Cricket 1897

M ay 6, 1897. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 115 ©omsspontrence, PRESENT-DAY CRICKET. To the Editor of C ric k e t . S ir ,— I have read with much interest the papers of Mr. G. Lacy under the above title, and agree with him in the majority of his remarks. “ Come next August,” as the old women say, sixty years will have passed since I saw the first grand match I ever witnessed at Town Mailing, “ Kent v. Notts,” when I was fourteen years old. I have mentioned this before, so will not repeat what I have often written. I may mention an incidental circumstance in connection with that match which is ever in my mind. Pending the dinner hour, stick throwing at snuff boxes was carried on behind the booths, and a dispute arose between a fly-man of the past (now an animal as much extinct as the Dodo), a beery, slovenly man, attired in a frock coat which once had been black, and which, from long usage and the effect of sun, rain and grease, was of no colour at all, and napless. On his head he wore a shocking bad hat with a broken brim, and as regarded his nether garments, his legs were attired in corduroy breeches, with an interregnum of two inches of dirty stocking between the knee of the breeches and a villainous pair of butcher- boots, trod down at heel. “ What,” exclaimed “ the working diagram,” whom I have described, “ that not a fair throw ? You may as well tell me ’ell’s a mouse trap.” May we not now exclaim “ What, call that overhead double-break- elbow and hand style bowling ? You may as well tell me, &c., &c., &c.” So much for some of the modern so- called bowling. Now as to its effect. On a “ plate-glass ” wicket in fine weather, it is to a man who stands up to the scratch and does not funk, twenty times easier to play than the deadly siege of the wicket by Alfred Shaw and Buchanan— “ the bold Buckaneer” — Y. E. Walker, Caffyn, Tarrant, Jackson (Notts), and before them of William Lillywhite, Cobbett, Hillyer, and other masters of the art whose aim was to weary out the batsman’s patience by constant change of pitch and pace dead on the wicket. Down comes the modern thrower’ s “ pound on the wicket.” The batsman has no fear of a shooter, and the chances are that a majority of balls will go over the wicket, and has only to reach forward and smother it, as Fuller Pilch used to do. The only time when it is very deadly, to the best of batsmen, is when the pitch is much worn in the middle of the ground, and an uncon- scientious “ thrower” pitches the ball short, and with a fair chance of cutting the batsman over on the head or body, crippling him ; or again, when the ground is like putty, and the balls kick a couple of feet either way, and the bats­ man is powerless. I thoroughly agree with Mr. Lacy, that all modern “ fads ” about average, championship, records and hero worship —to which I would add, no shabby prac­ tice of using the pads by wicket-keeper to stump a batsmen, or save byes, or prevent overthrows; and above all, as a “ second b a t” by batsmen, to save the wicket, have divested cricket of its fine chivalrous spirit of fair play which marked county contests and great matches in my early days. The greed for average has taken the place of zeal for honest victory which existed in the past. The waste of time by trial balls, and letting off-ball after off-ball pass unchallenged for fear of giving a catch, are clear evidences that ‘ self ’ and newspaper glory are far above the honours of victory. When cricket was played on open downs and places such as Woolwich Common, Chatham Lines, Blackheath and Chiselhurst Commons and the like no boundary except the tent was known, and eleven men kept the ball within play, and good condition was a sine qud non amongst aspirants to fame. Boundary hits of to-day have, as regards batsmen and the field, almost abolished hard run­ ning. When the law of l.b.w. was given from bowler’s hand to wicket, a batsman had to take guard from the spot as near as might be where the bowler’s hand was, and to draw an imaginary line from bowler’s hand to the wicket, and more­ over to ascertain that his own leg was outside that imaginary line from bowler’s hand to leg stump ; so that bowlers had a fair attack on all three stumps ; and a batsman knew that any ball which passed his legs was straight. In conclusion my creed is that when men learnt to bat and with a fair bat (gauged at four-and-a-quarter inches) to meet every break and twist of the ball with the face of it—just as they learnt to ward off every attack in boxing, and to guard every blow and deliver a hit in return; when a pad was only used to escape a serious broken shin or smashed knee-cap, and the unfair use of it invited loss of an innings; and when cricketers met in practice at least once and often twice a week, and practised hard at batting, bowling, fielding and throwing and catching, I think most prominent cricketers were fairly good all-round men who knew every point in the game. I do not ever remember seeing in the old days in grand matches, men who— though good run-getters—would drop three catches out of five. I fancy the butter-fingered gentry were barred. This is a different age from that of the past, and the enormous crowds who assemble fancy they “ know all about it,” and want to “ umpire” too ; and so long as “ gate-money ” is the touch-stone, and cricket is as much a trade as a sport, the crowds will get what they pay for. There was more fair play in the old Prize Ring of the past than there is in some of the cricket of the present. In olden times the managers of clubs con­ sisted of well-known cricketers only, past or present. It is not so now. F. G. 6, Templeton Place, Earl’s Court, S.W. F OR SALE.—Wisden’s, 1879-91; Red Lillywhite, 1879-91; Cricket (unbound), 1890; King’s Scottish Cricket Annuals, Football Annuals, &c. — J am k s B r u n to n , 6 , Stonefield Terrace, Glasgow. SOUTHGATE v. gate on May 1. G. J. C. Venables, Adams, b Bryan ... R.C. 'Williams,run out Rev. F. Keysell, c Harris, b Bryan F. Tuck, b Bryan W . Fennell, c Harris, b Bryan ................... W.Green, b Chatterton W.O.Mc Arthur, notout FINCHLEY.—Played at South- F in c h l e y . C. Fowler, c Gross, b Bryan .................. W . Kislingbury, st Payne, b Chatterton A. Watson, run out... G. S. C h u rch ill, b Bryan ................... Leg-byes ........... Total 21 Second innings: Keysell, b Harris, 22; Green, c and b Bryan, 2; McArthur, not out, 1; Fowler, st Payne, b Chatterton, 2; Kislingbury, not out, 1; bye, 1.—Total, 40. S o u t h g a t e . E. P. Sugden, c W at­ son, b Fennell......... 11 R. F. Gross, b Tuck ... 3 F. Bryan, b Fennell ... 4 A. S. Harris, b Tuck .. 0 F. G. Payne, b Tuck... 10 R. F. Barker, c and b Fennell .................. 2 W . B. A d a m s , c Churchill, b Tuck ... 0 G. B. Adams, c W at­ son, b Tuck ........... 0 R A. Maude, b Tuck 12 H. Chatterton, b Fen­ nell .......................... 0 W . T. Ricketts, not out .......................... 2 Byes .................. 16 Total 60 GRAN VILLE (Lee) v. BLACKHEATH .—Played at Lee on May 1. G r a n v il l e . W. Morris, c sub., b S. Christopherson................... 0b P. Christopher- son ...................12 J. C. Stone, b J. R. Mason... 3c J. E Mason, b L. Weigall ... 26 F.G.Bull,bS.Christopher£on 0 L. Roberts, b J. R. Mason... 0c P. Christopher­ son, b R. B. Stewart ......... 6 P. P. Lincoln, c L Weigall, b J. R. M a so n .................. 5 b H ubbard..... 0 C. J. M. Godfrey, c G. W ei­ gall, b J. R. M ason......... 6 L. J. Turner, b J. R. Mason 10 b Hubbard...... 6 F .E .L an der,bJ. R. Mason 4 notout......... 8 H. Richardson,b J.R.Mason 0 A. R. Layman, not out ... 2 P. Inskipp, b J. R. Mason .. 0 Byes .......................... 2 Byes..........10 Total H. C. Stewart, c Lin­ coln. b Godfrey ... 67 J. E. Mason, b Turner 6 G. J. V . Weigall, b Godfrey .................. 25 J.R.Mason, b Godfrey 13 F. Escombe, c and b Roberts .................... 5 P. Christopherson, b Godfrey ................... 0 31 B l a c k h e a t h . Total (5 wkts.) 78 L. W eigall, b Bull ... 14 R. B. S ewart, b Bull 10 W . O. Hubbard, b Bull .......................... 2 A. W . Stewart, not out 7 S. Christopherson, c Inskipp, b Bull ... 10 B 26, lb 1 ...........27 Total ..186 GRAN VILLE (Lee) “ A ” v. LESSNESS P A R K .- Played at Abbey W ood on May 1. L e ssn e ss P a r k . W . J. Walter, b Pass- more ........................... 0 C. E. Kindersley, b Passmore.................. 5 R. Hayter, b Passmore 0 W. K. Walter, b Pass- more ........................... 0 F. Herbert, b Edwards 6 O.Herbert,b Passmore 15 A. W ood, b Passmore 0 G r a n v il l e F. Greenways, b Ed­ wards.......................... C.Cozens, st C.Wilson, b Passmore ........... J. Herbert, not out ... S.S. Baiss, c J. Wilson, jun., b Edwards ... Byes ................... Total 42 J.W ilson, j un.; b K in­ dersley ................... 1 J. H. Fry, b Hayter... 6 E. Rymer Jones, b Kindersley ...........18 W . S. Pate, b Hayter 2 R. H. Goodridge, b Walter ................... 4 A.H . Hersee,b Hayter 74 ‘ A.” W . R. Moulder, b Kindersley ...........20 F. Passmore, b Hayter 36 J.A . Johnston, notout 9 C. S. Wilson, b Hayter 0 W . Edwards, c O. Her­ bert, b Kindersley... 0 Byes ................... 4 Total ...174 CLAPTON v. ENFIELD.—Played at Clapton on May 1. E n f ie l d . Elkington, b Nolloth 0 J. Ward, b Nolloth .. 10 Attewell, not out ... 1 B 6, lb 2 ........... 8 ...111 F. Rowley, b Bishop... 19 H . W. Smith, b Bishop 8 W . Chart, b Bishop ... 7 S. G. Starky, b Nolloth 18 F.C Almond, b Bishop 10 J.Pratt, candbNolloth 19 Total P. Boundy, b Bishop... 11 C l a p t o n . J. H. Douglas, not out 25 H. Boyton, c Pratt, b H.E. Trafford, b Smith 0 Almond ...............23 F. A. Bishop, c Smith, B 4, lb 1 ........ 5 b Attewell ...........11 — J. L. Tate, not out ... I I Total(3 wltts.) 65 H. Renals. W . H. Nolloth. R. A. As<fr, Dr.Ladell, M. Van Boolen and R. H Walbancke did not bat.