several first-choice England players were missing from the team, as was common for tours of the West Indies. The tour began with two first-class matches against Barbados, both of which were drawn, and Wyatt scored fifties in each game. The first Test also took place in Barbados and was heavily affected by rain, which produced a pitch on which it was almost impossible to bat. West Indies were bowled out for 101 and England reached 81 for seven before Wyatt declared the innings closed. West Indies replied with 51 for six and declared to set England 73 to win. After losing early wickets, England won with Wyatt at the crease when the match ended. The tour then moved to Trinidad, where some of the professionals in the team protested when they were not invited by Wyatt to a lunch organised by the Governor—Wyatt had been told to bring just six members of the team. The players threatened to boycott a garden party in protest, but Wyatt threatened to send home anyone who did not attend, and there was no further trouble. The team played two drawn games against Trinidad. Although not particularly successful with the bat, Wyatt took nine wickets in the second game, including figures of five for 10 in the first innings. The second Test was won by West Indies; on a matting pitch, England needed 325 to win on the final day. To the bemusement of the press and critics, Wyatt greatly changed his batting order, sending in some of the weaker batsmen early in the innings. England lost, with very little time remaining, by 217 runs. Wyatt had altered the order with the intention of sparing his best batsmen from the extra bounce of the new ball, but he later admitted that his tactics were misguided. The next games were played in British Guiana; Wyatt missed part of the first game after being struck over the heart by a delivery bowled in the nets by his team-mate Ken Farnes. He also suffered from influenza while recovering, but played in the second game, when he once again declared an innings closed at a small total, when the MCC had scored 41 for five in reply to British Guiana's 188. Batting again, British Guiana were bowled out for 57—Wyatt took four for 18—and the MCC won by nine wickets. The Test match in Georgetown was drawn, and Wyatt scored 71 in the second innings, and the teams entered the fourth and final Test with the series tied at 1–1. By that stage, however, Pawle suggests that the West Indies team had established its superiority in both batting and bowling.

The team moved to Jamaica for the final matches; the MCC drew both games against Jamaica and Wyatt had little success with the bat. In the first game, he stood in as wicket-keeper when Bill Farrimond was injured and made a stumping, while in the latter game he called in Trevor Arnott, a county player who was on holiday in Jamaica, to reinforce the team and allow players to rest. When the Test match began, West Indies scored 535; in reply, Wyatt opened the batting. Manny Martindale, in the first over, bowled a short ball which angled into Wyatt and struck him on the jaw, breaking it in four places. Wyatt was carried unconscious from the field; when he awoke, he wrote a note giving a revised batting order before he was taken to hospital. From there, he wrote a note to Martindale, excusing him of any blame. In his absence, the team lost by an innings. Wyatt had scored 386 first-class runs at 24.12 on the tour and taken 18 wickets at 17.05; in the Tests, he scored 124 runs at an average of 24.80 and took four wickets.The MCC departed for home after the game; Wyatt's jaw had not been wired, and he had an unpleasant journey home by boat, unable to eat solids and confined to the cabin of the team's manager. No nurse was available and at one point his jaw became septic. He was examined by doctors when he got home; he never had the jaw wired and had returned to play cricket within three weeks of his arrival in England. In his first match of the 1935 season, he scored 103 playing for the MCC against Surrey; he then returned to Warwickshire and scored another century in their first game of the season.

Warwickshire began the 1935 season well, taking more risks than previously in their play, but faded later and Wyatt was again their leading scorer. Wyatt captained the MCC in a game against the touring South African team, and was selected as captain for Test series. In that game, he scored 149 as England reached 384 before Wyatt declared. South Africa followed on, but rain prevented England from winning. Before the second Test, Wyatt and the selectors had an unusually long meeting; Warner, the chairman of selectors, remembered the meeting lasting eight hours and that Wyatt fought the selectors until they agreed to include Tommy Mitchell in the team; Wyatt later disputed the length of the meeting, and the measures to which he went to have Mitchell selected, but agreed that he wanted that bowler in the team. Wyatt claimed that Walter Robins, whom Mitchell replaced, had played poorly in the first Test, and that other selectors agreed with him to include Mitchell; but Wyatt believed that Mitchell bowled badly in the second Test and regretted the decision to pick him. Wyatt top-scored in the first innings, but failed in the second innings. South Africa batted effectively to set England 309 to win and won by 157 runs, their first ever win in England. The third Test was drawn as injury deprived England of several first-choice players, but Wyatt came under increasing criticism from the press. The fourth Test was also drawn as South Africa played defensively to preserve their lead in the series, and England could not bowl them out. When the fifth and final Test began, Wyatt won the toss and chose to bowl first. This tactic was unusual at the time—the report in Wisden described it as "probably the most daring ever adopted in Test cricket". He was influenced by the difficulty in securing a result in a Test limited to three days, as all the games in that particular series were. He hoped to bowl the team out quickly on the first day and believed that if South Africa batted second it would be easier for them to bat passively to secure the draw. Additionally, as he had three fast bowlers in his side, he wanted them to have a substantial rest between the two South African innings. Before the game, the idea was agreed by the selection committee. During the game, South Africa scored 476, batting into the second day, and although England scored quickly and established a lead of 58 by lunch on the third day, there was not enough time remaining for the England bowlers to dismiss South Africa again. Wyatt faced press criticism for choosing to bowl first, and for his leadership in general that summer, but he believed that England suffered from the Tests being limited to three days, unlike the previous season's matches against Australia, and from pitches which reduced the effectiveness of the bowlers. As South Africa won the second Test, and all the others were drawn, they recorded their first series win in England. Wyatt ended the season with 2,019 first-class runs at 43.89 and took 50 wickets at 29.82; in the Test series, he scored 317 runs at 45.28 and took one wicket. He was invited to lead a second-string MCC team to Australia and New Zealand that winter, but decided he would be better served by resting from cricket.

Bibliography

• Gibson, Alan (1979). The Cricket Captains of England. London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-29779-8.
• Lemmon, David (1985). Percy Chapman: a biography. London: Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0-356-10458-3.
• McKinstry, Leo (2011). Jack Hobbs: England's Greatest Cricketer. London: Yellow Jersey Press. ISBN 978-0-224-08329-4.
• Pawle, Gerald (1985). R. E. S. Wyatt—Fighting Cricketer. London: George Allen & Unwin. ISBN 0-04-796102-3.