Verity: In Truth a Great Left-Arm Spinner
Hedley Verity was killed in Italy in 1943 during the fierce
struggle between the Allies and the Nazis for control of Italy. He was an army
captain in the Green Howards and just 38 years old. Before leaving for the war
he told his father that it was the end of his cricket career. Not many players
were fortunate to enough, like Bradman, Hutton, and Hammond, to play after the
war as well as before it. Some, like Verity and Farnes, were killed during it.
Now that the pub bearing his name, The Hedley Verity in Leeds, is owned by the
EU-despising Wetherspoon, I wonder what Hedley would have thought about it,
having given his life as a British soldier for the freedom of Europe from
tyranny.
His career with Yorkshire and England was quite short. He
played his first game for Yorkshire in 1930 and his last in 1939, when he took
7 for 9 against Sussex. His last test was the famous Oval test in 1938 when
Hutton scored 364 and Australia were humiliated, facing one of the biggest
defeats ever after England scored 903-6 declared. Verity had a quiet match,
left 8 not out in the tsunami of runs, and taking 2-15 in Australia’s second
inning as they were blown away by England’s Farnes and Bowes. Bowes was
especially devastated to learn of Verity’s death; how many teams in the 1930s
had been troubled by these two Yorkshire bowlers as the county proceeded to
seven championship victories in the 1930s?
Verity had taken over from Wilfred Rhodes as Yorkshire’s
main spinner and was already 25 when he played his first game. Rhodes had
laconically anointed his successor with a grudging “he’ll do”, which was about
as close to praise as anybody got in that hard school. In 1931 he took all 10
for 32 at Leeds against Warwickshire , a team including Wyatt and Kilner. But
his most astonishing feat was taking 10 for 10 (yes, that was not a misprint!)
against Nottinghamshire in 1932. Notts, apart from Larwood and Voce, had George
Gunn and EW Carr; in their second innings Yorkshire knocked off 139 for no
wicket, so the pitch cannot have been a real sticky-dog. Verity was simply unplayable, even though he
half way through his 19-over spell (16 maidens) before he took a wicket. The
others followed in an avalanche with a hat trick and then four in one over.
I am sure that Verity would have named Lord’s 1934 as his
greatest match – indeed it is called Verity’s match. He took 15 wickets,
including 14 on one day, as England exploited a rain-affected pitch to
advantage. The teams had ground each other to parity after three days, England
scoring 440 thanks to hundreds by Leyland and Ames, and Australia having scored
203 for 2 by early on the fourth morning, the weather having turned wet
overnight. Verity then ploughed through their talented batting line-up, accounting
first for Bradman and McCabe, then five of the remaining six, finishing with 7
for 61 in 36 overs as Australia were bowled out for 284. In the follow-on
Australia fared much worse, out for 108 to lose by an innings, Verity taking
8-43, including Bradman and McCabe for the second time in the match. Overall
indeed Verity dismissed Bradman 7 times in tests, more than any other bowler.
The ultimate accolade from Bradman, who admired Verity as much as a man as a
bowler, was that Verity was the only bowler he never felt comfortable against
(even, I think, when he was 200 not out!)
As a former left-arm spinner when asked whom I would have
liked to see bowl, the answer is always Verity, with Rhodes a close second.
What was it like to face him?
Imagine a tall elegant figure, loping easily in around the
wicket, a double whirl of the left arm, and the ball spinning towards you,
almost always landing exactly where Verity wanted it, as he put it, “as short
as I can with the batsman still playing forward”, which is the very definition
of a good length for a spin bowler. Although having large hands and long
fingers, he was in truth not a huge spinner of the ball, which is probably due
to his Yorkshire schooling in the art of no-frills spin bowling to line and
length at all times. Spinners were to keep the runs down and take wickets when
the pitch was damp. His record shows that Verity did not take wickets only when
conditions favoured him. He was effective under all conditions but lethal on
those 1930s unprotected pitches. My Dad used to praise Verity’s bowling as
perfection itself. He described how Verity would bowl with three or four men
close in on the off side, in front as well as behind square, with Arthur Mitchell
at gully virtually snatching the ball off the face of the bat as the batsman
pushed forward or tried to fend off a ball stopping in the pitch. You can see
examples of this type of bowling still on YouTube video of the 1934 test.
Verity spun the ball as much as he needed to. Accuracy and subtle variation were
his main assets. He achieved a lot of caught and bowled and lbw decisions (for
a spinner under the lbw laws of the time) – an indication that he was deceptive
rather than bowling a lot of rippers and snorters.
Verity’s record overall is another marvel. 1956 first class
wickets at an incredible 14.90 each. In 40 tests he took 144 wickets at 24
each. He was not a bad batter too, with one first class century, nine 50s, and
an average of 18.
Verity displayed all the human virtues. His courage in
battle was truly outstanding. He was never heard to utter a word of complaint
or criticism even under the most trying conditions. Humility, patience and
application were his virtues. Douglas Jardine (an unlikely close friend for a
Yorkshireman, you might think, who gave his name to Verity’s son) as well as
Bradman himself, had the highest praise for Verity as man. There is a story
that when Jardine was rescued from a tight spot in France during the war, he
was told that all would be well because he would be saved by a ship named after
his friend and favourite bowler: HMS Verity!
In an age of 10 or 15 tests a year, and given a longer
career without war intervening, one wonders what Verity might have achieved
even beyond this already remarkable career. It is impossible to say whether he
was the greatest, but he must be surely one of the very best spinners of any
kind who ever graced a cricket ground. His grave is at Caserta, North of
Naples. One day I will go and lay a wreath there and salute the Yorkshireman
whose name, by the way, means “truth”.
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