Cricket 1902

CRICKET, JULY 10, 1902 “ Together joined in Cricket’ s m an ly t o i l .” — Byron. ho . « 06 . v o i. x x i. TH U R SD AY , JU L Y 10, 1902. p b ic e ad. A CHAT ABOUT J. T. TYLDESLEY. It was but a few years ago that the name of Tyldesley was known only to a few enthusiastic students of geography, and possibly to some post office officials, as a town or village in Lancashire practically forming a part of Manchester. When J. T. Tyldesley first appeared on the scene of county cricket as a representative of Lan­ cashire, people who had happened to come across the name of the village naturally thought that some joke had been perpetrated by the writers of cricket reports, for Tyldesley is not a com­ mon name, and it seemed odd that it should belong to a man who played for Lan­ cashire. It was much as if a Sussex professional were to appear suddenly in first- class cricket with the name of J. T. Littlehampton, or a Middlesex amateur as J. T. Haverstock Hill, Esq. But doubts were soon set at rest, and in a very short time the name of Tyldesley became as familiar to cricketers as that of Mold or Maclaren. Tyldesley had distinguished himself in local cricket before he played for the county, and in the North of England local cricket is so serious, and the bowlers who take part in it so nearly in the front rank, that a rising young cricketer has far better opportunities of pick­ ing up a sound knowledge of the game than he would have if it were his fortune to live in Sussex or Hamp­ shire, or to take part in Saturday afternoon London club cricket. When he first began to play for the county, Tyldesley attracted attention by bis brilliant fielding. He is one of the men who always seem anxious that the ball will come in their direction, prefer­ ably as a catch, instead of wishing with all their hearts that they may be left in peace, which seems to be the one object in life of many fieldsmen. Tyldesley, like the bom artist, shows plainly at any time during an innings, however long it it may be, that he is ready and eager for something to do. Even in the intense heat of Australia he attracted great attention by his brilliant fielding during the tour of 1901-2. He is one of the few men of whom it may truly be said J, T. TYLDESLEV. (From a photo by R. Thielo <fc Co., €6, Chancery Lane, London.) that he is worth playing in any team for bis fielding alone. It would hardly occur to anyone who saw him batting for the first time that he had the build of a man who can make big hits and score runs very quickly. But his quickness of movement, his powerful wrist work, and his ability to time the ball beautifully, all help him greatly in his method of play, which is eminently attractive. He can pull and score from many a ball which most other players would be glad merely to keep out of their wicket, and when he goes forward to a ball, it is generally to hit it very hard. His back play is sound, and he picks out the right ball for a good hard square cut. On good or bad wickets he is as a rule equallv consistent, and although he made a bad start this season it was not long before he had got into his old form. Last autumn he was regarded as one of the men who were most likely to distinguish them­ selves during Maclaren’s tour, and it is hardly likely that any judge of the game would have left him out. But for some reason or other he suffered like so many other men in loss of reputa­ tion while he was away from England, and except on one or two memorable occasions, was not able to do justice to him-self until nearly the end of the tour. This season he found it difficult at first to make runs on the dead wickets, but when once he bad broken the ice he went on his way rejoicing. It was almost a foregone con­ clusion that he would be chosen to play in the test matches, for by the time that they began, he was, like so many other well-known men, beginning to get into form. Despite his failure in Aus­ tralia, which was after all only a failure by comparison with his previous successes, there is very little doubt that if he went there with another touring team he would be one of its greatest ornaments. For a really good man seldom fails with two teams in succession. All through his short career Tyldesley had gradually been forcing himself to the front, and during the English season in 1901 his doings, together with those of Pry, Banjitsinhji and Abel, contin-