Cricket 1901

30 6 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A u g . 1 , 1 9 0 1 . young players, and twice a week W . Richardf, the old Warwickshire professional, has a class of very small boys for a couple of hours. In this way he has done a great deal of good. On our own ground we have matches for boys every Saturday morning. The schools play for a shield, and show a lot of enthusiasm in their matches. Of really first-class cricket we get very little indeed, the Cuirie Cup competition and visits of English teams giving us our only b ig matches. For the Currie Cup teamR annually compete at about Christmas time at some given town—Cape Town, Johannesburg, or elsewhere. I t is really a sort of tournament which lasts for three weeks, and teams come from Kimberley, Johannesburg, Cape Town,Port Elizabeth, while no doubt Ehodesia will join before lon g.” ‘ ‘ What doyou do for ordinary practice ? ” “ Our ground is in one of the suburbs, and most of our members live in the neighbourhood; they come home on the trains and stop for some practice. We have two professionals, Frank Smith, a slow left hand bow ler who used to play for Surrey, and W . Richards, the old Warwickshire professional.” “ Were you not one of the members of the ‘ Cape Town Cricketers Troop ’ during the war p ” “ When the second invasion of the Colony took place the Government called on all loyal subjects to go out. It was in the middle of the season, just when our b ig matches were com ing on, but of course this was not to be thought of at such a tim f, and we talked it over and volunteered ; there w ire twenty-five of us. W e got a lot of fun out of it, but it was pretty hard work at times. I was in the Intelligence Department for six months, so that I was not as badly off as most of the others. It is a curious experi­ ence going out as a Tommy, and at first it seems strange to have to go to the back door, or to be told when you walk into a hotel, ‘ Oh, we can’t serve you here — only officers.’ ” “ Would you like to say anything about the raison d’etre of the tour ? ” “ Two years ago Mr. Logan arranged with L oid Hawke for the tcur of a South African team in England, but the war came and upset everything. Later, when Lord Roberts left South Africa and said that the war was practically at an end, Mr. Logan again arranged a tour. Then came the second invasion of Cape Colony, and we did not know what to do. But most of the team volunteered for military duties, and when the invasion was repelled, and everybody thought that there would be no more trouble, we promised to go with the team. All arrangements bad been made in England for the tour, and we did not see how we could back out of it, especially as announcements were continually being made by the authorities that the war, as a war, was over.” “ H ow did you like turf wickets when you first played on them at South­ ampton f ” “ It was a very funny experience to play on th em ; most of us couldn’t get near the ball for some time, and I think that some of us began to doubt whether we should ever become accustomed to them. Of course we liked them immensely when we once understood their possibilities. The Hampshire com­ mittee were exceedingly kind, and so were the M .C.C., who sent down Hand­ ford and Overton to bow l to us. This proved of the greatest assistance to us, for if we had simply bow led to each other we should not have bad the benefit of practising against the perfect length which all the professionals have.” “ What were your first impressions of first-class cricket in England P” “ The thing which struck us more than anything else— it still strikes us— is the solid, busineBs-like way in which every­ body settles down to make runs. There are very few men indeed who have a regular dash when they first come in, and very few who keep on cutting at a ball outside the off-stump. They nearly all play themselves in with the most precise care, watching the bow ling, pick­ ing out the ball to hit, and never getting excited when they have made a few runs. On the other hand we have all been accustomed to playing in one-day matches, in which, if a man wants to get runs, he must hit hard, while when he gets forty or fifty he has a bang at everything. Consequently, most of us, even now, have a sudden and wild incli­ nation to have a hit, and many an innings which has promised to be a long one has been brought to a conclusion before its time in this way. Another thing with which we have been greatly struck in England is the excellence of the umpiring. In South Africa we so often have to pick up any enthusiast who happens to be on the ground.” “ Probably with interesting results at times ? ” “ W ell, yes. I remember in a college match a man was given out leg before wicket. He walked up to the umpire and showed him his lip, which was bleeding, whereupon the umpire con­ cluded that this evidence was irrefutable, and told him that he m ight go back to his wicket. On the other hand, I have seen some exceedingly good decisions. In one match, Charles Mills, the old Surrey and Notts player, cut a full pitch very hard on to the toe of the wicket­ keeper, Alfred Richards, the ball going on to slip, who caught it. On a hesitat­ ing appeal, the umpire gave him out, and Richards then showed his boot, which being covered with the dust from the ground, showed the round mark of the ball cn the toe. Another good decision occurred in a match in which Cape Town had to make 149 against Western Province, and when the game was a tie, with tbe last man in, George Davidson, the old Derbyshire player, bow led a no-ball, which would have given the match to Cape Town. But in the excite­ ment, the batsman hit the ball, started to run, and was run out. Of course, the question arose as to whether the no-ball was to count, or whether Law 32 should be applied— that ‘ a batsman being run out, that run which was being attempted shall not be scored.’ Although the umpire was an amateur, he at once gave the right decision, that the no-ball counted first.” Mr. Bisset tells a story of Mr. S. M . J. Woods which is inimitable. “ Sammy walked into our hotel at Taunton,” he said, “ when we were playing Somerset­ shire, and in the course of conversation the subject of the match between Worces­ tershire and Gloucestershire cropped up. ‘ A h ,’ said Sammy, ‘ I remember that match, for I had nothing to do, and so thought that I would run down to Bristol and have a look at the gam e; besides, I wanted to see Jessop bat. When I got there W orcesterehire were a lot of runs on with four hours to play. Foster came to me and said, “ Well, Sammy, what am I to d o ? W e’re so many runs on but can they get the ru n s ?” “ There’s only one thing to do,” I said, “ you must declare and risk i t ; there’s only one man on the other side who can get them in the time.” So Foster declared. Presently Jessop came to me and said, “ What am I to do about these runs ? ” To which I replied, “ There’s only one thing for you to do. Y ou must go in first and hit very hard.” So Jessop put his pads on and went in. Then Foster came to me and said, “ What’s this you ’ve been doing, Sammy ? Y ou ’ve told Jessop that the runs can easily be made, and yet you told me to declare ! ” “ W ell,” I said, “ I ’ve declared your inn­ ings and I ’ve put Jessop in first. That’s what I came for— to see Jessop bat.” ’ Such wad Sammy’s tale,” continued Mr. Bisset, “ but I may add that when we looked up the scores of the match we found that Jessop not only did not go in first but did not go in at all, and we therefore concluded that there m ight be other little discrepancies in the story. Afterwards we were talking about the customs in use at various grounds, and Sammy said that he always made his own rules on the Taunton ground. Whereupon we atked him why he did n ot arrange to have six for a hit over the ropes, since it would be a fine thing for him. ‘ Y es,’ said Sammy, ‘ it would be a fine thing no doubt, but the committee wouldn’t allow i t ! ’ ” W . A. B e tt e sw o k th . KENSINGTON PARK v. KENLEY.—Played at Kenley on July 26. Kiai.iT. H. B. Drake,c Conyers, b Bemmeide ..........10 E E Paterson,b Conran 1 E.H.Beazley, b Conran 0 J. Bruce, c Conran, b Hemmerde ..........11 W . Bruce, b Conyers... 9 E. N. G. Harper, b Conran .......... ... 5 N. F.Macleod,b Dalton 10 C. F. Tuffnell, b Dalton ................. J. Crawford, c and b Conyers ................. H. 8 Vade-Walpole, lbw, b Conyers G. Penfold not out ... B 3, lb 2, nb 3 ... Total K ensington P a r k . E. Dalton, c Crawford, b Tuifnell ..........21 H. Barnes, run out ... 3 W. S. Cohen, b Vade- Walpole ................. 8 J. R. Conyers, c Vade- Walpole, b Tuffnell 4 M. Melville, b Vade- Walpole ................. 1 M. A. Nicholas,bVade- Walpole ................. C T. W. Hemmerde, b Vade-Walpole ... 9 E. H. Samuel, b Vade- Walpole .................12 B. H. Conran, c J. Bruce,b V.-Walpole 4 A.D.Campbell,notout 1C H. T. Wright, b Vade- Walpole ................. 0 Wide .., .......... 1 Total 78