Cricket 1893

“ Together joined in cricket’s manly toil.5’— Byron . No. 3 2 4 v o l . X II. T T T T T R S D A Y A P R T T , 9 0 I fttQ Registered for Transmission Abroad. I l l U l v O U i l l , 1j CU , iO « O PR ICE 2d. A CH A T W IT H M AU R IC E READ . M a u r i c e R e a d , the trusty friend who left England on Christmas Eve to act as companion to George Lohmann on his trip to South Africa in search of health, has just returned home. Southampton, which had seen the departure of the two travellers four months ago, was also the scene of Read’s disembarkation. True to time, too, the “ Spartan ” landed its passengers on En g­ lish soil on Monday. It was in the wee hours that the “ Spartan ” made its entry into Southampton waters. Still, the returning cricketer was not allowed to set foot again on English shores unfriended or without a hearty welcome. His brother, Fred Eead, to whose watchful care Lohmann owed so much during his stay at Torquay in the early days of the illness, had made up his mind to greet him on his re­ turn as he had sped him on his journey. G. W . Ayres, the young Surrey player, and J. W. Sharpe, who has settled down at Thames Ditton, also went to Southampton with the same object. Monday afternoon saw Eead safely housed again at Thames Ditton. Just at the present time he is of more than even his usual importance in the cricket world. H e is the only person able to give anything like an authoritative opinion on a sub­ ject which has troubled the minds of cricketers during the last few months. No topic during the long winter has caused more concern to real well-wishers of the game than the uncertainty as to Loh- mann’s health. Sportsmen of every class heard with unfeigned regret the news at the end of the year, that the great Surrey bowler had developed symptoms of i chest complaint which might considerably affect, even if it did not terminate, a brilliant career as a cricketer. After he had left for South Africa, the smallest item of intelligence respecting his progress was eagerly awaited. During his absence infor­ mation has been given at different times of a more or less reliable character according to its source. Maurice Read’s arrival in England fortunately furnishes the particul irs which C r i c k e t readers are anxious to procure, and from the only really responsible quarter. He was with Lohmann from the day they left Southampton (Decem­ ber 21th) until he left him at Matjes- fontein in the middle of last month. By the advice o f a medical expert, who was consulted immediately on their arrival at Cape Town, a move was immediately made for Ceres, a sanatorium some eighty or ninety miles distant. The old Kent cricketer, Mr. J. A. Mackinnon, was staying for a time with the same object as Lohmann, and there Maurice Read and his partner rested for a few weeks. It was a part of the advice of the doctor they had seen a1; Cape Town that they should only make a temporary halt at Ceres on their way to a higher ground. Matjesfontein, in the Orange Free State, was their ultimate destination. Right up in the mountains the air there is very dry. It never rains, so it is said, and Maurice Read’s ex­ perience justifies him in believ­ ing the statement. There was no sign o f it, at least, during his stay. The moving spirit at Matjesfontein is Mr. John Logan, and from him the two Surrey men received a hearty welcome. Horses, carriager, guns, and even a billiard table were placed unreservedly at their dipposal. Everything in fact that could possibly be done was done to promote their en­ joyment. Though the soil is not in any case suitable for cricket, Mr. Logan and Read had a practice at odd times, and the latter, who is some­ thing of a variety artist in sport, lost no possible chance in the sporting way. While he found the air very relaxing, it was exactly the thing for L o h ­ mann, and the improvement in his health was steady and sure. His progrefs there in fact was so satisfactory that Maurice Read had no hesitation in making arrangements for his return to England. The presence at Matjesfontein o f an Englishman, Mr. Browne Cave Browne, an old Oxonian, as well as Mr. Logan, provided the security of congenial society, and the only possible objection to the separation of the two MAURICE READ.