by Mayukh Ghosh

May 1921.
Jack Gregory and Ted McDonald create havoc as England get bowled out for 112.
Their opener, on debut, top score with 30.
Down his left-side, there was not even a place to put a coin on an area where the flesh wasn't bruised.
Chief selector Harry Foster was not impressed.
"So long as I have influence in choosing England that man never bats in another Test."

Percy Holmes was 13 when he left school to become a mill worker.
He was an attractive batsman but used to get very annoyed if he got out playing attacking strokes.
"I used to lie in bed for hours working it out from every angle. Then, when I knew, I slept peacefully."

In 1912, finally, he found himself on the brink of making his first-class debut.
In that very year, one morning, while travelling to Headingley in a tramcar, he met Herbert Sutcliffe.
They spotted each other's cricket bags, and they fell into conversation.
Twenty years later, the famous '555' happened.

Percy Holmes never regretted being a contemporary of Hobbs and Sutcliffe.
He was happy playing for Yorkshire, his 'own team'.
One day when Glamorgan's Maurice Turnbull stood at silly mid-on, Holmes said, "Now then, Mr. Turnbull. Do you dare field to me- Percy Holmes- in that position?"
A few minutes later, while hopping off the field, Turnbull murmured, " You were right, Percy. You were right."

Whenever he arrived at the hotels on away trips, he'd tell the receptionist, " Register us as Percy Holmes and his circus."
He cared for his fellow 'Joeys'.
When the victorious team returned from the Bodyline tour, he presented each of them a silver watch and chain.

555 first-class matches in a career defined by that very number.
Only seven Test matches.
"If only I had Herbert's patience....."

Percy Holmes was born on November 25, 1886.