Cricket 1903

CRICKET, JULY 16 1903. “ T oge ther joined in C r ick e t ’ s m an ly t o i l .” — Byron. h o . 8 3 7 . v o l . x x i i . THURSDAY, JULY 16, 1903. f b i c b aa. THE^MAN OF THE HOUR. Not even the most commonplace clerk seated in his garden at West Ham among the mosquitoes could fail to know that the above heading referred to Mr. C. B. Fry, whose performances during the last week or two have been the talk of the cricket world. Yet, as cricketers go, Mr. Fry has only been before the public for quite a short lime, and it was but eleven years ago that he made his debut in the University match. He had previously made a reputation at Repton, the school which had the train­ ing of Mr. L. C. H. Palairet and some of the Fords, but it must be admitted that in his University days he showed very little signs of ever becoming a really great batsman. Even when he made his 100 not out for Oxford against Cambridge in 1894, his methods were thedespair of the best judges, who saw in him the posei- biliiies of great things, if only he could learn how to make use of his talents. But although he was a splen­ did type of an athlete, he seemed to be all angles when he was at the wicket, and his style of batting; was stilted to a degree. No one who saw him play his innings of a hundred against Cam­ bridge is likely to forget it, for surely nothing like it had ever been seen before in a big match. ‘ ‘ If only he could find out that he’s got joints and a wrist, instead of poking about as if Heaven had made him a pump handle ! ” mur­ mured a weary spectator, and those around him looked approval. What could be hoped of such a man ? Possibly if Mr. Fry had been an individual who did not know his own weaknesses, he would have remained an angular and mechanical batsman until this day. But from the first he was given to the com- munings with himself which have since stood him in such good stead both as a cricketer and a journalist, and although for a time he seemed to have retired into obscurity, like so many other men who do well in the University match, he was steadily thinking over his defects, and the way in which he could remedy them. In his first year in the Oxford eleven he had made his debut in county cricket for Surrey against Warwickshire at the Oval, on August 24thand 25th, 1891, and, alas ! for Surrey, scored only three in the first innings, while in the second, when Surrey had to make five runs to win, he was sent in first with Brockwell, who gave him no chance to score; so he carried his bat for nought. If only he had made about 20, the whole course of the history of Surrey cricket might have been altered. As it was he was no more heard of in county cricket until 1894, his last year at Oxford, when he appeared in the Sussex team after the ’Varsity match, and it is interest­ ing to note what “ Wisden” says of his cricket at the time. “ Mr. Fry thoroughly justified his inclusion, playing the game at all times with the greatest keenness and determination, and showing those remark­ able qualities as an athlete that have made his name so famous. He was generally able to do his best on the biggest occasions. Though perhaps not a batsman of very high class, his indomi­ table pluck several times rendered him valuable,'.and he had the distinction of scoring a hundred against Gloucestershire at Bristol.” Now if we except the remark about the class of batsman, this criticism is perfectly true of to-day. But it was a long time before this par­ ticular part of the criticism needed to be changed. Mr. Fry did well enough, it is true, to be considered a worthy representative of a good and rising team, but that was all. Then came one of the most remarkable changes ever known in the history of the game. In 1898, Ranjitsinbji, who had nearly set the Thames on fire by his splendid abilities as a batsman in the Sussex team in the two previous years, was absent in India, and things looked very bad for his county. By - and - bye men began to ask each other, “ Have you seen Fry this year ? ” “ Yes,” would be the reply, “ what an extraordinary change in a man ! ” It seemed incredible that this facile batsman, who was scoring hun­ dreds everywhere in first-class style, could be the man who had previously seemed so very wooden. But let us see again what Wisden says of his batting in this year. ‘ ‘ Far and M R.' C. B. FBY. {From a photo by Messrs. R . Thiele & Co., 66, Chancery Lane , London ).