Cricket 1902

322 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A ug . 7, 1902. used in England. But the boys taught each other to some extent by chaffing anyone if he made a bad stroke, and when we played against an English team and came across a good batsman, we watched his strokes and tried to imitate them afterwards. At the present time the Aligarh College is the strongest in India at cricket. Last year the team made a tour as far as Madras and Banga­ lore, the whole distance travelled being about five thousand miles, They have beaten the Parsis twice, and Patiala twice (one of the Patiala teams included J. T. Heame and Brockwell). They hope to play All India at Delhi during the Coronation Week.” “ Did you always bat in the same style as you do now ? ” “ My style when I started cricket was very cramped, and I bent over the bat a great deal until a gentleman named Dr. Napier, a good hitter who, I was told, had played for some county in Eng­ land, taught me how to stand up properly and make some use of my height. In 1898 I left the College and did not get a chance of playing at all in the following year, so that when my father told me I was to go to England I was naturally delighted, for I hoped to get a lot of cricket. A friend of mine, a brother of Mr. Shaukat Ali, the captain of the Ali­ garh College team, brought me to the notice of Mr. Stoddart, through whose influence I joined the Hampstead club. I have had a delightful time as a member of the club.” “ How did cricket in England strike you when you first played here ? ” “ I found at once that it was of a much higher class. The bowling was better, and I soon noticed that no matter how many runs a man made the bowlers were always trying to get him out. In India they seemed to give up hope when a score of about SOhad been made against them, although in this respect they are improving and will, I am sure, continue to improve. Of course, I found the wickets much better, for really good wickets in India are very scarce. On our own ground at the Aligarh College the wicket was quite good, but on the soft side. The fielding in England was, I found, mu'-h better than in India, and I must own that when I first came to Eng­ land I was very slack in the field, although I could generally hold catches. But Mr. Stoddart talked to me about thi*, and 1 hope that I have now con­ siderably improved.” “ Could you bowl before you came to England ? ” “ Only a very little; in fact I was merely a change bowler in the Aligarh College team. But in England I practised a good deal, for 1 was very keen about it, and I succeeded better than I hoped. Sometimes I am able to get a swerve on a ball when it is new, but how or why I do not in the least know. Often and often I have puzzled over the reason, but I never could succeed in finding any satis­ factory answer. I have also often talked over tne question with Mr. Spofforth, but we have not arrived at any definite con­ clusion. All that I know is that some­ times when I go on to bowl I find that the ball swerves ; at other times it does not. A wind does not seem necessary, and once against Richmond on a perfectly calm day I took the first five wickets for a few runs by reason of the swerve. As soon as the seam wears down the swerve iBno more existent.” “ Which of your innings in England has given you the greatest pleasure ? ” ‘ ‘ There can be no doubt at all that it was my innings of 135 for Middlesex Second Eleven against the Sussex Second Eleven at Brighton. Mr. Webbe asked me to play, at the suggestion of Mr. Hayman.” Mr. Ahsan-ul-Hak tells one of the most amusing cricket stories in existence with reference to an incident which occurred during one of his matches in India. He now speaks and writes Eng­ lish with perfect accuracy, but as every­ one must have a beginning there was a time when this was not the case. “ In my early days,” he said, “ I found it very difficult to pronounce English words, and ‘ How’s that ’ was beyond my powers. So instead of saying ‘ How’s that, umpire p’ as all the others did, I was obliged to confine myself to ‘ Umpire F” The captain of the opposing Bide knew of this peculiarity, and warned the umpire that if I did not say ‘ How’s that ? ’ he was not to give the man out, as the law ordered that the words ‘ How’s that, umpire f ’ must be used. In vain did I appeal when bowling. The umpire was obdurate. But my turn came when we went in to bat. We were playing without bails (for this incident occurred when I was very young). Presently a ball got past my bat and hit the off stump, but I did not offer to go. It was explained to me that I was out, but I replied that the laws ordered that a stump must be knocked out of the ground when there were no bails on, and that this had not been done. My argument was recognized as unassailable, and although I was afterwards bowled twice I did not go out until I was caught! ” W. A. B e t t e s w o r t h . Below will be found a list of the hun­ dreds made by Mr. Ahsan-ul-Hak:— January 6, 1897, at A gra, v. M eerut College ... 104* N ovem ber 25, 1897, at Berreilly, v. Berreilly Club 101* February 23,1898, at Bullandshahar, v. Bulland­ shahar ................................................................ 103* Novem ber 6,1898, at A ligarh, v. Tundla Club ... 125* June 2, 1900, at W atford, v. West Herts ............153 June 4, 1900, at H am pstead ......................................109 July 26,1900, at Ham pstead, v. Old W estm insters 137 M ay 11,1901, at Surbiton, v. Surbiton....................100 June 10, 1901, at Brighton, v. Sussex (2nd) ... 135 June 26, 1901, at H am pstead, v. Guy’s H ospital. 109 July 6, 1901, at H am pstead, v. St. Bartholom ew’s Hospital ..................................................................180 A ugust 28,1901, at Charlton Park, v. Charlton Park ......................................................................................133* July 15, 1902, at H olm esdale, v. Erratics ............145* •Signifies not out. U P P E R T O O TIN G v. E W E L L —Played at Upper T ooting on July 26. U pper T ooting . A . H . Parez, c H am p­ ton, b P ow ley............51 D . H .Butcher,cH am p- ton, b Jones ............14 W . B. Griffin, b Jones 56 W . B. rlhom as,bSm ith 8 J. H . Lindsay, b P ow ­ ley ............................. 2 H. Tanner, run out ... 21 D . C. Bartley, b Smith 3 D . P. Franks, b Smith 0 H .W .H aw kiD g,bJones 12 H . T .H . Bond, notout 2 J. Barton-W hite, c Rawlinson, b Jones 6 B 4, lb 1, w 1 ... 6 Total ...181 E w ell . P. M . W alteis, c T an­ ner, b B artley............20 J. Bradley -D yoe, b Bartley ..................... 6 E. P o*ley , b Lindsay 2 E. C. Smith, bLindeay 0 T . A . Rawlineon, not out .............................21 G. C. Ham pton, cTan- ner, b B artley............18 W . L . H an w ell,bLind- say ............................. 0 H . T. Perkins, c But­ cher, b Lindsay ... 0 J .Pennethorne,bLind- say ............................ 0 C. J. M . Shaw, c Haw­ king. b Lindsay ... 15 C. Jones, b Lindsay... 0 Byes ... ............10 T otal ............92 G R A N V IL L E “ A ” v. R . ESCOM BE’S X I .— Played at Lee on July 26. G b a n v illr “ A .’* G. Helder, b Firth ... 32 H . L . Tem ple, b frirth 41 A. C. W eber, retired hurt .............................11 J. R. H ollingworth, b F ir th ............................. 7 A . Helder, c and b R e a d ............................. 25 T . 1 assmore, b Firth .. 9 H. T. Richardso i, b R e a d ............................. 8 J. A . Johnston, b R e a d .............................. 5 J. L . Taylor, low , b F irth .............................. 2 8. C. Burnett, not out 6 H .W . S tirliog.bF irth 3 Extras .....................18 Total .. 170 R . Escombr’s X I. C. Dunsmuire, b Pass- m ore .. .................... 0 W . M . Stewart, run out .................... ... 32 C. W . F irth,b I urnett 74 F. Read, c P^f-m-jre, b R olling w orth .......... 33 G. E . T . Sutherland, b B olli. gw -rth ... 13 G. B. Dent, b i'ass?more 19 C. H . Ephgrave did not bat. G. 8. M oney, b H oll- in gw oith ............ S. w . Clar*, not out H . W oodcock, b H oll- irgw oith ... .. H. F. Bland, not out Extras ..................... T ot*l (8 wkts) 193 IN C O G N IT I v. SIR D . F. GOOCH’S X I —Played at Clewer Park on July 21 and 22. I wcogniti . G .Thom p-on, c A itchi- son, b de Schm idt .1 4 T . C. Bett, c Fitzroy Erskine.bdeSchm ldt 64 A . B . Voules, b de Schm idt .....................30 M ajor Orman, lbw , b de Schm idt .. . 3 6 G. T. Lee. b M ashiter 5 Capt. Talbot, b de Scm idt ..................... 0 W .H .Vi hiteley.nottfut 48 Sir W . Russell, iu u out 4 E . B. T . L ee, b de Schm idt ..................... 5 E Felton, c F oley, b L a m b a r t.....................16 W ilkinson,c Mashiter, b de S ch m id t............ 2 B l l , lb 3, w l ... 15 Total Sib D. F . G ooch ’s X I. C .P.Foley,bW ilbinson 90 P. Aitchison, b G. Lee 107 L . P. de Schmidt, lbw . b G. Lee ... ... 43 F. Crocker, b E . Lee .. 1 A . J. Duncan, c Capt. Talbot, b Russell ... 51 D .Duncan.c Capt. T al­ bot, b Thom pson ... 5 Sir D . F. G ooch, b Thom pson ............ 8 8 C. U. Colbeek,b G. Lee H on. Fitzroy Erskine, b Thom pson ............ 8 E. Lam bart, st B. Lee, b R u sse ll................... 14 hergt.M ashiter,notout 0 B 32, lb 1 5 ............47 T otal ...432 M E RTO N v. S T R E A T H A M .-P la y ed at M erton on July 26. M erton . B .B isgood,c Drower, b Fortescue..................... 0 W . C. Su herland, run out .............................11 H . M .W hitley, c and b Spicer.............................29 C. W . M orrison, b Spicer................. ... ... 1 W . C. Rhoades, b J il- lings ... ... ... ... 50 E . Godward, c Candy, b Fortescue ............ 7 P.J .Dow nham ,c Dahl, b Cross ...................21 C Godward. b C ross. 0 G. C. Bisgood, b F or­ tescue .....................16 E. D . Davey, not out.. 7 D r. Robson, not out... 5 B 10, lb 1, w 2, nb 2 15 T otal ...162 S tbbatham . M.C. Dahl, b Godward 23 R . ti. Candy, b Candy 0 E . M . Drower, lbw, b Rhoadts .....................10 A .E . Forttscue,b G od­ ward ............................. 4 H . T . Cross, not o u t .. 33 J.L . Spicer, b Rhoades. 0 E. B. M iller, c B. Bis­ good, b Rhoades .. 3 R.Jillingt), b Godward W . D . Chamberlain, b G odw a rd..................... L J. Connor, b W h it­ ley .............................. H.B.CarterLocke,lbw, b W h itley................... B 6, lb 1, w 1 ... T otal 86 P A R S I C RICK ET, w ith 27 Illustrations, by M . E. P a v b i.—A History o f Parsi Cricket given in a lucid and concise form . Records and m any m em or­ able achievements of prom inent Parsi cricketers, etc. Price, 4 s.; post free,; 4s. 3d —Cricket Offices, 168, U pper Tham es Street, E.C.