Syd Santall rendered valuable service to Warwickshire as a right-arm medium-pace bowler from 1892 to 1914. From 1894 when the county attained first-class status, till the outbreak of the First World War he took 1219 wickets, average 24.41, and held 150 catches. He appeared for Northamptonshire as an amateur before going on trial to Warwickshire in 1892 and he remained, first as player and then as coach, till 1920.

He was also a useful batsman, and in his first-class career he scored 6,651 runs, average 15.58. His best season as an allrounder was probably that of 1905, when he dismissed 94 batsmen at a cost of 24.59 runs each and obtained 685 runs, including his highest score - 67 against Hampshire at Southampton - average 22.83. On four occasions he headed the Warwickshire bowling figures, his greatest success with the ball occurring in 1907 when he took 100 wickets, average 16.79. In that season he numbered among his performances 7 for 38 runs v Leicestershire at Coventry; 8 for 72 v. Yorkshire at Sheffield and 7 for 77 v. P. W. Sherwell's South African team at Edgbaston. Other good analyses were 7 for 39 v. Lancashire at Liverpool and 8 for 32 v. Essex at Edgbaston in 1898; 8 for 23 v. Leicestershire at Edgbaston in 1900 and 8 for 44 v. Somerset at Leamington in 1908, when Warwickshire, after being 86 behind on the first innings, dismissed their opponents for 93 and won by 161 runs. His son, F. R. Santall, who died in 1950, played for many years as a batsman for Warwickshire.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack