Cricket 1900

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toll.”— Byron. n o . 555 . v o i . x i x . THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 3 , 1 9 0 0 . * b i o e a<j. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD- J . W O O D S . There is reason to believe that W oods, the fast bowler of the W est Indian Team which toured in England this season, has only been photographed once b y a pro- H e is very solidly built, and is of medium height. W hen his face is in repose one can plainly see that his disposition is phlegmatic, but when it lights up it is full of intelligence. H e speaks English accurately but slow ly, and as m ay be imagined he does not make long speeches. H is bow ling is too well known to need taught myself. There was no one to give lessons. I saw m y friends bow ling and I thought I would like to b ow l too. So one evening, when I was about fifteen, I went up to the cricket ground, with other boys, and took up a ball and began to bow l. That’s how it was.” “ H ow did you get on ? ” By pel mission o f the Illustrated Sporting and DramaticZNe-ws. THE HASTINGS CRICKET GEOUND. fessional photographer, other than by snapshots of which no trace can be found. A s it is impossible to obtain this photograph, it m ay be advisable to say that W oods is afine specimen of thedarkest of the coloured natives of the W est Indies, that is to say, he is very dark indeed. H e has a good figure, which denotes strength in every movement. description, and all that need be said about it is that when bow ling fast he comes across from the leg, while his slow ball comes in from the off. Although — or perhaps because— he takes a very short run, he makes a pretty b ig hole in the ground. W hen asked how he learned to bow l, he replied : “ Learn to b ow l? I didn’t learn. I “ W ell, M r. W arn er told m e I ’d come on as a good bow ler, so I used to go every evening to the ground to practise. I was much faster then. B u t I was ill one time and caught a cold in m y head, which was bad for m e ; so I couldn’t bow l so fast afterwards. I learned how to make the ball break from m y own idea. There was nobody to show m e.”