Cricket 1903

CRICKET, JULY 23, 1903. “ T oge ther joined in C r ick e t ’ s m an ly t o i l .” — Byron, v o . 038 . v o l . x x i i . THURSDAY, JULY 23, 1903. f b i o b s a . CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. DE. J. A. LESTER. It seems only a short time ago that Dr. Lester made his debut in English cricket as a member of the Haverford College team which played matches against some of the principal English schools. He made a considerable repu­ tation over here as a batsman of exceptional promise, and his doings when he again came over to England in 1897 with the Gentlemen of Philadelphia were watched with more than ordinary interest, for he was then playing against first-class bowling. It was soon seen that the promise which he had given as a boy was more than fulfilled, and he was found to be one of the most useful members of the team. This year he has done ex­ ceedingly well for the Gentle­ men of Philadelphia, and there is not a single English county which would not be glad if it could avail itself of his services. Nor is there any doubt that if he had the chances of playing year after year in England against all the best bowling, he would soon be one of the greatest men of the day, for he has great powers of defence combined with much judg­ ment in choosing the ball to hit. It speaks wonders for the progress of the game in the United States that such a fine cricketer should be turned out by the country, despite the many difficulties which its players have to overcome. The future career of Dr. Lester will be watched with the greatest attention by all English cricket­ ers, who dearly love to see the success of a man who has to battle against what seems to be almost overwhelming obstacles. Dr. Lester is now a member of the Merion C.C. of Philadelphia, and in con­ nection with the club he relates an amusing anecdote: “ Merion were, I think, playing the Longwood club at New York. At any rate the match was on the Longwood ground, which is very narrow. A ball was hit hard to cover point, who, seeing the men begin to run, had no time to wait to throw. So he took it, and chucked it underhand at the wicket very hard indeed; it seemed to be going straight for the top of the stumps, but it kept on rising and went right out of the ground, to the amazement of the fieldsman and everybody else.” By birth Dr. Lester is a Cumberland man, but he went to America very early in life, and learned all his cricket there, so that as far as cricket is concerned he is to all intents and purposes as much an American as F. R. Spofforth was an Australian; that is to say he is a genuine representative of the United States. ‘ ‘ Although I was always playing cricket,” he said,” “ I never made any runs until I went to Haverford College. There I began to practise carefully during the winter in the well-appointed covered ground which the college possesses. Woodcock, the Leicestershire professional, was then act­ ing as coach, and bowling to us all through the winter. From him I picked up hints and learned so much that I made a lot of runs in the following season, my average being over a hundred. There was rather careful super­ vision at Haverford, and as the college was only a few miles outside Philadelphia, many of the Old Boys used to come down and give us valuable coaching and advice. Haverford is well known now as a college where cricket flourishes, and schoolboys who want to play cricket generally go there, and by the time they leave they are fair players.” ‘ ‘ Is cricket played at many other colleges in the States ?” “ Men often go from Haverford to Harvard for a year or two, and cricket has been played there for a long time. Not many of the Uni­ versities in the States have as yet gone in for cricket, but Cornell University, which is so well known in rowing circles, has taken it up seriously. The colleges in America cannot quite be compared with anything in England; they are a sort of half-way house between your Universities and your public schools. It seems to me that university and college men in the States go into life rather later than they do in England. For example, if a man is going in for the medical profession he goes, say, from Haverford to some medical school for four years, and then has to spend a couple of years in the hospitals. Sharp- DB J. A. LE8TKB.