Cricket 1903

CRICKET, AUG. 20, 1903. “ T oge th e r joined in C r ick e t’s m an ly t o il.” — Byron. h o . 0 4 a. v o l . x x i i . THURSDAY, AUG. 20, 1 9 0 3 . f r i c b ad. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. ME. C. A. STEIN. THE HONORARY SECRETARY OP THE SURREY county c.c. (pro tem). Everybody knows that when Mr. Alcock became so ill that he had to give up all work, Mr. Stein, at the request of the Surrey committee, under­ took to act as honorary secretary of the oounty club. For many years he has been an active and enthusiastic member of the committee, and has devoted a great deal of time to helping to further the interests of Surrey in the cricket field, so that he did not enter upon his new duties without experience. In his younger days he played a great deal of cricket, and often assisted the Surrey Club and Ground teams, so that he understands the game thoroughly. When asked how long he had been on the committee of the Surrey Club, he said, “ I should think that it would be about twenty-five years. But at the time when I was elected, things were managed somewhat different­ ly from what they are now. For instance, I recollect that one of the members who was not on the committee was in the habit of asking incon­ venient questions at general meetings. He was particu­ larly anxious to know how often each member of the committee attended, and at every general meeting he aBked this question. This so annoyed some of the com ­ mittee, who hardly ever put in an appearance, that they adopted drastic measures. They managed to get the questioner elected on the committee, and thenceforth they enjoyed peace and quietness. I was elected at about the same time.” “ Not for the same reason, I hope ? “ Oh, n o ! A t that time the club was anxious to get a few men on the com ­ mittee who would attend with some approach to regularity, and would take an interest in the welfare of the county. I happened to know one of the committee named Wells, a civil engineer and a most hard-working member; he suggested that I was the sort of man who would take an interest in the eleven and would not try to shirk work, and so I was elected at UB. O. A. STEIN. (From a photo by Herbert Tear, 12, Clapham Road , London , S.W. once. There used to be a great deal of difficulty in those days in getting an eleven together, and as often as not there were only ten men on the morning o f the match, and ‘ Wire for Caffarey ’ was a frequent order. Caffarey was a young professional at Mitcham, and although very anxious to secure a regular place in the eleven, was never quite class enough.” “ Had you been connected with Surrey cricket before thij ? ” “ I have been a constant visitor to the Oval ever since I can remember. I was bom at Tulse H ill, which, although with­ in three miles of the Oval, was then in the heart o f the couatry, and I have lived in Surrey nearly all my life. I never went to a public school, for at that time it was not considered b y parents to be so important as it is now to give a boy a public school training, and so I was sent to Dr. C. H . Pinches, at Clarendon House, Kensing­ ton, who was considered as one of the best headmasters of the day. Our eleven there brought out two men for the Surrey eleven, J . W . Noble and Charles Noble. The former was a very fine cricketer. M y greatest de­ light as a youngster was to go to the Oval and bow l to Ben Griffith, Caffyn, Julius Caesar, Mortlock and other Surrey professionals. They took some interest in me, and gave me hints on the game. There were no side nets, and often not even a back net, while the practice pitches were so very much worse than they are now that, boy as I was, I some­ times had the pleasure of bow ling them out.” “ D id they bow l to you ? ” “ Well, occasionally. But bow ling at practice was not much in their line. I f one of the Surrey amateurs, who was in the eleven, came to the Oval, they would bow l to him, but otherwise they preferred to bat. Y ou see they were not engaged on the ground staff—there was no such thing as a ground staff then— and they came up from their villages just before a match. Most of them used to like to slog at practice, Ben Griffith especially. But he used to hit as hard in a match as at practice, and I remember seeing him make three square-leg hits out of the ground in a match against South Wales— I think it was against South