Twins
When Northamptonshire played Somerset at Northampton in the championship in 1914, the Denton twins (William and John) opened the batting for Northamptonshire and the Rippon twins (Albert and Arthur) opened for Somerset - an occurrence unique in first-class cricket.
William and John, who were identical, had the better of it as Northamptonshire won by an innings and 127 runs inside two days. They scored 74 and 12 respectively in a total of 410. Albert and Arthur then mustered just a single between them in Somerset's first-innings total of 123 and only 11 and 32 respectively out of 160 second time round.
Arthur Rippon was a stylish batsman who flourished after the war and struck six centuries, most memorably a brilliant 112 against Hampshire at Portsmouth in 1928. Albert was a more circumspect player who carried his bat for 105 against Sussex at Bath in 1914 but, troubled by wounds sustained in the First World War, played only one first-class innings in 1920, when he was 27, and no more thereafter.
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Brian Halford - Brian Halford’s look at Edgbaston.
The Denton twins were both PoWs during the First World War, while their younger brother, Don, lost part of a leg. Despite this handicap, he played a few games for Northants after the war, assisted by an artificial leg and a runner!
http://www.rushdenheritage.co.uk/leisure/DentonTwins-Cricketers.html
Many thanks The Red Baron. What a fascinating link.
Those four snippets from the Wellingborough News would make a brilliant poem. A four-verse evocation of the First World War: the naive excitement, the fear and dread and then the joy and relief.