Cricket 1901

60 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A p r i l 11, 1901. THE SITUATION. A CONVERSATION W ITH MR. CHUCKERUP, AN OFFICIAL 'WHO PRESIDES OVER THE DESTINIES (IN THE FIELD) OF A “ WEAK MEDIUM ” CRICKET CLUB. “ How would the proposed alterations affect you and your club P” “ First of all, Mister, what might be the alterations you refer to P” “ Well, it is thought that the M.C.O. will take strong action in the matter of throwing, an d ------ ” “ Oh, yes. I know all about the chucking business. The county captains aint a-goin’ to allow Mold and Fry to bowl any more. Well, it ain’t none of my business.” “ But the M.C.C. committee have said that the bowlers are not to be suspended.” “ Oh, haint they P Well, that ain’t none of my business neither.” “ But isn’t it your business when the M.C.C. hints very strongly that umpires don’t do their duty in the matter of no­ balling men who are said to throw P” “ Don’t do their duty, umpires don’t P A lot the M.C.C. know about i t ! Let ’em come down to our ground and see.” “ What would they see P” “ They’d see fair play for one thing. For instance, I don’t mind telling you what I do myself. Now, scfrne people said that two of our bowlers chucked. So what does I do P I watches ’em very carefully, from both ends of the wicket, and I sees that there aint a sign of a throw. So I doesn’t no-ball ’em. Now, in some of the clubs as plays against us there are men who were said by a few people—just like a few people in first- class cricket—to chuck every now and then. So what does I do again p I watches ’em carefully, and, of course, I find that they throws. So I no-balls ’em. And yet the M.C.C. will tell you umpires don’t do their duty ! ” “ But how do you know whether a man throws or not ? ” “ Ah, that’ s where the difficulty comes in. There isn’t nothing in the laws about it, and so you have to go on your own opinion. And it seems to me that if your are an umpire in first-class cricket you’ve got to no-ball a man, supposin’ half-a-dozen old cricketers says that he throws, whether all the rest of the world says he doesn't or not. If you don’t no­ ball him, then you are deliberately a-aidin’ and abettin’ of the bowler! Seems a rum thing to me, especially as the laws don’t say anything about what a chuck is.” “ But it is believed that the M.C.C. will define what a throw is.” “ Define ? I don’t quite understand.” “ Well, it is said that they are going to state in words exactly what a throw is, so that umpires may not have the slightest difficulty in future in knowing what to do.” “ Well, I ’m blest! You may take your aflidavy that that’ll make things ten times worse than before. How can you say what a throw is ? What a game cricket will be soon ! Half-a-dozen new laws every year and none of ’em of much use. Why, it will soon be as bad as Rugby laws at football, and they take the cake up to now. But what was the second alteration you was talking about ?” “ The proposed new law of leg-before- wicket.” “ Ah, I ’ve heard about that, but I can’t say that I ’ve rightly mastered it as yet. What do it say ? ” “ The striker is out if with any part of his person (except the hand) which is between wicket and wicket, he intercept a ball which would hit his wicket.” “ Sounds like poetry, don’t it. What does it mean P” “ It practically means that you can give a man out if he gets in the way of a ball which you think would have hit the wicket.” “ Strewth! Then all I can say is ‘ Lord help the other side! ’ ” “ But suppose that the other umpire plays the same game ? ” “ What game P” “ Suppose he also says ‘ Lord help the other side ! ’ ” “ Why, then there would be one of the—Hallo, this is my station—rows you ever heard of. So long, guv’nor.” W. A. B. A VILLAGE CRICKET CLUB. B y P ercy P . T ya c k e . At the village of C --------- , in a certain county in England, it was decided to form a cricket club. What gave rise to the idea has never been clearly explained, but it is generally understood that the idea originated with the schoolmaster, who had been reading in the weekly paper of the wonderful doings of Ranjit- sinhji and others, and it occured to him that with a little practice he would put their performances completely in the B hade, both with bat and ball. At any rate it was he who suggested to the Yicar that it would be a grand thing for the parish to form a club, as it would keep the young men out of the public-houses and also amuse the older parishioners. With this the Vicar entirely agreed. Accordingly a meeting was called, at which six turned up, namely, the Yicar, the Schoolmaster, two farmers’ sons, and two farm labourers. The Vicar was voted to the chair unanimously; indeed, every proposition was carried unanimously owing to the fact that, with the exception of the Yicar and Schoolmaster, no one opened his mouth during the eveniog, and when one held up his hand all the others did the same. It was resolved to form a cricket club, to be called the “ C------United Cricket Club.” (As the members of village clubs never agree it will always remain a mystery why they invariably call themselves “ United.” ) The Vicar was elected President, the Squire Vice-President, the largest farmer’s Bon Captain (this caused a great deal of jealousy, but owing to all mouths being closed during the meeting, not a word was heard about it till afterwards), the other farmer’s son Vice-Captain (this somewhat smoothed his ruffled temper), and the Schoolmaster undertook the arduous duties of Hon. Sec. and Treasurer. The subscription was fixed and a Com­ mittee of four, “ with power to add to their number ” (this rather startled the meeting, as they had not the slightest idea what it meant, but not a voice was raised against it) was appointed. The first thing to be done was to obtain a suitable field, by no means an easy task in that county, where a level field is qui'e the exception. Another obstacle appeared in the shape of the occupiers of the fields, none of them being inclined to grant the use of one unless a heavy sum was paid for rent, and one occupier (a local preacher) said “ he wasn’t going to lend his field for they old footballs ; he had seen it played before, and such a savage game he never see’d in his life.” On its being pointed out to him that his field was wanted for cricket and not for football, he said “ he couldn’t see no difference.” At last all obstacles were overcome, and a field was obtained situated on the side of a hill, covered with grass nearly a foot high, not to mention mole hills and various other things not usually seen at Lord’s. The village carpenter made a bat of ash wood (weighing about six pounds) and three stumps; an indiarubber ball was procured from a neighbouring town; the Vicar, who had long given up cricket, produced one leg-guard, and all was ready for the first practice. On the eventful evening the greatest excitement prevailed in the village. All the inhabitants flocked to the field, dressed in their very smartest, and on the tip-toe of expectation. At the outset a little hitch occurred. As there was only one bat, only one wicket (or “ rickut,” as it was called by the good people of C------) could be pitched, and that was the cause of the difficulty. It has been mentioned before that the field was on the side of a hill, b o the captain, who fancied himself as a bat wished to have the bowling up the hill , so that he could hit downwards and consequently further; but the secre­ tary, whose forte, in his opinion, was bowling, wished to bowl down the hill, so that he could get on more pace, that, in his idea, being the essence of good bowling. This was a very serious business. A quarrel between two such high officials meant the break-up of the club at the very beginning of it’s career. Words were getting high, and the collapse of the club seemed imminent, when some one proposed referring the dispute to the committee, which was accepted, rather unwillingly, however, on the part of the captain, who said “ he was cap’n and could put the wickuts where he did mind to.” After a quarter of an hour’s discussion, during which time it was rapidly getting dark, the committee decided that the wicket should be pitched across the hill, a decision which raised them immensely in the opinion of the onlookers, who were very astonished at the rapid and masterly way in which they had settled such a difficult matter. This little dispute having been satis­ factorily arranged, the captain having shaken hands with the secretary, and both having gone through the same performance with each member of the committee, practice commenced.