Cricket 1898

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. n o. 4 79 . v o l . x t i i . THURSDAY, MAY 26, 1 8 9 8 . p r i c e 2 d. A CHAT ABOUT G. G. HEARNE. For about twenty-one seasons George Hearne haB been on the ground staff of the M .C.C., and is now about to receive a special reward for his services in the shape of a benefit at lo r d ’s next week— the week of all weeks in the year for such a match, if only the weather is reasonably fine. It is now some years since Heame has played regularly in first-class cricket, but he has several times quite recently shown that he is at least as good as many of the younger generation. For some twenty years no Kent eleven was com ­ plete without him. H e was—and is— good all round ; a steady batsman whom it is very difficult to dispose of when once set, a bowler of the most persistently good length, and a fine field. His good humour and good temper are proverbial. George Hearne began his career at Southgate, where his father was ground- man. In connection with these early days he tells a couple of tales which are inimitable. “ I was playing in a match for the boys of Southgate,” he says, “ against the boys of Cock Fosters, when I was twelve or thirteen years old. After I had made 102, and my brother Frank 85, the other side pulled up the stumps, saying that they had had enough of that sort of cricket. We were playing for a ball, and the Cock Fosters’ captain came up and said: ‘ Here, you may have your ball. W e are off. G ood-bye.’ ” This tale, good as it is, is perhaps beaten by the second. “ I was captain in a boys’ match, and kept wicket. Off the first ball I stumped a ilian, and he was given out. However, he said it was a trial ball, and took his place again at the wicket. He seemed so confidtntin his opinion that I let him continue his innings. Then my father walked up to me and said : ‘ Do you mean to tell me that you let that boy go on batting after he was given out ? ’ I feebly admitted that such was the case. Whereupon he gave me a good spanking and sent me off the field, saying that I was altogether too innocent to play cricket.” I t was quite on the cards when George began to develop his powers that he would play for Middlesex by residence. He had been already “ spotted ” by Mr. I. D. Walker, who was anxious for him to play for Middlesex. Then came a memorable day when he first met Lord Harris, who was playing at Catford, where George’s father"was then ground man. Lord Harris wanted some practice. “ Is there anyone who can bow l ? ” he asked Heame p'ere. The result was that George was produced. He proceeded to bow l out the famous Kent captain two or three times, and doubtless expected his lordship to wax wroth at such temerity. But if ever there was a captain who knew better than any­ one else a good man when he found him it was Lord Harris, who instantly recog­ nised that here was the very man for Kent. It is a matter of history that Lord Harris carried his point, and in the same year the new cricketer made his debut for the county of his birth, thenceforth to play in almost every match—sometimes exclusively as a bowler ; sometimes as a b a t; generally as both. Under the captaincy of Lord Harris he thrived amazingly, for he was never over-bow led, and was always changed at the right time. Sometimes when he had been bow ling for a long period, and had begun to feel that he would never get a wicket, his captain j would come up to him and sa y : “ Well, George, this is evidently your wrong end ; have a try at the other end, and you’ll get a wicket in no time.” The result was often surprising to the batsmen, for as Heame has himself sa id : “ Lord Harris used to say this in such a nice way that I would go on at the other end feeling that | I was altogether a different bowler, and that I could get a whole team out in half-a-dozen overs.” George Hearne is in business as a cricket outfitter at New Cross, and makes his own bats—or at any rate did so a few years ago—taking good care that the wood is well seasoned. In the winter he devotes some of his time to the laying out of cricket grounds, in which he is generally assisted by his brother A lec; both brothers are experts in this occupation. Frank Heame, who is in business in South Africa as a cricket outfitter, is another brother of George, and Walter Heam e is his cousin. W . A. B e t t e s w o r t h . W ILL IAM ATTEWELL. William Attewell was bom at K ey- worth, Notts, on June 12th, 1861. His first engagement as a professional was with the Nottingham Commercial Club, in 1878, and he remained with that club for three seasons. He was not quite 20 years of age when he first played as a colt, in 1880, and was a day or two short of his 20th year when he played first for the county ; this was against Middlesex, at L ord’s, June 9th and 10th, 1881. His bow ling performances for Notts have been of the highest order, and the total number of wickets he has taken, up to the end of last season, reaches the large number of 1,098, the greatest number of wickets ever taken b y any Notts bowler. His batting, also, upon many occasions, has been of the greatest use to his side. He has been to Australia with English teams upon three different occasions— 1884-5, 1887-8 and 1891-2—has played S9veral times for the Players v. Gentle­ men of England, for England v. Australia (in England), and in most of the great representative matches of the day. He has now played for Notts for sixteen years. When Attewell first came out it was pretty evident that he was the sort of bowler who w is likely to last for a long time, for he had a remarkable accuracy, which was nearly akin to that of Alfred 1Shaw,while his action was so easy that it entailed no great exertion to him to bow l for hours. It is possibly his very great accuracy which has prevented him from attaining to the position of the greatest bowler of the a g e ; it has, undoubtedly, tempted him to be content with maiden ! overs at times when a Lohmann or a Spofforth would have tried every experi­ ment conceivable. On the other hand, he has been the salvation of the Notts X I. on numberless occasions on account of his ability on all sorts of wickets, in all sorts of weather, to bow l over after over which could not be hit by any but the most determined and quick-eyed bats­ man. It is, indeed, very doubtful whether, if all the details of his analyses were carefully gone into, one could find a single instance of a match in which he