Cricket 1903

CRICKET, AUG. 27, 1903. “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.” — Byron. w o . 043 . v o l . x x i i . THURSDAY, AUG. 27, 1 9 0 3 . f b i c b ad . 153, which was put together in Holland in the course of an hour and a half. Like so many other Dutch cricketers, Mr. Posthuma speaks English exceed­ ingly well. “ At school in Holland,” he said, “ I was taught English, but it was through playing cricket that I really learned to speak the language. In Hol­ land all cricketers, and very many people MR. 0. J. POSTHUMA. (From a photo by P. Clausing , Haarlem). who do not play, read the English sport­ ing newspapers and Cricket, and we find them very useful as well as very interest­ ing. But there is a very noticeable difference between speaking a language well enough to be able to understand and to be understood, and in joining in ordinary conversation day after day. I find that when I go away for a first-class match for three days it becomes very tiring to me to speak English always, and to hear nothing but English, and I am very glad sometimes to get home and hear my wife speak Dutch. You see the case is not like that of an Englishman who goes to Paris, for example. It is true that he may hear nothing but the French language, but he has long intervals of rest when he is not talking or listening to anyone. At a cricket match you are always in the middle of it, even when you are in the field . F o rtu n a te ly English comes the easiest to me when the subject is cricket.” “ How long do you intend to remain in England ? ” “ Until the middle of September. I cannot say that I have very greatly en­ joyed the past season, for, apart from the miserable weather, I have been un­ fortunate in the way of accidents, which have handi­ capped me very greatly in the cricket field. I arrived in England at the beginning of April, and a few days later my leg gave way as the resnlt of a slip when bowling in the nets. So I had to give up cricket for a month. When London County played Leicestershire at Leicester on Whit Monday I felt fit for the first time, and in the course of the match I took a lot of wickets. But we played Gloucestershire at the Crystal Palace at the end of the week, and in my second over I strained my side. When I got over that I strained myself again, and haven’t got over it yet. Consequently I ’ve never been able to let myself go. Against the M.C.C., after Ihad taken a couple of wickets, Ithought that I might venture to try my hardest, and I took 6 wickets for 44, but I tried to do too much, with the result that I have never been myself since that time. It was a little curious that during that innings against the CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. MR. C. J. POSTHUMA. With the laudable desire of gaining experience which might be of service to his fellow players in Holland, Mr. Pos­ thuma has passed the present cricket season in England, playing for London County. Unhappily he has been the victim of a series of accidents which have very greatly militated against his success, and though after he recovered from bis first acci­ dent he bowled so well against Leicestershire that great things were hoped of him, he again injured him­ self so badly that it was not until nearly the end of July that he was able to bowl his fastest once more. This was for London County against M.C.C. at the Crystal Palace, and in the second innings he took six wickets for 44 runs, but the effort resulted in a further strain, and he has never been himself 6ince then. He is one of the few fast left-hand bowlers of the day, with a great deal of command over the ball. Many years ago in Holland he was a good bowler, and against one of the first English teams which went over there he in one match took nine wickets for eight runs, and eight wickets for nine. As a batsman he hits with great power, and those who saw his innings of 63 for the Dutch team against Surrey a few years ago are not likely to forget it. One of his most remarkable per­ formances was against the M.C.C. team which visited Holland two years ago. He went in when eight wickets were down for 23 a quarter of an hour before lunch. When the interval came his score was 50. After lunch he was at the wickets for another twenty minutes, and when the last man got out he had brought his total to 95. His highest score was