Cricket 1902

CRICKET, APRIL 17, 1902. * 3 8 »|—*■ ' H>—>8©5— <=— j l^ j 1 '/?£COXl - 1 ftAj f- ■ DMc"" $@ 9 — “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. N o. 5 9 4 . v o l . X X I . T H U R S D A Y , A P R I L 1 7 , 1 9 0 2 . p r i c e aa. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. MR. O. R. BORRADAILE. It is little more than eleven years since Mr. Borradaile became secretary of the Ecsex County C.C. He found it in no condition to distinguish itself in the world of cricket, nor did th re seem much chance that the county would ever raise itself from the position of second-class to first-class. Its cricketers played to nearly empty benches — there were not many benches at that period —and its finances were not in a highly satisfactory state. The secretary must feel proud when he looks round on what has been done during these eleven years. He sees the county ground recognised as the third great London ground, with Lord’s and the Oval; he sees the pavilion so crowded with members on big match days that he can hardly move among them, while specta­ tors arrive intheirthousands; he sees the county team holding its own among the very best of the first-class counties. He would be the last man in the world to claim that all this has been brough t about en tirely through his influence; but nevertheless, it is incontest­ able that he has had a very large share in the good work. As a cricketer of the widest experience, he has the points of the game at his fingers’ ends. His unfailing good humour and ready tact have endeared him to all Essex men who take an interest in their county’s doings on the cricket field. Few people realise what a vast amount of work falls on the secretary of a popular county cricket club, nor do they think of the thousand and one worries which beset him every day while a match is in progress. He has heaps of letters to attend to every day, and numberless questions to answer, many of which demand an amount of tact which very few men possess—although a secretary must possess it. “ I must own,” said Mr. Borradaile, “ that it is not always easy to keep one’s temper while a match is in progress—when, for instance, one is suddenly called upon to say whether so and so in such and such a match some years ago was bowled middle stump or MB. O. B. BORRADAILB. (From a Photo by Dickinson, 114, New Bond Street, London.) leg stump. Once during a Gloucester­ shire match at Leyton a gentleman came to me and said ‘ When does Grace go in ? ’ I replied that, thank heaven, we had just got rid of him after he had made over a hundred runs. ‘ Yes, I know,’ said my questioner, ‘ I know that well enough, but when does he go in again ? ’ ‘ How can I tell,’ I asked. ‘ All our men have to go in and get out first, and I don’t know how long they will take about it.’ ‘ That’s all very well,’ was the reply, ‘ but I must know. I have an invalid friend who is coming here to-morrow, and he can only’ stay for three-quarters of an hour, and he wants to see Graoe bat.’ ” Mr. Borradaile may almost be said to have been bom on a cricket ground, for as a baby he looked out from St. Mary’ s Parsonage on to Vincent Square, where the West­ minster boys play cricket. “ When I grew up,” he said, “ I went to Westminster School, but as I left when I was sixteen I did not get my colours, although I was in the second eleven at thirteen and played for the first eleven at times. After leaving school I went to the Bank of England for two or three years, playing cricket for the club. Thence I went to Lloyd’s and was there for ten or eleven years until, on the first of October, 1890, I came here, where I have been ever since.” “ You found Essex a second-class county P” “ Yes. It was not until 1894 that it became first class. I always said that we should never do any good until we were admitted to the first class, for however strong you may be in the second class you don’t get anyone to take any interest in your doings. I think the county was nearly first class for two or three years before it was actually acknowledged to be so, but in the year that we were admitted to the trst rank we only won one match, and that was against a very weak Oxford University team. Since then the county has made great strides, both in the way of winning matches and in attracting the necessary number of spectators to make both ends meet, an all important item in days when county cricket can only be carried on at great