Cricket 1903

8 2 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A p r il 23, 1903. Wiltshire men, or others who had become accustomed t o the rule, got in front of the wicket, whereas those who were not accustomed to it found some difficulty, West and I both noticed the difference very clearly. But it certainly did not make any difference in the batting, for the Wiltshire men made a long score. Under the old law a certain number of men, including some of the best batsmen in the world, get right in front of the stumps before the ball has left the bowler’s arm, and you can only see the least bit of the off-stump. Others, again, who stand quite clear till the ball is actually bowled immediately get right in front. Of course, they hardly ever miss the ball, but I have seen Rhodes bowling on a queer wicket against teams which included several men who have the habit, and the result must have been rather dis­ heartening to the batting side.” “ Do you think that the proposed law would make umpiring more difficult ? ” “ I don’t think that it would, but I am afraid that in small matches there would be a little too much power in the hands of the umpires, who already have power enough. When we had a meeting of umpires a year or two ago we all voted that there ought to be something done to stop what is known as leg play, but I believe that if fielding had gone on improving as much as batting there would be nothing like the present number of drawn games. You see, when the match is played on a plumb wicket the time when the batsman gives his chance or chances is nearly always before he has found the exact pace; if you miss him then you’ve often got to v,ait about a day and a half before he gives another chance. At the same time I feel sure that if nearly alt matches lasted for only two days instead of three the county clubs would suffer very severely in the way of loss of gate money. People don’t go to see a finish—you will always see by far the biggest crowd on the first day when no finish is possible—they go to see batting, and certainly not bowling. “ What is your opinion on the question of throwing ? ” “ I don’t think that there has ever been much throwing in modern times. In fact, in the days before the question was rai.-ed there was undoubtedly far more than there is now, and dozens of players who made great reputations would be no-balled now if they adopted the same style. The umpire at the wicket-keeper’s end has not very much time to watch the bowler’s arm, because at almost the same time there is something happening at his own end. In the Oxford and Cambridge match two or three years ago there was a catch which went to third man. I was at the bowler’s end, but could not see what happened, for the bowler was in the habit of rolling to one side after he had got rid of the ball. It is generally admitted that third man, who was, I think, Mr. Wilson, brought off the catch, but I could not postibly see on account of the bowler’s peculiar habit, so when the batsman appealed I turned the decision over to Phillips. JJow, although the wicket-keeper was standing back, Phillips could not see whether the catch was made, possibly owing to the position or attitude of the fieldsman, and so the batsman continued his innings. Of course, he was right to appeal, for he himself did not know what had happened, the ball being cut very hard. “ You saw a good deal of Trumper’s batting last year p ” “ He is one of the finest bats I ever saw, and was certainly the best in the world last season. I have noticed one thing in which he differs very much from eight out of ten batsmen—he hardly ever lets a ball go past him, and the off-ball, which is generally regarded as so danger­ ous, was exactly to his taste. He placed the ball so cleverly let it be ever so little on the short side. He is a wonderful batsman. But for all that you can’t get away from the fact that Dr. Grace was the greatest batsman the world has ever seen. He has altered his style of late years to suit the times, but when he was at his best you never saw him pull a ball. But you can’t compare the batting of men who have only been out a few years with his, until they have been through a great many more seasons. Dr. Grace’s reputation does not rest on what he did during one season or in half a dozen.” “ Where was your early cricket played? ” “ At Essendon, in Hertfordshire. We had a good little cricket field there, and a fairly strong eleven, including Tom Pearce, Jack Hughes, and the two Mr. Hanburys and the two Mr. Butlers. We played some good clubs, among them being Hatfield, St. Albans and the Node, Mr. Cecil Reid’s place. Mr. Daniells, who lived at Little Berkhampstead, took a great interest in me, and sometimes would make me go with him to Lord’s to see a big match. I very well remember the first time I saw Dr. Grace play there. He scored a duck’s egg, but ma le a lot of runs in the second inuings when I was at home. I also remember seeing Mr. C. F. Buller, and thiuking what a fine player he was. In later years Mr. Buller used to play at Gorhambury, and during a match there the Hon. R ibert Grimston always used to say to him after lunch, ‘ Now then, Bully, we must have our usual.’ And then the two would put on boxing gloves and have an interesting little struggle, in which they never let themselves go too far.” “ What brought about your selection for the ground staff at Lord’s ? ” “ Mr. V. E. Walker was playing with Mr. Butler’s team against us, and after lunch he took me round the field with him, and asked me if I would like to go to L o ri’s. I replied that I didn’ t think I was good enough, but he said that they wanted men who would field as well as bat and bowl. But I was still afraid to go, and I doubt whether I should have found courage enough if it had not beei that so much work was thrown on my shoulders when Mr. Green gave up the secretary­ ship of our c’.ub that I was half worried out of my life. I was constantly engaged by different gentlemen for matches in distant parts of the county—for Sir Eustace Piers alone I have been engaged for as many as twenty matches in a season—and when I came home tired out, it was a bit too mu ;h of a good thing to find half-a-dozsn letters waiting for me with excuses for not b-iog able to play in tbe next day’s match. So I said to my father, ‘ I ’ll go to Lord’s, if only to get out of this.’ To which he replied, ‘ Well, go, my boy. They won’t kill you in a couple of months.’ ” “ You played for the M.C.C. in most of their matches for some time after that ? ” “ Yes. And I was fortunate enough to do fairly well. People used to say that I had the safest pair of hands ever seen at Lord’s. I remember that once when I was ill in bed with my hands lying out, the doctor said, ‘ Anyone can always tell a cricketer by his hands; there seems to be a hollow for the ball to rest in.’ Perhaps he said this because my hands were so big. I always took a very great delight in fielding.” W. A. B e t t e s w o b t h . GEORGE GIFFEN IN FIRST-CLASS CRICKET. BATTING. No. Times Most of not Total in an inns. out. runs. inns. Aver, Australian X I s in Eng. 268 ..16... 5,806 ..180...23*03 Inter-State ................. 90 .. 4 .. 3,762...271.. 4374 Combined Aus. Teams ... 13 .. 2... 290 .. 67...26'36 Test Matches, Australia 30... 0.. 850...161...28*33 S.A. v. England .......... 11.. 2... 628...203 ..52 33 v. America...................... 10... 0 .. 406... 93...40 60 Smokers v. Non-Smokers 2... 0 .. 21... 15...10 50 Grand Totals .......... 427...24 ..11,763 .,271...29'18 BOWLING. Overs. Mdns. Runs. Wkts. Aver. Aus.XI.8inEng. 4 8 3*2...1,641..,. 9 889 .. 532...18-58 Intes-State .. .. 2,960-1... 718.. 7,686 .. 830...22 93 Combined Austra­ lian Teams 273.5 .. 89 .,. 749... 40...18 72 Test Mtchs, Aus. 768-1 .. 247 .. 1,783. .. 70.. 25 47 S.A. v. England 476 ... 113.,.. 1.254... 54 . 23-22 v. America .. 143 5 .. 29 .. 4.'8 ,.. 14..29-14 Smokers v. Non- Smokers ........ 7 . 2... 18. —... — Grand totals 9,441*2 . 3,239 ..21,637...1,040 . 20 85 WEST WIlATTINGr PARK C.C. APRIL. 25 v. Corpus College 27. v. Unemployed C.C. MAY. 2 v. Trinity Hall 4 v. St Peter’s College 8. v. Christ’s College 11. v. Caius College 16. v. Queens’ Collega 18. v. Clare College 21. v. Jesus College 25. v. Magdalene College 29. v. Pembroke College JUNE. 1. v. St. Catharine’s College 5. v. Trinity College 8 v. Pelicans C.C. 13. v. Haverhill 17. v. Granta C.C. 20. v. E*sex Borderers 22. v. Six Mile Bottom 27. v. Suffolk Ramblers JULY. 4. v. West Wratting.