Cricket 1898

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. N o. 4 8 5 . VOZ>. X V II. TH U R SD A Y , JU L Y 7 , 1 8 9 8 . PRICE 2d. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. DR. M. E. PAVRI. The most famous of Parsi cricketera is now in England engaged inprofessional work, occa­ sionallyplaying cricket forthe Forest Hill C.C. and Surrey Club and Ground. He has been backwards and forwards between Bombay and England several times, and in 1895 he played for Middlesex in the match against Sussex, although at the time he had not been able, through pressure of work, to get even an hour’s practice. He is now again beginning to practise assiduously, and there is very little doubt that he will soon be able to give an excellent account of himself in English cricket. He is unquestionably by far the best captain that the Parsis have ever produced, and during the several years in which he ruled the team the matches were almost invariably won. Even the strong teams taken to India by Lord Hawke and Mr. Vernon had to own defeat from the Parsis, although in the return match Lord Hawke’s team turned the tables upon its former con­ querors by winning the most exciting of matches by 7 runs. Before he began to play cricket, Dr. Pavri went in with enthusiasm for gymnastic exer­ cises, and became an expert at the single and double bars, Indian clubs, and wrestling. He was also a good swimmer and a fair player at lawn tennis. While he was at Dublin, in the Rotunda Hospital, working for his exami­ nations, he played football, but had to abandon this game on account of an inj ury to his knee. He is just beginning to play golf. In 1896 there was a breach in the camp of the Parsis, and two or three of the leading players refused, for various reasons, to join the team. Last year, when he was in Bombay, Dr. Pavri set to work to reconcile the malcontents, and was able to persuade them that if they had any differences with the selection committee they should sink them for the common good. Hence he was known as the “ Great Peacemaker.” When he was chosen as captain of the Parsi team in 1889 grave doubts were expressed by his com­ patriots as to the wisdom of the selection. They feared that he would be a failure as a captain, partly because he was the chief bowler in the team, and partly because he was known to be somewhat hot-tempered. But he soon gained golden opinions, and he was the first to admit that his success as a captain was chiefly due to the enthusiastic co-opera­ tion of other members of the team, and their perfect objdience to his orders. Since that time the Parsis have only lost one match when he has been their captain. Dr. Pavri, DR. M. E. PAVttl. (From a Photo by the Bombay Photographic Co., Bombay, according to the rule of county cricket ‘ ‘ that a man can play for his old county during the two years that he is qualifying for another,” i3 still eligible for Middlesex. He is now practising with energy, and fully expects to be in as good form as ever with the ball, in which case Middlesex, with its weak bowling, would be considerably strengthened. “ What is your opinion as to the strength of the Parsis at the present time ? ” “ I should say that our batting is on the whole not good—Gagrat, Mistry, and D- Kanga are very nearly first-class. In bowling and fielding I really think the tf am can be compared with first-class cricketers in Eng­ land. There are seven bowlers in it. It is a great pity that a team could not come to England this year, and I am afraid that we missed a great opportunity, perhaps the only opportunity. But we had been strongly advised by Lord Harris not to £ come unless we could bring a £ really representative team, and this was found to be impossible. f‘ I should like to say that Parsis owe a deep debt of gratitude to Lord Harris for the interest he Jltook in us during the time that |;?he was Governor of Bombay. If g^it had not been for him our cricketmust haverapidly declined for want of strong opponents, but by arranging Presidency matches he gave such an impetus to Parsi cricket that it has steadily im­ proved ever since. Although he did not himself play in the Presi­ dency matches, he made about 60 against us on his own private ground at Guneshkhind. I am very sorry that I was unable to play in this match, as I was going in for an examination, and one of my professors did not like me to play.” ‘ ‘ Do the Parsis when at home play in the ordinary English cricket costume F” *‘ Only two or three members continue to play in the orthodox ‘ Sudra,’ a white linen shirt reaching almost to the knees, worn under the coat by all Parsis in ordinary duties of life. But if a team had come to England this year even the orthodox mem­ bers would have worn the ordi­ nary costume of cricketers. I believe I am right in saying tha t Mr. J. M. Patel was the firs t player to conceal the ‘ Sudra ’ under the flannel dress, but there was considerable opposition t o this at first. There are many disadvantages in wearing the ‘ Sudra.’ Once I remember hitting the ball into it and being caught out , which was exasperating. Sometimes, too, the handle of the bat caught in it when one was making a drive, which was awkward, to sa y the least of it.” ‘ ‘ Do you think that the Parsis learnedmuch from their two visits to England? ” “ Very much. For instance, I learned to