George Macaulay
Encyclopedia
George Gibson Macaulay was a professional English cricket
er 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. One of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year
in 1924, he took 1,838 first-class wickets at an average
of 17.64 including four hat-tricks.
A leading member of the Yorkshire team which achieved a high level of success in the time he played, Macaulay was a volatile character who played aggressively. He left a job at a bank to become a professional cricketer, making his first-class debut aged 23 as a fast bowler
. Meeting limited success, he altered style to deliver off spin
in addition to his pace bowling. This proved so effective that he was chosen to play for England in Test matches. However, his perceived poor attitude towards the game, and an unsuccessful match in the 1926 Ashes probably prevented him playing more Tests. His form slumped following injuries in the late 1920s, but a recovery in the early 1930s led to a recall by England, although he broke down in his second match back. Another injury in 1934 made cricket difficult for him and his first-class career ended in 1935, although he continued playing club cricket until the Second World War. A pilot officer in the Royal Air Force
, he died of illness on active service in the Second World War.
on 7 December 1897. His father ran a public house
in the town and was a well-known local cricketer, as were his uncles. Macaulay was educated at Barnard Castle
; in later years, he took teams of famous cricketers to play annual matches against the school eleven. He displayed all-round ability at sport, including golf and swimming. His greatest successes came in cricket and football: he played cricket for Thirsk Victoria before moving to play for Wakefield
and Ossett
; in the latter town, he played as a professional. In the First World War, Macaulay served with the Royal Field Artillery
and afterwards worked as a bank clerk in Herne Bay, Kent
, playing club cricket in his spare time.
had been killed in the war, Alonzo Drake
had died soon afterwards from illness, and George Hirst was past his best. Although Wilfred Rhodes
was able to ease the shortfall by resuming his career as a frontline spin bowler
, Yorkshire needed new bowlers, particularly pacemen. Macaulay had been spotted playing club cricket by Sir Stanley Christopherson
, a former Kent
player. Subsequently, Harry Hayley
, a 19th-century Yorkshire cricketer, saw Macaulay in action and was sufficiently impressed to recommend him for a trial with the county. At the beginning of the 1920 season
, Macaulay played in two warm-up games for Yorkshire, taking six wickets for 52 runs
in a one-day game and four for 24 and two for 19 in a two-day game.Bowling figures are given in the form of six for 52; the first figure refers to how many wickets the bowler took in the innings and the second figure shows how many runs he gave away. In this case, Macaulay took six wickets and conceded 52 runs. This was good enough to earn a first-class debut on 15 May 1920 against Derbyshire
in the County Championship
, although he only took one wicket. In his fourth match, having previously taken no more than one wicket in an innings, he took five wickets for 50 runs, his first five wicket haul, in the second innings against Gloucestershire
, followed by six for 47 against Worcestershire
. He continued to play until the middle of June before dropping out of the team after an unsuccessful match against Surrey
. In ten first-class matches, he had taken 24 wickets at an average
of 24.35, and managed a top score of just 15 with the bat. Wisden said he "had neither the pace nor the stamina required", while it later said he tried to bowl at speeds beyond his capability. Even so, he decided to become a professional cricketer. Hirst and Rhodes persuaded him to reduce his pace and concentrate on bowling a good length
while trying to spin the ball. He practised through the winter of 1920–21 to be ready for the next season.
Bowling a mixture of medium pace and his new style of off spin
, Macaulay played 27 matches in 1921. After taking wickets steadily at the start of the season, in his fourth game he took six wickets for ten runs as Warwickshire
were bowled out for 72. Four more wickets in the second innings gave Yorkshire a big victory and Macaulay had match figures of ten wickets for 65 runs, the first time he had taken ten wickets in a match. After a quiet spell of seven innings in which he managed no more than two wickets, Macaulay came to wider public attention by taking six wickets for three runs to bowl out Derbyshire for 23 runs. He later took ten wickets in the match against Surrey in a losing cause, part of a sequence of three innings in which he took at least five wickets. In all, he took 101 first-class wickets at an average of 17.33, placing him third in the Yorkshire bowling averages. With the bat, he scored 457 runs at an average of 22.59, surprising commentators with his ability. This included a maiden first-class century
against Nottinghamshire
. His innings of 125 not out
took Yorkshire from 211 for seven wickets when he came in to bat (228 for eight soon after) to a total of 438 for nine declared, a lead of 264; Yorkshire went on to a comfortable win. His overall success in the season meant that his place in the team was secure.
Macaulay improved his bowling record in 1922, taking more wickets at a lower average (133 wickets at an average of 14.67), and scoring another century. Helping Yorkshire to win the first of four County Championships in a row, Macaulay finished second to Rhodes in the team's bowling averages.The placings for Yorkshire bowling averages include only bowlers who took ten wickets or more in that season. The first two matches of the season brought Macaulay figures of six for eight and five for 23 in a ten wicket win over Northamptonshire
and six for 12 out of an opposition total of 78 in an innings win over Glamorgan
. While he took only one wicket in the second innings, his first three innings had given him 17 wickets for 43 runs. He continued to pick up wickets, but his most significant performance came in June. In front of Marylebone Cricket Club
(M.C.C.) members at Lord's
, he took five for 31 as Middlesex
were bowled out for 138. Those watching were impressed and he was selected for the Players against the Gentlemen
at the same ground in July. He took three for 97 out of a total of 430 in one of the most important matches of the season. These performances earned his selection for the M.C.C. tour to South Africa that winter,The M.C.C. was responsible for the administration of English cricket, including the England Test team. The England team toured under the M.C.C. name and playing colours. although there were concerns his fitness was insufficient. Statistically, Macaulay's best performance came shortly afterwards against Gloucestershire; he took seven for 47 and twelve wickets in the match. Macaulay also scored 486 runs at an average of 17.35.
, while he was effective in minor matches, taking five for 40 against East Rand and six for 19 against Zululand. After England lost the first Test match, which Wisden attributed to a weakness in bowling, Macaulay replaced Greville Stevens
and made his Test match
debut for England in the second Test. He took the wicket of George Hearne
with his first ball
. He was the fourth player to take a wicket with his maiden delivery in Test cricket, and only nine others have done so since, as of October 2010. In total, he took two for 19 in the first innings. In the second innings, South Africa were comfortably placed with a score of 157 for one, but four wickets fell to Macaulay while 13 runs were scored. Macaulay ended the innings with five wickets for 64. Wisden commented that he bowled very finely in this match. He hit the winning run, batting at number eleven, to seal a one-wicket win for England. He played in the remaining three Tests, finishing with 16 wickets at an average of 20.37. England won the series 2–1, but the Wisden correspondent for the tour was not impressed by the English performances, noting that no really effective bowlers had emerged.
With his health improved by the tour, Wisden reported that Macaulay was in excellent form for the whole of the 1923 season. His performances earned him selection as one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year. The citation praised his stamina, spin and ability to bowl on all kinds of pitches
but noted that he was easily discouraged and had a negative attitude if circumstances went against him. He achieved his highest season total of wickets to date, taking 166 at an average of 13.84, and came third in both the Yorkshire and national bowling averages. In three matches, he took ten or more wickets: against Warwickshire, Worcestershire
and Hampshire
. His best performance came in the first match of the season, when he took seven wickets for 13 against Glamorgan
as they were dismissed for 63. Later in the season, he took a hat-trick against Warwickshire while claiming five for 42. With the bat, Macaulay scored 463 runs at an average of 18.52. There were no international matches that season, but Macaulay was selected for The Rest in a Test trial against England in which he took just one wicket.The Rest was a team which represented the rest of England, the best players not included in the Test team.
In 1924, Macaulay further increased his total of wickets to 190 and lowered his bowling average to 13.23, placing him first in the national averages. His best figures were seven for 21 against Gloucestershire, and he also took seven wickets in an innings against Warwickshire and Leicestershire
. He passed ten wickets in a match on four occasions; in the previously mentioned matches against Gloucestershire and Warwickshire, and while playing Northamptonshire and Lancashire
. Macaulay's batting declined as he scored 395 runs at an average of 11.96. Although he was selected for another Test trial, Macaulay did not play in the series against the touring South African team until the third Test at Leeds, where he took one wicket in each South African innings, but was omitted from the final two Tests. Despite his success in the season, he was not chosen to tour Australia with the M.C.C. that winter, even though Maurice Tate
, the leading bowler on the tour, lacked support. Macaulay had been involved in controversy on the field in 1924. At the time, the Yorkshire team were notorious for their aggressive attitude while fielding. In a match against Middlesex in 1924 at Sheffield, the hostility of the crowd provoked an M.C.C. inquiry which found that Yorkshire bowler Abe Waddington
had incited the spectators. Further incidents followed against Surrey. The editor of Wisden blamed Yorkshire's poor discipline on a small group of approximately four players. Without naming Macaulay as one of them, he noted that Lord Hawke
, the Yorkshire president, believed Macaulay should have been in the team to Australia, and that "it was entirely his own fault he was not chosen." It is also possible that during a match at this time, Macaulay openly criticised the captaincy and bowling of Arthur Gilligan
, the England captain.
During the winter of 1924–25, Macaulay opened cricket outfitter
s in Leeds and Wakefield with his Yorkshire team-mate Herbert Sutcliffe
. Macaulay quickly lost interest, and the partnership was dissolved a year later, but Sutcliffe made the lone venture a success.
against Derbyshire. One of his highest profile performances came for Yorkshire against Sussex, who were chasing 263 to win the game. Just after lunch on the final day, the score was 223 for three wickets; Macaulay delivered a spell of five wickets for eight runs in 33 balls to bowl out his opponents and finish with figures of seven for 67. He took five or six wickets in a further eleven innings and took ten or more wickets against Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire, the M.C.C. and in consecutive matches against Hampshire and Surrey. He was again selected for the Players against the Gentlemen at Lord's, and took five wickets in the match. With the bat, Macaulay scored 621 runs at an average of 23.88, although he only passed fifty twice.
Yorkshire's reign as County Champions ended in 1926, the first season since 1921 when Yorkshire did not win the Championship. Wisden noted that the Yorkshire attack, with the exception of Rhodes, was less effective than previously. Macaulay bowled less overs, taking fewer wickets at a higher bowling average; his 134 wickets, at an average of 17.78, placed him second in the Yorkshire averages. After taking 29 wickets in his first seven innings, he endured several spells where he took few wickets: in one eight-innings sequence, he was wicketless six times and took one wicket in another innings; later, four innings yielded just three wickets and a subsequent string of four innings brought him two wickets. Selected for a Test trial, he failed to take a wicket. Wisden described his performance as "lifeless", while cricket writer Neville Cardus
noted that he had "yet again ... fallen below his best away from the Yorkshire XI." He was not chosen for the Gentlemen v Players match, never representing the Players again.
Macaulay was selected for the third Test against Australia at Headingley, possibly because Arthur Carr, the England captain, expected the pitch to favour spinners. The Australians were concerned that Macaulay represented a threat to their batting, but the match did not work out in Macaulay's favour as a bowler; having been dropped at the start of play, Charlie Macartney played what Wisden called one of the best innings of his career and vigorously attacked the England bowling, achieving the rare feat of scoring a century before the lunch interval. The Australian batsman had asked his captain if he could attack Macaulay in particular, and the Yorkshire bowler suffered as Macartney quickly dominated him. Macaulay eventually had Macartney caught after hitting a short ball
in the air, but it was Macaulay's only success in the innings. Macaulay conceded 123 runs in 32 overs as Australia scored 494. When Macaulay came into bat from number ten in the batting order
, England were 182 for eight wickets and facing defeat. He played an attacking innings of 76, hitting ten fours, in a partnership of 108 with George Geary
. This began an England recovery which helped the team to escape with a draw. Nevertheless, Macaulay did not play in the final two Tests of the series. Later in the season, he achieved his best bowling figures in a match, taking fourteen wickets for 92 runs against Gloucestershire, including eight for 43 in the second innings. He took seven wickets in one other innings, and managed five or six wickets in another twelve, while he also passed ten wickets in matches against Leicestershire, Glamorgan and Middlesex. Apart from his batting success in the Test match, Macaulay scored another two fifties and in the match against Somerset
achieved a century.
in 1928. The effectiveness of the main bowlers was reduced by age and injury; only Macaulay remained at something approaching his bowling peak. However, his performances worsened each year. His bowling figures in the 1927 season were similar to his achievements in 1926, showing only a slight decline, but his total of wickets fell each season until 1930.
In 1927, Macaulay took 130 wickets at an average of 18.26. However, he suffered a foot injury in 1928, and took time to recover his best form. His wicket tally fell to 120 and his average climbed to 24.37. His total of wickets decreased further to 102 in 1929 and his average remained above 20. Hampered by another foot injury throughout 1930, Macaulay failed to take 100 wickets for the first time since his debut season; his average of 25.12 was the highest of his career. The number of innings in which Macaulay took more than half the wickets fell to eleven in 1927 and 1928 and further to four in 1929 and 1930. Similarly, the number of matches in which he took ten wickets fell to one or two each season between 1927 and 1930. In these seasons, he was only selected for one representative match, a Test trial in 1928 in which he failed to take a wicket. Even so, his bowling figures kept him near the top of the Yorkshire bowling averages. He was top in 1927 and in the leading four for the next two seasons. However, in 1930 he dropped to sixth. At the same time, his batting faded. In 1927, Macaulay scored his highest run aggregate and passed fifty six times while hitting 678 runs at an average of 25.11. He improved his batting average in 1928, accumulating 517 runs at 25.85 with four more fifties. However, after 1928, he never averaged more than 16.26 with the bat and only scored two more fifties in his career, both in 1929.
and Bill Bowes
, who both took over 100 wickets and led a very strong bowling attack. That season, Macaulay was awarded a benefit match
against Surrey which raised £1,633, worth approximately £82,700 in 2008. At the time, this was considered a poor reward for a Yorkshire cricketer. The following season, Macaulay took fewer wickets, managing 84 at an average of 19.07, which placed him fifth in the Yorkshire averages. He achieved his best bowling figures in first-class cricket when he took eight for 21 against the Indian touring side, the only match in which he took ten wickets, but one of five returns of five or more wickets. By now, Macaulay was a specialist spinner and had largely abandoned pace bowling; Bill Bowes
and Arthur Rhodes
opened the Yorkshire bowling.
The 1933 season signalled a return to form for Macaulay. He bowled more overs that anyone else in the team and passed 100 wickets in the season for the first time since 1929, the tenth and final time he did so, taking 148 wickets at an average of 16.45. On four occasions, he took seven wickets in an innings, including his best figures: seven for nine against Northamptonshire as the team was bowled out for 27. He finished the match with thirteen for 34. Another seven wicket haul came in the match against Lancashire, when his match figures were twelve for 49, including a hat-trick in a sequence of four wickets in five balls. He also took twelve wickets against Leicestershire. His form won a recall to the Test side after seven years. Not picked initially, a decision described by Wisden as unfair, he played in the first Test when Nobby Clark
dropped out of the team before the match. Macaulay took one wicket in the first innings but had figures of four for 57 in the second innings to earn approval from Wisden. He was picked for the second Test but bowled only 14 overs before injuring his foot when fielding; he was unable to take any further part in the game. He did not play in the third Test but was selected in festival game at Scarborough for the team selected from the M.C.C. party which toured Australia in the previous winter. He played instead of an injured player, even though he did not take part in the tour. Macaulay ended second in the Yorkshire bowling averages.
. In the 1934 season, while trying to take a catch, he injured the finger he used to spin the ball. He did not appear for Yorkshire until June, but went on to take 55 wickets at an average of 23.43. The next season was his final one. He only played nine matches, taking 22 wickets at 20.09. At the end of the year, he retired from first-class cricket and Yorkshire awarded him a special grant of £250. Yorkshire did have a replacement in mind; Frank Smailes
was considered to be versatile enough in his bowling style to take Macaulay's place, but it was not until Ellis Robinson
secured a place in 1937 that a new specialist off-spinner was found.
Macaulay ended his career with 1,837 first-class wickets at an average of 17.65. In eight Test matches, he took 24 of those wickets at an average of 27.58. In addition, he scored 6,055 runs at an average of 18.07 and held 373 catches. He took 100 wickets in a season ten times, a record only surpassed by four others for Yorkshire, while only three other Yorkshire bowlers have taken 200 wickets in a season. He also took four hat-tricks.
, for whom he took nine wickets for 10 runs against Ramsbottom
in the Worsley Cup final. Ramsbottom were bowled out for 47 to give Macaulay's team a 26-run win.
He joined the Royal Air Force
(RAF) at the start of the Second World War, was stationed at Church Fenton
and reached the rank of Pilot Officer
. While on duty in the Shetland Islands
, he contracted pneumonia and died at the RAF station at Sullom Voe
on 13 December 1940. He was buried in Lerwick
Cemetery on Shetland.
As a bowler, Macaulay fulfilled two roles. At the start of an innings, when the ball
was new and hard, he opened the bowling with medium-fast
deliveries that swung away from
from right-handed batsmen. In this style, he was very accurate and bowled a variety of deliveries to unsettle his opponents. Cricket writer R. C. Robertson-Glasgow
considered him to be better than any similar bowler in the 1920s except Maurice Tate
, the leading medium paced bowler in England. Macaulay could vary his pace from medium to fast depending on the needs of the match situation and the type of pitch. When the pitch was suitable for spinning the ball, he bowled medium-paced off breaks
. Wisden said that his spin made him more effective than other bowlers of his speed on a sticky wicket, a pitch which has been affected by rain, making it erratic and difficult to bat on. His obituary further stated: "Under suitable conditions for using the off-break, batsmen seemed at his mercy." This was because he could bowl deliveries which were almost impossible for batsmen to play without getting out, but at the same time it was very difficult to score runs against him. Robertson-Glasgow wrote that "on a rain-damaged pitch he was in his glory." He would make small adjustments to the positions of his fielders or bowl from different sides of the wicket, often making gestures or facial expressions as he did so. Robertson-Glasgow said that "only the best could survive the onslaught except by a miracle", and described Macaulay as a great bowler. His bowling action was relaxed and effortless, being admired by his contemporaries. However, critics and team-mates more widely knew him as passionate, hostile and fiery when bowling. He knew many tricks to dismiss or unsettle batsmen, including the tactic of bowling the ball straight at their head
without pitching, which was usually considered dangerous and unfair.
Macaulay displayed a temper when matters went against him. Robertson-Glasgow described him as an unusual man, "fiercely independent, witty, argumentative, swift to joy and anger. He had pleasure in cracking a convention or cursing an enemy ... A cricket-bag came between him and his blazer hanging on a peg; and he'd kick it and tell it a truth or two, then laugh." Bill Bowes described how, when he was bowling, he would glare and mutter under his breath; he seemed to be "filled with a devilish energy". He would make sharp or biting comments, particularly if a fielder made a mistake when he was bowling and although often amusing, it could at times hurt the recipients, and his anger made his team-mates wary of him. Yet, he could also express appreciation when a skillful batsmen hit a good shot from his bowling; the result was that his colleagues were never sure what to expect from him, even after playing with him for years. Herbert Sutcliffe
said he could be charming when not playing, but his wit could be sharp. Robertson-Glasgow nevertheless described him as "a glorious opponent; a great cricketer; and a companion in a thousand."
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 first-class cricket
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...
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 1920 and 1935. He played in eight 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 from 1923 to 1933, achieving the rare feat of taking a wicket with his first 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...
in Test cricket. One of the five Wisden Cricketers 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"...
in 1924, he took 1,838 first-class 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 17.64 including four hat-tricks.
A leading member of the Yorkshire team which achieved a high level of success in the time he played, Macaulay was a volatile character who played aggressively. He left a job at a bank to become a professional cricketer, making his first-class debut aged 23 as a fast bowler
Fast bowling
Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...
. Meeting limited success, he altered style to deliver off spin
Off spin
Off spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket which is bowled by an off spinner, a right-handed spin bowler who uses his or her fingers and/or wrist to spin the ball from a right-handed batsman's off side to the leg side...
in addition to his pace bowling. This proved so effective that he was chosen to play for England in Test matches. However, his perceived poor attitude towards the game, and an unsuccessful match in the 1926 Ashes probably prevented him playing more Tests. His form slumped following injuries in the late 1920s, but a recovery in the early 1930s led to a recall by England, although he broke down in his second match back. Another injury in 1934 made cricket difficult for him and his first-class career ended in 1935, although he continued playing club cricket until the Second World War. A pilot officer in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
, he died of illness on active service in the Second World War.
Early life
Macaulay was born in ThirskThirsk
Thirsk is a small market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. The local travel links are located a mile from the town centre to Thirsk railway station and to Durham Tees Valley Airport...
on 7 December 1897. His father ran a public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
in the town and was a well-known local cricketer, as were his uncles. Macaulay was educated at Barnard Castle
Barnard Castle School
Barnard Castle School , is a co-educational independent day and boarding school situated in the market town of Barnard Castle, in the North East of England. It was founded in 1883 as the North Eastern County School, with the name changed to the current one in 1924, and to this day is generally...
; in later years, he took teams of famous cricketers to play annual matches against the school eleven. He displayed all-round ability at sport, including golf and swimming. His greatest successes came in cricket and football: he played cricket for Thirsk Victoria before moving to play for Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
and Ossett
Ossett
Ossett is a market town within the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. It is located on junction 40 of the M1 motorway, half-way between Dewsbury, to the west, and Wakefield, to the east. In the 2001 census, it was classified as part of the West Yorkshire...
; in the latter town, he played as a professional. In the First World War, Macaulay served with the Royal Field Artillery
Royal Field Artillery
The Royal Field Artillery of the British Army provided artillery support for the British Army. It came into being when the Royal Artillery was divided on 1 July 1899, it was reamalgamated back into the Royal Artillery in 1924....
and afterwards worked as a bank clerk in Herne Bay, Kent
Herne Bay, Kent
Herne Bay is a seaside town in Kent, South East England, with a population of 35,188. On the south coast of the Thames Estuary, it is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government district...
, playing club cricket in his spare time.
Yorkshire debut
In 1920, Yorkshire needed to strengthen its bowling attack. Of the team's previously successful bowlers, Major BoothMajor 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...
had been killed in the war, Alonzo Drake
Alonzo Drake
Alonzo Drake was an English first-class cricketer who played 157 matches for Yorkshire between 1909 and 1914...
had died soon afterwards from illness, and George Hirst was past his best. Although 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...
was able to ease the shortfall by resuming his career as a frontline spin bowler
Spin bowling
Spin bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as spinners or spin bowlers.-Purpose:The main aim of spin bowling is to bowl the cricket ball with rapid rotation so that when it bounces on the pitch it will deviate, thus making it difficult for the...
, Yorkshire needed new bowlers, particularly pacemen. Macaulay had been spotted playing club cricket by Sir Stanley Christopherson
Stanley Christopherson
Stanley Christopherson was the best of the ten Christopherson brothers who played the sport of cricket as an amateur in Kent in the late 19th century...
, a former Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
player. Subsequently, Harry Hayley
Harry Hayley
Harry Hayley was an English rugby union footballer for Yorkshire, St. John's Training College, York and Wakefield Trinity, and first-class cricketer, who played seven matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club over a fourteen year period between 1884 and 1898.Born in Heath, Wakefield, Yorkshire,...
, a 19th-century Yorkshire cricketer, saw Macaulay in action and was sufficiently impressed to recommend him for a trial with the county. At the beginning of 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...
, Macaulay played in two warm-up games for Yorkshire, taking six wickets for 52 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...
in a one-day game and four for 24 and two for 19 in a two-day game.Bowling figures are given in the form of six for 52; the first figure refers to how many wickets the bowler took in the innings and the second figure shows how many runs he gave away. In this case, Macaulay took six wickets and conceded 52 runs. This was good enough to earn a first-class debut on 15 May 1920 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...
in the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
, although he only took one wicket. In his fourth match, having previously taken no more than one wicket in an innings, he took five wickets for 50 runs, his first five wicket haul, in the second innings 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....
, followed by six for 47 against Worcestershire
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire 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 Worcestershire...
. He continued to play until the middle of June before dropping out of the team after an unsuccessful match 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...
. In ten first-class matches, he had taken 24 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 24.35, and managed a top score of just 15 with the bat. Wisden said he "had neither the pace nor the stamina required", while it later said he tried to bowl at speeds beyond his capability. Even so, he decided to become a professional cricketer. Hirst and Rhodes persuaded him to reduce his pace and concentrate on bowling a good length
Line and length
Line and length in cricket refers to the direction and point of bouncing on the pitch of a delivery. The two concepts are frequently discussed together.-Line:...
while trying to spin the ball. He practised through the winter of 1920–21 to be ready for the next season.
Bowling a mixture of medium pace and his new style of off spin
Off spin
Off spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket which is bowled by an off spinner, a right-handed spin bowler who uses his or her fingers and/or wrist to spin the ball from a right-handed batsman's off side to the leg side...
, Macaulay played 27 matches in 1921. After taking wickets steadily at the start of the season, in his fourth game he took six wickets for ten runs as 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...
were bowled out for 72. Four more wickets in the second innings gave Yorkshire a big victory and Macaulay had match figures of ten wickets for 65 runs, the first time he had taken ten wickets in a match. After a quiet spell of seven innings in which he managed no more than two wickets, Macaulay came to wider public attention by taking six wickets for three runs to bowl out Derbyshire for 23 runs. He later took ten wickets in the match against Surrey in a losing cause, part of a sequence of three innings in which he took at least five wickets. In all, he took 101 first-class wickets at an average of 17.33, placing him third in the Yorkshire bowling averages. With the bat, he scored 457 runs at an average of 22.59, surprising commentators with his ability. This included a maiden first-class 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...
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...
. His innings of 125 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...
took Yorkshire from 211 for seven wickets when he came in to bat (228 for eight soon after) to a total of 438 for nine declared, a lead of 264; Yorkshire went on to a comfortable win. His overall success in the season meant that his place in the team was secure.
Macaulay improved his bowling record in 1922, taking more wickets at a lower average (133 wickets at an average of 14.67), and scoring another century. Helping Yorkshire to win the first of four County Championships in a row, Macaulay finished second to Rhodes in the team's bowling averages.The placings for Yorkshire bowling averages include only bowlers who took ten wickets or more in that season. The first two matches of the season brought Macaulay figures of six for eight and five for 23 in a ten wicket win over 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...
and six for 12 out of an opposition total of 78 in an innings win over 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...
. While he took only one wicket in the second innings, his first three innings had given him 17 wickets for 43 runs. He continued to pick up wickets, but his most significant performance came in June. In front of 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.) members at Lord's
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...
, he took five for 31 as 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...
were bowled out for 138. Those watching were impressed and he was selected 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...
at the same ground in July. He took three for 97 out of a total of 430 in one of the most important matches of the season. These performances earned his selection for the M.C.C. tour to South Africa that winter,The M.C.C. was responsible for the administration of English cricket, including the England Test team. The England team toured under the M.C.C. name and playing colours. although there were concerns his fitness was insufficient. Statistically, Macaulay's best performance came shortly afterwards against Gloucestershire; he took seven for 47 and twelve wickets in the match. Macaulay also scored 486 runs at an average of 17.35.
Test debut
Macaulay played eight first-class matches in South Africa in 1922–23, taking 29 wickets at an average of 16.37. His best first-class performances were six for 18 against Pretoria and eight wickets in the match against TransvaalTransvaal cricket team
Gauteng cricket team is the first-class cricket team of the province of Gauteng in South Africa....
, while he was effective in minor matches, taking five for 40 against East Rand and six for 19 against Zululand. After England lost the first Test match, which Wisden attributed to a weakness in bowling, Macaulay replaced Greville Stevens
Greville Stevens
Greville Thomas Scott Stevens was an English cricketer who played for Middlesex, Oxford University and England. He captained England in one Test match, which was lost to South Africa in 1927/8, when he stood in for Rony Stanyforth. Stevens was Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1918.-External...
and made his 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...
debut for England in the second Test. He took the wicket of George Hearne
George Alfred Lawrence Hearne
George Alfred Lawrence Hearne was a South African cricketer.Hearne was born in Catford, London. He played first-class cricket as a right-handed batsman and right-arm bowler for Western Province and in three Tests for South Africa .He came from a cricketing family...
with his first 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...
. He was the fourth player to take a wicket with his maiden delivery in Test cricket, and only nine others have done so since, as of October 2010. In total, he took two for 19 in the first innings. In the second innings, South Africa were comfortably placed with a score of 157 for one, but four wickets fell to Macaulay while 13 runs were scored. Macaulay ended the innings with five wickets for 64. Wisden commented that he bowled very finely in this match. He hit the winning run, batting at number eleven, to seal a one-wicket win for England. He played in the remaining three Tests, finishing with 16 wickets at an average of 20.37. England won the series 2–1, but the Wisden correspondent for the tour was not impressed by the English performances, noting that no really effective bowlers had emerged.
With his health improved by the tour, Wisden reported that Macaulay was in excellent form for the whole of the 1923 season. His performances earned him selection as one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year. The citation praised his stamina, spin and ability to bowl on all kinds of pitches
Cricket pitch
In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets - 1 chain or 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the...
but noted that he was easily discouraged and had a negative attitude if circumstances went against him. He achieved his highest season total of wickets to date, taking 166 at an average of 13.84, and came third in both the Yorkshire and national bowling averages. In three matches, he took ten or more wickets: against Warwickshire, Worcestershire
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire 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 Worcestershire...
and 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...
. His best performance came in the first match of the season, when he took seven wickets for 13 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...
as they were dismissed for 63. Later in the season, he took a hat-trick against Warwickshire while claiming five for 42. With the bat, Macaulay scored 463 runs at an average of 18.52. There were no international matches that season, but Macaulay was selected for The Rest in a Test trial against England in which he took just one wicket.The Rest was a team which represented the rest of England, the best players not included in the Test team.
In 1924, Macaulay further increased his total of wickets to 190 and lowered his bowling average to 13.23, placing him first in the national averages. His best figures were seven for 21 against Gloucestershire, and he also took seven wickets in an innings against Warwickshire and 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....
. He passed ten wickets in a match on four occasions; in the previously mentioned matches against Gloucestershire and Warwickshire, and while playing Northamptonshire and 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...
. Macaulay's batting declined as he scored 395 runs at an average of 11.96. Although he was selected for another Test trial, Macaulay did not play in the series against the touring South African team until the third Test at Leeds, where he took one wicket in each South African innings, but was omitted from the final two Tests. Despite his success in the season, he was not chosen to tour Australia with the M.C.C. that winter, even though 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...
, the leading bowler on the tour, lacked support. Macaulay had been involved in controversy on the field in 1924. At the time, the Yorkshire team were notorious for their aggressive attitude while fielding. In a match against Middlesex in 1924 at Sheffield, the hostility of the crowd provoked an M.C.C. inquiry which found that Yorkshire bowler Abe Waddington
Abe Waddington
Abraham "Abe" Waddington, sometimes known as Abram Waddington , was a professional cricketer for Yorkshire, who played in two Test matches for England against Australia in 1920–21. Between 1919 and 1927 Waddington made 255 appearances for Yorkshire, and in all first-class cricket played in 266...
had incited the spectators. Further incidents followed against Surrey. The editor of Wisden blamed Yorkshire's poor discipline on a small group of approximately four players. Without naming Macaulay as one of them, he noted that Lord Hawke
Martin Hawke, 7th Baron Hawke
Martin Bladen Hawke, 7th Baron Hawke of Towton , generally known as Lord Hawke, was an English amateur cricketer who played major roles in the sport's administration....
, the Yorkshire president, believed Macaulay should have been in the team to Australia, and that "it was entirely his own fault he was not chosen." It is also possible that during a match at this time, Macaulay openly criticised the captaincy and bowling of Arthur Gilligan
Arthur Gilligan
Arthur Edward Robert Gilligan was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Sussex, Surrey and England....
, the England captain.
During the winter of 1924–25, Macaulay opened cricket outfitter
Outfitter
An outfitter is a shop or person that sells men's clothes . More specifically, it is a company or individual who provides or deals in equipment and supplies for the pursuit of certain activities. The term is most closely associated with outdoor activities such as rafting, hunting, fishing,...
s in Leeds and Wakefield with his Yorkshire team-mate Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe was an English professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the period between the two World Wars...
. Macaulay quickly lost interest, and the partnership was dissolved a year later, but Sutcliffe made the lone venture a success.
Mid-1920s career
Macaulay's most successful season in terms of wickets was 1925, despite a very dry summer which produced a succession of good batting pitches. He took 211 wickets at an average of 15.48, coming top of the Yorkshire averages. On seven occasions he took seven wickets in an innings, his best figures being seven for 13 in 24 oversOver (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....
against Derbyshire. One of his highest profile performances came for Yorkshire against Sussex, who were chasing 263 to win the game. Just after lunch on the final day, the score was 223 for three wickets; Macaulay delivered a spell of five wickets for eight runs in 33 balls to bowl out his opponents and finish with figures of seven for 67. He took five or six wickets in a further eleven innings and took ten or more wickets against Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire, the M.C.C. and in consecutive matches against Hampshire and Surrey. He was again selected for the Players against the Gentlemen at Lord's, and took five wickets in the match. With the bat, Macaulay scored 621 runs at an average of 23.88, although he only passed fifty twice.
Yorkshire's reign as County Champions ended in 1926, the first season since 1921 when Yorkshire did not win the Championship. Wisden noted that the Yorkshire attack, with the exception of Rhodes, was less effective than previously. Macaulay bowled less overs, taking fewer wickets at a higher bowling average; his 134 wickets, at an average of 17.78, placed him second in the Yorkshire averages. After taking 29 wickets in his first seven innings, he endured several spells where he took few wickets: in one eight-innings sequence, he was wicketless six times and took one wicket in another innings; later, four innings yielded just three wickets and a subsequent string of four innings brought him two wickets. Selected for a Test trial, he failed to take a wicket. Wisden described his performance as "lifeless", while 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...
noted that he had "yet again ... fallen below his best away from the Yorkshire XI." He was not chosen for the Gentlemen v Players match, never representing the Players again.
Macaulay was selected for the third Test against Australia at Headingley, possibly because Arthur Carr, the England captain, expected the pitch to favour spinners. The Australians were concerned that Macaulay represented a threat to their batting, but the match did not work out in Macaulay's favour as a bowler; having been dropped at the start of play, Charlie Macartney played what Wisden called one of the best innings of his career and vigorously attacked the England bowling, achieving the rare feat of scoring a century before the lunch interval. The Australian batsman had asked his captain if he could attack Macaulay in particular, and the Yorkshire bowler suffered as Macartney quickly dominated him. Macaulay eventually had Macartney caught after hitting a short ball
Bouncer (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a bouncer is a type of delivery, usually bowled by a fast bowler. It is pitched short so that it bounces on the pitch well short of the batsman and rears up to chest or head height as it reaches the batsman.Bouncers are used tactically to drive the batsman back on to his...
in the air, but it was Macaulay's only success in the innings. Macaulay conceded 123 runs in 32 overs as Australia scored 494. When Macaulay came into bat from number ten in the batting order
Batting 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...
, England were 182 for eight wickets and facing defeat. He played an attacking innings of 76, hitting ten fours, in a partnership of 108 with George Geary
George Geary
George Geary was easily the greatest cricketer Leicestershire produced before the advent of David Gower and one of the best and hardest-working bowlers of the inter-war period...
. This began an England recovery which helped the team to escape with a draw. Nevertheless, Macaulay did not play in the final two Tests of the series. Later in the season, he achieved his best bowling figures in a match, taking fourteen wickets for 92 runs against Gloucestershire, including eight for 43 in the second innings. He took seven wickets in one other innings, and managed five or six wickets in another twelve, while he also passed ten wickets in matches against Leicestershire, Glamorgan and Middlesex. Apart from his batting success in the Test match, Macaulay scored another two fifties and in the match 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...
achieved a century.
Decline
Over the next four seasons, Yorkshire failed to win the Championship, although they never finished lower than fourth in the table. The team displayed an unaccustomed weakness in bowling, particularly after the death of Roy KilnerRoy Kilner
Roy Kilner was an English professional cricketer 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...
in 1928. The effectiveness of the main bowlers was reduced by age and injury; only Macaulay remained at something approaching his bowling peak. However, his performances worsened each year. His bowling figures in the 1927 season were similar to his achievements in 1926, showing only a slight decline, but his total of wickets fell each season until 1930.
In 1927, Macaulay took 130 wickets at an average of 18.26. However, he suffered a foot injury in 1928, and took time to recover his best form. His wicket tally fell to 120 and his average climbed to 24.37. His total of wickets decreased further to 102 in 1929 and his average remained above 20. Hampered by another foot injury throughout 1930, Macaulay failed to take 100 wickets for the first time since his debut season; his average of 25.12 was the highest of his career. The number of innings in which Macaulay took more than half the wickets fell to eleven in 1927 and 1928 and further to four in 1929 and 1930. Similarly, the number of matches in which he took ten wickets fell to one or two each season between 1927 and 1930. In these seasons, he was only selected for one representative match, a Test trial in 1928 in which he failed to take a wicket. Even so, his bowling figures kept him near the top of the Yorkshire bowling averages. He was top in 1927 and in the leading four for the next two seasons. However, in 1930 he dropped to sixth. At the same time, his batting faded. In 1927, Macaulay scored his highest run aggregate and passed fifty six times while hitting 678 runs at an average of 25.11. He improved his batting average in 1928, accumulating 517 runs at 25.85 with four more fifties. However, after 1928, he never averaged more than 16.26 with the bat and only scored two more fifties in his career, both in 1929.
Return to form
From the 1931 season, Yorkshire once again dominated the County Championship, winning three consecutive trophies. A large part of the success was an increase in bowling strength. In 1931, Macaulay slightly increased his haul of wickets from 91 to 97, but his average dropped from 25.12 to 15.75. This placed him third in the Yorkshire averages, behind Hedley VerityHedley Verity
Hedley Verity was a professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire and England between 1930 and 1939. A slow left arm orthodox bowler, he took 1,956 wickets in first-class cricket at an average of 14.90 and in 40 Tests he took 144 wickets at an average of 24.37...
and Bill Bowes
Bill Bowes
Bill Bowes was one of the best bowlers of the interwar period and, for a time, the most important force behind Yorkshire's dominance of the County Championship...
, who both took over 100 wickets and led a very strong bowling attack. That season, Macaulay 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...
against Surrey which raised £1,633, worth approximately £82,700 in 2008. At the time, this was considered a poor reward for a Yorkshire cricketer. The following season, Macaulay took fewer wickets, managing 84 at an average of 19.07, which placed him fifth in the Yorkshire averages. He achieved his best bowling figures in first-class cricket when he took eight for 21 against the Indian touring side, the only match in which he took ten wickets, but one of five returns of five or more wickets. By now, Macaulay was a specialist spinner and had largely abandoned pace bowling; Bill Bowes
Bill Bowes
Bill Bowes was one of the best bowlers of the interwar period and, for a time, the most important force behind Yorkshire's dominance of the County Championship...
and Arthur Rhodes
Arthur Rhodes (cricketer)
Arthur Cecil Rhodes was an English first-class cricketer, who played sixty one matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1932 and 1934....
opened the Yorkshire bowling.
The 1933 season signalled a return to form for Macaulay. He bowled more overs that anyone else in the team and passed 100 wickets in the season for the first time since 1929, the tenth and final time he did so, taking 148 wickets at an average of 16.45. On four occasions, he took seven wickets in an innings, including his best figures: seven for nine against Northamptonshire as the team was bowled out for 27. He finished the match with thirteen for 34. Another seven wicket haul came in the match against Lancashire, when his match figures were twelve for 49, including a hat-trick in a sequence of four wickets in five balls. He also took twelve wickets against Leicestershire. His form won a recall to the Test side after seven years. Not picked initially, a decision described by Wisden as unfair, he played in the first Test when Nobby Clark
Edward Clark (cricketer)
Edward Winchester 'Nobby' Clark was a Northamptonshire cricketer of the inter-war period during which they were one of the weakest counties ever to play in the County Championship...
dropped out of the team before the match. Macaulay took one wicket in the first innings but had figures of four for 57 in the second innings to earn approval from Wisden. He was picked for the second Test but bowled only 14 overs before injuring his foot when fielding; he was unable to take any further part in the game. He did not play in the third Test but was selected in festival game at Scarborough for the team selected from the M.C.C. party which toured Australia in the previous winter. He played instead of an injured player, even though he did not take part in the tour. Macaulay ended second in the Yorkshire bowling averages.
Final seasons
Macaulay's final two seasons were affected by injury, as he was increasingly bothered by rheumatismRheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorder is a non-specific term for medical problems affecting the joints and connective tissue. The study of, and therapeutic interventions in, such disorders is called rheumatology.-Terminology:...
. In the 1934 season, while trying to take a catch, he injured the finger he used to spin the ball. He did not appear for Yorkshire until June, but went on to take 55 wickets at an average of 23.43. The next season was his final one. He only played nine matches, taking 22 wickets at 20.09. At the end of the year, he retired from first-class cricket and Yorkshire awarded him a special grant of £250. Yorkshire did have a replacement in mind; Frank Smailes
Frank Smailes
Frank Smailes was an English cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire, and one Test for England...
was considered to be versatile enough in his bowling style to take Macaulay's place, but it was not until Ellis Robinson
Ellis Robinson
Ellis Pembroke Robinson was a first-class cricketer who took over 1,000 first-class wickets for Yorkshire from 1934 to 1949, and Somerset from 1950 to 1952.-Early life:...
secured a place in 1937 that a new specialist off-spinner was found.
Macaulay ended his career with 1,837 first-class wickets at an average of 17.65. In eight Test matches, he took 24 of those wickets at an average of 27.58. In addition, he scored 6,055 runs at an average of 18.07 and held 373 catches. He took 100 wickets in a season ten times, a record only surpassed by four others for Yorkshire, while only three other Yorkshire bowlers have taken 200 wickets in a season. He also took four hat-tricks.
Post-Yorkshire career
Macaulay continued to play league cricket in Wales and Yorkshire. In 1938 and 1939, he played in the Lancashire League as the professional for TodmordenTodmorden Cricket Club
Todmorden Cricket Club is a cricket club in the Lancashire League, which plays its home games at Centre Vale in Todmorden, West Yorkshire. For the 2011 season its captain is Simon Newbitt, and its professional is Qaiser Abbas. The club has won the league on five occasions and won the cup eight times...
, for whom he took nine wickets for 10 runs against Ramsbottom
Ramsbottom Cricket Club
Ramsbottom Cricket Club is a cricket club in the Lancashire League, which plays its home games at Acre Bottom in Ramsbottom. For the 2011 season its captain is Jon Fielding, and its professional is Shanan Stewart of New Zealand. Usman Khawaja was called up to the Australian test squad and instead...
in the Worsley Cup final. Ramsbottom were bowled out for 47 to give Macaulay's team a 26-run win.
He joined the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
(RAF) at the start of the Second World War, was stationed at Church Fenton
Church Fenton
Church Fenton is a village and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England. The village is home to many commuters and is served by a railway station; Church Fenton railway station. Neighbouring villages include Cawood and Ulleskelf. It is about from Tadcaster and from...
and reached the rank of Pilot Officer
Pilot Officer
Pilot officer is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks immediately below flying officer...
. While on duty in the Shetland Islands
Shetland Islands
Shetland is a subarctic archipelago of Scotland that lies north and east of mainland Great Britain. The islands lie some to the northeast of Orkney and southeast of the Faroe Islands and form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total...
, he contracted pneumonia and died at the RAF station at Sullom Voe
Sullom Voe
Sullom Voe is an inlet between North Mainland and Northmavine on Shetland in Scotland. It is a location of the Sullom Voe oil terminal. The word Voe is from the Old Norse vagr and denotes a small bay or narrow creek...
on 13 December 1940. He was buried in Lerwick
Lerwick
Lerwick is the capital and main port of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, located more than 100 miles off the north coast of mainland Scotland on the east coast of the Shetland Mainland...
Cemetery on Shetland.
Style and personality
As a batsman, Macaulay was reasonably good and possibly better than his statistics would suggest. He was capable of batting well in a crisis but may have been prevented from honing his batting skills by the Yorkshire leadership who wished him to focus on bowling. He generally batted low down in the order after the all-rounders in the team. Macaulay's fielding was also very effective. He was excellent at close range to the batsmen, particularly from his own bowling.As a bowler, Macaulay fulfilled two roles. At the start of an innings, when the ball
Cricket ball
A cricket ball is a hard, solid leather ball used to play cricket. Constructed of cork and leather, a cricket ball is heavily regulated by cricket law at first class level...
was new and hard, he opened the bowling with medium-fast
Fast bowling
Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...
deliveries that swung away from
Outswinger
An outswinger is a type of delivery in the sport of cricket. It is bowled by swing bowlers.An outswinger is bowled by holding the cricket ball with the seam at an angle and the first two fingers running along either side of the seam...
from right-handed batsmen. In this style, he was very accurate and bowled a variety of deliveries to unsettle his opponents. Cricket writer R. C. Robertson-Glasgow
R. C. Robertson-Glasgow
Raymond Charles 'Crusoe' Robertson-Glasgow was a British cricketer and cricket writer....
considered him to be better than any similar bowler in the 1920s except 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...
, the leading medium paced bowler in England. Macaulay could vary his pace from medium to fast depending on the needs of the match situation and the type of pitch. When the pitch was suitable for spinning the ball, he bowled medium-paced off breaks
Off spin
Off spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket which is bowled by an off spinner, a right-handed spin bowler who uses his or her fingers and/or wrist to spin the ball from a right-handed batsman's off side to the leg side...
. Wisden said that his spin made him more effective than other bowlers of his speed on a sticky wicket, a pitch which has been affected by rain, making it erratic and difficult to bat on. His obituary further stated: "Under suitable conditions for using the off-break, batsmen seemed at his mercy." This was because he could bowl deliveries which were almost impossible for batsmen to play without getting out, but at the same time it was very difficult to score runs against him. Robertson-Glasgow wrote that "on a rain-damaged pitch he was in his glory." He would make small adjustments to the positions of his fielders or bowl from different sides of the wicket, often making gestures or facial expressions as he did so. Robertson-Glasgow said that "only the best could survive the onslaught except by a miracle", and described Macaulay as a great bowler. His bowling action was relaxed and effortless, being admired by his contemporaries. However, critics and team-mates more widely knew him as passionate, hostile and fiery when bowling. He knew many tricks to dismiss or unsettle batsmen, including the tactic of bowling the ball straight at their head
Beamer (cricket)
In the terminology of the game of cricket, a beamer is a type of delivery in which the ball , without bouncing, passes above the batsman's waist height. Such a ball is often dangerously close to the batsman's head, due to the lack of control a bowler has over high full tosses...
without pitching, which was usually considered dangerous and unfair.
Macaulay displayed a temper when matters went against him. Robertson-Glasgow described him as an unusual man, "fiercely independent, witty, argumentative, swift to joy and anger. He had pleasure in cracking a convention or cursing an enemy ... A cricket-bag came between him and his blazer hanging on a peg; and he'd kick it and tell it a truth or two, then laugh." Bill Bowes described how, when he was bowling, he would glare and mutter under his breath; he seemed to be "filled with a devilish energy". He would make sharp or biting comments, particularly if a fielder made a mistake when he was bowling and although often amusing, it could at times hurt the recipients, and his anger made his team-mates wary of him. Yet, he could also express appreciation when a skillful batsmen hit a good shot from his bowling; the result was that his colleagues were never sure what to expect from him, even after playing with him for years. Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe was an English professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the period between the two World Wars...
said he could be charming when not playing, but his wit could be sharp. Robertson-Glasgow nevertheless described him as "a glorious opponent; a great cricketer; and a companion in a thousand."