Cricket 1901

CRICKET, A UGUS T 22, 1901. '/ ? £ C 0 j ? Z D i S f C ' - H - C s fA fiT “ Together joined in Cricket’s m an ly to il.” — B y ro n . wo. sea. v o i. xx . T H U R S D A Y , A U G U S T 2 2 , 1901. p r ic e 2 d. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD- ME. C. FE ITH . It is only when one is talking with a Dutch cricketer that one realises how great must have been the determination and persistency which, in the teeth of discouragements innumerable, could enable men to plant a foreign game, bristling with diffi­ culties, so firmly on their native soil that it has be­ come the summer game of the country. With few opportunities for practice, and fewer still of playing against men who are better than themselves, the Dutch­ men have learned a great deal more than the rudiments of the game, and if some of them could play in first- class company they would d e v e lo p in to fir s t-c la s s cricketers. Mr. Feith, who is a member of the Dutch nobility, is undoubtedly the best and most promising batsman that Holland has produced, and it was cruel treatment on the part of Dame Fortune to deprive him of the honour of scor­ ing a hundred in the first match of the tour when he only wanted one more run to accomplish the feat. In Holland he has already played two or three innings of a hundred, including one of 102 in the year 1896 against a touring team of Worcestershire Amateurs, in which Mr. H . K . Foster and other well-known men were included. He is the captain of the Hague Cricket Club. He, of course, speaks excel­ lent English, but the chances are that when he got out at L ord’s in trying to make his hundredth run he thought a lot of things in Dutch. Most of the Dutchmen are steady players, and Mr. Feith attributes this to the natural characteristics. “ I think it is chiefly a question of disposition,” he said, “ and men who are born hitters are scarce with us. Beukema, the Hague player, is one of the hitters, and although about 75 is his highest score, he often hits 6’s and makes the game very lively. H e is the lawn tennis champion of Holland. But, as I say, most of the Dutchmen are steady players. And yet we are very excitable, and I believe that English teams which have visited Holland have been much amused by the way in which men sometimes when a run is in question call out ‘ n o ! yes ! go back ! stay there ! ’ and so on, all the while gesticulating a good deal. But we shall be more collected as time goes on, and we become more accustomed to the coolness of English players.” “ H ow are your matches in Holland reported ? ” “ Ah ! We have nothing like your daily sporting papers. Some of the ordinary daily papers give the results of the matches in an abbreviated form, but the full details of the scores never appear, except in the official paper the Nederland- sche Sport, and even in this the whole of the scores do not appear. The matches in Rotterdam are generally reported in the city papers. But a young player can very seldom count upon seeing his doings chronicled in the papers, whereas in England and Australia he wili be certain to find the scores of the matches in some paper or other. We have no weekly average lists, and no book at the end of the season like your ‘ Wisden.’ ” “ Y ou have to play cricket on Sundays ? ” “ I t is the only day on which most men could get away. Many of the players go to church in the morning, service beginning at ten o’clock or half-past, and arrive on the ground at abouthalf-pasteleven. There is a rule in the matches in the club competitions that there must be at least six hours’ play, provided that the weather permits, but speaking generally, we play until half-past five, although a match is always brought to a conclusion if possible. On the whole the weather is more sunny than in England, and there are not so many cloudy days; it is, perhaps, hotter in Holland as a rule than it is in England. It is not very often that b ig scores are made in Holland, but sometimes a total of between 250 and 300 has been run up by a side. It is one of the difficulties with which we have to contend that just when men are beginning to show great promise of being good players they have to go away to the colonies. Beyerinck, who is one of our best batsmen, was called away at the last moment before we MB. C. FEITH. From a photo by the Elite Portrait Co., 267, High Holbcm , London.