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February 23 2005

9) Who reputedly was the first batsman to wear a protective helmet at the crease

a) Mike Brearley

b) Patsey Hendren - In 1933, made for him by his wife.  He is not reputed to have said “I need to protect my brain.  It is my second-favourite organ”

c) W.G. Grace

d) Mike Gatting

 

10) Which Prime Minister played for Middlesex?

a) Lord Liverpool

b) Lord Salbury

c) Lord Balfour

d) Lord Home - Played 2 matches for Middlesex against Oxford University (although he was an undergraduate there at the time) and he was known as Lord Dunglass when he played.  He is the only Prime Minister to have played first class cricket and Middlesex is the only county to have been represented by a Prime Minister

 

11) Name the Prime Minister who had a son play for Middlesex?

a) David Lloyd George

b) Lord Rosebery - Lord Dalmeny (later to become Earl of Rosebery himself). Again 2 matches for Middlesex, although this Lord “did a Ramps” and moved on to Zzzrey.  Enough said.

c) Winston Churchill

d) Ramsey McDonald

 

12) Name the last three Etonian England Captains (two of them were Middlesex players)

a) Mike Brearley, Mike Gatting and Michael Atherton - Not an old Etonian amongst them!

b) George Mann, Gubby Allen and Arthur Carr - The first two being the Middlesex Etonians of course.

c) Mike Brearley, Ted Dexter and George Mann

d) Ted Dexter, Peter May, Douglas Jardine - Minus two points to anyone who guessed this three – Radley, Charterhouse and Winchester and lets not even start to talk about their southerly counties

 

13) When Bill Edrich scored 12 and Denis Compton scored 1 how many did Len Hutton score

a) 0

b) 1

c) 364 - In 1938 at the Hoval to help England tie the series.  Start the singing, Ben “Granddad, Granddad,, you’re lovely……”

d) 375

 

14) What distinguished the Middlesex side of 1981?

a) Won the Benson and Hedges Cup

b) Came bottom of the County Championship

c) Boasted 11 players with test caps to their names - You would have got three bonus points if you could name all eleven of them.

d) All of the above

 

15) Name the only Nobel Laureate to have played first class cricket

a) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Did play first class cricket but not a Nobel Laureate.  It is said that his only first class wicket was Dr W.G. Grace

b) Samuel Beckett - For Dublin University against Northants – twice (what is it with notable people that they play two first class matches and then quit?)

c) Albert Camus - Yes, a Nobel Laureate but he didn’t play cricket.  He did represent Algeria at football as a goalie, which is always a useful trivia question for intellectual football fans (I spot an oxymoron in there somewhere)

d) Viv Richards - If there were a Nobel prize for batting he’d have won it, but there isn’t so he didn’t.

 

And the tie breaker; Between the 2nd of February 2003 and the 1st of February 2005, how many posts were made on the message board?

 

14,942 

 

And the winner is...