Cricket 1904

CRICKET, A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. OCT. 27, 1904, “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.” — Byron. no. 677 . v o l . x x ix i. T H U E S D A Y , O C T . 2 7 , 1 9 0 4 . p r i c e 2 a. A CHAT ABOUT MR. S. H. DAY. While he was still a boy at Malvern College Mr. Day made his first appear­ ance in county cricket. He played for Kent against Gloucestershire at Chelten­ hamin August, 1897, and made 101 not out, an extraordinary performance for a schoolboy in his first match. In that year he played five innings for Kent and ended the season at the top of the batting averages with 35’1 to his credit. Critics spoke very highly of his play, and “ Wisden ” of 1898 said of him, “ It was the opinion of many competent judges that he was the best batsman that had come fromMalvern since Mr. H. K. Poster.” His “ character ” as given in James Lillywhite’s Annual for the same year was, “ Has played some beautiful innings and scored veryconsistently. Hisplac­ ing on the leg-side and cuts are excellent; but he has not developed his driving as much as was expected. Probably one of the best bats the school has had for some years.” In the year in which he first played for Kent Mr. Day was at the head of his school averages with 47'6 and a highest score of 117. In the following year at school he again headed the averages,thistimewith51‘40 and a highest score of 191. He again played for Kent and met with a fair amount of success, although hisonly score over fifty was 79 againstSomersetatTaunton. With such a splendid school reputation as he had, he was bound to be in the CambridgeEleven in the following year, and although he did nothing very remarkable in the Freshmen’s match it was not long before he was regarded as, a regular member of the eleven. His highest innings that year was 138 for the University against the M.C.C. He showed that he had his nerves under control by making scores of 62 and 50 not out against Oxfordat Lord’s, and he increasedhisreputationbyplayingseveral fine innings for Kent. While he was at Cambridge he always gave one the im­ pression of being an extremely power­ ful man who did not knowhow to make thebest use of his strength. He couldhit, and frequently he made fine drives, but MR. S. H. DAY. (From a Photo by Messrs. Stearn, Cambridge.) he always seemed to look as if he were tired by any unusual exertion. It was impossible not to sympathise with the feelings of a spectator who in one of the University matches was watching Mr. Day move about in such a listless manner that he suddenly Baid, “ Oh, won’t some­ body go out and stick a pin into him ! ” One felt that he might be a great player if he could grow out of this lassitude, and as he was still very young there were great hopes that he would distin­ guish himself in the future. It was just the same thing with his football when he played for the University. He had all the makings of a splendid player at the Association game, all the cleverness which is required of a great forward, and the instinct which enables a man to make use of an opportunity which would be passed over by an ordinary player, and yet he was dis­ appointing. The secret of his apparentindifference and slackness was that he had not grown to his full strength, but as soon as this period was left behind he became a great player both at cricket and football. At Cambridge in 1900 his play was disappointing, and withahighest score of 55 he was low down in the aver­ ages. He did better for Kent, nearly always making a useful score, but his time had not oome yet, and he waspassingthroughaperiod of temporary eclipss, from which he canhardly be said to have emergeduntil 1902, whan he headed the Cam­ bridge averages with 41-37 and a highest score of 117 not out (against Oxford), and was second in the Kent averages with 32-27, and a highest score of 80. By the end of the seasonhisreputa­ tion as a batsman, which he seemed to have lost, was fully established, and he has sincethat timebeenregarded as a great force in the Kent eleven. Owing to school- astic duties he could not play for Kent in 1903 until August, and he only went to the wickets fourteen times, but he played several exceedingly fine innings, and was of the greatest use to the county. During the past season he played in eighteen innings (four times not out) and ended the season at the headof the Kent averageswith 47‘78, his highest score being 152 not out.