Cricket 1898

O ct . 2 7 , 1898. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 447 the record. The figures I have arrived at cannot even he considered as approxi­ mate, but they will serve to indicate the enormous distances travelled hy great cricketers. B y W ater — T o Australia and back five tim es ...126,000 Australian coasting .............................. 5,000 T o N ew Ze>land t-wice, and coasting 6,000 T o A m erica twice, and once back ... 7,000 T o 8th. A frica and back, and coasting 14,000 167,000 O k L and — In E ogland .............................................. 80,000 In Australia ............................................... 12,000 In South A frica ...................................... 3,000 A cross Am erica .................... ........... 3,000 In A m erica ............................................. 3,000 M ile s ...............................................2E8,000 It is almost impossible to arrive at an approximate estimate of his travels in England, but as he played in some 800 matches, and as he lived in the north of England, and two-thirds of his matches were in the south, I am of opinion that eighty thousand miles is under, rather than over, the mark. I should think it very doubtful if anyone not a seaman or railway official ever covered more than this tentimesroundtheworld of Ulyett’s. Some actors, soldiers, commercial men, mining engineers, and newspaper corres­ pondents could show good figures, but few, I venture to think, up to 250,000 miles, and always with a larger propor­ tion of their distances by water than in Ulyett’s figures. Briggs I should say would come next, and Peel, George Parr, Caffyn, Jupp, Shrewsbury, A. Shaw, Jim Lillywhite, Lohmann, M. Bead, Bates, Barnes, Emmett, Abel, Grace, W. W. Read, Stoddart, and Lord Hawke have all been great travellers. It would be extremely interesting to knowwhether any of these have kept any records of the number of miles they have travelled. Yours faithfully, G. LACY. Sandgate, October 9th, 1898. P.S.—Of course thousands of peopleby reckoning up their daily walks and rides could showmuch larger figures. Until I broke down three years ago my afternoon walksaveraged eightmilesaday through­ out the year, but of course I do not count these, nor do I count my tramps and rides when hunting from camp, which, during my twelve seasons of that kind of work, would not fall far short of 50,000 miles. I mean by travelling, going from one place to another. A CHAT WITH EANJITSINHJ1 IN INDIA. A representative of the Advocate of India drove out to Dbariav Mahal, where Renjitsinhji, an honored guest, htld court for a large number of visitors, who anxiously waited their turn to be ushered into his presence. “ Kept you a few minutes beyond the adveitised time,” facetiously remarked Ihe Prince Cricketer, “ but I have not been able to help it, as I was being ‘ interviewed ’ socially when you were announced.” With a light laugh at his punctilious­ ness I set to business and soon had the hero of many an English cricket match under my journalistic Rontgen rays. “ Tell me about your cricket in India since your return.” “ Well, I have been here about six months and have really only played in six matches, and so am dead out of practice.” “ May I be very candid ? ” “ Yes,” smiled Ranjitsinhji. “ The public has been disappointed. You have not piled on centuries as they would have wished.” “ Ihe public,” said Ranjitsinhji, “ for­ get the uncertainty of cricket; they expect a player with even a little reputa­ tion never to fail. There are so many considerations to be taken into account.” “ And thatpair of spectaclesat Poona,” laughingly queried I, “ that beats the record, does it not ?” “ Indeedit does. I have never done likewise at home. We have carefully prepared wickets in England, and an indifferent wicket is seldom to be met with, whereas here I have up to this not seen a decent pitch. They are indifferent, more than indifferent—bad. The Poona wicket was ruined by rain. Another little thing people seemto forget is that in England one constantly practises. I think the best pitch in India to my mind is the one at Patiala. Why even in summer it is verdant and splendidtoplay upon.” “ Now that you have expressed your­ self about the best wicket, can I induce you to tell me who in your opinion of those you have seen wield the willow is the best ? ” “ Capt. Greig, most certainly. He is a pretty and accomplished bat.” “ And bowler ? ” “ Well, I don’t think I can single out any bowler. A good bowler, to be called a good bowler, must bowl on a good wicket. Any bowler can be effective on an indifferent wicket, and, not having seen a good wicket yet in India, I will not express an opinion as to the best bowler.” At this stage there were more visiting cards presented and more invitations re­ ceived. Turning to me with perplexed brow, the victim said : “ You can do me a service. My time will not allow of mj accepting all the invitations I have re­ ceived. I am grateful, but my engage­ ments have beenbooked, and if I have to decline many of the proposed entertain­ ments it is simply because I cannot help it. People are prone to be sensitive, especially the native mind, and I wish you to say fromme that I thank every­ one, and if I cannot accept their many kindnesses it is because my time is limited ? ” “ I suppose you have a plethora of functions thrust upon you wherever you go f ” “ I am exceedingly gratified, but it is not coiducive to good cricket to keep up everynight till past midnight. At home before a big match we rest &nd re­ cuperate.” “ Ycu are paying the penalty of fame, but tell me what you think of the progress made in India by Indians in cricket.” “ I am surprised at the progress in respect to the numbers who play the national game, but there has not been as much progress in the standard as I expected.” “ That being so, won’t you give me a message for the young cricketers of India ?” Ranjitsinhji got up and limped across the room; he has abad foot. Returning from his desk, he handed me written in a free hand the following message to the boys of India:—“ Try to learn hy degrees, and when you have learnt a little don’t be too proud to learn more, but aspire to reach a higher standard in the same way as before. In cricket, as in other things, let your motto be: ‘ I can never learu enough.’ ” “ About that team you are going to captain ?” “ That depends on circumstances. But it is my intention, in 1900, to take a team of English cricketers to Australia.” Observing a cynical smile, he added “ Oh, I have buried the hatchet, forgiven and been forgiven, and the Australians have asked me to take a team over. I shall probably start in March next for England in this connection, provided always, of course, that circumstances allow.” MARLBOROUGH BLUES. Matches played, 18; w on, 4 ; lost, 8 ; drawn, 6. Huns scored for, 3,642 for 171 tickets, average per wicket, 21*29 ; against, 4,004 for 181 wickets, average per wicket, 22-12. B A T T IN G A V E RA G E S. N o. Tim es M ost o f not Total in an inns. out. runs. inns. Aver. C. H .M . Thring............ 5 ... 1 ... 186 ... t6*... 46 50 D r. Poynton.................... 4 ... 2 ... 85 ... 55*... 42-50 R . H . Spooner ............ 9 ... 1 ... 338 ... 98 ... 42 25 K . B . A lexander............ 9 ... 2 ... 240 ... 85 ... 34 28 E . A . C. D ruce ............ 6 ... 1 ... 156 ... 66 ... 31 20 L . C. W . Thring............15 .. 3 ... 367 ... 64 ... 30 58 L . N . Rogers ............ 6 ... 1 ... 139 ... 91 ... 27 80 H. E tlin g e r................... 12 .. 1 ...278 ..,130*... 25 27 W . W . S a le .................... 9 ... 2 .. 166 ... 39 ... 22*28 H. M . Rogers ............ 8 ... 1 ... 145 ... 88 ... 20*71 H . P. Lindsay ...........11 ... 1 ... 171 .. 48*... 17-12 R . F . C. de W inton ... 10 ... 2 ... 13a ... 30*... 16 25 W . H . Lindsay ............ 17 ... 0 ... 271 ... 65 ... 15*94 W .L . Collins ............ 5 ... 1 ... b3 ... 38 ... 1575 W .A .F . Rogers............ i ... 0 ... 72 ... 47 ... 14*40 J .C . Sale ................... 4 .. 0 ... 50 ... SO ... 12'50 H .C . C o le s .................... 10 .. 3 ... 65 ... 23*... 9'28 H . F reem en..................... 6 ... 2 ... 27 ... *8*... 6 76 8. A . A lexander ... ... 5 ... 1 ... 26 ... 11 ... 650 F. W . Bellam y ............ ... 0 ... 26 ... 14 ... 6 50 A .M . B lack.................... 6 .. 0 ... 30 ... 22 ... 6*00 The follow ing played in tv o or three inuings only : R . Baggallay, 17 and 1 ; G. Coles, 0, 14 and 14 ; L . P. Collins, 9 and 10; H . M . H arw ood, 36 and 10; J. E. 8. H olden, 1 and 2 ; 8. A . P . Kitcat, 7, 2 and 15; W . M ortim er, 37 and 9; W . Prest, 0 and 17; F. 8. Preston, 21 and 0; H . R . Tam plin,7, 9 and 29;R . W . Regers, 5 and1; and P. D. Tuekett, 14 and 2. “ C E N T U R Y ” FO R . H . Etlinger, 120*, against Crystal Palace. “ CEN TU RIES ” A G A IN ST. C. Druce, 182, for the M o te ; and E. Bendle, 108, for K ensington Park. * Signifies not out. B O W L IN G . I h e to w lin g analysis is incom plete. Q hefollow ing m em bers took m ost of the w ickets: L . C. W . 1 bring *4 ; R . F . C. de W inton, 20; S. A . A lexarder, 17 G. Coles, 13; W . A . F . Rogers, 12; W . H . Lindsay, 10 ; R . H . fcpooner, 10 ; C. M. M . Qhring, 9 ; E. A . C. D ruce, 8 ; D r. Poynton, 7 ; L . C. R. lin in g , 7 ; H . M R ogeis, 6 ; and A . M . Black, 6. N E X T ISSUE, THURSDAY , NOVEMBER 24