The appointment of Major Nigel Bennett as Surrey's first post-war captain in 1946 is generally assumed to have been a case of mistaken identity. Legend goes that the intention had been to offer the position to Major Leo Bennett, a well-known amateur, but Nigel Bennett, whose only regular cricket was some club games before the war, accepted before the error came to light. The outcome was sadly inevitable. Wisden reflected that "want of knowledge on the field presented an unconquerable hindrance to the satisfactory accomplishment of the Major's arduous duties... which prejudiced the general work of the side." Surrey slumped to 11th, their worst finish ever, and at the end of the season Bennett departed back the anonymity from where he came. He had spent two years in the Stowe XI, topping the averages in 1930.
Martin Williamson