Cricket 1888

MAT 10, 1888. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. 115 ORICKET IN INDIA. (B y an A n g lo -I n d ia n P la yer .) To those who have not had the good fortune to visit British India, the position of cricket, in common with everything else connected with the Englishman in that country, is practically an unknown quantity, and it will be my endeavour in the present article to briefly describe the conditions under which the game is played in the far East, and to enumerate the many and great disadvantages against which the keener class of cricketers have to contend in participating in their favourite pastime. It will probably occur to many of your readers that one of the principal drawbacks to the full enjoyment of the game is the ever- maligned climate. Nothing, let me assure them, could be more erroneous. True, there is a season of the year when an attempt at anything of the sort would be mere madness on the burning plains. But, surely, England herself with her biting, bitter winter can none the more boast of perennial cricket. From November to March nothing could sur­ pass the luxuriousness of the weather over that portion of Upper India which embraces the majority of the large military canton­ ments, and where cricket chiefly finds its hom e; and even in the South the winter months are always cool enough to admit of no slight indulgence in the game. For a run- getting bat, indeed, India affords extraordinary attractions, for, added to the fact that the bowling at its best is never up to much, such a thing as a rainy day and a sodden wicket is, during the playing season, hardly ever known. For the more active agents allied against Indian cricket, then, we must look elsewhere, and first and foremost must be quoted the popularity of its great rival, Lawn Tennis. If we except the large Presidency towns of Cal­ cutta, Bombay and Madras, the English community consists almost exclusively of officials, civil or military, whose occupation leaves them little leisure, and to whom such a thing as a whole day’s absence for cricket, except on very special occasions, is out of the question. Little is it to be wondered at then that, with regular dailj exercise, one of the great safeguards against a disordered liver and the many other ailments incidental to an Indian career, such games as lawn tennis and racquets have taken deep root in the country. Cricket, again, is sorely handicapped in the race, in that it requires a considerable number of players to form a game, whilst net practice, without the prospect of a match ana without efficient practice- bowlers, is hardly calculated to jeopardise a game like lawn tennis, in which old and young can alike participate, and in which, into the bargain, ladies’ society can be enjoyed. Another powerful rival, and one which, although its devotees are not to be compared in numbers with lawn tennis players, absorbs many of the younger and more active members of the community, is the essentially Indian game of Polo. W ith ponies cheap to purchase and cheap to maintain, with good polo clubs and grounds in nearly every station, and with constantly-recurring tournaments to keep up enthusiasm in the game, but natural is it that many a good cricketer on his arrival in the country grows lukewarm towards his old love on adopting the new. Only those who have resided in the purely military stations in India can realise the extent to which horseflesh commends itself to every English man, woman and child, and it needs only the announcement of a Gymkhana or a Sky race meeting to bring together the whole civilised population, whilst a cricket match against some powerful neighbouring station will hardly attract a score of spectators. This absence of a cricket- loving public must, in fact, take high place amongst the obstacles operating against the prospects of the game in India, and if non­ playing officials and military officers, together with a fair sprinkling of ladies, could but once be prevailed upon to patronise cricket matches, as they do the turf, the game would soon receive that stimulus of which it so sorely stands in need. Of other hindrances I must not omit mention of that too prevalent scourge— unpunctuality , which is often carried to such a pitch in India that the most enthusiastic cricketer can hardly fail, after a time, to fall within its meshes. TJnpunctuality is, I am aware, a weakness not wholly absent from the best of cricket in the old country; but, in degree, it bears no comparison to what is frequently encountered in India. To the overworked official, to whom a day’s cricket is perhaps the forerunner of nights of hard work, it is galling in the extreme to sit waiting in the pavilion from eleven o’clock till half-past twelve or one before sufficient players have arrived to render a commencement possible. So hope­ less, indeed, has it been found to marshall the teams at the orthodox hour of eleven in not a few cricketing stations that fashion appears to have eventually sanctioned the time oi commencement as an hour or an hour and a half later than that at which play is, in conformity with custom, fixed to begin. So satisfied is everyone that the rest of his side will not have mustered before well past mid-day that experience soon teaches the keenest of players to defer his arrival at the ground till he knows full well there is a prospect of a start. Then again there is too often a slovenliness about the play coupled witb an unpardonable lassitude about the player him ­ self,which takes the form of a weaknesstowards batting as opposed to fielding, or, if the latter is imperative, will display itself in a request to be put at “ long leg,” where a shady tree or a garden seat may happen to form an attraction. It can hardly, however, be expected that with such an heterogeneous mixture of players as an Indian station will produce, there will not be found a percentage who are cricketers only on sufferance. The one has been persuaded after considerable trouble to “ play for once just to see how he likes it,” whilst another is eager enough for the fray, but has been out in the jungle for years and has “ not touched a bat since he came to the country.” Little is it to be wondered at, too, in such company, that such commoditiesas cricket shoes and bats as personal property are at a premium or that a few hours’ leather-hunting leaves the field in a somewhat disorganised condition. I need only add that scaroity of money—especially with the rupee in its present forlorn condition —counts itself not unfrequently amongst the sources of perplexity to those entrusted with the charge of Indian cricket clubs, whilst such excuses from a rusty player as that the ball is too hard or his hands are too soft have before now often deprived the club of the services of a likely benefactor. The constant shifting of regiments and of individual officers, civil as well as military, likewise acts pre­ judicially against the interests of the game and often enhances the difficulties to be encountered in the management of the station cricket club and the arrangement of a card of matches. I have discussed above the many obstacles surrounding the generality of Indian cricket, but it must not be inferred that such things as keen cricket and keen cricketers are unknown throughout the country. Amongst the con­ testants themselves and a select clientele of well-wishers, the results of the matches and the performances of individuals create the same enthusiasm and command the same attention as in England itself. In fact, but for a few peculiarities about the head-gear of the players and the absence of a “ gallery,” there is little in the surroundings of an Indian cricket match of the first order to distinguish it from one of ordinary importance in the old country. The Indian dailies accord due prominence to the scores and descriptive notices of the play ; and many, who cannot tear themselves away from their diurnal game of tennis or the counter attractions of a horse race, scan with interest the acoounts of the cricketers’ suc­ cesses around them. It is within the power of every large military centre to put into the field ft single elevenof good soundworking cricketers, and myremarks above regarding the slackness too often discernible must on no account ba taken to apply to what are termed there as here uforeign matches.” When Allahabad meets Lucknow or Lahore plays Umballa, for instance, matters assume a serious aspect, and the all-round cricket is excellent. But few stations, however, can dip far into their second elevens without encountering an array of languid players, who render practice games unendurable. And here let me remind Our readers th a t w h a t I have been saying ears little application to the three large cities of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, which are on an entirely different footing to the Mofussil stations of India, and where there are large English communities and several cricket clubs in existence. Of Indian cricket grounds little need be said. As might be imagined, the majority fall far short of the best in England. The same care is not taken of them ; nor are there grounds­ men with the same knowledge of what con­ stitutes a good cricket pitch, or of the steps which should betaken to secure one. In many cases it is the native chowkidar or watchman alone, who sees to the matter of watering, rolling, and weeding, whilst it often happens that, in the driest and hottest part of the year, water is unprocurable for any but washing and drinking purposes. During the monsoon, on the other hand, the ground is usually sub­ merged for weeks together, and, under the circumstances, it is little to be wondered at that such a thing as real English turf is un­ known. Even, indeed, were scientific principles brought to bearon the preparation and mainten­ ance of a wicket, it is doubtful whether the elements would not supervene to render the means employed of no avail. In certain localities, however—and notably at Cal­ cutta—a very good pitch is obtained by judicious treatment of the ground on the immediate cessation of the rains, and, by the time the weather is cold enough to allow of cricket, a first-rate wicket is available. In most of the other large stations, too, although the grass is thin and sparse, heavy rolling after the monsoon ensures fair wickets, whilst in the case of one or two, so hopeless is the growth of anything approaching to verdure, and so hard and rocky is the soil, that cocoa-nut matting has to be called into requisition. To give satisfaction, the ground surface beneath this substitute for grass must be absolutely holeless and level, as the least inequality is readily communicated through the matting, and, the wicket playing ex­ ceedingly fast, a swift, bumpy bowler is, on a rough uneven ground, anything but pleasant to stand up to. W ith a good surface, on the other hand, a punishing bat is in his glory; every ball comes as true as on a billiard-table, and the slow-bowler’s most leary twisters utterly refuse to bite and work. The feet of the fieldsmen, meanwhile, from constant capering over the rocky ground, soon give way, whilst to take a ball half-volley, or to effect a low catch, portend grazed knuckles or a broken finger. Before leaving the subject of this kind of wicket, it may perhaps be well to explain that the matting reaches only from popping crease to popping creftse, and not the full twenty-two yards. It measures about six feet in width, and is spiked into the ground at intervals along both sides and at the ends, the spikes passing through eyeholes made for the purpose and being hammered down flush with the ground. One great drawback to this arrange­ ment is that in coming down on a “ yorker,” the bat is liable to break against one of the iron pegs, whilstanothersourceof annoyance to bats­ man and bowler alike is that they are debarred from wearing spikes. The batsman with spikes in his left shoe is absolutely helpless in turning hife left foot, whilst the bowler who runs forward on to the mat to field his own bowling is forthwith precipitated on to his nose. The matting employed is ordinarily that in common use in England for the floor­ ing of passages, vestibules and the like. It is usually spread in one length, but an alter*