Cricket 1904

CRICKET, A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. JULY 28, 1904. no . 668. vol . xxiii . THURSDAY, JULY 28, 1904. price aa. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. M r. H . B. CHINNERY. One cannot help feeling that if Mr. Chinnery had been able to play regularly in first class cricket from the time that he left Eton, he would have now been among the first dozen batsmen in England. Even as it is he is a fine cricketer, who only wants a very little luck to be able to get into his stride. He is one of the most attractive players in England to watch, and it is remarkable that a man of hiB size can hit with such power. He was only in the Eton Eleven for two years, but in the match against Harrow in 1895, he played two beautiful innings of 75 and 64, showing the best cricket in the match. He had an average of 45 that year for Eton. In 1897 he made his first appearance for Surrey, having previously played in two matches for the second team, scoring 122 against Staffordshire. He played brilliant cricket duiing the early part of the season, and scored 149 against Warwick­ shire at Edgbaston. He appeared no more for Surrey until the present year, but represented Middlesex with great success for some years whenever he could get away. His great performances in 1901 will not soon be forgot­ ten, for after making 105 and 165 forM.C.C. againstOxford University, he scored 100 for Middlesex against Glouces­ tershire— three innings of a hundred in succession. One of the best innings he played was his 97 for M.C.C. and Ground v. Yorkshire at Scarborough in 1898. This year, as everybody knows, he was appoin­ ted captain of the Surrey Eleven, but he has not played just lately. Last year Mr. Chinnery was abroad during the whole of the cricket season, travelling round the world. In the autumn he went to India with the Oxford University Authentics. “ We all felt the heat very much at first,” he said, “ and it was some time before we got used to fielding in the hat which is usually worn in India; it was very difficult to make a MR. H. B. CHINNERY (.Reproduced by kind permission of the “ Tatler .**) catch at first, because when you looked up for the ball you saw the brim of your hat instead of it. The glare of the sun­ light was also very embarrassing until we became used to it. The chief thing which impressed me during the tour was Simp­ son Hayward’s curious record. He made a pair of spectacles in two matches, he was the only man in the team who scored over two hundred, and he did the hat- trick twice. From what I saw of Indian cricket I ’m afraid that a native team would have very little chance of success against English counties.” “ You went to America with Mr. Warner’s team in 1897 ? ” “ Yes. But I did not make many runs. Like all the rest of the team I was greatly amused by the criticisms in the daily newspapers, for the reporters mixedup cricket and baseball slang in the most entertaining way. The headlines were sometimes very funny indeed, and we were all much impressed when after an easy victory against the Gentlemen of Philadelphia we saw a bold headline on the next morn­ ing, ‘ The Lion hath us where the hair is short.’ There were some startling changes of climate during this tour. I recollect that on the first day of our last match, early in September, it was so exceedingly hot that we could not keep cool, while on the next day the temperature fell so much that we could not possibly get warm.” ‘ ‘ Have you played any­ where else abroad ? ” “ I believe I hold a record for Madeira, as the only man who has scored a hundred in the island, but I am not quite sure about it. I was sent out there to recover my health, and played for the Visitors against the Resi­ dents, who were all English­ men. The ground, whioh was very rough indeed, was surrounded by sugar-cane, and I think we lost five balls during my innings. We played on matting, which, as a rule, I rather like, but in Madeira the ground .was so soft