Cricket 1899

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. No. 5 2 6 . VOL. XV III. THUESDAY, SEPTEMBEE 21, 1899. p b i o b sa. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. MR . A . C. S. GLOVER . A batsman of a type which is pleasing both to connoisseurs and spectators, Mr. Glover has established himself as an in­ dispensable member of the Warwickshire team, occasionally undertaking the duties of captain with success. He learned his cricket at Repton, where he was a contemporary of Mr. G. B. Fry and Mr. C. L . H . Palairet, and during his second year sometimes acted as captain of the team while Mr. Fry was away at a crammer’s. A t that time he kept wicket, standing back to fast bowling, until, after he had split a finger, and had other accidents, he came to the conclusion that wicket- keeping was not his fo r te . He never made a hundred while he was at school, and it is noteworthy that before he succeeded in accomplish­ ing this feat he scored ninety- nine on three occasions. This was not due to the nervous­ ness which is often experi­ enced by a batsman when he is nearing his hundreth run, for on all three occasions he was ignorant of the state of the score when he got out. After leaving schoolheplayed for the Derbyshire Friars and the Warwickshire Crusaders, and many other clubs, even­ tually finding himself in the Staffordshire team, and mak­ ing nearly a hundred against Warwickshire. He came into the Warwickshire eleven by residence, at a time when Pallettand Shiltonwere prac­ tically the only bowlers, and only made one run in his firstmatch. Since then he has gone on improving until at the present time he is one of the most useful men in the team. One of the reasons which prevents him from making a big average is that when he has made a good many runs he begins to enjoy himself so much that he hits rashly and gets out. If he could conquer this failing there is no reason why he should not make very big scores. Speaking of his first year in the Warwickshire team, he said, “ In this year I had to go in three times to save the hat trick in consecutive innings— against Mold and Woodcock on fast wickets, and Pougher on a sticky wicket, which suited him admirably. I had a very narrow squeak from Wood­ cock, for he gave me a very fast yorker, while Pougher’s first ball was a bit warm. But happily I survived all three times.” “ You must have had as much fielding to do as any man in England since you began to play for Warwickshire ? ” “ Well, I have certainly had a good deal. But I should say that Walter Quaife holds the record in this way, for he had many long outings for Sussex before he came to Warwickshire. The worst time that I ever had was when Yorkshire made their record of over 800 against us, for it was the first match of our season and we were all a bit out of condition. I remember that after Peel had reached his second hundred he was batting for about an hour for seven runs, which was almost too much of a good thing. W e are often accused of fielding badly, and there is a great deal of truth in the accusa­ tion ; but can you wonder at it ? A man— no matter how good a field he is— cannot be at his best after running about for nearly a couple of days on a ground as hard as iron, for he is bound to be more or less shaken, and, personally, I am a great believer in rubber soles in dry weather and on hard ground. There is little to grumble at in the Warwickshire fielding when we are able to get the other side out in reasonable tim e; but when we get an awful outing against Surrey or Yorkshire, I admit that we fall off.” “ The Edgbaston wicket seems to have become one of the best in England ? ” “ Yes. There is absolutely no fire in it. Our bowlers do much better when they get on a nippy wicket like that at Leicester. It is a difficult thing to captain a team like ours when we are playing at Edgbaston. I don’t speak of myself in this case, for I have only occasionally acted as a substitute. You see we have very little bowling since Field has been unable to play — he is a very promising bowler indeed— and a captain is often at a loss to know what to do. In fact all that he can do sometimes is to save his bowlers from coming to a complete standstill. It seems to me that the only thing a captain can really do which is effective is tokeep cheer­ ful and hope for the best, and try all the experiments possible. I, myself, tried 1 MR. A . G. S. GLOVER. {From a Photo by Graham's Art Studios , Leamington Spa.)