Cricket 1899

146 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M at 2 5 , 1 8 99. as a rule—and he gave me much useful advice, and besides that he made me smarter in the field; there are always things that one can learn, even in fielding. I never went on to bow l for Surrey, although I believe that it is on record that I did. As a matter of fact the papers put down my name instead of my brother Tom .” Although Humphrey says that Jupp made him smarter in the field, it is diffi­ cult to see how that could have been done, for he was always a remarkably good field. One of his catches is historic. In a county match, when W .G. was in his prime, Humphrey was observed to go up very close to him at m id-on soon after he began his innings. After an over or two W .G . suddenly made a tremendous hit, and Humphrey, throw ing himself at full length, brought off the catch. His own remarks about this catch are very interesting. “ We had been saying that it was useless to expect to get Mr. Grace out for anything like a small score. After thinking a little, I went up to Jim Street, who was bowling, and told him to bowl a good length ball, a little to the leg-side, saying that I would go up close. Street said ‘ I shan’t do it ; he would kill you.’ And for two or three overs he didn’t bow l this ball. But whether m y remark put him off a little, or whether he did it with deliberation, he certainly gave the ball to W .G . after an over or two, and W .G . got hold of it. He had then only made two or three runs. It is curious that just before this he said to Street, ‘ I f ever I felt like getting 400, I feel like it to-da y.’ Mr. Grace seemed a good deal surprised at being caught in this way, but he never made the slightest remark to me about it untilyearsafterwards, when he brought off what I thought was a marvellous catch at Cheltenham. Then he turned to me and said, ‘ Dick, that was pretty nearly as good as the one you caught me with at the Oval.’ So he had not forgotten.” There were very few men of his day who were better against fast bow ling than Humphrey, who played Freeman, Allan H ill, and the M cIntyres—the giants of the period—with equal ease. “ A bowler that I did not like,” he said, “ was Mr. Miles, the Gloucestershire slow bowler, who used to keep the ball wide of the wicket, and let it break away. Speaking of Mr. Miles reminds me of a very exciting finish against Gloucester­ shire. We had about 90 to get. A ll the Colts were put in first and diddled out b y W .G . Then Jupp and I, who were together for some time, put on over 60, m y own score being 42. Eventually the last two men were in—Southerton and Marten—with two runs to make to win. Marten gave a very simple catch to Miles, which, if it had been taken, would have lost us the match b y a run. But, as will happen sometimes to the best field, Mr. Miles dropped the catch, with the result that a run was made. Then we got a leg-bye, and won by a wicket. Somebody said about the match that, although it had a close finish, it was lost by Miles. “ I f you were to ask me,” said Hum ­ phrey, “ who wag the best bat I ever saw, I should say Mr. Grace. After him I should place Mr. R . A. H . Mitchell. Not but what I thoroughly appreciate a good innings b y Ranjitsinhji or some of the other gentlemen who do such great things nowadays, but it seems to me that the modern game requires that a man shall be always at the top of his form. The ball must be hit with the utmost accuracy, body and arms and wrists must all go together, and there is no ‘ playing down,’ for the least little accident means disaster. Now it seems to me that for a man to rival the performances of the two gentle­ men that I have ir entioned he must be able to do well under all circumstances for season after season. It may be that this can be done, and if so I shall readily admit that I am wrong. Y ou must, however, remember that while in Mr. Mitchell’ s days there used to be one good wicket out of five, there is now not one out of ten bad ” “ F or many years you were coaching in the West of England ? ” ‘ ‘ I went to Clifton College in 1883 and remained there until 1889. After that I was for five years partly at Bedford Grammar School and umpire at Mr. Laverton’s, at Westbury, in Wiltshire.” “ Who are the best known men who passed through your hands while you were at Clifton and Bedford ? ” “ A t Clifton there were Mr. W . H . Brain, Mr. J. H . Brain, Mr. Key, Mr. Ernest Smith, Mr. Gerald Fow ler, Mr. J. R. Head, and many other gentlemen who have done well, including Mr. John­ son, of Edinburgh, who was the best boy wicket-keeper I ever saw. At Bedford there were Mr. R. Joyce, and Mr. C. L. Beasley, who is now in Lancashire—he was a splendid player as a boy, but after he left school I don’t think he took so much trouble. I was very pleased at a little thing of which I was reminded last year by a gentleman I met at Quantock Lodge. He said : ‘ I was along with Jack Brain the other night when he was talking about you. He said that you taught him more in about a quarter of an hour than in all the rest of the time that he had been at C lifton ; you took him down once when he wanted it. He had made 50 odd against the M .C.C., and came up to you expecting that you would pat him on the back, only to find that you pulled him all to pieces.’ I remembered the incident very well. I also remember that Mr. Brain took m y lecture exceedingly well, and in after years laughed over it with me.” “ Y ou also looked after the Surrey colts for a time ? ” “ Mr. Burbidge and I used to captain the twenty-twos and umpire in cup matches. A t that time Surrey was badly ib need of young players, and we were fortunate enough to spot several good ones, including Maurice Read, Abel, Diver, and Lohmann. But I had practi­ cally nothing to do with George Lohmann as far as coaching is concerned. I had been suffering for a good many years from throwing out my arm, and eventu­ ally I had to give up county cricket. When I first went to Clifton I couldn’t bow l a ball with any certainty as to where it was going, but after a time the arm got better. About this time Mr. Frank Debenham and Mr. W . H . Spottis- wood gave me private engagements.” In 1873 Humphrey went to Australia with Mr. Grace’s team. If it had not been for illness and accidents, he would have given a good account of himself. “ But,” he said, “ in the second week after we landed, I was taken ill with dysentery, from which I have never entirely recovered. For about four hours I was nearly dead, and I lost seven pounds in weight during that time. Soon after I recovered sufficiently to be able to play, I was thrown out of a trap, with the result that I nearly broke my thigh, and was more or less ill all through the trip. The highest score that I made was 35 not out. I remember that in an up country match I stood as umpire. On the night before the match, the editor of the local newspaper—he was to be the other umpire —came to me in order to learn the rules of the game. When our men went in there was an appeal to the editor against one of his own side for a catch at the wicket. N ot knowing in the least what to do, the umpire said gravely, ‘ I think that this is a case in which I can consult my brother umpire.’ I told him that I could not give an opinion in this particular instance, but, in a whisper, I added, ‘ Give him out.’ So he acted on my advice, and gave his decision against the batsman. It was all very quaint.” Humphrey can tell a tale against him­ self, and can get a great deal of pleasure out of it. “ There was a good laugh against me in one of the Surrey matches at Lord’s,” he said. “ I was in with Maurice Read, who hit a ball to square leg somewhere in the direction of Mr. Yernon. When I saw where it was going, I never thought for a moment that Mr. Yernon could possibly field it, and so I started for the third run, without looking to see what had happened. When I arrived at the other wicket I found myself face to face with Maurice, who was asking in astonishment what I was doing there. 1Didn’t you hear me shout ? ’ he asked. Meanwhile, Mr. Walker had the ball in his hands at this wicket, and tossed it up to the other end. Everybody laughed, and so did I—when I had time to think it over.” W . A. B e t t k s w o k t h . Below will be found Humphrey’s batting averages for Surrey in all matches :— Not Total Highest Year. Matches. Inns. out. runs. score. Aver. 1870 .... 16 ... 30 ... 1 ... 450 ... 82 .... 15-51 1871 ... 16 ... 32 ... 3 ... 706 ... 116* .. . 24-34 1872 ... 15 ... 27 ... 2 ... 668 ... 70 .. . 26 72 1873 ... 15 ... 29 ... 2 ... 452 ... 51 . 16 74 1874 ... 12 ... 22 ... 0 ... 410 ... 74 .. . 18 63 1876 ... 11 ... 22 ... 1 ... 240 ... 43 .... 11*42 1H76 ... 13 ... 26 ... 3 ... 391 ... 71 .... 17-00 1877 ... 10 ... 18 ... 2 ... V59 ... 51 .. . 16*18 1878 ... 12 ... 21 ... 1 . 279 ... 47 .. . 13 95 1879 . 7 ... 9 ... 0 . .. 182 ... 57 ..., 20-22 18fe0 ... 14 ... 26 ... 1 .. 384 ... 67 , 18-36 1881 ... 4 ... 8 ... 0 ... 77 ... 30 .... 962 145 270 16 4498 CENTURY. 116* 1770 y. Kent, at Canterbury, 1871 ........... •Signifies not out. lie*