Cricket 1903

C R IC K E T , O C T . 2 9 , 1 9 0 3 . II a I t ' k k § L J & ' / ? s c a ? z ~ M ^ r r j f e r/ / £ ^ i r x & d lM r J J L * C J A 7 & T i " ® 1 It <X3a‘ si® 1 ^ n m H e j c . _ 3 — f e 9 — f . “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toll.” — Byron. Ho. 047 . voi. x x i i . THURSDAY, OCT. 29, 1 9 0 3 . f r i c b aa. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. MR. J. H. SCATTERGOOD. Although Mr. Scattergood, the first wicket-keeper in the Gentlemen of Phila­ delphia team, was unfortunate enough to injure his hand so seriously after playing three or four matches, that he was unable to take any further part in the tour, his ability behind the stumps was so marked that he was universally re­ garded as a really great wicket-keeper. One of his best feats was performed against Mr. Warner’s team in 1897, when on the Bel­ mont ground he caught five men in the second innings and stumped another. Dur­ ing the recent tour in Eng­ land of the Gentlemen of Philadelphia he made four catches and stumped a man in the first innings of the Cambridge Universitymatch, one player being absent owing to an injury. His style is slightly different from that of the average English wicket-keeper, but it is beyond question effec­ tive. In reply to a query how it is that a single city like Philadelphia can turn out such a fine team in a country where cricket is not by any means the national game, Mr. Scattergood said: “ I hardly know. As a matter of fact, when it was pro­ posed to send a team to Eng­ land this year there were only twenty names at the outside of men who could have any claims to go. Every member of the team which came to England is in business or in some profession, and the only time for matches is on Saturday afternoons, ex­ cept on the rare occasion of visits from an English team. In the evenings a man, if he is fortunate, may get half-an-hour’s net practice; but our twilight is very short, and men can often get very little practice indeed because they cannot get away until late. The masses do not play at all; in fact, cricket in America is entirely the game of the upper classes, and outside Philadelphia and Baltimore there is practically no native cricket. There are a lot of clubs in New York, Chicago, and elsewhere, but they are almost entirely confined to English resi­ dents. On the other hand, everybody who plays in Philadelphia is enthusiastic, and the success of a tour like this last will work wonders, and will greatly increase the number of players. On the various grounds of Philadelphia eighteen profes­ sionals are engaged, of whom sixteen are Englishmen.” “ But,” continued Mr. Scattergood, “ our custom of combining the cricket clubs with others has an excellent effect, for it enables most of them to be exceed­ ingly well equipped in every way. It is one of the advantages of our clubs that they are ‘ social ’ and ‘ country ’ clubs combined, in which various games are included under the same management. The Merion club, for example, of which I am a member, has about 1,300 members of whom about 75 play cricket, 200 lawn tennis, and 200 golf. The result is that cricket has a very attractive setting.” “ Do you think that the masses in the United States will ever take seriously to cricket “ I don’ t think so. They can very rarely give the time for it, and they think it much too slow a game. They have so little time to spare that they want somethin? which works excitement into an hour or two, and baseball fulfils these conditions far better than cricket.” “ You had never played cricket before you went to Haverford College ? ” “ No. I had played nothing but baseball. Bat very soon after I went to Haverford I found that cus­ tom demanded that one should take up cricket, and so I went in for the new game with enthusiasm. In my first year I was in one of the minor elevens, and was in the first eleven dur­ ing my last two years at the college. At baseball I had been a ‘ catcher,’ a position which answers to that of wicket-keeper at cricket, so that when I began to keep wicket—and I began at once —I had already learned not to blink at the rapid motion of the bat. But while a 1 catcher ’ holds his fingers upwards because the ball nearly always comes higher than the waist, a wicket­ keeper usually holds them downwards. I have found, however, that it is often convenient and useful to take a cricket ball in the baseball way, particularly