Cricket 1901

CR IC K E T , APRIL 25, 1901. i s <=— ) $ © $ ( . ) 8 © 6 c _ . . , j 8 © $ ■ l i l 1 w s P J if 3 J I J 5 1 C J A fA J j l Cr*> 9 © 1 111 V'jV 2% •* B9M ~ 6 @ § “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. wo. 565. v o l . x x . THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 1901 p h o e ad. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD- JOHN HUGHES. It is quite possible that many modem cricketers have never even heard the name of Hughes—Jack Hughes, as he was universally known—-for although he was recognised as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, slow bowler of his time, he did not play for any well- known county, and therefore his records are not easily to be found. B om in 1825, he did not have a chance of trying his strength against famous batsmen until he was getting on in life, but after a most sensational ddbut , he could have played in all the big matches if he had been disposed to do so. But although he declined to tie himself down, on account of his business, he played against nearly all the men of mark, with almost unvarying success. There is no space here to allude to his many fine achievements, but it may be mentioned that at Harlow he took all ten wickets of a strong England team, and that in a match for Lord Braybrooke he disposed o f Mr. C. K . Francis, Mr. J. Bound and Mr. Fuller Maitland—three of the best men of the day—with succes­ sive balls. H e continued to play in good matches until he was sixty years old, and in local matches for some years longer. He was fifty- five when he last played against Dr. Grace, in a benefit match for Frank Silcock. Hughes still has a vivid recollec­ tion of the first match in which he met Dr. Grace. “ I was engaged by Mr. Fitzgerald,” he said, “ to play at Chorleywood against I Zingari. A fortnight before the match, Mr. Fitzgerald said, ‘ You will have Mr. Grace against you .’ This excited me considerably, and it was the longest fortnight I ever passed. When the day arrived and the players appeared, I asked Mr. Fitzgerald to point out Mr. Grace, whom I had never seen. ‘ Look for the biggest man in the field,’ he said. The other side won the toss, and in came the great man, first as usual. I cannot tell you what my feelings were when I started to bow l the first ball, but you can imagine my surprise and delight when I found that it had passed the bat, and that I had taken the famous bats­ man’s wicket. I suppose I must have shown my surprise, for Mr. Fitzgerald laughed, and said to me, ‘ What are you thinking of, old Pipey ? ’ (I was a pipe maker b y business.) When Mr. Grace reached the pavilion, George Fordham, the well-known jockey, who was on the ground, said to him, *Well, you are a fine s o rt! Here have I come to see you get runs, and it’s a good job I ’ve got no money on you.’ But Mr. Grace got level with him, for he said, ‘ And I ’ve been to Epsom any number of times to see you win the Derby, but it’s never come o ff! ’ I may say that in the second innings Mr. Grace sent the ball about up to 70 runs, and pleased enough I was to see his beautiful b a ttin g ; there was no leaving off-balls alone with him.” O f his earliest recollections of the game, Hughes said, “ I was residing at Bedford when I was nearly twenty years old, and used to go down to the cricket ground where there was a professional named Hibbert, who became attached to me. He offered to teach me the rudi­ ments of the game, and in three weeks I was bow ling in a match. When I went back to live at Hert­ ford, I joined a club which used to play in a ‘ free right ’ meadow, which was called ‘ Hertham ’ ; it is still in existence, and many youngsters still learn how to play there. The first gentleman to take any notice of me was the Hon. Robert Grimston, who had a theory that every village club had at least one good player in it. Through his kindness I was asked to bow l to the Militia officers and the Old Haileyburians—this was in the days when Haileybury was the Indian Service College. Tom Lockyer was then the professional at Haileybury, and he gave me lots of wrinkles. H e was followed by Tiny Wells. I was then a medium fast bow ler.” “ What induced you to become a slow bowler ? ” “ It was in rather a curious way that I learned to bow l slow. I lived close to the river, and went one day to look at some workmen who were building a new bridge. They were digging, and presently brought up a stone of almost the exact shape of a cricket ball. I took it in my hand, and while tossing it to and fro I found that I was making it twist in the air. It struck me that if I could do that it would fly off at an angle if it touched the ground. So I tried the experi­ ment, and found that it worked. All the winter I practised with this stone, and was very pleased with myself. Naturally, when the cricket season came round, I was very anxious to see whether I could make a cricket ball do what I could do with the stone. I found to my delight that I could. Only the members of the club knew that I could twist the ball, and I JOHN HUGHES. Photo by Elsden, Hertford.