Cricket 1901

448 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. O c t . 31, 1901. PERSONALITIES OF ENGLISH CRICKETERS. To see ourselves as others see us is use­ ful, no doubt, at times. If only, for this reason, the following notes contributed by Mr. A.. W. Tillinghast, of the Phila­ delphia C.C., to the American Cricketer, may be of interest:— “ W. G. Grace always emerges from tbe pavilion in a ponderous fashion, stroking his beard. Arriving at the wickets, he always lifts a bail from the wickets and carefully marks his block with it. Then, carefully removing any traces of dust from the bail, he replaces it on the wicket, and, straightening his back, glances all around him at the field, strokes his beard, and in his own good time faces the bowler. He ako invariably strokes his beard as he watches a well-placed cut skimming to the boundary. “ Ranji always runs lightly from the pavilion, his silk shirt fluttering in the breeze. “ Little Bobby Abel has a curious trick of pulling at the knee flaps of his pads as he leaves the pavilion and pulling his cap over his left eye. While waiting for the ball after the bowler’s delivery, he delivers a series of quick little taps with his bat in the block. “ Jephson, on his way to the wickets, pulls on his gloves, and with his bat tucked under his arm, usually turns his head as though looking back at a clock. “ Hayward, on his outward journey, wags his head in an alarming manner, and when homeward bound, especially aft^r a good innings, he runs half-way from the wickets to the pavilion. The remainder he walks slowly, fanning him­ self with his hat. “ One can tell when Lord Hawke feels in good form. Having made a few runs, and settling down to the bowling, he calls his partner in a well-pitched tenor note. Gunn, on the other hand, has a brazen bass voice, and when the giant gives full play to his lungs in declining to run, the air reverberates. “ 8. M. J. Woods and A. N. Hornby are particularly averse to wearing a cap, and in all kinds of weather they play bareheaded. “ Sammy Woods used to have a peculiar notion that he could not get runs if he went in to bat No. 6. One day, however, he went in sixth by mis­ take and scored a century. From that day to this he has been eccentric in his regard for that position on the list. “ A. N. Hornby stands with his bat almost behind his right leg, and once, owing to this habit, he was actually bowled without playing at the ball, his bat having in some way become caught in the straps of his pad. One other eccentricity is shared by Woods and Hornby—each delights in stealing runs in the most outrageous manner. “ L. C. H. Palairet is almost certain to be seen with a handkerchief around his neck, while Mason and Trott have a con­ firmed habit of pulling their caps down over the eyes. “ The eccentric strides of both Lock­ wood and Bradley when bowling are eno gh to strike terror to the heart of a timid batsman. Jackson, on the other hand, lounges up to the wickets as though he were going to send down a very slow ba ll; but yet they come down at a terrific rate. “ Wells, in bowling, changes the ball from the left to the right hand when approaching the wicket. “ Townsend, though he bats left- handed, bowls with his right, and comes up to the wicket with a rolling gait and a particularly long stride. “ Mead has a curious habit of changing his step several times before he delivers the ball, and C. B. Pry also suffers from an extraordinary inability to get into step. “ Johnny Briggs would remain for a second or two after he had delivered the ball in the position in which he was when the ball left his hand, his arm still out­ stretched an an amazed expression on his face, as though overcome by surprise that the ball did not take a wicket. “ Jessop crouches low after taking his block, holding 'the bat handle with his right hand close to the shoulder blade, and with his left at the extreme top. “ Lockwood rests his bat in the block and sways the handle to and from him continually. “ Pry stands upright and when beaten by a ball has a habit of stroking his nose. “ P. F. Warner, as he goes out to bat, allows his left hand to go towards the buckle of histrousers to give them a little hitch. This little habit is scarce worth noticing, but when you observe that it is repeated more than a hundred times in the course of scoring a century you begin to take an interest in it. “ K. J. Key always played at mid-on, and he had a funny little trick of return­ ing every ball to the wicket-keeper in preference to the near-by bowler. “ G. J. Weigall has a most ludicrous habit of walking around each newcomer at the bat, observing him from every point of view. “ Mold, when he bowls, gives one an idea of a whirling windmill. His face is grim and determined. Once at the Oval he sent down a ball with such force that when it hit the wicket the bails went flying for a distance of 56 yards. “ W. G. Quaife is the smallest cricketer among the counties, and he is renowned for his great patience.” THE BOMBAY CRICKET SEASON, 1901. The curtain has rung down on the Bombay cricket season of 1901, and in most places throughout the presidency cricketers are faced by the usual long period of inactivity before next season opens. To take the local season first it would be a perversion of the truth to call it a fcuccessful one, although several of the players who participated were admittedly of a higher class than many of those who had played in previous seasons. Of the new players who made their debzit, none can be said to have met with much success. Of these, the best were probably J. T. Weatherby, P. M. Heath, A. C. Rumboll, M. F. R. Wingfield, and later on in the season E. L. Sale and L. E. S. Ward. Each had one or more good performances to his credit at the end of the season, but their form was very unreliable, and certainly of neither the old or the new players can it be said the form displayed approached anything higher than mediocrity. There were no batting achievements by either European or nat.ve players of any note and in this respect the season was par­ ticularly disappointing. We do not look for records in the matter of run- getting on the Bombay wickets; but a season that cannot point a single individual innings of three, and but few innings of over 50, cannot be regarded otherwise than as disappoint­ ing. The most important annual fixtures played in Bombay are those between the local and Poona Gymkhanas, the Bombay and Parsee Gymkhanas and the Presi­ dency match ; but none of these matches this year were in any way remarkable for the cricket shown. Bowlers, on the whole, had a more successful time than batsmen, Mehta, Baloo and Kharas in particular coming through the season with very good figures. Poona cricketers had a distinctly successful season, a fact which is largely due to the posses­ sion of such sterling all-round players as Captains Douglas and Wood, the first- named being far and away the best bats­ man in the Presidency. The Deccan capital could always place a very strong batting side in the field, as, in addition to the two players mentioned, there were Major Pinney, Captain Bignell, F. L. Sprott, A. D. Wilkins, andL. C.P. Milman, the first four all likely run-getters, and the last-named a really good bowler. With all this talent available it is no wonder that the Gymkhana went through the season with only one defeat in important matches, viz., that against the Belgaum Gymkhanas, and this defeat hardly de­ tracted from the all-round form they showed throughout the season, as on that occasion they were represented by a very weak team. Outside Bombay and Poona, the district Gymkhanas at Dharwar and Belgaum were able to place very fair teams in the field, indeed, their success was one of the most gratifying features of the season, as it is not often we find a district Gymkhana strong enough to compete with the Bombay and Poona Gymkhanas which was the case this year with Dharwar and Belgaum .—Bombay Gazette. P ORTBAIT MEDALLIONS OF POPULAR CRICKETERS.—W . G. Grace, K. S. Ranjit sinfcji, C. B. Fry, C. J. Kortright, A. C. MacLaren A. E. Stoddart, J. R. Mason, G. L . Jessop, Abel Richardson, Hayward, Lockwood, Bearne (Alec).— Price 2d. each, post free, 3d., orthe set of 13, postfree, 2s 2d .—M e r b it t a n d H a tc h e s , L td ., 168, upper Thames Street London, E.C.! L AWS OF CRICKET, with List of Fixtures and Memo, pages. One Penny each, post free lid. Ciricket Offices, 168, Upper Thames Street, E.C. Printed and Published for the Proprietor by M e b b it t & H a tc h e s , L t d ., 167, 168, and 1£9, Upper Thames Street, London, E.C., Oct. 31st, 1901.