Cricket 1904

CRICKET, A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. SEPT. 8, 19 04. lE3©S«==*=__)$©fiC_-_>=-J©5*«t___------------------------- )5©§:i==)§||: " I t r «r* 1 H I g ^ e f c - J—flefl—e- _)§W$( J0H&C.. -.>• 1 8>5 “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. no. 674. v o l . x x i i i . THURSDAY, SEPT. 8, 1904. p r i c e 2 a. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD- J IMM Y WOOTTON. One of the finest slow bowlers ever turned out by Kent, Wootton was at his best in the days of Lord Harris. H e was slow left hand with an easy action, a considerable break and curl, and plenty of devil, so that although his bow ling looked simple from the pavilion— almost as simple as that o f Alfred Shaw—batsmen knew that there were so many pecu­ liarities in it that an accident was likely to happen at any moment, even on a good wicket. Wootton played for Kent with great success for several years, until he met with an accident, when he thought his days o f county cricket were over. But he recovered, and, although his connection with Kent ceased, he several times played for Hampshire with succets. Even now there are many men who say that he would be worth playing for Hamp­ shire, a county which is so weak in bow ling that it hardly ever wins a match. In the first match that he ever played for Kent, Wootton arrived late on the ground, because the telegram asking him to play did not find him at home. He changed at once, walked on to the field of play, Lord Harris tossed the ball to him, and in a few minutes he was bow ling as if he had been in the team for months. He played for Kent at a time when the county had only tw o or three good bowlers who could play regularly in the team— George Hearne, Mr. Foord Kelcey, and Mr. Stanley Ohristopherson—and con­ sequently he never had the chances that fall to the lot of a bow ler who has five or six other men to help him, all nearly as good as himself. F or all that he had a fine record fo r Kent, and it was a bad time for the county when he had to give up playing. Even now he generally takes his five or six wickets ia an innings in local cricket, and when his side is in a tight place he can generally manage to stay long enough at the wickets to put a much better appsarance on the game, often long enough to turn its fortunes entirely in favour of his own side. L ist year in the spring he had typhoid fever, but thanks to a strong constitution and good nursing by his wife, he seems none the worse for the illness. It is quite on the cards that there may be other Woottons in county cricket in about a dozen years, for his boys take very kindly to the game. After Wootton was compelled to give up first-class cricket, on account of an accident, he was engaged at Winchester College, partly on the recommendation of George Heame, the well-known Kent and M.O.C. professional. Here he has been for the last thirteen years. H e has an outfitting business at 78, Kingsgate Street, and one learns from him that a wet season means a smaller sale of bats than usual, because, as he says, “ Wickets are not fast enough to break a bat, and the consequence is that even men who hit do not want more than a bat or two during the season.” Naturally W ootton is convinced that Lord Harris was the best captain that ever lived, and in this opinion he would certainly be backed up by most old cricketers. He tells an ex­ cellent tale which will illustrate the coolness and resource of Lord Harris in times of difficulty. “ In one of our matches against Yorkshire at Sheffield,” he said, “ the crowd encroached on the field of play so much that it was simply impossible to go on with the game. The committee and several o f the most popular Y ork ­ shire players went out and tried to get the crowd to move back, but for once they could do nothing with them. Even Tom Emmett’s finest efforts at elocution were thrown away. The situation was getting des­ perate, when Lord Harris, who had waited quietly in the field until he found that all efforts to make the crowd listen to reason had failed, thought it was time to inter­ fere. So he said to me, ‘ Give me the ball, Jimmy,’ and putting it in his pocket he walked up to the crowd and said, ‘ Now , we shall not o on with the game until you move ack. I can stand here quite as lon g as you.’ The crowd looked at him for a minute or two, cheered him, and quietly moved back far enough to enable us to g o on w ith the gam e,”