Ted Cox and Ray Allum: Titans of Minor Cricket in New South Wales

Martin Chandler | 8:57am GMT 06 February 2022

Published: 2021
Pages: 46
Author: James, Alfred
Publisher: Private
Rating: 3.5 stars

Life is full of tricky decisions, some of which are uncomfortable and stressful to make. Whether or not to invest in a copy of this book was not in that category, but it did cause me a good deal more anguish than I expected it to.

The reasons in favour of the purchase were straightforward. It is a book about cricketers, published in a limited edition of , and authored and published by a man I know from experience to be an excellent writer and researcher.

The reason to hesitate? Well the clue to that is in that sub-title; Titans of Minor Cricket in New South Wales. Neither of Ted Cox or Ray Allum played in even a single First Class match, and neither have a significant record in First Grade cricket. In the end I took the plunge, reasoning that on the basis of James’ track record if he thought the pair were worth writing about, then the corollary of that must be that they would be worth reading about.

And of course they are.

Cox and Allen probably never met, and came from different generations, albeit the longevity of their careers meant that their playing days did overlap. Both have remarkable batting records, which would perhaps have been more impressive still had not war robbed them of several productive seasons in what should have been their best years. For Cox it was the Great War, and Allum World War Two.

Both men were batsmen. In a career stretching from 1902 to 1950 Cox scored almost 27,000 runs at 48.56 with 77 centuries. For Allum the dates are 1937 to 1972 and the numbers even more impressive, just shy of 20,000 runs at 70.30 with 65 centuries.

James was able to speak to descendants of both men, so as well as being able to access a good deal of information from contemporary press reports and public records he is able to put flesh on the bones of the story, and give his readers insights into the personalities of both men.

The book is not, as the page page count indicates, a bulky one, but it appears in an A4 format. As would be expected from James there are plenty of statistics and a number of scorecards. One of particular interest is from 1912 when, on this occasion playing First Grade, Cox represented Central Cumberland against Gordon. In his side’s second innings Cox contributed an impressive 77, but one suspects he might have remembered just as clearly his role in the dismissal of Gordon’s opening batsman, Victor Trumper, who he caught in the deep, albeit not before the great man had scored 127 in 78 minutes.

Well illustrated, Ted Cox and Ray Allum appears in a signed and numbered limited edition of just fifty copies, available from Roger Page at AUS$35. If its subject matter appeals it is well worth investing in.