Cricket 1896

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. wo. 431 . v o l. xv, THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 1896. p r ic e 2 d. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. ME. C. ROBSON. Since 1891 Mr. Robson has been the regular wicket-keeper of the Hampshire team, and as such he has proved of the greatest service to the county. Just lately he has not been at his best form with the bat, for he has been a good deal knocked about when wicket, bat when he is in form it is as well for the opposite side not to let him become set. He is a hard hitter, and does not know what it is to be nervous eitherbefore or behind thewicket. Some years before he went to Hampshire he played for Middle­ sex, but not as a wicket-keeper. “ I was tried for the colts in 1881, on the recommendation of Bob Thoms, who is one of the best old sportsmen I know,” he said,—“ I think it was in 1881, but I am porry to say that I have lost all record of the match—I believe, however, that I made the top score for my side, and I re­ member that O’Brien was play­ ing. After the match Percy Thornton asked me to play in all the home matches that season for Middlesex, and I was fortu­ nate enough to meet with success, having an average of about 22. In the following two years I also played for Middlesex, but partly owing to illness and partly to injuiies I was com­ pletely out of form, and after that I would not play again, although I was asked to do so. For the next three or four years I hardly played any cricket, but I went down to Hampshire in 1889, and becoming qualified for the county in 1891 I have practi­ cally played for it ever since. My very fiist match for Hamp­ shire was against the Philadel­ phians.’ ’ “ Do you prefer to go in first?” “ 1much prefer it, although n.ost people say that it is my wrong place. When I was in good form I was a hitter, but lately I have been so knocked up in keeping wicket that I can’t get any runs.” “ Did you always keep wicket?” “ Until I was 30 years old I don’t suppose that I put on the gloves more than a dozen times, and even then only in the way that every cricketer has done at some time or other during his career. But when I went down to Hampshire I was persuaded, in a weak moment, to try to keep wdcket, and somehow or other I have been keeping ever since. It was one of the most silly things I ever did— it knocks one’s hands up so much. I get a good deal punished at times, and I’m sure wicket-keeping interferes with my batting.” “ What sort of bowling do you prefer to take?” UK. C. ROBSON. From a Photograph by Haw’cins & Co ., Brighton. “ I really don’t much mind as long as the wicket isn’t fiery—it’s all right if it is merely fast. But on some wickets in a dry season like this the ball will keep perfectly true for a time, and then suddenly even a fast bowler will come back six or seven inches or get up perfectly straight. It is very trying for a wicket-keeper under these circumstances. To fast bowling I always stand back, for I can then make the catches and keep byes down. I remember catching Billy Wilson out at Brighton, when I was standing rather a long way behind. Afterwards in the dressing room somebody said: ‘ Well, Billy, how did you get out ? ’ He looked at me for a moment, with a twinkle in his eye, and then slowly replied—you know his dry way—‘ Oh, I was caught on the boundary.’ I think that lobs are much more difficult to keepwicketto than is generally thought by those who have never tried.” ‘ ‘ In what does the difficulty consist? ” “ Nearly all lob bowlers de­ pend on their break from tho leg, and the ball which generally tempts men to go out is well pitched up, so that what with the rush made by the batsman, and the fact that he gets right between you and the ball, it is very easy to lose sight of the ball altogether, and to miss it when it comes to you. Major Bethune is one of the most diffi­ cult lob bowlers to take that I have ever met. I’m a bit of a lob bowler myself—a good deal better than most people give me credit for—but I get a good deal chaffed about it. Still I manage to take a lot of wickets in club cricket, though I have never bowled in a county match in my life. Walter Humphreys used to break from the off as well as the leg, but I never kept wicket to him. Once when we were playing Sussex at South­ ampton I went in first, and they put on Humphreys, for I was always a bit of a sitter to him— wanted to have a hit. After I had made about fifteen or sixteen he got me caught. Now it hap­ pened that he had made me a pair of cricketing boots, and when I passed near him on my wayback to the paviHonhe looked at me in an innocent sort of way and said: ‘ I suppose, sir, you’ll want a pair of walking boots now.’ ” “ Most wicket-keepers seem to be more fortunate at one particular ground than otherp. Is this the case with you ? ’ ’ “ Yes. I have nearly always been lucky on tho Brighton ground. Once I stumped three men andcaught two in the same innings, and this year I caught four. It is a curious thing that although I have only played against Rarjitfinhji about half a dozrn times —certainly not ni« re—I have stumped him