Cricket 1903

CRICKET, APRIL 30, 1903.' “ Together joined in Cricket’ s manly toil.”— Byron. S o . 0 20. VOL. X X I I. THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 1903. p r i c e ad. CHATS!ON.THE CRICKET FIELD. 1MR. K . [J. KEY. At the present time, when the proposed visit of a team of native Indian cricketers is being so much discussed in England, a chat with Mr. Key, who was captain of the Oxford University Authentics during their recent tour in India, must naturally have an es­ pecial interest. For Mr. Key is a keen observer as well as a practical and ex­ perienced captain. As the chat with him relates entirely to Indian cricket and cricket­ ers, this is not the place in which to refer to his many exploits for Surrey and Ox­ ford University, or to his success as captain of the Surrey team. Suffice it to say that there are many good judges of the game who think that it would be a good thing for Surrey if he could be persuaded to under­ take the captaincy again. That he has lost none of his old skill with the bat is evi­ dent from the fine cricket which he played last year in first-class matches—heended the season with an average of 40'14 for seven innings— and from his big scores for the Authentics in India. Although Mr. Key only took part in one match in which the opposing team was composed entirely of native players, he was, of course, in a position to know a great deal about them. This match was against Past and Present of Aligarh Col- lege, but on other occasions a few natives were included “ mth e .t®ams a^ain9t wh;ch he played. The Aligarh College eleven was deci­ dedly strong in bowling,” he said ; “ the “ hardly had a chance of dis- wicket for a lob bowler, but Simpson- Hayward was irresistible upon it. Ali Hasan is a medium-pace bowler, with a great reputation in India. At Aligarh he was very successful, but he did not do very much on other occasions when the Authentics met him. He breaks a good deal both ways, even on a hard wioket, but I don’t suppose he would make the (From a photo T>y R. Thiele Jt Co., 66, Chancery Lane, London.) b a tsm e n _____ J ___ __ w w ui u tmguishing themselves, for the "wicket was wet on the top with what seemed a sort of green clay underneath- a day OnJT 8PParel?tly n^ e r got really dry. On the other hand it was not an ideal ball do much at the Oval. He is dis­ tinctly a fine bowler, with a great com­ mand over the ball, and a good idea of variation. Shafkat, the other Aligarh bowler, did uncommonly well. He is very fast, and his action is such that I should not think he would easily tire. On the Aligarh wicket he was deadly, and I remember that he bowled me with a tremendous shooter. The fielding of the Aligarh team was quite good, but the captain was a present member of the College, and as he was much younger than most of his'companions, he had not sufficient experience to know how to manage his field; this, of course, was a very great handicap.” “ Did there seem muchjenthusiasm'in India over the proposed team to visit England next year ? ” “ I believe that the Parsees were extremely keen on it, but for the rest we did not hear much about it, except at Aligarh College, where they were decidedly enthusi­ astic. But it is very difficult —I might perhaps say im­ possible—for an Englishman to gauge the depth of native opinion, for unless you have actually been in India you can have no idea what a gulf there is between Euro­ peans and natives. But the Parsees have very much more in common with the Euro­ peans than the other great divisions, and so one gets to know something of their opinions on such occasions as this. Some of the Indian newspapers wrote to all the Authentics asking them to give their opinions upon the subject of a visit of a team of native cricketers to India, and I believe that the replies were generally to the effect that such a team would be quite up to the level of second-class counties. There is no doubt that there are many fine native cricketers in India, especially among the bowlers. They tell me that Mehta is very good indeed, and that he Could bowl all day without tiring. Of course this is the type of player who would be remarkably useful on an extended tour.” ‘ ‘ Y ou enjoyed the tour ? ” “ One could not help doing that, for we were everywhere received with the very greatest kindness. We were made much off were pnt up at all the stations,