Sporting Bygones: How dissension in the ranks never gave Sutcliffe a chance of toppling champions Surrey

Periods under the leadership of Lord Hawke, Brian Sellers and the campaigns of the Sixties led by Vic Wilson and Brian Close are example of the celebrations years; for the many old enough to remember, the Fifties were – despite the startling triumph of Ronnie Burnet's team in the summer of 1959 – the years of under-achievement.

It was the golden era of Surrey cricket, earning them a record seven consecutive County Championships and there was no doubt they had a great team, comprising people like Peter May, Alec and Eric Bedser, Jim Laker, Tony Lock, Arthur McIntyre, Micky Stewart, Peter Loader, Bernard Constable and Ken Barrington but many within Yorkshire reckoned the White Rose team of the time was at least as good and only failed to overhaul their perennial rivals because of poor leadership.

That was perhaps a harsh judgment.

Norman Yardley, a fine cricketer and never less than a perfect gentleman, had led Yorkshire to a shared county title, alongside Middlesex, in 1949 and in the following seasons the club finished third, second, second, 12th, second and second yet again.

Writing in the 1956 edition of Wisden, when Yardley had retired and the captaincy handed to Billy Sutcliffe, Jim Kilburn, the esteemed cricket correspondent of the Yorkshire Post, said of the Yardley years: "Yardley's success in captaincy has been limited by the lack

of understanding and ambition in some of his players but he

has done invaluable work in keeping the good name of Yorkshire cricket at the highest level."

Those sentiments were not shared among those sitting on the hard benches of Headingley, Park Avenue and Bramall Lane.

They reckoned – with reason – that a team which included such illustrious names as Len Hutton, Vic Wilson, Willie Watson, Ted Lester, Jimmy Binks, Fred Trueman, Brian Close, Johnny Wardle, Bob Appleyard and Frank Lowson, with youngsters like Raymond Illingworth, Ken Taylor and Bryan Stott coming through, should have done much better.

Sutcliffe's appointment was not a surprise, Yorkshire at the time still harnessed to the tradition of the amateur captain.

The son of the great Herbert and christened William Herbert Hobbs, in tribute to his father's great opening partner for England (and a man of Surrey); he was a decent cricketer, good enough to have scored six centuries for the club and hold down a regular place in a team full of quality players.

But by the time he took over, the great Hutton, now Sir Leonard, had retired and the dressing room was riven by factions. Sutcliffe, who had been "one of the boys" before his elevation, struggled to take charge of a group of opinionated, sometimes selfish, characters.

They, in turn, had enjoyed the friendship of the new captain for several seasons and found it difficult to give due respect to someone who had so recently been one of them.

Dissension in the ranks and Surrey's continuing excellence did not help Sutcliffe's cause in the summer of 1956, his first year as county captain, when seventh was the best Yorkshire could manage in the Championship.

In their end-of-season report, the Yorkshire committee noted: "More matches would have been won had the players played in a more determined manner on all occasions."

That was a warning of what was to come.

Sutcliffe was disillusioned and cited "business reasons" – away from cricket he managed the sports equipment shop founded in Leeds by his father – as the cause of his decision to step down at the end of the 1957 season.

His departure – after leading the team to a more respectable third place in the Championship in his farewell season – was the start of a remarkable transformation in the county's fortunes, although there were many sad to see the departure of such a popular man and capable cricketer.

With the martinet former captain Brian Sellers as chairman of the powerful cricket committee, the decision was made to appoint Ronnie Burnet as captain for the 1958 season.

Burnet, aged 39 and another amateur, had captained Baildon to success in the Bradford League and had also led Yorkshire to the Minor Counties League championship with a team of highly-promising youngsters.

He was also a firm believer in team spirit, would not tolerate indiscipline and did not have – unlike Sutcliffe – close ties to any of those with whom he would be leading.

Burnet's first season in charge is remembered for the cataclysmic decision made by the Sellers-led committee but with the captain's approval: the services of Wardle, Appleyard and Lowson were no longer required.

Lowson and Appleyard, neither of whom had been in the best of health, were awarded a joint testimonial in 1959 but the departure of Wardle, 35, regarded as the best left-arm spinner in the world, Yorkshire's most successful bowler in the 1958 season – during which he had captained the side in Burnet's absence due to injury – and a regular in the England team, shocked the entire game.

Yorkshire finished the 1958 season 11th in the table and Burnet had made it clear he would be giving opportunities to young players – many of whom he had led as successful Colts.

In the following season, the team confounded many, not least Sellers himself, by winning the County Championship in thrilling style; Surrey's run of success was ended.

His job done, Burnet was asked to step down and Vic Wilson made history by becoming Yorkshire's first professional captain of the modern era. The team – and team spirit – Burnet had built would go on to win the title six times in the Sixties.

Then the decades of misery began and it was no coincidence that the three men who had captained Yorkshire in succession – Yardley, Sutcliffe and Burnet – would find themselves surplus to requirements as committee members as the club almost disintegrated in the acrimony of the Boycott years.