A batsman has scored 1,000 first-class runs before the end of May in an English cricket season on only eight occasions.
[1] Uniquely, a second batsman also reached 1,000 runs before the end of May in 1938, Bill Edrich, mainly thanks to a sporting declaration by Australia at 5.09pm on the third and final day of the match against Middlesex at Lord's on 28–30 May, when Edrich needed another 10 runs.
[3] The rarely-achieved feat has become even more scarce since the Second World War, with only Glenn Turner and Graeme Hick reaching 1,000 runs before the end of May since 1938.
In part, this is due to the reduced schedule of first-class cricket since the introduction of domestic one-day cricket competitions in the 1970s, and a corresponding reduction in the number of first-class matches played by English county teams and touring international teams.
[8] Coincidentally, exactly ten years later, Ben Compton, the cousin of Nick,[9] also narrowly missed out on the milestone formerly achieved by their grandfather Denis' long-time England and Middlesex team-mate Bill Edrich.