Cricket 1900

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.” — Byron. ho. 543. v o l . x i x . T H U R S D A Y , J U N E 2 1 , 1900. p k io b aa. A CHAT ABOUT MR. C. B. FEY. After a successful career at Repton School Mr. Pry, as a member of the Oxford University eleven, began to bewilder the critics by his curious style. Both as a bitsman and a bowler he was unlike anybody playing at the time or anybody who had played since the game was instituted. He was stiff and awkward to a degree when he had a bat in his hand, and it seemed incredible that any bowler should find a difficulty in disposing of such a man. For he never seemed to have the least idea of what he was going to do with a ball. But somehow or other he made runs, and a good many of them, and every now and then he hit with tremendous power, although one always felt that it must have been a happy accident when he lifted a ball into the seats. For two years he played for Oxford, always doing more than well enough to justify his captain in choosing him for the eleven, and in his third year, when he was captain, ho played one of the most remarkable innings of a hundred in the University match at Lord’s that had ever been seen; it was remarkable because, although it was a downright bad innings—no milder word than “ bad” would be suitable—it showed so much latent force that critics in general were irritated. Why could not a man with such obvious strength and skill take the bowling in charge instead of waiting about on it as though he were afraid of hurting the ball ? It was a conundrum. On all sides one heard the same sort of remark: “ It was a rotten innings, but if Fry could get rid of his stiffness and let himself go, he would be one of the finest batsmen in England.” But this was not so easy as it looked, and it was some years before Mr. Fry found out his strength. But when he had once found that he could hit tremendously hard without losing his powers of defence in the least degree there was no stopping him. In the Sussex eleven he found his chance, and from that time to the present day he has been one of the bats nen most dreaded by bowlers, English and Aus­ tralian alike. Once and once only he played for Surrey, by birth qualification, but whether it was thought that such an ungainly player, as he was then, could never succeed as a batsman, or whether he somehow or other escaped notice, he was never asked to adorn the team again by his presence—a mistake for which Sussex should ever be thankful. Mr. Fry himself attributes his i nprovoment to the effects of watching Prince Ranjitsinhji and Mr. F. S. Jackson. Be that as it may, when Ranjitsinhji began to play for Sussex Mr. Fry certainly began to astonish everybody by the vastly greater freedom which he showed. He never went in for cutting as a fine art, but as an on-side player he has very few equals, and is excelled by none in the force and accuracy with which he makes his strokes. Even now he would not be described by his most enthusiastic friends as a pretty player ; he is far better than that, for his every action denotes immense power and resource. Few perhaps of the very greatest batsmen have been really pretty players; they have all had a style of their own which would not suit anybody else at all, and one can hardly imagine another man playing in the same style as Mr. Fry. For some years he has been good enough to be included in any team representative of the full strength of England, and far from showing any signs of falling off he seems to improve; he is one of the few men who are in­ valuable to a side whether the wicket is good or bad. One might almost say that the only time when a bowler is likely to find out his weak point is when he has made about 97; he has met with persistent ill luck in just missing his hundred during several periods of his career. Among his many wonderful inn­ ings, one of the very finest was his 162 not out last year against Yorkshire, who had declared, leaving Sussex to make 331 runs in three hours. Of course every­ body thought that Sussex would play for a draw, and perhaps lose eight or nine wickets before accomplishing their object. But when Ranjitsinhji and Mr. Fry got together they made runs so alarmingly quickly that there really seemed a possibility that the runs would be knocked off. Even when Ranjitsinhji was out, and his successor played a steady game, Mr. Fry continued to hit all the bowling about with such ease that when stumps were drawn only 70 runs more were required to win with six wickets in hand. The Yorkshire captain must have thanked his stars that he had not declared a little sooner. As a bowler, Mr. Fry also astonished the critics, most of whom said very plainly indeed that he threw in a most decided manner. He certainly had a most curious delivery, but as time went on, and he escaped being no-balled, many cricketers