Cricket 1883

104 CEICKET; A WEEKLY RECORD OE THE GAME. MAY 17, 1883. C RI CK E T! L A W N T E N N I S ! ! F O O T B A L L ! ! ! F irst P rize M edal at M elbourne E xhibition , 1880. JAMES L I L L YW H I T E , F R OW D & C o . Manufacturers of all articles used in the above and other Athletic Sports. Specialite for the highest class Goods. Bats specially seasoned for hot climates. Price lists and all particulars may be had post free. Shippers supplied at wholesale prices. J. L., F. aud Co. are the sole manufacturers of Frowd’s new patent “ Special Driver ” Bat, which drives better, ars less, and averages l£ ounces lighter than any other Bat; universally allowed to be the greatest improvement made in Bats since cane handles were introduced. Pub­ lishers of JAMES LI LLY WHITE’S CRICKETERS’ ANNUAL. Manufactory and Warehouse:— 4 and G, Newington Causeway, and 73 and 74, London Road, London. UPON APPLYING AT W A B D ’ S ATHLETICWAREHOUSE, Heekmondwike, Yorkshire, The Laws of Rugby and Association Football, Cricket, Lawn Tennis, &c., &c ., will be sent gratis and post free to any address. WARD’ S WAREHOUSE IS THE BEST FOE Footballs, etc., etc. Send fo r Samples. NOTICES. C R I C K E T IS PUBLISHED AT THE OFFICE, 17, PATERNOSTER S Q U A R E ’ LONDON, E.C. It will appear every Thursday morning until September 22nd, and Monthly from October until April next. C ricket can be had at W . H . Smith and Son’s Book Stalls, and of all Newsagents. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. C ricket will beforwarded byfirst post on Thursday morning to any address in Great Britain , on receipt o f a Postal Order (not Stamps) for the amount of the subscription (3 s. 9 d. for 18 numbers , up to September 22nd, or up to April next, including six Winter Numbers for 5i. 4 d., with present issue). Post Office Orders and Cheques can be made payable to W . R. W right , at the head office, and crossed “ London and County, Holborn.” CfliCKET is registered for transmission abroad and can be sent, postfree, at the regular newspaper rates ofvostagc ■ to any part of the worlil. A few copies of Vol. I. are to be had bound, price 7s. Gd. It contains Portraits and Biographies of all the members of the Australian Team of 1882, “ Cricketers ° f my Time,’' by J ohn N vren , and a number o f interest­ ing articles by the best writers on the Game. TO ADVERTISERS. C ricket presents an unequalled medium for announce­ ments in connection with the game, as the circulation is aheady in advanco of any newspaper of the kind. The scores of most of the principal Clubs will appear exclusively in its columns, and there is already a large number of sub­ scribers, including most of the leading players of the day. C ricket will be filed, too, for reference in the pavilions of all the principal Clubs, aud it will thus appeal directly to every class of cricketer. It is also filed in most of the public libraries of Australia, and numbers among its sub­ scribers cricketers and dealers in cricket materials all over the globe. A limited number of high-class Advertisements will be taken on terms to bo obtained of the Manager. For ordinary Advertisements, the charge will be 31- per inch narrow column. K E N N I N G T O N O Y A L . THURSDAY, MAY 24 th. First County Match of the Season. SURREYv HANTS. A d m i s s i o n — ! ■ » I X P E N C K . OVAL, MA Y 31s<— SURREYv- GLOUCESTERSHIRE- CRICKET. To Journeyman Ball Makers- GOOD WORKMEN WANTED. Apply to DUKE AND SON, P E N S H U R S T , K E N T . © r t e f c e t : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. THURSDAY, MAY 17, 1883. THE DISCIPLINE OF CRICKET. T he author of “ The Cricket Field the best book that has ever been written on the game— commences an analysis of its general attributes with the assertion that cricket philosophically considered is a standing panegyric on the English character. None but an orderly and sensible race of people, Mr. Pycroft opines, would so amuse themselves. The fascination the game possesses for the more enthusiastic order of players to those who do not thoroughly appreciate and understand the pleasure and excite­ ment of its endless variety is inexplic­ able. Miss Mitford, in “ Our Tillage,” represents the feelings of the outside world when she wrote “ What a glori­ ous sensation it is to be winning, winning, winning! Who would think that a little bit of leather and two pieces of wood had such a delightful and delight­ ing power?” The little piece of leather and the two pieces of wood none the less are the emblems of a freemasonry which unites thousands of boys and men, many of them wide as the poles asunder in the differences of climate and external in­ fluences. But it is on the moral rather than the physical side of cricket that we desire now to frame our weekly sermon. The text is the discipline of cricket and the address will not be long enough to weary after the fashion of some preachers. We do not quite go to the extent of the clerical author of “ The Cricket F ield ” that cricket “ calls into requisition all tb e cardinal virtues.” We do aflirm though that no thorough dullard ever became a really first-class cricketer. Proficiency on the cricket- field requires more than mere strength of arm, to hit wellneeds more than a breadth of chest above the ordinary. The moral effect.* of cricket too are calculated to give to the pursuit of the game a higher interest than that of a strictly physical exercise. The cricket-field, as a writer recently happily described it, is a microcosm or world in little, and con­ sequently an excellent introduction to the real world. To attain eminence in every branch of the sport essentially demands a development of the organ of concentrativeness, to quote the biblio­ grapher of cricket. It is hardly neces­ sary to add that to attain even a modicum of skill needs a certain amount of intel­ lectual ability. Decision is above all things a necessary adjunct to a success­ ful player. The clear eye and the lissome muscle are of little value unless there is the nerve to withstand the ceaseless attack of the bowler, the requisite amount of patience to frustrate his most artful wiles. The ceaseless combinations of the cricket-field form an admirable school for the moral as well the physical training of youth. The good fellowship of the cricket-field in its way not only does much to humanise but to unite men of different classes, and its fraternising influences should not be underrated. The discipline of the game, too, is one of the best correctives. The very chances of the cricket-field cause it to be one of the best schools for good behaviour. The code of discipline is a severe one, and strict obedience is one of its most stringent provisions. Murdoch, in commenting on the achievements of the Australian team in England last summer, points to the text of this article as the moral of thcir success. “ Our team to a man were always,” he says, “ amenable to dis­ cipline. There was no striving after individual excellence, all ideas of self were put aside, and in the knowledge that union is strength each one did his best to ensure the general good of the side.” It is this very discouragement of self which is perhaps after all the best lesson in the discipline of cricket. May 2, at Abhotsham Vicarage, Bideford, the wife of the Rev. R. W. Sealy-Vidal of a son. On May 12, at Crystal Palace, Park Road, Norwood, the wife of L. H. Nearne, ofa son. W an ted .— A Ground Man, who can bowl, for a cricket club in the North of London.—Ad­ dress, stating terms, &c. W. E. Beall, 7, Con­ naught Road, Harlesden, N.W. — A d vt .