Cricket 1903

434 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. O c t . 29, 1903 when it rises high on the off-side. My experience as a baseball player soon enabled me to become accustomed to wicket-keeping, and I was able to gain a place in every team for which I was qualified to play.” “ For what teams did you play after leaving Haverford ? ” “ I went to Harvard University and kept wicket for the eleven, and also met with fair success with the bat. I then went to Ecgland in 1897, being sent for as a substitute to keep wicket instead of F. W. Ralston, who was injured, when the tour of the Gentlemen of Philadelphia was half-way through. After that I always represented the Gentlemen of Philadelphia behind the wicket until the list international match in America, when Jordan came in. Since leaving college, I have played regularly in the Merion Cricket Club eleven, which I have cap­ tained for the past three seasons. When the Gentlemen of Philadelphia came to England this year it was thought advis­ able to include two wicket-keepers, and when I had an accident after a few matches Jordan took the place for the rest of the tour. He did so well that the team did not suffer at all through my inability to play. I could not com­ plain that I was very unlucky when I was injured, because for ten years I had escaped without any accident whatever, and one must expect a little sour with the sweet. But naturally I was dis­ appointed.” “ You used to stand close up to fast bowling before the past tour ? ” “ It had always been my custom to p liy close in to the fastest bowlirg. But when we came over to England this year I arrived at the conclusion, after watching and talking with some of your best wicket-keepers, that it was better to stand back to fast bawling, aud both Jordan and I adopted tLij system. Its chief advantage is that one can make catches which would be impossible close up. But, although I consider it wiser to stand back, I don’t like the position, for you cannot get such a good sight of the ball, which, moreover, has such a very ugly hang that it is at first disconcerting to one who has baen in the habit of standing close up. For all that I am quite convinced that it is the wiser plan to stand back to fast bowling, unless a batsman tries to tbke advantage of you by taking his block outside the line. I have greatly appreciated and enjoyed watching several English wicket-keepers, notably Macgregor, Lilley and Newton, and I should much have liked to see Martyn, although Newton did very well indeed against us.” “ Have you any theories of your own about wicket-keeping ? ” “ I have always felt that a wicket­ keeper could do better by moving his feet about than by always keeping them in a fixed position. I tLink that he cou'd advantageously step across with his right foot, and thus keep right in front of the ba ll; he would at the same time keep his left foot firm. I don’t think that pads should be used to atop a ball except when it keeps very low indeed. In the case of putting down the wicket it seems to me that instead of flicking the bails off by a circular motion it is better to make a straight line sweep, putting the wicket down with the forearm, ball in hand. Personally I always make a point of putting the wicket down on any leg ball, because batsmen have a strong tendency to leave their ground when they miss a leg ball.” “ What percentage of chances do you feel you ought to take ? ” “ I always feel personally that I ought to take three chances out of four, and not allow more than four byes in a hundred runs in any class of cricket. This would work out on an average roughly to about two wickets an inrings. If a wicket-keeper keeps the byes down to four per cent, of the total I think he is doing as well as ought to be expected of him, but at the same tiane I consider that Banjitsinhji is quite right when he says in his book that the matter of byes is almost the last thing to be thought of. He places catching first, stumping next, then running out, then preventing byes, and last of all quickness in chasing balls not fielded. In this estimate of a wicket­ keeper’s duties he seems to me to be very just. Of course iu estimating the skill of a wicket-keeper a good deal must always depend on the number of chanc s that he has, but it is very rarely indeed in the course of an innings that a wicket-keeper has no chances at all. Other people may not know about them, but he dots, you may be sure. Ou the other hand, he is often blamed for missing catches which are absolutely impossible. The ball is turned at such an angle that there is not time for human hands to move to it quickly enough to make a catch; the fingers simply touch the ball, and there is your ‘ shockingly bad miss at the wicket.’ ” “ Do you practise wicket-keeping at all ? ” “ In the matter of practice I do not believe in keeping wicket unless a bats­ man is in front of the stumps, for much of this kind of work would soon make a man begin to blink when he came to a match. A man wants to practise under natural conditions, and when once his style is formed it is better never to keep wicket except in matches. But sharp ground fielding, independent of wicket- keeping, is very useful indeed. One of the first things that a wicket-keeper has to learn in order to keep his hands from frequently being injured is to wait for the ball to come solidly into the hands before moving them ; a tendency to snatch is the cause of more injuries than one wcu’ d imagine. A good wicket- ket pBr will wait, and then instantaneously bring his hands to the wicket. As regards gloves, I be.ieve that they might be made heavier, so as to protect the hands better, without decreasing their efficieLcy.” Wicket-keepers sometimes meet with tantalising experiences. “ Once in a match at Harvard in 1897, against a team of English residents,” said Mr. Scatter- good, “ one of our opponents ran out to every ball of the first over which he received. He missed the ball each time, but brought his bat down behind him so quickly that although I put the wicket down every ball, he was just in time to save himself. The umpire said that t was an absolute tie between us every ball. It would make a good ending to the story if I could say that I was too quick for the batsman the next time, but as a matter of fact he again ran out, again missed, and was bowled. On another occasion a batsman tried the same plan twice, but the ball came quickly enough the second time to enable me to stump him. I have no doubt that many a batsman who has missed the ball would save his wicket if he brought his bat round very quickly behind him, but it would probably look very odd in first-olass cricket if he did so. Ouce I caught and stumped a man off the same ball—he was very clearly out in both ways. But to my shout of ‘ How’s that for caught ? ’ the umpire at the bowler’s end replied ‘ Not out.’ So then I turned to the other umpire and asked, ‘ How is it for stumped ? ’ ‘ Not out,’ he said. Both cases were so plain that when the batsman at the other end—a very genial fellow—said to the umpire with much solemnity, *How is it for bowled ?’ all the field roared with laughter and the tension was relieved.” Mr. Scattergood has arrived at the conclusion that a wicket-keeper is not the best person in a team to be captain. “ Theoretically a man at the wicket should be in a better position for study­ ing the changes of the game,” he said, “ than anyone else on the side. But it seems to me very questionable whether it ii wise to add to a wicket-keeper’s duties, which require his constant and undivided attention. I have always found that I have been in by far the best form behind the stumps when my mind was free from distracting thoughts as to when the bowling ought to be changed, etc., and I feel sure that most other wicket-keepers will agree with me in this.” “ A cuiious incident once occurred when I was batting,” said Mr. Scatter­ good. “ I hit a ball hard on to my foot, and it rebounded to some height. While I was still in the act of swinging my bat the ball touched it and went off into the hands of short slip, who caught it and promptly appealed. But the umpire c )uld not quite see what had happened, and gave me not out. As a matter of fact I did not myself realise at first that I had actually given a catch.” W. A. B e t t e s w o b t h . DARK GREEN CLOTH COVERS for Binding Vol. XXI. of Cricket, Now Ready. Price 2/-; Post Free, 2/3. Volumes can be Bound at our Offices or exchanged for Volumes for 5 /-.—Cricket Offices, 168, Upper Thames Street, L o n d o n , E.C.