Cricket 1902

C R IC K E T , NOV. 27, 1902. “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly to il.”— Byron. h o . o i8 . v o l . x x i . THURSDAY, NOV. 27, 1902. f b ic e aa. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. M R . E R N E S T S M ITH . So p ow erful has been th e Y o rk sh ire e leven fo r m any yea rs th a t in the o rdin a ry course o f thi ng s Mr . S m ith w ho , b e in g a schoo lm aster, can o n ly pl ay occas io na lly , w o u ld n o t have rep resen ted th e c ou n ty . Bu t i t has g e n e ra lly happened w hen he cou ld g e t aw ay th a t someone has been hors de combat o r absen t, and th e re su lt has been th a t he has p la yed p re tty frequ en tly— a lm os t a lw ays w ith a g re a t dea l of success. A t O x fo rd he had a d is tin g u is h e d career, bu t i t was some tim e be fo re i t was g e n e ra lly recogn is ed th a t he was e q u a lly good w ith th e ba t as w ith th e bal l. H e was a t schoo l a t Cl ifton and in th e e leven fo r tw o yea rs. His h ig h e s t score in fi rs t-c la ss c ri ck e t is 154. T h is was m ade in 1893, at H a s tin g s , in a m em o r­ ab le m a tc h be tw een Nor th and S ou th , w h ic h , a t lu n ch tim e on th e second day , seemed lik e ly to be bro u g h t to a conc lu s io n a t abou t four o’c lo ck , and th e p la ye rs w ere l oo ki ng u p tim e tab le s to see w h a t tra in the y con ld ca tch . The N ort h had lost fiv e o r s ix w ic ke ts in th e ir second in n in g s , and w ere s till a lon g w a y beh in d w hen M r. de T ra ff o rd and Mr . S m ith came to g e th e r and began to h it at a lm os t e ve ry­ thi ng, w ith such success th a t th e y made a hund re d apiece, and pu t on 254 in p a rtn e rs h ip . Thanks to th e ir sp le nd id e ffo rt, th e N ort h w ere ab le to set th e ir opponen ts to m ake 261, and w ere v ic to rio u s b y 25 runs . M r. de T raff o rd’ s pe rfo rm ance was a ll th e m ore rem a rkab le because he had to b a t w ith a b a d ly dam aged hand . A fte r h e le ft O x fo rd M r. Sm ith became a m aste r a t E ls tr ee , w he re he rem a in ed u n til 1901, w hen he s ta rt ed a schoo l o f h is ow n at S ou th Lodge , nea r E n fi e ld— a school w h ic h is a dm ira b ly s itu a te d and w h ic h is bound tob e successful, fo r a p a rt fro m h is o th e r qua lific a tio n s , Mr . Sm ith , as a ll w ho know h im can rea d ily im ag in e , is exceed in g ly p o pu la r w ith boys. One o f th e oddest th in g s th a t ever happened to h im o r to any o th e r c ric ke te r was iu a m a tch w h ile he was a t E ls tr ee . “ The lig h t w s ra th e r bad and I d id n ’ t see th e H I. ERNEST SMITH. ( From a photo ly Mrs. Ernest Smith.) firs t b a ll t a ll— a lon g hop w h ic h w en t st rai ght thro u g h th e w ick e t wi tho u t re m o v in g th e b ail , a lth o u g h it d is tu rb e d it . The second bal l was a ls o a lon g hop . A g a in I d id n o t see it and aga in i t w en t th rou g h th e w ic ke t, b u t thi s tim e it succ eded in kn o ck in g of f a b a il.” The c rick e t g ro und at Sou th Lodge is sm a ll, bu t q u ite bi g enough fo r sm a ll boys, w ho are a p t to be d is cou rag the ir g ro u n d is o f va s t size. “ I t made by A p te d ,” sa id Mr . Sm ith , “ in its or ig nal s ta te was n o thing b w ild e rness . The w ic ke ts are ve ry in deed , b o th fo r m a tches and p ra T h is yea r w e w on fiv e m atches and fou r W e have fiv e o r s ix dece c ric ke t rs , incl uding a yo u ng s on o f S po ffo rth ; he n e a rly a lw ay m ade run s f o r us, and se ldo fai led w hen i t was part icu­ la rly necessary th a t he shou l sjc ceed . Un fort una tel y he is le a v in g us a t E as te r to g toa pu bli c s choo l. L a s t yea we had h is e ld e r b ro th e r, w ho takes ve ry m uch after h is fathe r as a bow le r, and can g e t a b reak on a good w ick e t— a good dea l m ore th a n I c an . I t w ou ld not be a t a ll s u rp risin g if b o th boys w ere to come rig h t to th e fro n t w hen th e y g ro w up. ” “ D o you fi nd th a t th e boys g e t tire d o f c ri ck e t be fo re th e end o f th e te rm ? *‘ Any thi ng bu t th a t; th e y are as keen in J u ly as in M a y . T he y had a try in g tim e thi s yea r, fo r a t one tim e it was so w e t th a t th e ne ts cou ld n ot be put u p fo r n e a rly a m on th . W hen yo u have an ythi ng to do w ith a schoo l it is som etim es d is ­ h e a rte n in g w o rk to w a tc h , a th e b e g in n in g o f a te rm , th e boys at th e ne ts, fo r o fte n and o ften you w onde r w he th e r it is poss ib le , o u t o such u tte rly un p ro m is in g m a te ria l, to g e t an e le ven a t al l, le t a lo ne a good one. B a t sudden ly th e y a ll seem to g e t in to fo rm in th e m os t cu rio us w a y . Nat u ral ly boys a re , a lm os t wit hou t excep tio n , ve ry nervous w hen th e go in t b a t, even w hen th e y have sco rn g runs in m a tch a ft er m a tc h ; are q u it e con fid en t th a t th e y w ill g duck . Y t th e y ris e supe rio r to c irc stances, as, fo r in s ta nce , in ou r m thi s yea r aga in s t H oddesdon , w he had to m ake 80 runs in 40 m in u te s , be in g be ten on the firs t in n in g s . Y