Cricket 1896

--------J § © j)(----------> — » g © $ — f . )$ © $ (______ ........................................... I ft. '!i P"' lit M v\v_ r« a"34’ i M O f iiU i j L fm ■ /WI M r Me )fr “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.” — B y ro n . wo. 427 . v o l . x v . THUESDAY, JULY 16, 1896. f b i c e ad. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. R by . VERNON ROYLE. Until he went to Elstree, Mr. Royle played regularly for Lancashire, and for along time afterwards he played during the holidays, but as his duties increased,- he was obliged to give up first-class cricket altogether. His extra­ ordinary skill as a cover-point has, perhaps, a little overshadowed his batting, although he was a batsman who could nearly always be relied on to make runs. There have been very many famous cover-points, but without doubt the most famous of them all was Mr. Royle. When he began to play in first-class cricket he used to run out a great number of men, but as time went on, batsmen became more and more chary of running when the ball went in his direction, and over and over again he saved runs when there was heaps of time to make them. In fact, he often used to go back farther and farther, in order to be able to cover more ground, until at last somebody ventured on a run, when he would creep in a little nearer, and as likely as not run the man out soon afterwards. It was of him that Tom Emmett made his famous remark to a youngYorkshireman, who, seeing what he thought was an easy run, called to Tom to come. “ won’t,” said Tom, “ there’s the policeman there. ’’ It has always been a debated point among fieldsmen as to whether cover- point shouldwatch the bowler or only the batsman. With regard to this, Mr. Royle said “ We were once talking about a certain bowler’s action, and somebody asked me my opinion about it. It occurred to me then for the first time that I had never seen him bowl a single ball, though I had fielded for him frequently.’’ “ No doubt you made a study of the duties of a cov3r-point ? ” “ I always tried to mark the peculiarities of a batsman. I noticed, for instance, that one man would play a long hop in one way, and another would play it in another way. Gene­ rally, I think, if you see a man put out his right leg, you can be pretty sure that he will cut the ball square or behind point, and you may safely venture to start before the ball is hit. On the other hand, if he puts out his left leg, he will probably make a drive some­ where between mid-off and cover.” “ What advice could you give to a young cover-point ? ” “ I think that the young fellows of the present day make a mistake in not backing each other up enough—especially mid-oft' and cover. If cover would invariably back up mid-off, and vice versa , a very great many runs could be saved which are lost. It requires a g;reat deal of effort to do so, but a young fellow, in the pride of his strength, should not mind this. There should be no jealousy ; each should do his best for the other. I would advise a young player to watch Briggs or Walter Sugg at cover; he would learn a great deal.” “ Were you in the Oxford Eleven in your first year ? ” “ No. I was at Brasenose and I thought that I should not get any cricket at all, for we had eight men in the ’Varsity Eleven. But happily for me, Willie Law—the Rev. W. Law, who died last year—and C. J. Ottaway were both very kind to me, and it was through Law that I was able to play in a lot of good cricket. But I was put into the Eleven by A. W. Ridley, in 1876, the year in which he went on to bowl in the ’ Varsity match, at a time when we seemed certain to be defeated, and got rid of the last three Cambridge wickets at once. We won by six runs. I also played in the follow­ ing year, when, after making 612 against Middlesex, we were soundly beaten by Cambridge. I considered myself very fortunate in getting into the Eleven, for Rossall was an almost unknown school, and, of course, unknown men are often unavoidably ovei - looked.” “ But surely Rossall has pro­ duced plenty of well-known cricketers? ” “ I am very glad to say it has, but in my time things were different. W . Townsend and Frank W . Wright had certainly been in the Oxford Eleven from Rossall, but the masters were only beginning, at about the time that I went to Rossall, to take any interest in school cricket. When I went there I had not been coached at all, which was a very great drawback, but, for­ tunately for me, S. C. Voules, who had been in the Oxford Eleven, A. A. Bourne, who had been in the Cambridge Eleven, and W . Almack, all took an interest in me and coached me. I was in the Eleven when I was sixteen years old in 1870, and in 1872 I was captain.” ‘ ‘ Did you play for Lancashire before or after you went to Ox­ ford ? ’ ’ “ Before. I played my first match in 1873, at Bramall Lane, and I am not likely to forget it, for Allan Hill bowled me first ball iii each innings, and I missed two catches. I had forgotten to put my shirt in my bag, and had to play in a Harlequin shirt, which is of many colours. The crowd at Bramall Lane remembered this shirt in the next match, and after I had run two or three men out, they called out, when a short run seemed likely to be attempted, ‘ Look out No, I REV. VERNON ROYLE. From a Photograph by Dickinson, New Bond Street , London.