Cricket 1897

98 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A pr il 29, 1897. who is one of the finest sportsmen one could wish to meet. Ha gives the game a great fillip at Pretoria by his assistance. Although he does not play himself, his two brothers set a good example in the cricket field, and if only for their sakes, I am very pleased with 1he success of 1he Pretoiia team in the past season. For several years Johannesburg has found 1he task of beating the Transvaal capital team rather easy, but \ ith scarcely any an is'ance on my part, Pretoria has turned tie tables ; several fine teams from the Kandt in turn were beaten. The Johi mesburg players and cricket supporters are equally delighted with the success of the Pretorians.” “ Who are the best cricketers in Johannesburg ? ” “ Sinclair, who, in addition to many other fine performances, recently made 301 in three hours and a half. This is the South African record, just cutting Charlie Mills’ score of 297, made against the Arabs for the Kimberley Club, at Kimberley, in November, 1889. But Mills was three Saturday afternoons compiling his runs, whilst Sinclair hit his 301 not out in three hours and a half. I have heard that Sinclair’s innings was quite a feat in the way of hitting. I have seen him hit as hard as any player I know, and can under­ stand the tremendous rate of scoring, especially if the ground was on the small side. Halliwell, who, unless I am mis­ taken, has played a little in England, is quite first class, and, as a wicket keeper, stands alone at the Cape. He came home with the African team in 1894, and was a qualified success as a keeper and batsman. There are so many players to individualize, but I may tell you that Sinclair, Hal.iwell, C. Smith ana Dicken­ son are men of double century fame, while others in the first flight are Louis Tancred, Solomon, Slatem, Allsop and Hings. Bowling is somewhat below par in the Transvaal, in fact, as far as I can judge, this is their weakest department in the game. Cooper is the fastest bowler in the state. Mr. Abe Bailey associates himself very closely with the game, and is, perhaps, its greatest supporter in the Eandt. He is one of thi-ir finest fields, but during this past season he was unlucky with the bat. Traj svaal ciicketers play the game in the most trus and sportsmanlike spirit; they are fine judges, and form an excellent combination, which is, as a rule, skilfully handled. Gordon Beves, who a few seasons back played occasionally with Notts., has taken up his abode in the Transvaal; he is as tine a captain and judge of a youngster as could be desired, so that you can understand that there is little fear for the future of Transvaal cricket.” “ Do you ever play matches at any great distance from Pretoiia ? ” “ Oh yes ! One of the most interesting of the long j urnoys is the annual outing to either Barberton, Bloemfontein (in the Orange Free State), or Potchefstroom. This year we went to Potchefstroom, a distance of between 90 and 100 miles, to play two matches. We were the first party to go over the new stretch of railway from Johannesburg to Potchefstroom; we had to travel on a Sunday, and rode for the last 15 miles iu ballast trucks, with the thermometer at 150 degrees. The hot winds, together with the accompanying sand, had uncomfort­ able effects, and the party hailed with delight the prospect of a swim. My experience of that 6wim has decided me that it is a safer process to remove African dust by means of a shower bath, rather than trusting to an African river. The Mooie (pretty) Elver, although not very wide, is very deep, and full of reeds, with a stream running at about six or seven miles an hour. I fried to swim a pool at one of its curves, and enjoytd one of the most exciting periods i have yet met with. The cjntretemps was sufficient, and, for the future, I shall give African rivers or spruits a very wide berth. Pretoria and Potchefstroom are perhaps better off for water than any other place in South Africa, and we certainly saw no reason to doubt this. It rained heavily while we were there, but between times we managed to finish the matches. During the period of heavy showers a very interesting phenomenon was pointed out to us. The cricket ground is situated on the spot where the tents of the English soldiers were placed during the siege of Potchefstroom, in 1881, and as the rain gathered in volume the rings made by the tents stood out in bold relief, a living memento of those very severe times. Until the rain came there was not the slightest sign of them. We saw the site of the old fort and the magazine and other interesting relics of the war. The journey back again was very trying.” “ Rain ores more ? ” “ The rains had simply saturated the surrounding country, and unfortunately for the general comfort, it had been arranged for our party to coach from Potchefstroom to Friedrickstad, a distance of 16 miles. The usual coach, with its span of 14 mules, could not take the team owing to previous early booking of seats. Carriages with four horses were eventually inspanned, and we droVe off with the black boy manipulating the ribbons, a tremendously long whip in his hand, and a cigar of corresponding length in his mouth. The rain poured in torrents only as it can in Africa. The horses had great difficulty in getting four wheels through the quagmire of soft clay, which allowed the wheels in many cases to cut in up to the stocks. An up-country road or track is anything but wood pavement when hard and dry, so one can imagine what it is like after being subjected to two days’ rain. The luxury of a cigar eventually had its influences upon the driver, for only four or five miles had been run off, when the horses swerved and got the upper hand, and in less time than it takes to tell, the whole bag of us, trap and all (with the exception of Seccull and Wallach, who disappeared through the side doors like clowns in a pantomime), were floundering in the mud. The driver ran off, and may be running now for all we saw of him again. The next unlucky cart that came along found us all together with our baggage piled on the top of us. Thoroughly soaked through, and with the prospects of a train ride with frequent stoppages, etc., amounting to eight and half hours, did not make matters more pleasant. Despite all these drawbacks the team seemed to thoroughly enjoy the trip. Nothing could damp their spirits; in fact one could not meet with more good humoured companions than South Africans, especially when things are not turning out as well as had been hoped for.” “ Did you see any of the Boer celebrations p” “ Yes. There are two days which they celebrate with much devotion. Dingaan’s day, the 16th of December, is quite a day of prayer, and all the loyal burghers and Boers gather from the most remote corners of the Transvaal at Krugersdorp, there to celebrate the downfall of their most dreaded foe, the Zulu king, Dingaan. February 27th is another public holiday, and is known as Amajuba day.” “ Have you been to Krugersdorp ? ” “ Yes, and I have some souvenirs of the recent raid—cartridges, bullets, and so forth.” “ Di 1you see any traces of the ravages of the rinderpest ? ” “ The rinderpest regulations in Pretoria were and are now very strictly enforced. All cattle coming i>ito town from outside farms have to be di infected. The plague rages around the c untry, and thousands of bullocks have been slaughtered or died from its effects. Considering that the transport of the Transvaal is chiefiy carried on by means of those beasts, that particular branch of trading looked con­ siderably black on account of the heavy losses. Mules are now extensively used, but they are by no means as tractable as the bullock, and what is more are far more expensive and greatly subject to horse sickness. The ordinary English donkey is the safest animal in the country, nothing seems to affect him in any way ; he is neither troubled with rinderpest nor horse sickness, and his value there is on an average from £16 to £17. He, like his unfortunate brother in Europe, gets a lot of paying for what he does, as the transport rider, as a rule, is not slow to lay on the leather. One of the effects of the rinderpest is that every person coming into the city has to have his feet dis­ infected. I used to ride my bicycle considerably over the tracks of road on the veldt, and in many cases never saw a beast nor alighted from my machine, merely turning round and riding back; nevertheless, upon returning to Daas Poort I had to undergo the process of disinfection; that is to say, I had to get off the bike and have the soles of my boots syringed with sheep wash, contain­ ing, of course, carbolic acid. My feet had never touched the ground, but the tyres of the bicycle, which had been ploughing through the veldt for miles, were ignored.” It is well known that Brockwell was fortunate enough to enjoy an interview with President Kruger while he was in the Transvaal. He was introduced to him by the President’s son, Cjhart, and was