Cricket 1897

294 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J uly 22 , 18 97. a good chance of beating a combined team of South Africa. I should say that the victories were, as often as not, by about an inaings or 100 runs. Among the players at that time were C. E. Finlason, Charlie Vintcent, the old Charterhouseboy, Grimmer, and Fred Klinck, another English schoolboy. It was to all in­ tents and purposes Finlason and Grimmerwho first acquired the art of break bowling in South Africa. They knew that it was possible to make a ball break, and by constant practice they succeeded. Grimmer eventually had a marvellous break. Yintcent was a left- hand bowler, with almost too much break to be of use. I remember once seeing him bowl Frank Hearne, who lowered his bat, seeing that the ball was going to pitch on the edge of the matting ; it came right back. “ Is there any difficulty in joining a cricket club in South Africa?” “ No ! The clubs are not exclusive, and even the most important of them will elect a man as a member as long as they know that he is respectable. In the best clubs the sub­ scription amounts from two and a half to three guineas for the season. There are plenty of opportunities for getting good practice ; most men begin at 5 or 5.30, and go on until the light fails at about half past six. Cricket material is, of course, more expensive than it is in England, Bats, for instance, for which you would give seventeen and sixpence or a guinea, are about thirty shillings, and a cricket ball averages about nine shillings. There are plenty of cricketing firms, and the supply of materials is ample. At present, I play for the Eclectic C.C., in Pretoria. We have about thirty-five members, but there are very few cricketers in the town, and it would not be possible to play four elevens on one day, excluding the teams of the Commercial and the boys’ clubs. In Johannesburg there are clubs all round the mines, and the big mines have their own clubs. It is very easy to make a ground. You merely look for a level square patch, clear it of lumps, and pay a little attention to the pitch in the middle.” “ You spoke of playing on grass wickets when you were at school. Why don’ t you get grass wickets now ? ” “ Experience has ttught us that although turf will grow it will not last for any length of time. We have tried all sorts of experi­ ments with various sorts of seeds, but it is of no use. We can get the grass to look very pretty — indeed, many people have beautiful grass lawns near their houses--but as soon a<it has to stand the wear and tear of a few matches it dies. No doubt the climate and the intense heat of the sun is the reason for this. The natural grass of South Africa is quite useless for cricket purposes.” “ Would it be possible to play cricket in the winter? ” “ Quite possible, by commencing at eleven in the morning and leaving off at about four, but all the grounds are at that time of the year occupied by football clubs. As far as weather is concerned it would not be too cold for cricket.” “ Is there any idea of sending a South African team to England next year? ” ‘ ‘ As South Africa is at present in such an an unsettled state, I doubt if we shall be able to do so, but we might get a team together in 1899. If the best possible team could be sent it would be verv strong all round, in batting, bowling, fielding andwicket-keeping. Hendricks is a good fast bowler, but in the opinion of the great majority cf South African cricketers it would not be advisable to send him, on account of the colour question, which in England you no doubt find difficult to understand. What may happen in years to come one cannot say, but there are two or three native bowlers coming on well; one of them, a ‘ Cape boy,’ is as fast as any bowler we have ever had. It is greatly to be hoped that when next we send a team to England Sinclair will be one of its members—he ought to have come last time. He is quite a young­ ster, not yet 22, but is one of the most punish­ ing bats I have ever seen. He first came out as a break bowler, medium—just a little faster than slow—but as a bowler he has fallen off. He is, however, one of the finest bats in South Africa—perhaps the finest.” * Once when Mr. Tancred was playing at Kimberley during the Currie Cup Tourna­ ment he had an entertaining experience. “ I was dining,” he said, “ at the Central Hotel, after the match, with a few cricketers who had been playing. Onmy left was a gentleman whom I did not know. We got into conversa­ tion, and during the dinner he askedme if I had been to see the cricket. I said that I had seen some of it, and finding that we had got upon a subject which interested us both, he became very friendly indeed. Presently he asked me what I thought of Tancred. This was embar rassing, but I told him that I was very much afraid that he had a great opinion of his cricket, but that, between ourselves, I thought his skill was about on a par with that of an average English school-boy. He thereupon shook me warmly by the hand, and said that he was exceedingly glad to hear me, a min who evidently knew the game, say this, because he had expressed exactly the same opinion to a man whom he had met just before dinner, and had been considerably pitched into in consequence. A few minutes afterwards he heard me addressed as Tan­ cred. He got up quickly and left the room without saying au revoir. I should like to say in conclusion that I most fully appreciate the honour conferred upon me by having been made an honorary member of the M.C.C. and the Surrey County C.C.” W. A. B e t t e s w o r t h . MARLBOROUGH v. CH ELTENHAM .- Marlborough on July 9 and 10. C h elten h am . J. N. Champain, b Marryat 30 b Lewis P. Healing, c Spooner, b Marryat .......................... G. F. Collett, st Spooner, b Gibson ................................. A. Du Boulay, c Spooner, b M arryat.......................... F. Kershaw,cBran3.bGibson F. M. Luce, b Lewis .......... 70 b Lewis P. Turnbull, c Gaskell, b Gibson.................................. 6 E. R. Wyatt, b Gibson ... 44 H. R. Langley - Smith, c Spooner, b Gibson ........... A. B. Skinner, c Gibson, b Lewis ..................................23 C. G. Collins, not o u t.............................. 9 Extras............................................... 21 R. F. L. HOLME’S XC. v. READING SCHOOL.- Piayed on the School Ground on July 13. R. F. L. H o lm e ’ s X I. G. R. Joyce,c Parfitt, b H a tt..........................73 Rev.C.G.S okoe.Ciub., b T u rn er..................15 S. Hayward,b Mousley 41 Rev. W. C. Eppstein, c Todd, b H att.......... 0 H. Ward, c Cliff, b H a tt.......................... 5 R. L. Mousley, c Hatt, b Mousley ........... 0 H. E. Trask did not bat. H. A. Turner, c Epp­ stein, b Joyce........... y H. B. Corry.not out .. 84 H. E. Hewitt, c and b Joyce .................. 2 W . E. Wickham, c Holme, b Joyce ... 7 F. W . Parfitt, V. Cliff, Mousley did not bat. R e ad in g S chool . -Played at ... 6 16 cLewis,b Marryat 0 1 cHolden,bGibson 126 6 c and b Lewis ... 2 c Prest, b Gibson 14 ... 32 run out run out 1 c Gibson, b Lewis 8 c Gibson, b Lewis 4 not out........... ... 25 Extras...........23 A. S. Todd, b Hatt ... 16 G .H .Cowburn,cW ick- ham, b Hatt ........... 3 R.F.L. H olm e,notout 19 Grover, not o u t......... 15 B 21, lb 1 .......... 22 Total (8 wkts)*209 •Innings declared closed. D. H itt, b Eppstein .. 2 L. E. Todd,b Eppstein 28 C. Hatt, not out ... 2 B 18, lb 2 ...........20 Total (5 wkts) 149 F. H. Hawley, and W . G. FOREST H ILL (2) v. CHARLTON PA RK (2).— Played at Forest Hill on July 17. C h arlton P a r k . F. Lovey, b Healy ... 43 H. Turrell, b Reijhert 8 G. Hazelrigg, c Bor- sham, b Reichert ... 3 F. G. Allen, b Reichert 36 A. A. Jolly, lbw, b Watmough ...........11 R. Turpin, lbw, b Reichert ..................27 * Innings declared closed. F o r e s t H i l l T.W . Green, c Gibbon, b Williams .......... 4 A. E. Allen, not out... 8 B 2, lb 1, nb 1 4 Total (8 wkts.)*144 C. F. Phillips, run out 59 F. Healy, c Lovey, b Green ..................31 W .R.Williams,not outlOl S. B. Goldsmith, c Lovey, b Green......... 9 F. Vernon Smith, out .................. Extras ... Total.. L. P. Collins, b Collett 28 R. H. Spooner, b Du Boulay ......................82 W . Prest, c Collett, b Du Boulay ... 71 H. Etlinger, b Du Boulay ................... 0 W . K . P. Ffrench, not out .................107 ...236 M a r lb o r o u g h . Total .254 R. H. Brand, b Du Boulay ................... 0 J. E. S. Holden, c Cham p a i n , b Du Boulay ...................19 F. S. Lewis, b Collett 20 H.C.R.Gibson, not out 8 Extras ...........25 Total (7 wkts.)*3S0 R. Marryat and J. F. Gaskell did not bat. * Innings declared closed. Second innings :—L. P. Collins, not out, 73; R. H. Spooner, c and b Du Boulay, 4 ; W. Prest, not out, 63 ; extras, 4.—Totil (one wicket), 131. SHREWSBURY SCHOOL v. OLD SALOPIANS.— Played at Shrewsbury on July 9 and 10. S hrew sbury S chool . C. W . Alexander, c Bur- rough, b M oser..................28 A. B. Leather, b Burrough 2 Total (3 wkts.) 256 C. C. H. Twiss, b Burrough 13 R. M. Druce, c Moser, b A lexander..........................54 A. Goldie, c Beresford, b Burrough ..........................14 F. H. Humphrys, c Moser, b Alexander .................. 22 E. G. Skelton, b Alexander 52 E. G. Jones, b Alexander ... 0 F. H. Bowring, c Clover, b M o s e r.................................. J. S. Corser, c Beresford, b Burrough ........................... G. D. Haslam, not out B 40, lb 1, w 3, nb 2 ... Total ... c Foster, b Raikes c Alexander, b Burrough b Raikes ........... b Raikes ........... c Raikes, b Bur­ rough ........... b Moser run out not out... 5 b Burrough , 19 , 3 run out ........... 5 c Raikes, b Moser 13 B 18,lb 4, w l,n b3 26 ..........258 O ld S a lop ia n s, J.S.Phillips,lbw,bHumphry8 9 J. Burrough, lbw, b Bow­ ring ......................................94 C. L. Alexander, c Goldie, b Humphrys ......................34 G. B. Raikes, b Humphrys 21 Total ...144 c Leather,b Alex­ ander ........... i b Humphrys c Alexander, Humphrys not out........... C.V. Beresford, b Humphrys M. Clover, c Humphrys, b A lexander..........................16 b Humphrys G. Moser, c Skelton, b Alex­ ander ..................................24 not out............. A. F. Vernon, c Alexander, b B ow ring..........................30 b Humphrys H. Oldham, c Corser, b A lexander.......................... 7 T. G. Hall, not out ...........10 b Humphrys R. Le Nere-Foster, b Hum­ phrys .................................. 5 B 15, lb 3, w 2 ...........20 41 . 17 Total ..270 B 4, lb 1 ... 5 Total (6 w kts)lll CARSHALTON v. CRYSTAL PA LA CE.-Played at Carshalton on July 17th. C a rsh alton . M. Holman, not out 61 E x tras.................. 15 Total (3 wkts) *196 F. Hill, run out ...100 A. Chambers, b Bur- chard .................. J. Laidlaw, lbw, b Mallam .................... 9 S. Hersey, G. Templeton, W . Weigate, S. Holmes, A. Campling, H. H. Forsayth, and H. M. Collinson did not bat. * Innings declared closed. C r ystal P ala c e . W . E. Barker, b Collin­ son ..........................46 D. Eliott Lockhart,run out ..........................12 R. H. Hayne, not out 3 ! F. M. Mallam, C. Ralston White, W . E. Handy, W . Brander, P. Cory, H. Templeton, and J. Eliott Lock­ hart did not bat. F. C. Burchard, not out 6 E xtras.................. 18 Total (2 wkts) 85