Cricket 1903

86 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A pril 23, 1903. C R I C K E T IN T H E TR O P IC S . W hy I ndia L oyes the G ame and A nglo -I ndia P lays but L ittle . (From the Daily Express,) B y C ecil H eadlam . I HAYE dealt -with the grow ing en­ thusiasm of the natives of India for cricket, an enthusiasm which, if it con­ tinues to increase—and there is no reason why it should n o t—will, in my opinion, soon result in producing quite first-class teams among them. Even to-day a combined team of natives would be almost if not quite first-class in bow ling and fielding, though their excel­ lence in those departments would scarcely compensate for their present weakness in batting. Jaya R im , of Mysore, who will be seen on London cricket grounds this season, is one of their best bats. The project of getting together such a team of Hindus, Mohammedans, and Par­ sees to visit England and play some of the counties at home is at present being eagerly discussed out here, and it looks now as if the discussion m ight lead to a practical issue. I t w ill be a vastly inter­ esting experiment if it is tried. But I must turn now to consider English cricket in India. Captain Greig and M ajor Poore were fine cricketers before they appeared for first-class coun­ ties at home, but the public heeded them not. In the same way there are many fine cricketers in India to-day, born to bat unknown till they are revealed to a smaller public by the visit of an English team like Mr. K . J. K ey’s present eleven of Oxford University Authentics. AN ANGLO-INDIAN E L lY iN . The Gentlemen of India, though beaten by the Autbentics, were represented at Delhi by such players as 0 . T. Studd, the old Cambridge blue, W . J. Marsham, K . 0 . Goldie and B. N . B js worth Smith. Take these and add H . R . Hoare, J. D. Guise and A. J. Tweedie or F. Robinson to bow l, Captain Bateman-Champain or H . French to bat and keep wicket, and fill up your team with Captain Neale, Captain Wigram, the V iceroy’s A.D .C ., and Captain Challenor, and thus, having scoured the length and breadth of the land, you would have succeeded in col­ lecting the nucleus of a first-class side, even without including Greig, who has gone to join his regiment in Somaliland. But it would be a side out of practice, and, of course, handicapped by not being accustomed to play together. Out of practice, for the patent, if lamentable, fact is that men do not keep up their cricket out here as they used to d ). On all sides you hear the same lament. And if you begin to search for reasons, several present themselves to you. I t is urged in general, that for Europeans cricket is not a game best suited to the conditions of modern India. I t is, to begin with, too long a game. Y ou want in India a game which is both violent and short. Y ou do not want a game which keeps you out in the m id-day sun. Polo you can begin when the heat of the day is over, and it enables you to get your exercise and enjoyment in time to turn up at the club— that essential feature of Indian life—and so see your friends before dinner. That is why the game of kings is gradually ousting the king of games. NO TIME FOR CRICKET. The same is true of racquets, hockey, and lawn tennis. Also, you want a short game, because India is a land of work— of increasingly hard work. Compared with the advantage of polo then, which is over after a few “ chukkas ” and at which you cm get a station game two or three times a week, a short day’s cricket once a week has not much to offer. A t polo, too, say those who have deserted the cricket field, if you miss your ball once, you can recover; at cricket, if you are out first ball, you must wait a whole week for another possible chance, and then perhaps not get an innings. Again, if, as at Bombay, you play in the monsoon, the wickets, baked by a hot sun after heavy daily rain, are just a bit of glue and give the batsman no fun, while the bowlers feel the effect of the burning, exhausting sun, and quickly modify their run, lose their sting, and as the phrase goes, soon bow l only twelve annas to the rupee. If, on the other hand, you play in the cold weather, you cannot, without very great expense and trouble in watering, provide a tolerable grass wicket at all. There are other considerations which militate against cricket in India. India has become increasingly a land of pass jge. Not only are the regiments constantly changing their stations, but civilians also are moved more than used to be the case. And all business men have their faces ever set towards home. Keen cricketers take their cricket at home, and play other games out here. Hence it may be said that the days when every little station had its ground and regular team as a matter of course, are over. Undoubtedly, when you get a regiment, such, for instance, as the Queen’s, with a fine cricket tradition and record, you still find a team accustomed to play together, and ready to give any side a good match. But here, again, comes in a difficulty. A LARGE COUNTRY. India is a large cou n try; men are all busy here, and they are separated by vast distances. That means that at most places there is little chance of a match with any outside team, except it may be with a regiment on the march. There are no touring clubs, and cricket with the same people every week becomes mon­ strously monotonous. The rare matches played with visiting teams, or for the possession of the cup presented by the Punjab Commission, involve so many days’ travelling on the part of the players that you cannot expect them to be more frequent. Some years ago, indeed, when the late Maharajah of Patalia was alive, the Patiala team used to go on tour. Re­ cruited from all quarters— for a good cricketer was sure of a snug billet in the Patiala fore :s —this side undoubtedly added vastly to the interest taken in cricket in India. The same may be said of the Behar Wanderers team, which used occasionally to go on tour, or rather on a triumphal procession, round India. But thanks to the invention of a German chemist, the indigo planters, of whom mainly the team was composed, have fallen on evil times, and the crisis which they are now facing leaves them little leisure or energy for cricket. The visit of the Oxford University Authentics, who have made a complete circuit of India, has supplied for this past cold weather the needed incentive to play and practice, and has given undoubtedly a great fillip to the game. If it were possible that some such tour, either of English or colonial cricketers or of an Indian team, could take place fre­ quently, cricket among Europeans in India would rapidly revive. But in a land of no “ gates ” that is perhaps too much to hope for, although the extremely hospitable welcome which the Authentics have everywhere received, b asides making such a tour intensely enjoyable, shows also how much it is appreciated. ©oiresponDence. The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions of his correspondents. THE WIDER WICKET. To the Editor o f C ricket . D ear S ir , — I gather from what I have read and heard that the impression given by the proposed wider wicket to 9 inches is that it is to be a means o f putting down tall scoring and shortening innings, but what I take to be the intention is to induce batsmen to score faster, and so secure brighter cricket and more finished matches. I think it probable that the wider wicket will bring about this de­ sirable result. W e have heard for years of the supremacy of the bat over the ball, but it has become now the supremacy of slow scientific batting on “ p lum b ” wickets over the whole game. I f the wider wicket comes into force, how delightful it will be if the change com­ pels batsmen to turn their attention to run-getting sooner, and to play a faster and more attractive game. Even on the field opponents delight in a brilliant innings, and “ round the r in g ” the delight of spectators is intense, and we hardly want it to terminate so long as the batting is strong and aggressive. The fact is we desire to see this character of cricket rather than the slow protection game which is often exhibited on billiard table pitches. W ith the perfect wickets of the past 20 years, it has been the custom for a certain class of batsmen to go in simply to play down the bow ling and get the eye in before attempting to score, and they do it, and we watch them sometimes for hours. I was talking to a county batsman about this, “ Yes,” he