Cricket 1893

“ T o g e th e r jo in ed in cr ick e t 's m a n ly to il.”— Byron • B e1!? stered fo r T ransm ission A b roa d . THURSDAY, AUGUST 24. 1893 TH ROU GH C R ICK E TAN A . II.—A COMING BOWLEB. But it was no easy task, I can assure you, and it oost me more anxious thought than enough when my Editor-in-chief (a man not to be trifled with) commanded me to turn interviewer. “ Seek out George Herbert Hirst,” said the man of iron, “ and draw him out on all matters bearing on his career as a cricketer.” But suppose he should refuse to take the bait, or suppose that I had no bait that would be likely to fetch him. Your Yorkshireman is a most modest man, apt to withdraw into his shell when you become ersonal. And then, too, he will ave his little joke even at the most critical moments. There’s Ulyett, for instance, only the other day quietly meditating on a glorious victory just gained over a rival county, when a note-book and pencil rudely disturb his solitary musings, and at the same moment the meekest of voices asks him just to be so kind as to give his opinions on the------“ Very sorry,” was the reply, “ but I have only this moment received a telegram announcing a domestic event of such rare im ­ portance that I can think of nothing else at present, so you must excuse me this time.” And then I am new to the business, and, like a child, did not know what to say to my man. I should be certain to forget what I intended to ask, or perhaps should be the spoit of some cruel imp, such as possessed the Doctor when he nearly drove to desperation the poor, unfortunate guide, named Ferguson, who was playing the part of showman in the Catacombs to Mark Twain and his friends, as recorded in the “ Inno­ cents Abroad.” A desultory talk with a cricketer is pleasant enough, one has often enjoyed the diver­ sion ; but a judicial cross-examina- tion is quite another matter, especially if one did not catch your man in the right humor. Seeing Hirst at Huddersfield last week.however,dispelled all nervous misgivings. He and I are not strangers. There’s a some­ thing in his honest, genial, frank face one likes; you feel instinctively he will put on no “ side,” and that he will tell yoa all you have any business to know, though his looks indicate that he would be thankful when the opera­ tion was over. He was near home, and very naturally had friends with him, whose pre- oise relationship one could ^only surmise. Telling him that suoh admirers (perhaps something more, as far as one of them was concerned) would like to see him in all the glory of print, I opened fire. The answers came back straight, and in that delightful Yorkshire acoent I have got so used to that, Londoner though I am, I love to affect it in the home cirole, though it might not prove so melodious to my early friends whose model lingo and accent is that of a London omnibus conductor. So, by your leave, we will drop the “ Yorkshire ” out a talk as Cockneys ought to. “ Tell me all about yourself, Hirst, where you were born and when, how and where you learned cricket, when the county first heard of you, and what you have done since you have donned the Yorsk iiecap.” “ It isn’t a very long tale, for I am only a youngster; was born on September 7, 1871, just about three miles from where we are now sitting, at a village called Kirkheaton. So you see I am only 21 years old. I joined the village olub when I was 14, and soon became a regular playing member, batting and bowl­ ing with fair results. But it was not while (the common Yorkshire word for “ until ” ) 1889 that I got to be known outside my club. In that year Kirkheaton won the Huddersfield Cricket Cup, and as I had done my share in the matches, I was asked to play for somebody who couldn’t turn up in the match, York­ shire against Cheshire, on this very ground in thatyear.” “ Well, how did you come off ? ” “ None too w ell; I scored an inn­ ings of six runs, and I didn’t bowl a ball. I suppose I was, as you say, a bit nervous, not funky exactly, but I was so well known on this ground, and a few friends turned up specially to see how I should shape, that it was not to be won­ dered at if I did next to nothing. Next year I got another chance, against Essex this time, but with no better results ; I had two inn­ ings, one not out, but made no runs, whilst in bowling I took no wicket for the L7 runs they scored off me. The year after I was not tried at all for the County, and I didn’t know if they would, want me again.” ‘ ‘ But you kept up your oricket, of course, and perhaps got engage­ ments outside Kirkheaton ? ” “ Just what I did. I went to Elland first, then to Mirfield, and lastly to Huddersfield, where last year and this I have been engaged. Besides cricket, I am very fond of football, and played as centre three- quarter for Mirfield. But I like cricket best. And by joining other clubs I learned something. You know what a lot of good cricket there is in these local clubs of ours; why, nearly all our county players belong to one or more of them and help them in the Satur­ day matches whenever they can get off, so from time to time I met our best batsmen and bowlers. And I found out that you must suit your bowling to the batsman and to the state of the wicket as well, and in that way my bowling improved. That’s the reason, I suppose, why at last I got into the county eleven, for which I played most of last season and all of this.” “ But now tell me something about your best work as a county player, and also if you tire soon, if you can vary your break and pace, and if you have taken any bowler as your model ? Tnat’ s all I shall ask you.” G . H . H IR S T (Y o r k s h ir e ). From a Photograph by Haivkivs & Co., Brighton