Cricket 1893

108 CRICKET: A WEEKLY EECORD OP THE GAME; MAY 4, 1898 CRICKET NOTCHES. By the B e v , B. S. H olm es , The cricket season opens to-day, but it is scarcely an ideal May up North. There is nothing at present to chronicle, and some o f us are much too modest to assume the role of the prophet. W e will content ourselves with the heartiest of welcomes to our distinguished visitors. It remains to be seen of what stuff they are made. They cannot fare worse than the last two Australian teams, and they can ^hardly hope to do better than the 1882 combination. I hope they will be just as successful as they deserve to be, and, luck or no luck, that may be said to be the fate of all cricketers, past and present. Take m y word for it, at all sports bad luck nearly always means bad play. Let us be careful, then, to call things by their right names. Yes, “ The Old Buffer ” will be here, too, but, most likely, only for a season. My esteemed editor may be found to have drawn on his imagination when he tells us that “ the monotony of the Boundless Prairie has evidently begun to pall upon him .” Quite otherwise, if four delight­ fully long letters since Christinas last can be depended on. The life out West seems to have suited him perfectly. “ I am wonderfully well, and feel about 20 years of age, barring heavy lifting, and that I leave to my juniors.” And they get capital cricket, too. Matches are not too numerous, but they do play the game ; no legging, padding, or other cheating ; good backing up, and hardly any extras. “ Matches are not numerous, and some­ times a match requires a drive of 80 miles across the prairie, but the players turn up at 10 a.m., ready to begin at 10.30. Another thing out here is a great g a in : at 12 o'clock comes dinner— a square meal— a little meat, lots of vege­ tables, butter, cheese, light pud­ dings, preserves, and tea (we are wholly teatotal in Manitoba),for a quarter dollar or 12| pence. I have only once tasted whiskey since I have been here.” And a lot more of the same chatty nature. “ What think you of our winter out hero ? W e have been rather growling at too much snow and too much warm weather. B y warm weather we mean only 16 degrees of fro st; we like about 20 below zero at night, and then the snow keeps dry and hard. Two days ago (i.e. January 26), whilst we were hoping for cold weather, the thermometer ran down into its boots, as far as it could do ; our ther­ mometer has no record lower than 45 below zero, and it did all that—how much more we do not know. I ventured out only some 60 yards, and it took all m y breath clean away.” One reason why our old friend is com ing over is that long ago he resolved to go to Chicago. “ Cross­ ing the herring-pond is nothing, simply a few days in a good floating hotel.” When at Chicago he will write half-a-dozen descriptive articles on the “ World's Fair,” which have been ordered by one o f our leading home journals. “ After eleven years of hard labour m y son is going to take a long needed rest, and has let his farm for 12 months.” I have thought it might interest many more than myself to read these extracts— they are only fragments. Letter writing wili never be wholly a lost art so long as “ F.Cr.” is here. He is one of our institu­ tions. And because o f this, I am certain that we all shall sympathise with him now in the loss he has just sustained by the rather sudden death of his elder brother, who, in conjunction with his father, had held the same “ living ” since the year 1813, the brother succeeding to it in 1846. But any further details are too sacred for this “ Notch.” The Old Buffer may anticipate a right royal welcome whenever he appears at the Oval once more. Everybody is delighted that Arthur Shrewsbury and Maurice Bead are to have a benefit match during the season, and the best match on their respective County’s programme. I f m y memory does not trick me, this is the very first time that either Notts or Surrey have thus honored a loyal cricketer whilst still taking part in the game. H itherto in both counties it has been the custom for a cricketer to retire or be shelved before he got his reward. As I think I said last year, this is never desirable, inasmuch as the sporting community quickly forgets old favourites. Now would it be deemed impertinent if I threw out a suggestion to the beneficiares ? It is this. There will be a subscription list in each case ; may it be filled with “ heavy lines.” Why not issue something in the shape of a memorial card, daintily got up, with a record of previous performances, charg­ ing such a price for it as will include admission to the ground for the whole match? There are many who won’t be able to be present at the match, but who would gladly pay for a suitable m em ento; whilst I dare say some would buy the card and then forget to take it to the ground, and so pay up twice over. Both men are so worthy that they deserve a bumper. And a benefit is about the only chance the professional cricketer has of laying by for old age. As one of our ablest cricketers said to me at the.York- shire Colts’ match at Dewsbury a fort­ night since, “ The worst of our life is that most of us have nothing to do during the winter.” And talking of modern professional cricketers reminds me of an incident not a year old. I met an old acquaintance who had been abroad for nearly twenty years; he was an enthusiastic cricketer, and was eager to see a first-class match again in the old country. Before going he asked me lots o f ques­ tions about modern crick et; amongst them was one respecting the status and characteristics of the professional of to-day F or answer, I read the description of the latter’s personal appearance on page 104 of the Badm inton Criclcet. His answer was, “ Then they must have deteriorated since I was home la st; they were not all like that in the sixties.” The next day we went to Leeds to see Yorkshire play Surrey. Most of the latter came out to practice, and I told him who they were; “ Dear me,” said he, “ how changed from the fam ous Surrey E leven ; then, there were about eight pro’s to three gentlemen, now I see they are all amateurs. Why aren’t Loh­ mann, Maurice Read, and Abel playing ?" I shall never forget his look o f dazed astonishment when he found out the state oi things, nor am I likely to forget his remarks on the quotation that had been read to h im ; the words “ bru tal” and “ untrue” seemed to relieve his feelings considerably. He told me this story: the cricketer named is dead long since. “ You remember poor------- Well, I was once a parson in the village he was born in, and lived all his life in. He was a 1rum-un ’— wore dirty flannels if you like, and was a queer customer at all times. One day, I was passing the cottage, when a bottle crashed through the window, and fell at m y feet. It was not intended for m e ; it was simply his playfulness in the domestic circle. But men like him were almost un­ known on the cricket field th en ; I should say, judging by what I have seen to-day. they are quite unknown now. In point of get-up, there isn ’t any difference between the two classes of cricketers; and even if there were, I am old-fashioned enough to prefer a man who does not advertise his tailor at the expense of his Maker. Clothes count for n oth ing; ‘ a man’s a man for a ’ that.’ ” I have belonged to two clubs— cricket clubs, of course— which may be worth describing ; one of them still flourishes. No cricket has been played by either, but a lot of cricket has been discussed. The first was started some twelve years since, and numbered three members, the second has now existed for three years, and its membership is four. Lancashire and Yorkshire are the counties o f their birth. The first we called the m .c .c ., not the M.C.C.; the second the s.c.c.c., not the S.C.C.C. The larger capitals stand, of course, for the Marylebone and Surrey County Cricket Clubs respectively, where­ as by the smaller initials we meant simply the “ Middlesex Croakers Club ” and the “ Superior Cricket Critics Club.” Like I Zingari, our entrance fee was nothing, and the subscription must not exceed it. Cigarettes were barred at the meetings of both clubs, “ churchwardens ’ ’ (or else nothing) were di rigueur. In the place of a “ sub ” every member pledged him ­ self to contribute a paper on cricket. (A paper, we found, gave us something to think about and talk about, and prevented desultory conversation). One o f my w in­ ter “ Notches ” was the paper I read to the SuperiorCricketCriticsClub on the evening of the last NewYear’s Day. The meetings are held whenever convenient, and in our houses in rotation. Every member must be a collector of cricket literature, and is bound on oath to report any “ find ” to the club. No topic but cricket is allowed to be introduced or even referred to. Our youngest member did recently drop the words “ Home Buie,” but was instantly expelled, and it is not yet decided whether he will be reinstated. In the m .c.c., we had a rule to the effect that “ no member should discuss either cricket or cricketers posterior to the year 1850.” Unfortunately we have in the s.c.c.c. a member who is Gloucestershire by birth, and for years resided in Somersetshire ; consequently we have had to relax this rule as far as he is concerned. Our meetings begin at 8 p.m., and close only when we have exhausted our subject, or exhausted