Cricket 1897

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. no . 459. v o e . x v i . T H U R S D A Y , J U L Y 2 9 , 1 8 9 7 . p r ic e ad. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. MR. J. B. KING. There can be no doubt of the great interest which has beeix taken in Mr. King's bowling during the visit of the Philadel­ phians. It was known that he had mastered the art of making the ball curl in the air either from the leg-bide or the off, and it was not long before he quite satisfied the curiosity of English cricketers to know whether there was “ any­ thing in it.” He completely nonplussed the Sussex team in the match at Brighton, where, on a perfect wicket, they could do nothing against him, and throughout the tour he has shown clearly that he is a bowler of a very high class indeed. As he was born in 1873, he ought to have a groat future. Mr. King h «s also played several excellent innings during the tour, and alto­ gether he is one of the few men who are really good all round. One of his most noteworthy per­ formances with the ball was to clean bowl all ten wickets of the Manhattan club on a perfect pitch for 20 runs. Against English and Australian touring teams he has almost invariably been successful with the ball since he first played in an International match in 1892 against the Gentlemen of Ireland. His highest innings was 123 against a Philadelphian cricket club. Last year he began to play for the Belmont C.C., Philadel­ phia, and won both the batting and bowling cups, which are the property of the club until they are won three times in succession. “ When I was about fifteen years old I began to play for Tioga. I was lucky enough to soon get out of the ranks of the juniors ; in fact, I was in the first team almost as soon as I joined the club, for it happened that in one match the first team was a little short­ handed, with the result that I was asked to play for my batting. As chance would have it I came off, and after that my position was safe.” “ How ong was it before you became a bowler? MR. J. BARTON KINO. “ They soon began to try me, and, as I was rather successful in the first match, they per­ suaded me to practise. The match was against Haverford College, and, as far as I remember, I took four wickets for three runs. In those days I had a much lower and wider action than I have now, and was not as fast.” “ How did you learn to make the ball curve in the air ? " “ It seemed to come natural to me from the time that I first began to bowl, but, of course, I found out things as I went on. For instance, I found that the in-curve—or, as you might say, the curve from the off to leg—could not be bowled, except with a very fast ball. I used to pitch at baseball at one time, but I have givea up that game ; I don’t think it has anything whatever to do with the ourve ia bowling. A base- ball-pitcher throws with a high action, but the ball is so much lighter than a cricket ball, and, moreover, the elbow is bent, which is a very different thing from bowling with a straight arm. There is no trouble at all in curving if you can bend the arm.” ■ ‘ Which do you find the more useful, the out or the in-curve ?” “ The out-curve is of very little use except as a change, especially against American batsmen, who generally score off it. The out curve is bowled with a lower action than the in-curve, but you have to put so much spin on the ball that it won’t come off the pitch quickly enough to be gene­ rally effective. On the other hand, the ball from an in-curve will often break in from the off as well as curl in the air, and it breaks in very quickly.” “ Do you think the wind has much to do with the curl ? ” ‘ ‘ I most certainlyprefer a wiad, especially one which comes over my left shoulder or across from the left side, but there are never any days when I cannot get a curve at all. In a wind which comes over the left shoulder the ball will sometimes curve a great deal, as it did in the Sussex match at Brighton.