Cricket 1903

CRICKET, MAY 7, 1903. ¥&=— =He8—<e=dS@8c — ^ T /““x \ Tt I « .*• Vi mi 11 k t - V -"-‘’-’- v a v V W M ," 1A 8 I S I “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. Ho. 027. vox*. XXII. THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1903. f b i c h sa. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. MR. F. H. BACON, THE NEW HAMPSHIRE SECRETARY. As long as Dr. Russell Bencraft could undertake to act as honorary secretary to the Hampshire County C.C. the com­ mittee were only too glad to avail them­ selves of his services, for he was a man in a thousand, highly popular, and possess­ in g an a lm ost in fin ite capacity for work. But no man, with a large practice, could bear such an additional strain for ever, and the time came last autumn when Dr. Bencraft felt that he could no longer continue in office, although, as was to be ex­ pected of him, he volunteered to help the new secretary. Under these circumstances, the committee decided to appoint Mr. Bacon as paid secretary. It often happens that when a cricketer first plays in a big match his initials are wrongly given in the papers, which for a long time after­ wards continue the error. When Mr. Bicon made his first appearance for the county his initials were given as F. E., and as F. E. they have continued in most pub­ lications until this day. When he first represented the county Mr. Bacon was playing for Basingstoke. ‘ ‘ I was secretary of that club for ten years,” he said. “ When I first went there we used to play Saturday afternoon cricket only, but as time v, ent on we arranged a lot of two-day matches. Baldwin, the Hampshire bowler, used to play for the dub, as did Cave, who was in the Hampshire eleven for three or four seasons. Several of the R&ynbirds were members, and I believe I am right in saying that two of them, Walter and Robert, have played for the county. The family used to play matches as a team, gome of the girls helping them ; I never saw any of them play, but I am told that they were quite good cricketers. Colonel May, the Mayor of Basingstoke, did a great deal for the club. I remem­ ber that in one of our matches H. F. Ward bowled a ball which in ordinary circumstances would have been a wide, but the bitsman lunged out at it, and was caught at slip. The umpire, how- MB. P. H. BACON. (From a photo by Messrs. HawJcins <£ Co.t Brighton). ever, had made up his mind promptly that tbe ball was a wide and turned round to the scorer to signal it, before the batsman had made a move. When he was told what had happened he said that he didn’t know anything about that, and stuck to the wide, giving the batsman not out. In another match I hit a ball very hard indeed to square leg, who was doubled up by the force with which the ball struck him in the stomach, but unfortunately for me he placed his hand over the spot before the ball dropped, and I was out.” “ Are there many good cricketers in the north of Hampshire ? ” “ la m afraid that there are not a great But W. H. B. Evans is a North Hampshire man. L . H. Gay, the old Cambridge wicket-keeper, is now living with his father, the Rector of Worting, a couple of miles from Basingstoke; Kitchener and Baldwin both live at Hartley R ow ; and A. H. Belcher,the Brighton College captain, and Bodington are both from North Hamp­ shire.” “ And what about club cricket in the North of Hampshire ? ” “ The great drawback is the want of really good grounds, and the absence of large towns. There are plenty of good clubs, and good enough cricketis played, but it is next to impossible to get a gate. Efforts have been made to attract a gate at Basingstoke with county second eleven matches, but the success which has been met with is not encouraging. I tried for a couple of seasons to attract spectators by getting down a first-class South of England eleven, but not more than two or three hundred came ; I have never seen a thousand people on the ground for a cricket match. In one of these South of England matches Woof, the Gloucestershire bowler, came down. He bowled a ball which knocked off both bails, one of them falling to the ground, and the other, after turning a complete somersault, dropping securely into the f oove of the middle stump, believe that Dr. Grace refers to a similar incident in one of his books. But to return to the cricket many.