Cricket 1902

CRICKET, MARCH 27, 1902. | N *0— - k j z j S© W .*-■ _ j ? © $ c = z 3 — 0 “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. w o . s e a . v o i . x x i . THU RSD AY , M ARCH 27, 1902. p b i c e 2 d . CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. T he Rbv. CANON MoCORMICK, D.D. There are very few men who have ever succeeded in forcing their way to the front rank of cricketers with such limited opportunities as fell to the lot of Canon McCormick, who nevertheless was a famous man in his day. His home was in Ireland, and to this and the prejudice of the times against the cricket- playing clergy is chiefly due his inability to play in more than a few big matches. Even in these he was often obliged to play under an assumed name, with the result that some of his best performances are placed to the credit of “ J. Bingley,” and “ J. Cambridge.” He was an excellent type of an all-round cricketer, and it would be difficult to say whether he was best as a bowler, a batsman or a fieldsman. He was a fine mediumpacebowler,breaking in chiefly from the leg, but with an occasional off-break which was most discon­ certing, for therewas nothing to shew the batsman what was about to happen. He worked hard at his bowling in practice, and it is on record that a prominent member of the M.C.C. when talking of the indifference shewn by so many amateur bowlers, said: “ Why I ’ve seen Joe McCormick bowling for half-an-hour at a single stump, and constantly hitting it, too.” As a bats­ man he had sound defence, but could hit, and did hit, tremendously hard. The Canon is not likely to forget the boat race between Oxford and Cambridge in which he was number six in the Cambridge boat in 1856. “ The finish was one of the most exciting on record ” he said, “ and we only just managed to win ; although we always thought that if the weather had been mild we should sake of seeing him pull afterwards.’ ” Canon McCormick was an all-round athlete, for besides being able to row well enough to be in the “ eight,” he was a noted boxer and jumper, and would certainly have been a triple Blue if the sports had been in existence in his time. An extract from a speech which he made last year at the Working Men’s Meeting at the Brighton Church Congress will be of interest, as it throws a stroDg side light on the skill of some of the clergy (in their younger days, of course) with the boxing gloves. “ We live and learn,” he said, “ and I have learned to-night that the Bishop in his day was a good boxer. He has apparently been so well taught that he knows how to hit out from the shoulder. There is one little difference between us. He says that the person who taught him boxing could play with him. That was not my case, for I had the pleasure of thrashing, at an assault-at-arms, the only man—Nat Langham—who ever beat Tom Sayers.” At the present time Canon McCormick is the Eector of St. James’, Piccadilly, and an honorary chaplain to the King. He has the Queen Victoria Medal and the Yolunteer Decoration, hav­ ing been chaplain for twenty years to the Hull Rifles. When he first went up to Cambridge the Canon had played a good deal, but only once had he met first-class bowling. “ This was,” he said, “ in a match in which, when I was about seventeen years old, I played for Twenty-two of St. Helen’s against the All England Eleven. And I had not much opportunity then of studying gocd bowling, for my scores were only two and one. I remember catching Julius Csesar on the ropes off a big leg hit—one always remembers one’s early catches. I was anything but a good cricketer when I went to Cambridge, have won by several lengths. But it was horribly cold, and the water was so rough that our boat, which was too small for such a day, was always in great danger of being swamped. I had the honour of catching a crab at a critical moment when we were about level with Oxford, and this of course, caused us to drop astern, while my oar was being shipped,Jbut in THE EEV. CANON m ’CORKICK, D.D. (From a Photo by Mtssrs. Turner and Drinkwattrt Hull.) one spurt we succeeded in getting the nose of our boat in front and kept it there to the end. I was exhausted after catching the crab because of a long spurt, and I hope that I made amends for the accident; you may be sure that I was glad to be told of a remark which was made at the time—‘ It was worth while Joe McCormick catching the crab for the