Cricket 1899

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. No. s o 8 . v o i . x v u i . THXJESDAY, MAY 18, 1899. p b i c e ad. K . M . M ISTR I. There has been much discussion of late in Indian newspapers as to the position which K . M. Mistri ought to take in the native cricket world, and for the matter of that, in the world of cricket at large. His warmest admirers claim for him that on the past season’s form he is better than Ranjitsinhji; critics who possess less enthusiasm place him on a level with the P rin ce; while other critics say that for a native cricketer he is good, although he could not hold a candle to any first-class batsman in En g­ land or Australia. Whether he is all that the fancy of his admirers paints him, or whether he is not a “ second R anji,” it is certain that against the best bow ling that India can produce he has made a rare lot of runs. If he had been opposed during the season by Brockwell and J. T. Hearne a fair idea of his form could have been ob­ tained, but they played in the Patiala team, of which he is a member. Mistri was b om in Novem­ ber, 1874, so that he is now in his twenty-fifth year. As a small boy he was familiar with the game of cricket, or rather with that form of it which was played by children in verandahs and ou t-of-th e- way places, and in course of time he became a member of a native Parsi club known by the Radical title of the “ John Bright Cricket Club.” W ith no coaching the young cricketer steadily made him­ self known to his compan­ ions and opponents, but the cricket world of Bombay had never heard of him when he was selected in 1892 as a representative of the Parsi eleven which had arranged a match against the Secun­ derabad Gymkhana. In this match Cap­ tain Poore, the Hampshire cricketer, was captain of the English side. Mistri made a fairly successful debut, his score being 23. In the same year the annual matches between the Parsis and Bombay Presi­ dency were instituted, thanks to the energy of Lord Harris, then the Governor of Bombay. To his great disappointment Mistri was left out in the cold when the first match came off. But he had not long to wait, for in the follow ing year he was chosen for the Parsis, although he did not set theJGanges on fire by his per­ formances. In the course of the year he | gave ample evidence that he would have to j be seriously reckoned with in future matches. The Baronet C.C., of which Dr. Pavri was a member, made a tour through Central India, and against a team of Euro­ peans Mistry made 123, the first hundred of his career. In this match he for the first time met a really good bowler in Captain | Newnham, who had played with some success for Gloucestershire. In the return match with the same club Mistri scored 80 and 20, so that Europeans no longer professed ignorance of his exis­ tence. It was in 1894 that he began to be a power among the Parsis. In the Presidency match of that year the Englishmen, to their intense disgust, were all disposed of in the second innings for 24 ; Mistri had a great share in the victory of the Parsis by 120 runs, for although he did nothing remarkable in bat­ ting, he showed his all-round capacity b y taking five wickets for 11 runs in that memorable innings. Since that time he has been in the very front rank of Parsi cricketers. Often enough he has made big scores for his team in the big matches, one of his best performances being to help Dr. Pavri nut on 163 runs for the first wicket in 1897. This is, be it said with all diffidence, a record for India. Mistri’s share in the partnership was 95 runs. In 1896, Mistri took an im­ portant step in his career. He became aide-de-camp to H .H . the Maharaja of Patiala, so well known to Englishmen as the potentate who, taking a vast interest in cricket, has secured the services of J. T. Hearne for seve»al winters to play for and coach his team—it will be remembered, that last year, the Maharaja engaged Brock­ well as well as Hearne. In the first year of his service under the Maharaja, Mistri scored 156 against a garrison eleven of the Kasauli Depdt, and in the follow ing year he made 80 against the same team. Among other good scores made by him in 1897 was 144 for Patiala against Umballa. In bow ling he accom­ plished a very fine performance. The Simla team, playing against Patiala, went in for their second innings with only 60 runs to knock off. The wicket was in K . M. MISTRI.