Cricket 1897

178 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J une 3, 1897. advice— when they will listen to i t ; they generally feel themselves quite above taking hints, I am sorry to say. I am always pitching into my young ground bowlers for not bowling a proper length; they get into a habit of bowling no-balls and shprt pitches which is fatal to them when they play in a match. It is all very well for old professionals, who have got into a style and pitch which nothing can alter, to take things easily at practice; it is quite another thing for young fellows, who have their future before them. I may add that I always hesitate to put a bowler on unless I know how he can bowl, from observation— not alone by hearsay. My reason is that your new man, unlessyou know him, may give away the game before you can take him off. I remember putting on a stranger to bowl to Diver on Wimbledon Common. Diver made four and twenty off the over— on Wimbledon Common the ball travels, and when you put on a man who bowls long hops to Diver you may imagine theresult. This was oneof the few cases when I only allowed a bowler to have one over. At another time, I put on a bowler at a critical moment, and he had four 4’s hit off him in his first and only over; he was a good man too.” “ Who are the best known men who have played for Leatherhead ?” “ In the old days we had many well- known players among our members, in­ cluding Stanley Scott— I remember him making four hundreds running for us— and all the Lucases— A. P. among them. The Lucas family lived at Ashsted, close to Leatherhead. We were once playing an eleven got up by the Lucases. It was any odds against us, for besides half-a- dozen Lucases the opposingteamincluded Paravicini and Hadow, who had just finished a Middlesex match. But we got them out for about 170 ; Scott made a hundred for us and Spencer 90. Fred Wright— who occasionally plays for Leicestershire, although he is getting old now, happened to be staying with me at the time, and took most of the wickets for us; he was one of the best 'bowlers I ever knew. Since then and for many years the brunt of the bowling has been borne by F. E. Sturt and R. Alcock, the former alway s reliable, the latter a dan­ gerous man to take liberties with on a sticky or slow wicket. Of late years our best batsmen have been T . N. Perkins, H . S. Goodwin (now playing for Glouces­ tershire) and A. W. F. Rutty, and we have this year two excellent new recruits in A. W. Rammell and F. H . Nelson.” A.t this part of the conversation Mr. Williams said “ I should like to take this opportunity of saying that I entirely disagree with a remark that was made in Cricket some years ago by a Mr. Holmes — the Rev. R. S. Holmes I believe it was. Leatherhead were in the field and a bats­ man hit a ball to mid-off— (I was not playing— although I was on the ground) — and ran. Mid-off threw the ball to the wicket-keeper. The ball struck the bat of the man who was running towards that end, and knocked it out of his hand, just as hewas landing at the crease, afterwards rolling on to the wicket. Natu­ rally the man was given out— there could be no question about it— and yet Mr. Holmes took exception to this, remark­ ing that it was not sportsmanlike to allow the batsman to go out. But unfor­ tunate things happen often enough in cricket, and cricketers look upon them as among the chances of the game. I once saw a bowler follow up the ball for some distance. It was returned very hard in his direction. He missed it altogether, but it struck the batsman at the other end and rebounded, and he made the catch. It was unfortunate for the side which was in, but there was nothing to be said— the man was out. This reminds me of an incident which occurred some time ago. We wereplaying on the Holmwoocl ground, and a young fellow who.had run for a hit which he had made, landed his bat in the crease just as the ball was returned to me. He lifted his bat and looked at me. I said to him: ‘ I ’m very sorry, but I really must give you a lesson in cricket,’ and therefore I lifted a bail. But he said: ‘ I was home,’ and I advised him to stop there in future when he had the chance. He made 70 runs in the second innings.” “ No doubt in your matches in Surrey you sometimes get surprises by Surrey colts ?” “ Well, we generally know their form pretty well, but I remember once being a little startled by a yokel. We were playing at Holmwood, who were a man short, and they got a yokel to field for them. At the end of the match they only wanted about sixteen runs to win when all the legitimate members of the team had been in. Then the yokel came out, bat in hand. I said: ‘ I am not quite sure whether, under the circumstances, we can allow you to bat. What’s your name ?’ ‘ My name’s Joop,’ he replied. ‘ Oh, you are one of the Juppies, are you?’ ‘ Yes, but I aintno good.’ I asked my side what was to be done, and they, as good sportsmen, said: ‘ Oh, let him have a go.’ The yokel— one of the Jupp family— hit the first two balls for four— the last two balls of the over, and would probably have won the match for Holm- wood if he had been able to get another hit or two. Fortunately we got the other man out before Jupp had another chance. I am a great believer in cricket running in families.” “ How has the alteration from apurely village club into a gentlemen’s club affected the player who does not possess much skill ?” “ The fact that better cricket is played has given an impetus to the game, and whereas there used to be only one club there are now five separate clubs, so that many more people get a chance of playing.” The Leatherhead Cricket Ground has greatly been improved. “ Apted came down,” said Mr. Williams, “ and gave us someadvice— very good advice it was. He says we have the best natural ground in Surrey, and that it is capable of great improvement. Carrying out his instruc­ tions as carefully as possible we have every reason to be satisfied with the result; I think that last Saturday’swicket was one of the best we have ever had. I asked a county player, who was taking part in the match, what he thought of the wicket. He replied, ‘ It is a treat— quite a treat,’ which, of course, speaks volumes. We are greatly indebted for this improve­ ment to A. H . Tritton, who was our secre­ tary for some years ; he has done a great deal for the club ; among other things he sent for red marl fromNottingham, which was an excellent thing for our ground. In the seventies we were principally con­ cerned in meeting such clubs asHorsham, Dorking, Guildford, Shalford, Ripley and Cobham, but now we venture on attack­ ing Streatham, Wimbledon, Richmond, M.C.C. and the Surrey Club and Ground. There can be no question, however, that with such clubs as ours golf and other ‘ exercising amusements ’ have a -very detrimental effect.” W. A. B e tte s v o r th . BLACKHEATH v. FOREST HILL.-Played at RectoryField onMay 29. B l a c k h e a t h . H. C. Blaker, c sub., b Gibbons ...............10 H. R. Blaker,bGibbons 3 W. Prosser, c Trotter, b Gibbons.............. 95 R. A. Fegan, c Moore, b Phillips.............. 24 C. Latham, b Elboro... 4 Ma.iorPatten,b Elboro 0 G. Blackwell, not out.. 14 * Innings declared closed. F o rest H il l . W. Holt, c Godden, b F. Newman, not out 2 Prosser .............. 1 B 3, lb 2 ........ 5 C. Moore, not out ...17 — C. Phillips, b Prosser 43 Total............... 68 The rest did not bat. R. Brandram, lbw, b Phillips .............. 4 H. Godden, c Kew, b Elboro .............. 0 P. Robson, st Holt, b Elboro .............. 13 B 4, lb 1 ........ 5 Total (9 wkts.)*172 BLACKHEATH v. WOOLWICH GARRISON.— Played at Woolwich onMay 29. W o o lw ich G a r r iso n . C. C. Barnes, b Heath 17 Capt. W. Goodwyn, b Christopherson ... 1 F. H. G. Stanton, b Christopherson ... 16 Capt. P. H. Slee, cCas­ tle,b Christopherson 0 Major F. A. Curteis, b Christopherson ... 15 Capt. Spurway, cJ. E. Mason,bC. E. Mason 27 C. A. Sykes, b Chris­ topherson ........ 46 H. M. Barnes, Ibw, b Heath ............... o B. Atkinson, c J. E. Mason,bC.E.Mason 18 E L.Wheeler,bChris­ topherson ........ l C.C.Robertson,notout 14 Byes .............. 3 B l a c k h e a t h . Total . ..158 A.W. Stewart, c Good­ wyn, b H. Barnes ... 26 S. Castle, c and b H. Barnes ............... 1 F. Escombe, lbw, b Atkinson ........ 2 L. Weigall, c Atkin­ son, b Sykes ........ 12 C. E. S. Mason, R. B. Stewart, J. S. Heath, and S. Christopherson did not bat. W. F. Soames,bSykes 1 R. J. H. Arbuthnot, not out .............. li J. E. Mason, not out 11 Byes ............... 2 Total (5wkts) 66 Played INCOGNITI v.WESTMINSTER SCHOOL, at Vincent Square onMay 29. I n c o g n iti . E. G. Moon, b More ... 21 C. B. Elliott,st Gwat- A. Scott, b More ... 4 ’ ‘ " F. G. Thorne, b More 0 T. W. Hemmerde, b More.....................13 B. Pares, b Flak........ 2 M. G. Nelson, not out 26 kin, b Beveridge ... R. K. Causton, M.P., c More, bBeveridge... M. G. Rebow, not out Byes.............. Total........ 103 H. Blake, and G. P. Wilson did E. G. Abney, C. not bat. W e stm in ste r S c h o o l. R.N.R. Blaker,b Blake 34 F. Young, b Abney ... 28 R. C. More, b Abney... 18 E. E. Cotterill,bBlake 17 H.R. Lonsdale,bPares 55 W. C. Stevens, c Nel­ son, b Abney........ 12 B. H.Willett, bNelson 1 H. R. Flack, c Blake, b Nelson .............. 1 S. M. Anderson, st Moon, b Abney ... 3 E. E._ L. Johnston, c Elliott, b Pares ... 31 H. W. Beveridge, b Pares.................... j F.A.S.Gwatkin,notout 0 B 15, nb 3 ... J 8 Total....... 219