County Championship 5th (W9, L3, D16)
Captain Arthur Carr
Fifth place was somewhat disappointing but the Committee observed that ‘fortune dealt us many unkind and unexpected blows.’
A road accident on the eve of a match away to Yorkshire in July kept Larwood out for six matches and Sam Staples for ten. It came at a time when Notts were at the head of the table and surely spoilt the prospects of winning the Championship.
Arthur Carr stood down from cricket during the season owing to the serious illness and subsequent death of his father (a past President of the Club). When he again captained the side – while making a brilliant catch – he fractured his left thumb and played no more cricket in 1931.
The team was also, through his untimely death the previous year, without Whysall who had been the most consistent run-scorer in the side for many seasons.
One of the features of the year’s play was the return of George Gunn who fully justified his place as opener and played as well as ever. He made the highest score of the season – 183 v Warwickshire – and was the leading Notts batter of the year. During Carr’s enforced absence, he captained the side – at a difficult period – with judgment and skill.
History was made when he and George Vernon Gunn each made a century - George 183, GV 100 - in the same innings, a feat not repeated by any father-and-son combination.
Willis Walker had a very good season and scored more runs than any other member of the team, including three centuries, all at Trent Bridge. Walter Keeton in his first full season scored over 1000 runs, including two centuries, and his outfielding was outstanding. Ten members of the side scored one century or more.
The bowling, when at full strength, was formidable. The opening pair – Larwood (who headed the English averages) and Voce – represented England v New Zealand. In the second innings of Surrey at the Oval they were irresistible, dismissing Surrey for 82 and making victory possible. They each took over 100 wickets and each scored a dashing century.
Even as they cemented their roles as the county’s opening bowlers, one of their predecessors was moving on. Fred Barratt retired from County Cricket having been a regular and hard-working member of the side since 1914 with nearly 1,200 wickets at an average of 22.15. Wilf Payton also bade farewell to Trent Bridge and took up a role coaching at Eton.
On the field, Nottinghamshire rarely did close matches in 1931. The slimmest margin of victory was 102 runs and the narrowest defeat was by six wickets!
Larwood was the star of the opening draw against Sussex, making his career-best score of 102no (he had three First-Class centuries without passing 102) batting at number ten and put on 136 for the last wicket with his bowling partner Bill Voce (47). Harold Larwood’s 102 remains the highest by a number ten batter for Notts.
In the same game, Jo Hardstaff jnr gave notice of what was to come with his maiden First-Class hundred, 104no.
In the home game with Glamorgan, Nottinghamshire tinkered with their top order, promoting keeper Ben Lilley and all-around Arthur Staples to opening pair. It didn’t work out too well in the first innings, 1 and 4 respectively, but when Notts batted a second time they put on 93 for the first wicket and Lilley was one of three century-makers. He scored 110, Walker made exactly 100 and Bill Voce, also further up the order than would be usual, top scored with a robust 129 as Notts made 375-3 declared and won by 301 runs.
Away to Gloucestershire, Notts came up against slow-left-armer Charlie Parker in prime form; he took 8-39 and 7-74 as the visitors were skittled twice. A century from Wally Hammond ensured a win for the home side by and innings and 131 runs.
In a low-scoring game, Larwood – nine wickets in the match – helped Notts defeat Worcestershire by 10 wickets.
The loss of a full day’s play ensured that the match at home to Northants was a draw, though Larwood, with six wickets, and Walker and Arthur Carr, each making hundreds, did their best to reach a result.
Somerset were beaten by 139 runs at Bath and another rain affected match, against Surrey at Trent Bridge, petered out to a draw.
The draw versus Cambridge University was unremarkable, apart from a couple of personal milestones for Harold Larwood – he passed 3500 runs in First-Class cricket during his innings of 63 and then took his 750th First-Class wicket when Cambridge batted.
Somerset suffered another heavy defeat to Notts when they visited Nottingham though their two innings were in great contrast. Replying to 379. Walker and Arthur Staples with hundreds, they made just 67, succumbing to Larwood’s pace (7-25). Made to follow-on, the visitors recovered to make 338; Jack White, who had taken six wickets in the Bath fixture, showed his all-rounder credentials with precisely 100. Lilley and Staples easily knocked off the required 29 runs for a 10-wicket win.
Hampshire were also beaten by 10 wickets, with Larwood and Voce doing most of the damage. Rain again meant a draw against Derbyshire before Essex were beaten by 102 runs – Walter Keeton making his first First-Class ton (100no) in Notts second innings.
Yet another six-wicket haul for Larwood helped Notts ease past Middlesex – winning by 126 runs – but Fred Barrett claimed some the attention by taking his 1100th First-Class wicket in his final season.
Sussex beat Notts at Horsham by 308 runs, built around some poor Notts batting, no-one bettered Joe Hardstaff’s 58, and a solid 109 from Sussex skipper Duleepsinhji.
Notts almost matched that against Kent at Trent Bridge, skittling the visitors for 119 and 106 to win by 306 runs. Larwood took 9-41, five of them clean bowled, in Kent's first innings, which was to prove his career-best return. A framed scorecard of this match is in the Wynne-Thomas Library at Trent Bridge.
Nottinghamshire then travelled to New Road and beat Worcestershire by 7 wickets, Larwood and Voce again sharing the wickets. A double hundred from Patsy Hendren (232) and 123 from Nigel Haig saw Middlesex make 621 in their first innings but time ran out with Notts only 23 overs into their second innings.
The New Zealand tourists were the next visitors to Trent Bridge and were thwarted by the weather, with not even both first innings completed. George Gunn made 101 in Notts 332.
George Geary bowled Leicestershire into strong position in the next match, at Aylestone Road, taking 7-27 and 3-77 but could not force the win and at stumps Leicester were 25-3 (all to Larwood) in pursuit of 80 to win.
Deprived of Larwood and Sam Staples after the aforementioned road accident, Notts did well to secure a draw against the eventual Champions, Yorkshire, at Bramhall Lane. This was due largely to a career-best (at that point) 131 by Arthur Staples.
Yet another rain shortened draw against Gloucestershire followed. Then Bill Bowes and George Robinson bowled Yorkshire to a comfortable win at Trent Bridge, dismissing Notts for 201 and 95. Percy Holmes made 133 as Yorkshire opened with 204-6 declared then shared a 72-run opening partnership with Herbert Sutcliffe to secure a 9-wicket win.
Archer Oates, nephew of Tom Oates who had been Notts’s keeper between 1897-1925, made his First-Class debut. He did not have a career to rival his uncle, playing in seven First-Class and 14 Minor Counties games for Notts.
Then came that record-breaking match for George and GV Gunn, away to Warwickshire in a very high scoring draw. The Gunns fired Notts up to 521-7, replying to the home side’s 511-3, in which Arthur Croom and Len Bates each made a century and put on 175 for the second wicket.
More rain meant a draw away at Old Trafford and again at home to Warwickshire; Wilf Payton, in his last First-Class game, scored 65 in Notts’s only innings and finished his illustrious career with more than 22,000 runs at an average of 34.31 and a top score of 169.
Notts had a surprising win over Surrey in the traditional Bank Holiday game – after Surrey had recorded 362, Notts replied with 268, well behind on first innings. Larwood and Voce took over, taking 4-33 and 6-43 respectively to bowl Surrey out for 82. Nottinghamshire eased to the required runs for only the loss of Walter Keeton.
An evenly poised contest with Northamptonshire saw Harold Larwood open Notts second innings – presumably in a chase for quick runs, though injury to Joe Hardstaff did mean a shuffle in the batting order. Notts were 111-8 at the close, just 22 runs short of their target; had Hardstaff been able to bat things might have different.
Once again a fixture with Derbyshire was drawn after rain meant no play on days 1 and 2; against Leicester they did at least manage two days play but the third was washed out and another game was drawn.
Bill Voce took 8-40 in Kent’s first innings and passed 100 wickets for the season but could not prevent the home side from clinching a six-wicket win. That was the last positive result of the season with the final four First-Class matches all being drawn.
Three were Championship fixtures – away to Essex, at home to Lancashire and away again at Hampshire – the final game was a non-Championship First-Class game with Glamorgan at Swansea.
Scorecards and stats can be seen here