Cricket 1901

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.” — Byron. n o. 6 6 2 . T o t . x x . THUKSDAY, MAECH 28, 1901. i b i o e aa. the great consideration. Whether there will be any play on the off-side at all if the proposed l.b.w . rule comes into existence seems doubtful, for there is a strong probability that bowlers will place all or nearly all their men on the leg-side, and that a new race of leg-break bowlers will speedily rise up. But nearly every­ thing in connection with cricket has been altered since Caffyn’ s days, and the present generation is so accustomed to changes and novelties of all kinds in all walks of life that it is hardly likely to be as­ tonished if the whole scheme of batting, bow l­ ing, and fielding is unlike anything that has pre­ ceded it. To the few men now living who were great players at the same time as Caffyn (among them Mr. V. E . Walker, Mr. E. A. H . Mitchell, and Mr. E. Dowson), cricket must indeed seem to them nowadays a curious game, although it has b y no means alto­ gether changed for the worse. W e do many things better now than were common in the days of old. Who, for instance, would ever dream of seeing a professional turn out on the cricket field arrayed in such incon­ gruous costume as the player in a tale related by Caffyn, and also by Thoms ? A gentleman, who had an eleven of his own, arranged matches annually (on his own ground) with a keen antagonist, who however could never succeed in raising a team strong enough to win. At last in desperation he approached COMPARISONS. REFLECTIONS SUGGESTED BY SEEING W . CAFFYN W ALKING ABOUT THE OYAL. Slow ly and with head somewhat bent with age the old man moves about, stopping here and there as some recollection seems to come to him. Some of the old landmarks are gone, but more than enough are left to enable him to call to mind great matches in which he figured, years ago, with c o n s p ic u o u s su ccess. What must be his feelings as he looks upon the old familiar scene of his triumphs ? But can it be familiar at all to him, when even to a man who had played three years ago it would appear strange, with its magnifi­ cent new pavilion and stands stretching so far along the eastern end of o f the Oval ? In Caffyn’s time there was a humble building, and no raised tiers which can hold thousands of spectators— no boundaries, no press box whence telegraphic reports of the match are spread all over the country. O th e r th in g s are changed also. A t the time when Caffyn was one of the most brilliant players among cricketers, and for some years after­ wards, men made a great many of their runs by the most fascinating of all strokes—the cut. We have changed all that, and the fashionable stroke in these days is the glance to leg. While the modem stroke is b y no means as pretty as the older one, it is at least as effective and as sife, which is after all S . a Photo by Dunn J-* Son, R ed Hill. {Reproduced by kind permission o f Messrs. W. Ittackwootl <k Sons, Edinburgh and Londm*)