Cricket 1901

2 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J an . 31, 1901. known player would have been hard put to it to explain how it was that he played for such and such a shire. A t Cambridge Greenfield gained a con­ siderable reputation as a captain, and I am afraid that he lived on this reputation during the time that he captained the Sussex team ; for b y no stretch of imagination could he be called a born captain. He certainly had one qualifica­ tion which is possessed b y all great captains: he was exceedingly kind to young cricketers. When he became Chaplain of the Hayward’s Heath Asylum he was able to devote a great deal of time to cricket, and I saw him constantly. When he was at Cambridge he had for some reason or other altered his style of standing at the wicket. H e now stuck his left leg right in front of his bat, and looked uncomfortable. I am convinced that his new style was a mistake. And yet with this ungainly style I saw him play about the best inning's I have seen in m y life. It was at Gravesend on a fiery wicket, on the last day, when Sussex were hopelessly beaten—Lord Harris had played a wonderful innings of 180 odd which was the main cause of our defeat— that Greenfield made over a hundred under the very greatest difficulties; if he had not made an enormous hole in a spot which prevented all the other batsmen from taking up their usual positions, we might perhaps have made a draw, but men were constantly slipping into the hole, and the result was disastrous. In his younger days Greenfield was a magnificent field, but when he became older he liked to stand at point many yards from the wicket. It was always interesting to see the bowlers trying to induce him to stand up nearer. “ Nearer P” he would say, “ why, of course, as near as you like.” And up he went until the bowler had said, “ Yes, that’s exactly right,” and had started to bow l. Alas ! by the time that the ball reached the batsman point was waiting for it, far away in his old place. It was impossible for the bowler to feel annoyed, for the thing was so very amusing. After he had been for some time at Hayward’s Heath, frequently playing for Lord Sheffield at Sheffield Park, as well as all over Mid-Sussex, and when he had made himself very popular with young and old alike, he suddenly disappeared. Hard things were said about him, and he may have deserved them. But I always think of him as he was before I lost sight of him— genial, good natured, alwajs considerate for the feelings of others—a man to know and like. I never knew him to have an enemy of any kind before this time. Occasionally news was heard of him in after years. He was doing well in the Cape Mounted P olice; he took a school and. was making it a success when the Boer war came. He received cruel treat­ ment at the hands of the enemy, and came to England to try to obtain redress. He returned to South Africa, and only lived a short time W . A. B e t t e s w o r t h . C R IC K E T P U B L IC A T IO N S o f 1900 Apart from horse-racing and angling, no sport has produced so great a quantity of literature as cricket. The number of publications dealing with the game issued in the last year of the nineteenth century was as large as in any previous ye-ir, despite the influence the war had upon the book market generally. Whilst it is true that the past year gave birth to a few volumes which will ever occupy an honoured place in the cricketer’s library, it is also equally true that the same period saw produced several publications which Lamb would have classed among the “ books that are not books,” but which, nevertheless, are always welcome to the net of the enthusiastic collector. In the follow ing list I have given the names of the cricket productions of 1900 — apart from the various annuals — together with the prices and publishers of same. All in A Day : Coach, Skittles and Cricket. By Arthur F. Meyrick. (London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent and Co., Limited. Price, Is.) Bat v. Ball: The Book of Individual Cricket Records, &c., 1864-1900. By J. H. Lester. (London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamil­ ton, Kent and Co., Limited. Price, Is., 2s., and 10s. 6d ) Ceylon Cricket Annual, The. First year of publication. (Colombo: A. M. and J. Ferguson. Price, Be. 1.) Cheltenham College Scores. By B. W. Turnbull. (Cheltenham: K. W. Turnbull, Cheltondale. Price, Is. 5d., post free.) Chronicles of A Country Cricket Club. By A. Eric Bayly and Walt Bristoe. (London: Sands and Co., 12, Burleigh Street, W.C. Price, 2s. 6d.) Cricket. Edited by T. C. Collins. (London: T. Fisher Unwin, Paternoster Square. Price, 2s.) Cricket, 1742-1751. By F. S. Ashley- Cooper. (Private circulation. Only fifteen copies issued.) Cricket in Many Climes. By P. F. Warner. (London: William Heinemann. Price, 7s. 6d.) Cricketer on Cricket, A. By W . J. Ford. (London : Sands and Co., 12, Burleigh Street, W.C. Price 2s. 6d.) Gentlemen v. Players. By F. S. Ashley- Cooper. (Bristol: J . W . Arrowsmith, Quay Street. Price, 2s. 6d.) Middlesex County Cricket Club, 1864-1899. By W. J. Ford. (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 39, Paternoster Bow. Price, 10s. 6d.) Pleasant Itecollections and Amusing Inci­ dents. By A. Craig. (London: Hughes and Sons, 35, Curroun Boad, S.W. Price, Id.) Scores of the Eton and Harrow Cricket Matches. Edited by Franklyn Brook. (London: F. E. Bobinson and Co., 20, Great Bussell Street. Price, Is.) Sussex Cricket in the Olden Time, with Glances at the Present. By Alfred D. Taylor. (Hove: Hove Gazette Offices, Church Boad. Price, Id.) Talks with Old English Cricketers. By A. W . Pullin. (London: W . Blackwood and Sons. Price, 6s.) Walkers of Southgate, The. By W . A. Bettesworth. (London : Methuen and Co., 36, Essex Street, Strand. Price, 15s.) West Indian Cricket Team, The. By P. F. Warner. (London: West Indian Club, Howard Hotel. Price, Is.) Wisden’s Cricketer’s Note Book, John. Edited by F. S. Ashley-Cooper. First year of publication. (London: Wisden and Co., Cranbourn Street, W.C. Price, 6d.) World’s Cricket Becord, The. By F. J. Ironside. (London and Australia: A. Hordern, Australian Merchants. Gratis.) A lfred D. T ay lo r . © o r m p o n U e n a . The Editor does not hold himself responsible tor the opinions of his correspondents. REFORMATION . To the E ditor o f C r ic k e t . D e a r S i r , — It was with the greatest pleasure that I read of the recent decision of the county captains not to put on certain bowlers whose action was objec­ tionable to th em ; but while I cordially agree with the action of the captains, I feel that their scheme has the drawback that it does not go far enough. It is almost universally admitted that the high scoring of these days, and the magnificent wickets, make towards drawn games, and it is as unversally admitted (except by couuty committees, who for their own private ends prefer, forsooth, a match to last three days rather than two, by cricketers at large, and by the general public) that drawn games are an abomi­ nation. This being the case, the captains at their famous meeting might with advantage bave gone much farther than they did. If they had boldly taken the bull by the horns they might have got rid of the evil of drawn games at one fell swoop. They might have decided not to send to the wickets the men who are notoriously the worst offenders in bringing about drawn games, such as Ranjitsinhji, Fry, Abel, Hayward, W . G. Quaife, Major Poore, etc., etc. They might have warned others that they had better be careful. They might, more­ over, have dispensed with the services of the men who boldly use their pads instead of their bats when necessity requires. Thus the evil would have been disposed of for ever. It is true that if the captains had done this their action might not have been endorsed by the M .C.C., nor approved of in Australia and America, but this would not seem to be a matter of great importance, for nowadays altera­ tions made in the laws are only used by Australians and Americans j ust when it suits their purpose to do so —a sad state of affairs, but unfortunately true. Yours truly, O . L e M o s e s .* 1 * This is an assumed name, out I enclose my card. P ORTRAIT MEDALLIONS OF POPULAR CRICKETERS.— W. G. Grace, K . S. Ranjit- ainhji, C. B. Fry, C. J. Kortright, A. C. MacLaren, A. E. Stoddart, J. E. Mason, GK L . Jessop, Abel, Richardson, Hayward, Lockwood, Hearne (Alec.).— Price 2d. each, post free 3d., or the set of 13, post free, 2 s. 2 d.— M erritt and H atohbb , L td., 168, Upper Thames Street, London.