Cricket 1884

APRIL 24,1884. CRICKET; A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 77 A P L E A FOR SCHOOL C R IC K E T (From the Melbourne Argus.) E ver since the Australian cricketera played that remarkable match at Lord’s on the 27th of May, 1878, and gave to Englishmen the first indication of that excellence which was more clearly demonstrated four years later, when they defeated at Kennington Oval the finest eleven in all England, comparisons have been made between almost every branch of English and Australian cricket. Critics have discovered special reasons why both England and Australia should be supreme in cricket, and settled the great question off­ hand, although, should either country ever be able to claim undisputed sway in the cricket-field, it will only be after many years’ play and many hard-fought contests. Among the various reasons urged, one way or an­ other, we are not aware that any special reference has been made to the fact that, in the greater attention paid to publie-school cricket in England as compared with Aus­ tralia, one of the great secrets of her suecess has been found. Amongst the several Australian teams that have visited England, M ‘Donnell is the only player who as a school-boy showed any decided promise of that skill which afterwards raised him to the position of being one of the finest batsmen in Australia; for when Grace’s team visited this colony some years ago, they were much struck with the style shown by the boy of thirteen, and even then predicted for him a brilliant future as a cricketei. In Sydney, S. Jones is another young cricketer who has not disappointed those judges who admired his play as a school-boy; but othei s who have borne out their school promise are few and far between. In the two English mixed teams that have lately visited these colonies there was scarcely a single amateur who had not gained distinction in his school-days. Lord Harris, Hornby, Royle, A. P. Lucas, and Webbe, of the first eleven, were all brilliant in that respect, while seven out of the eight amateurs who were here last year had also gained similar distinction. Among the English amateur Cricketers of last season, there were at least one hundred who had been school-cricketers, and a great number of these had also taken part in the University matches. Indeed out­ side the Graces, W. W. Read, and a few others, all theleading amateur batsmen have come from that great cricket nursery, the public schools. If we seek to find the difference in the matter of results between school - cricket in England and Australia, the first thing that will occur to us probably is that there are less inducements offered to colonial school­ boys than to those of the old country. The Eton and Harrow match is the most im­ portant school event of the year in England, although it has been said of late years that it i' merely a great rendezvous , and that one half of thoso who religiously attend the match know nothing of the game, and scarcely see a ball played from the beginning to the end of the match. Despite this, it is, however, the most brilliant cricket gathering of the year, and when a schoolboy finds his name amongst the elevens posted at either Eton or Harrow on the niaht before Lord’s he is, ndeed, happy. This posting of the Eton nd Harrow teams is in itself one of the inci- ents of English cricket. The little ground , nder the hill at Harrow, or the more perfect rena at Eton, is crowded with those anxious to hear the final choice, and among many who attend are some of the leading cricketers and members of the House of Lords who many years ago had possibly a more direct interest in the proceedings. The match at Lord’s has been often de­ scribed, with all its gay and fashionable sur­ roundings. The boys and their partisans from either sohool probably take the keenest interest in the affair. A writer in Vanity Fair has given some specimens of what may be termed school-boy sarcasm and repartee on such occasions. A boy with the blue and white stripes of the Harrow team flaunting from his button-hole, asks his friends, with a serious face, whether they have heard of the accident, and then tells them in explanation that one of the Eton batsmen has just made a hit for four. Then another boy, with a bit of light-blue ribbon, that is a prouder emblem in his eyes than the Union Jack, retorts, by inquiring ser­ iously, ‘ ‘ Where is Harrow ? Have they put it on a hill so that people may have a chance of seeing it ? ’* School cricket in Australia falls very flat by comparison with such scenes as those, and therefore it is not a matter for wonder that we have few cricketers now who did anything brilliant while at school. The Sydney and Melbourne grammar schools have intermittent matches, and in these events some very capable club cricketers have made their first mark, but it is a limited source of supply, ai.d as far as inter­ national or intercolonial cricket is concerned, very little good can be expected from it. The University match, without doubt the most interesting of ordinary English engage­ ments, is another great inducement to young cricketers to make themselves proficient in the games. An intercolonial University match was played here for a few years, but it seems to have fallen out of the list of re­ cognised important fixtures, no doubt on ac­ count of the prevalence of the international game. International cricket has killed it, for in a community where there is no leisure class, the leading fixtures for the year must necessarily be limited in number. Quite recently it was proposed to arrange an intercolonial schools match, and the matter went so far indeed that the arrange­ ments were undertaken by a committee of gentlemen in Melbourne, who, in one way or another, are connected with the Jgame. The matter seems to have stopped short at that point, however, a3 nothing has since been heard of it. As a matter of fact, some members of the committee who undertook to carry out the arrangements are themselves opposed to the idea of school matches being brought into prominence, so that from the outset their interest in the matter was not likely to be conspicuous for its warmth. The project has not yet been definitely aban­ doned, but as theie seems to be no disposi­ tion to encourage such a fixture it will pro­ bably come to nothing: There can be no doubt that a match of this sort played annually in Sydney and Melbourne would have given to colonial school cricket the impetus which it so much needs. Boys, as a rule, require some tangible inducement in order to qualify themselves by steady application for any position, and if this is not offered in the shape of such a match as the one proposed, they will naturally turn their attentic n to other pastimes. The few who witnessed the last match between the Scotch College and Church of England Grammar School must have been struck with the fact that the cricket shown there was of the mildest and most aesthetic kind, and when towards the close of the game the wicket broke up slightly and the ball varied its rise, it was pitiful to see the poor attempts made by the batsmen to treat what was not particularly good bowling. With football quite a different condition of things will be found to prevail. As soon as a schoolboy shows any prominence over his fellows he is an object of special attention with the secretaries of different clubs, and very soon finds a place in a leading twenty. Here his vanity is flattered by the enthu­ siastic applause of thousands, and if he is a really first-class player he becomes one of the popular idols in athletic Melbourne during the winter months. As the football clubs, owing to the popularity of the game, are always in funds, they generally find the means for a trip to one of the adjoining oolonies every season, and thus tbe foot­ baller enjoys periodical holidays of the sort that please him most With all these in­ ducements it is not a remarkable thing that the Victorian schoolboy prefers football to cricket. If any proof of this preference is required it will be found in the fact that the senior club footballers and cricketers who have come from the public schools vary in the proportion of about 100 to 1. Where could more athletic youths be found than the Geelong schoolboys who are periodically drafted into the premier football team of Victoria ? And yet at the present day cricket at the Pivot is purely a reminiscence. Probably things will remain in this con­ dition until schoolboys have some strongar inducement offered as a reward of excellence than merely a place in one cf the senior cricketing teams In the old challenge-cup days this would indeed have been an inducement, but greater possibilities have opened up since then, and the old institution has fallen to decay. At club matches now-a-days there are usually as many players as spectators, and the receipts for the whole of the senior- cup contests played this season do not equal the sum received as gate-nloney for the late junior match between the North Fitzroy and Capulet clubs. The more the matter is con­ sidered the more clear it becomes that there is nothing in club cricket to attract a school­ boy, and if he declines to take the first step, the probability of his attaining anything be­ yond that is rather remote. The ambitious boy is rarely a persevering one, and the drudgery of club cricket is apt to dishearten him, unless there are some other engage­ ments worth his attention while waiting for a place in the Intercolonial team. Two distinct points of difference between English and Australian cricket have their origin in the altered conditions of society in the two countries, as far as they affect the future prospects of the boys who play cricket, and also the different methods by which a knowledge of the game is acquired. Many of the Eton and Harrow boys after completing their education are in a position to give their attention almost solely to cricket, if they have strong inclinations in that way: Both these schools are repeatedly beaten by others, but as the boys have more leisure in after life to devote to the game. Eton and Harrow can claim more first-class cricketers as having graduated with them than any of the other colleges. The Rugby boys, for example, generally drift into pro­ fessional or commercial pursuits,and abandon the game early in life, however great may be their promise as cricketers. Cheltenham is a nursery for soldiers as well as cricketers, and many of its boys who would perhaps have been numbered amongst the Studds, the Steels, or the Lyttletons of to-day, have