Cricket 1900

CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J an . 25, 1900. whereupon he smiled grimly, and prophe­ sied that he would not be hit in that direction again—a prophecy which was fulfilled, for, much to his disgust, he was taken off at the end of the over. He was a splendid man to go in at a crisis, for, like a good many other cricketers, he was a bit of a fatalist. He may have felt nervous sometimes, when he had to go in at a time when all his companions were failing, and when a cool head was absolutely necessary for success, but if he was he must have been an accomplished actor. His style was grace­ ful without being particularly attractive : he played about four balls out of five with the air of a man who should say, “ Oh! this is skittles; give me a ball to hit.” But when the ball to hit arrived he was quite another person, and he watched its progress to the boundary with the greatest delight. Unfortunately, from the bowler’s point of view, he was as likely as not to pick out the best ball in the over for a big drive, and this made it trying to bowl to him even when he seemed to be looking uncomfortable. It was very seldom that Bates lost his temper even when catches were missed off him wholesale—I once saw five missed off him in about a quarter-of-an-hour, and he only said that he had seen better fielding in his time. Once when he was bowling at a most critical moment an inci­ dent happened which would, one might think, have been annoying enough to make any bowler angry, but Bates was quite philosophical over it. The batsman at the other end had driven him to the on side. It was a hit for one, but in the exciting state of the game the two bats­ men made immense efforts, and there seemed just time for a two. But the ball was fielded promptly, thrown in straight at a tremendous pace, and splendidly taken by Bates, who whipped off the bails and triumphantly shouted “ How ’ s that ? ” The batsman, who knew that he was out by at least a yard, assumed a surprised and pained air at such a question, and was immensely astonished when he found that he was given ‘ ‘ not out.” It seemed that the umpire, as good a sportsman as ever lived, had turned his back in mortal terror (?) when he saw the ball thrown in so hard, and was therefore unable to give his attention to the game at the psychological moment. When he looked up the batsman was standing serenely in his ground, looking as calm as if he had been there for ten minutes. Obviously there was nothing to be done but to say “ not out.” Bates slowly picked up the bails, put them on the wicket, and then said to the umpire : “ You had a narrowish escape. I shouldn’t think that that ball missed you by more than ten yards ! ” As a bowler, Bates had great accuracy of pitch, and a fair amount of judgment in varying his pace. It was very seldom indeed that he ever found a wicket on which he could not get a certain amount of break, and on a queer one the break was sometimes alarming, the more so as the ball popped up very quickly and very high. It was often easy to hit ball after ball for a single or two just out of reach of the bowler on the on side, until he placed a man about fifteen yards behind him, as he sometimes did, when it was difficult to get him away at all. He was never afraid to pitch a ball up, and it used to be said of him that he often gave a hitter a half volley, in order to have the pleasure of seeing Tom Emmett jump, when the ball was hit tremendously hard to him at m id-off; but this was probably a libel. Sometimes he looked exceedingly simple from the pavilion. On one of these days when (from the pavilion) the ball seemed to come off the ground with great plainness, a batsman went in under the impression that there was no break. The first ball which he received from Bates was a half volley on the off side, and as he was not a man to poke about at half volleys at any period of his innings, he had a tremendous go at it. It is an open question whether he or Bates looked the more surprised when the ball soared majestically at a tremendous pace, and pitched over the ropes to square leg. A beautiful story about Bates was told to me a few years ago by Ephraim Lockwood. A match had been arranged by the Rev. F. Marshall, who had asked Lockwood to play for him. Ephraim turned up in due course, and, the other side having won the toss, the match was about to begin when Bates strolled on to the ground. With one consent, the other side, unwilling to lose the oppor­ tunity which Providence had apparently placed in their hands, said that as Mr. Marshall had engaged Lockwood they ought to be allowed to have Bates. Mr. Marshall promptly assented, but with a forethought which all Northern Rugby football players will appreciate, added that under the altered circumstances it would only be proper that there should be a new toss. To this the other side could not reasonably object. They lost it, and fielded all the rest of the day— there was no declaring at that time—for Ephraim was in brilliant form, and scored considerably over a hundred, pay­ ing particular attention to Bates, who had to do the greater part of the bowling and fielding. I never heard Bates’s version of this story, but it would doubt­ less have been very interesting to listen to. W. A. B e t t e s w o r t h . The following recollections of William Bates are taken from the Sheffield Daily Telegraph :— The news that William, known to thousands twenty years ago as “ Billy,” Bates had passed away at his home, near Huddersfield, will have roused many feelings of sympathy and regret amongst those who knew him well, and who had watched him when he was in his prime. He was included amongst the most dashing batsmen England possessed, whilst with the ball he was one of the most famous slow bowlers this country has produced. The immediate cause of his retirement from first-class cricket was, as is generally known, a very ugly accident sustained in Australia when touring there with Mr. Yernon’s team in 1887-8. It will be remembered that Mr. W. W. Read was practising at the next wicket to that occupied by Bates, and hitting the ball with tremendous force on the on side, hit the Yorkshire cricketer full on the eye, with the result that the sight of that member was lost, and any chance of Bates again taking his old position in first-class cricket was destroyed as well. Bates’ introduction to county cricket took place in 1877, and thus he built up a reputation as an all-round cricketer of the first rank in far briefer time than that which is at the disposal of many. As a matter of fact, he was before the public little more than a decade. Yet in those few years he performed so brilliantly with both bat and ball as to easily earn for himself a deserved place in teams of the country against Australia, and a place also firmly fixed in the affections of the crowds who assemble at all our great cricket matches. I was privileged a few day ago, whilst in conversation with Mr. Wostinholm, the secretary of the York­ shire County Club, to look at the application sent in by Bates at the commencement of the season 1877 to take part in the colts match of that year. He was born, according to this docu nent, at Lascelles Hall, being twenty- one years old on the 19th November the previous year, whilst his height is given as 5ft. lOin. Under the head of “ Youi special proficiency” the word “ b a t” is written, no reference whatever being made to his ability with the ball, one whichbroughthim into such great promi­ nence. He was recommended to the county by Thewlis and Ephraim Lock­ wood, and it is interesting to know that out of the great number of colts whose applications were received for that year, only Bates and Riwlin turned out to be above mediocrity. Indeed, it is not too much to say that of all the number only these two names are remembered to-day in the cricket world. In due course, a benefit match was given to Bates by the Yorkshire County Committee, upwards of £700 being realised. Huddersfield Corporation Stock to this value was pur­ chased, and placed to his credit in the bank at Huddersfield, with trustees in Lord Hawke and Messrs. Louis Hall and E. W. Hirst. Most of the principal of this sum still remains, only the interest having been paid over to Bates. The eleven years’ county career which Bates enjoyed was wonderfully crowded with big things, and he at that time was an invaluable member of a team which contained many giants of the game, and who played remarkably attractive cricket. What I want to do here is more to allude to those performances which he gave in front of Sheffield crowds, and which will still be remembered by very many. First and foremost, of course, comes that inci­ dent in 1887, when Yorkshire and Notts played at Bramall Lane. The third day of that match was perhaps the most famous in the history of the enclosure, for it was as brilliant a piece of cricket enterprise as could be described. In the last innings Yorkshire were left with 109 runs to get to win in ninety-five minutes,