Cricket 1895

“ Together joined in C ricke t’ s m an ly to il.” — Byron. N o. 4 0 6 . VOL. X IV . Registered for TransmissionAbroad. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1895. P R IC E 2d. A R T H U R WOODCOCK. W e have pleasure in publishing to-day a portrait of Arthur Woodcock, the Leicester­ shire “ lightning” bowler, and those of our leaders whose fate it has been to find them­ selves facing Woodcock on a hard bumping wicket will know that the epithet “ light­ ning ” is by’ no means an inapt figure of speech. The field of cricket has its heroes as well as the field of war, and wre take it as one of the signs that England has not become entirely effeminate when men who have not had a cncus training of catching cannon balls, can be found anxious and eager to oppose themselves to the fury of our fast bowler’s thunder­ bolts. Ajax defying the lightning very naturally, and at the same time quite fairly, suggests itself as the classical parallel, and we see very little deterioration in the matter of pluck in these latter days. W e suspect, however, that more than one batsman has sighed for the perfection of Herr Dowe’ s bullet-proof cloth. Of the fast bowlers playing to­ day there is none who can exceed Woodcock in pace, and when he ' is sending down his fastest the cricket is not lacking in incident, for runs or wickets is the order of the day. Woodcock, now in the full flush of manhood, is a very fine specimen of a healthy athlete, possessing exceptional strength and endu­ rance, he stands 5ft. lOin. high, has a fine pair of shoulders, and turns the scale at 13 stone. One of our representatives was at Leicester while the match against Lancashire was in progress, and in the course of an interesting con­ versation he was able to gather a few facts and ideas from Woodcock which will doubtless be of interest to our readers. ‘ ‘ I think you were bom at Northampton F” “ Yes, on September 23rd, 1865, but when I was only a few months old my family removed to Leicestershire, in which county as a lad I learnt all my cricket.” “ Where was your home ? ” “ In the village of Billesdon, so well-known to the huntsmen of the shires; it has for many years had a capital cricket club and an exceptionally good wicket, and it was with this club that I first handled the bat and the ball and played all my early cricket. ” “ But you came to London as a young man ? ” “ Yes, in 18S7 I had an engagement at Mitcham, and was fairly successful with the ball.” During the season he captured 75 ARTHUR WOODCOCK. From a Photo by J. Wilson and Son , Leicester. wickets at a cost of slightly over 5 runs per wicket. “ And you then found another sphere of action in America ? ” “ Yes, my performances at Mitcham attracted the attention of a well - known county club secretary, who secured for me an engagement at Ilaverford College, Phila­ delphia.” “ How long did you retain that engage­ ment ? ** “ From 1888 to 1894. Owing to the summer vacation I was enabled to visit England from July to September in every year.” “ It was then during these vacations that you were able to appear for Leicestershire ? ” “ Yes, I first played for that county against Lancashire at Old Trafford in the season of 1890, but I did not meet with much success.” “ Was this your only trial for the county that year ? ” “ It was, but in the following season I appeared with considerable success against Essex, and from that time I have been a regular member of the Leicestershire team whenever my American engage­ ment permitted.” “ But the present season is the first in which Leicestershire ha 9 commanded your entire services ? ” “ That is so, and I may say that an engagement at Lord’s has prob­ ably been the means of once more making me wholly an English cricketer.” “ And what is Haverford Col­ lege ?” “ It is a Quaker institution, and was one of the earliest homes of cricket on the other side of tho Atlantic.” “ Baseball being the national game, how did it happen that Haverford wanted a cricket pro­ fessional when you first went out i" “ Cricket was first taught at H>iverford,and perhaps in America, by an English gardener, who used to make the necessary bats and balls himself, and from that time, in spite of the fact that baseball is the national game of America, it finds no home at Haverford, where cricket brooks no rival.” “ And has the College turned out some good men ?” “ Yes, indeed, Messrs. G. Ash- bridge, G. Patterson, H. P. Bailey, J. W . Muir, C. H. Burr, and a host of others, quite equal to firtt-class English players, are Haverfordians, and Haverford had their representatives in the team which beat Lord Hawke’s combination in the Autumn of 1893.” “ Do you think there is a future for our game in America ? ” “ There is no doubt that cricket is going to live and prosper in the States, for during