Cricket 1896

314 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J uly 30, 1896. something in batting—it will never do to only make a few.’ Unfortunately, I was promptly bowled first or second ball, and our side only made about 42. There must have been a crowd of three or four thousand on the ground, chiefly miners, and the sort of remark that I heard as I passed through them on my way to the station was, ‘ That’s ’im— ’E ’sno bloomin’ Lohmann. ’E ’s a bloomin’ fraud.’ There was a four-wheeled cab at the entrance to the ground, and I jumped in as quickly as I could. At the station I went into the waiting room— the ladies’ waiting room, if you please, because I felt that I should escape the crowd there—jumped into a first class carriage, pulled the blinds down, and did not feel happy till I got back to my hotel. I shall never forget the sad and reproachful looks of that crowd, and I have never played in a match of that kind since then.” “ You have played a good deal of local cricket in Hampshire ? ” “ Yes. I have been living there for some years; in fact, I am qualified for Hampshire. I find that it is possible to be qualified for three counties at the same time, for I have a birth qualification for Middlesex, my father lives in Surrey and has done so nearly all his life, while by residence I am qualified for Hamp­ shire. I heard a funny remark made by an umpire when I was playing in Hampshire for Under Wallop against Upper Wallop. An old fellow who came in to bat took his guard and said to the umpire, ‘ Be my toes in front of wicket p’ The umpire replied, *Thee keep ’em out. I shan’t tell ’ee, whether they be or not? ’ ” “ Did you take anyone as a model in bowling ? ” “ Not that I am aware of. As a small boy at school I used to take a lot of wickets, and I always had a slight idea of varying my pace. Of course, when I began to play in better cricket, I saw that other bowlers did certain things which were effective, and I learned to do as they did. But I always bowled in about the same style as I do now. During my holidays I used to come to the Oval as often as my pocket money allowed, and, taking a few sandwiches with me, I sat down to enjoy the cricket; I doubt whether I have ever enjoyed anything so much in my life as I did in watching those matches—except in actually playing. The first time I came to the Oval was in 1876 or 1877, when I was about 11 or 32 years of age, and I remember seeing W. W. Bead and A. P. Lucas batting.” “ How were you introduced to good cricket ? ” “ A friend of mine went to play in a Colts’ match at the Oval, and as I was interested in him, I went to see him play. When he was batting at the nets I bowled to him, and afterwards he asked me to bat. I had only been batting a few minutes when the then head groundman at the Oval came up to me and said ‘ You are not playing in this match (I may say that I was not in flannels) and so you have no business to be batting.’ He was only doing his duty, but I was dread­ fully disappointed; so I walked disconso­ lately away. In a few minutes Dick Humphrey came up to me and asked, ‘ Was that you batting at the nets just now ? ’ I began to wonder what new crime I had committed, but when I had pleaded guilty, he said ‘ Will you kindly go to the nets again—the Hon. Robert Grimston wants to see you bat ? ’ I did as I was asked, and went through a sort of test performance. It seems that Mr. Grimston had been watching the practis­ ing and had noticed me, and it was through this that I afterwards played for Surrey, for I was asked to play in the Colts’ match in 1884 (what I have been telling you about occurred late in Sep­ tember, 1883).” “ How did you get on in the Colts’ match ? ” ‘ 11 played in one or two colts’ matches and did pretty well, and in a match at Mitcham I made a few runs and took a few wickets. On the first morning of the Leicestershire match that year Mr. Burbidge came to me, and to my intense astonishment said, ‘ Will you go and have some practice; we want you to play to-day.’ As it was my first match I remember exactly what I did. I made 12 and 0, took two wickets, and made two catches in the long field. It has always seemed to me to be a curious thing that most young players when they make their first appearance in a big match are put in the long field, where they feel all alone, and are, foolishly enough, no doubt, under the impression that every­ body is watching them carefully. I think that they would gain much more confidence if they were placed close to the wicket at first, where they would be far less shy. I know that in my first two or three matches I used to walk backwards for twenty or thirty yards when I had to go to my place in the long field, for I could not muster up enough courage to face the crowd. But I was only about eighteen years old.” “ After that match did you play regularly p” “ I played in most of the matches that year, and after that I was never left out until my illness in 1893, which I think was brought on by overtraining and too much cricket. Then I went to South Africa, by the kindness of the Surrey Committee, and Maurice Read, one of my very best friends, went with me, as you will remember. I met with the greatest kindness in South Africa from everybody with whom I came in contact. They are very fond of cricket out there, and I may say that they are good sportsmen. I remember once bowling to Logan at practice, and Colonel Schermbrucker, who had been in three Ministries, was looking on. He was a great friend of Logan’s, but knew nothing, at that time, about cricket. So when I happened to bowl Logan out, he thought that the batsman had done something clever, and shouted out in great glee, ‘ Bravo! Logan, that was good. ’ Logan, who is a very keen cricketer, was of a different opinion.” While he was in Australia, Lohmann had an amusing experience in an up country match against a twenty-two. “ A man came in,” he said, “ about the 15th or 16th wicket. I was bowling at the time ; he walked straight up to me and remarked ‘ Look here, I ’ve got a bet on of a fiver that I make a boundary.’ I said ‘ All right, I ’ll give you one on the leg side.’ ‘ Which side is that ? ’ he asked. I explained, and gave him one outside the leg, but he missed it. I gave him another which he managed by chance to snick for four. He then walked off towards the pavilion. I walked after him and told him that he was not out, to which he replied, ‘ I know that, but I ’m going to look after the fellow that I made the bet with.’ He did not comeback again, but I saw him after­ wards placidly smoking his pipe and looking quite happy, for he had found his man. But he was not what I should call a keen cricketer.” How did you like bowling on Austra­ lian wickets ? “ When there was no rain they were so perfect that it was impossible to get any spin on the ball, and so all one could do was to vary the pace and the positions of the field. Of course, there is a lot in knowing a batsman’s strokes. It is a curious thing that on a perfect wicket a leg break bowler can get a spin, but I have never seen an off break bowler who could do it except Richardson, and yet, fast as he is, they say he could get a spin even on Australian wickets. In my opinion he is the best bowler in the world on a good wicket, and has been so for the last six years. If he could only get a footing on sticky wickets his average would be about half what it is now ; as it is, about a third of the runs that are made off him are due more to accident than to intention. He is one of the best triers I have ever seen, and one of the best tempered.” What are the chief changes that have taken place in the game since you began to play p “ The wickets are, as a rule, much better. They last longer, which is the reason why a side can go in for the fourth innings in a match and knock off 300. Such a thing would have been practically impassible ten years ago. Nowadays, the best wickets are prepared so well, that they are j ust as good at the end as at the beginning of a match. Then there are bigger crowds. I think that Maurice Read had a great influence on cricket— much greater than can ever be known. He has brought on quite another school of young cricketers, who took him as a model. In fact, cricket has improved all round, except in the matter of the Players’ dressing rooms. In many places they are so arranged that if a Player wants to watch a match he has to go out among the crowd, which is not a good thing, as all cricketers know. There can be no doubt that the grounds in Australia, at Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide are better arranged for spectators and players than those in England, and that we shall have in the end to follow their example. Even in the matter of luncheon arrange­ ments, they are better, which is a very important item to cricketers. At the Oval, however, we are well looked after. W. A. B etieswobth .