Clem Hill's Reminiscences

(So christened because of Darling’s resemblance to Paddy Slavin). 26 What are you worrying over? Why Joe, I’ve got a pair; it’s nothing very wonderful.’ To which Darling replied, as he hurled a boot at him, ‘You go to Hong Kong, Howell, and get out!’ They were great mates. On board a boat you would always find them in their bunks if there was a heavy swell on. They liked to be comfortable. They would talk about cricket for hours. Darling was playing at Leicester. When he was somewhere near 200 not out he turned to the opposing captain and said of one of his bowlers, ‘I’m a bit suspicious of his deliveries. I’m not so sure that he does not throw the ball.’ ‘Surely you don’t mind,’ replied the captain, ‘after what you’ve done to him.’ Prince refused pair of trousers Before I leave Joe Darling there is one amusing incident I must relate. We were on the way home after the 1902 tour. Joe had a pair of tweed trousers which he had had for about six years, and we thought it time he got rid of them. Of course you could not suggest such a thing to him. He was a dominant personality and had his own opinions. Somebody proposed that the trousers should be dumped overboard. But who was to do it? If Joe found out the culprit, there would be ructions. So a document was prepared marked ‘secret’, which every member of the team signed. It was that they agreed to the deed if they had the misfortune to draw from a hat the piece of paper which named the perpetrator. I recall how pleased little Syd Gregory was when he found that he was not the victim. He was playing deck quoits when he was stopped to pick from the hat. ‘Thank goodness I’m not the one who has to do it,’ he said. I don’t know to this day who dumped those trousers; all I know is they were dumped. When Joe came to pack his clothes preparatory to leaving the boat at Cape Town, niggers at Trinidad took a fancy to them. 27 Howell, who was one of the leading conspirators, said he supposed that he was right. He recalled that he had seen a native about the deck. Writing of clothes reminds me of a Fijian prince who visited Adelaide. George Giffen had just imported some cloth from which to make cricketing trousers. He offered to get a pair out of it for the prince, but His Royal Highness politely declined, much to the surprise of Giffen. ‘You see’, said the prince, ‘we don’t wear trousers in my country when we are playing cricket, only a loin cloth.’ But to get back to the third Test in Adelaide. In response to our 573, England made 278 and 282. Howell appeared in this match for the first time in Test cricket. He was a natural bowler, and required very little instruction to get the best results. He stepped out of country cricket into the best company, and made his mark immediately. He had an abnormal power of spin, in fact, he could make the ball literally buzz in the air. Stoddart’s Tour of Australia 39 26 Francis Patrick ‘Paddy’ Slavin was an Australian heavyweight boxing champion in the late nineteenth century. He refused to challenge John L. Sullivan for the world heavyweight championship, but fought (and lost) the English heavyweight championship to Peter Jackson. 27 A racist comment not untypical of the time.