Cricket 1904

CRICKET, A WEEKLY REOORD OF THE QAME<DEC> 22» 1904. ^ s = ? 9 e f i — F77DMC-Z3— j e j —* )$©& ~ m m m mmmrni < x * 1i © Iyi JJfl s S S i i g “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.” — Byron. no. 679. v o l . x x x ii. THURSDAY, DEC. 22, 1904. p r i c e 2 a. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. ME. J. A. MURDOCH, THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THEM .0.0. For thirty-five years Mr. Murdoch has held his present office, and during that time he has shown suchtact andcourtesy in all his dealings with themembers, and with everybody else with whom he has come in con­ tact, that he is universally popular. It will be remem­ bered that he accompanied the M.O.C. team to Aus­ tralia last year as manager, and was as much liked in Australia as in England. When he became Assistant Secretary of the M.C.C. therewereabout fifteenhun­ dred members, and he has lived to see the number raised to nearly five thou­ sand. He began his duties in the days of the old pavilion, and of this build­ ing he s a i d 11 On the ground floor there was a long room for general use, and behind it a dressing room. Upstairs were a couple of dressing rooms with a flat roof over them, upon which the members sat when they wanted to watch the game. In a corner of the long room was a little eervice-bar; in the same room was a desk at which I Btood while doing my work; I can assure you that it was a most incon­ venient arrangement. In course of time various ad­ ditions were made to the building, such as a room for the professional bowlers. When the new pavilion was built in 1900 all the old buildings were entirely swept away.” “ Who were the chief players of the M.C.C. when you began your work at Lord’s ? ” “ Among them were C. E. Green, V. E„ I. D., and R. D. Walker, W. G. (who was always a great factor in the matter of gate money), G. P. and E. M. Grace, W. Yardley, J. W. Dale, C. J. Ottaway, C. P. Buller, A. Appleby, J. Round, and A. N. Hornby. C. Purdon Coote was a verygoodman inthosedays. With regard to professionals, our head bowler was Grundy, and he andWootton were the mainstay of the team. The wicket-keeper was Sam Biddulph. As a ruletheM.C.C. professionalsof thosedays were not good at batting, and for that wehadtodependchieflyonour amateurs. There was no separate practice ground then,butmemberspractisedaftermatches wereover, andonWednesdays andSatur­ days. The season practically finished in July, although we occasionally hada few extramatchesat thebeginningof August. I remember that oncewhen the M.C.C. arranged a two-day match in August with the A Division of Police it was finished on the first day, and the return match, which was played on the second day, was also finished. I was always at Lord’s in the winter as well as the summer; the winters were very tedious then, because there was so little to do, but there is plenty of scope for one’s energies now, all through the year. In days gone by a large space was set aside at Lord’s for the use of carriages, and members availed themselves of it. There is a very marked decrease in the number of carriages nowadays.” Referring to the tours made by English teams to Australia, Mr. Murdoch said, “ It seems to me that future teams which go to Aus­ tralia ought to have better terms ; otherwise, if circum­ stances happened to be unfavourable, a tour might easily result in a very heavy loss. It must not be for­ gotten that although the M.C.C. teammet with great cricket success, the tour re­ sulted in a loss of over a thousand pounds—a loss which might have been doubled if the teamhad met with many defeats. It is somewhat differentwithAus­ tralian teams over here, for they have things so much more in their own hands. I cannot help thinking that it is much better that in arranging tours there should be a responsible head such as the M.C.C. and the Aus­ tralian Associations, and I believe that the banding together of the Australian Associations for the coming tour will be a good thing for cricket.” “ When you were in Australia did you closely inspect any of the wicketsP “ Yes. They look as if they had baen shaved, and there is scarcely any grass upon them. They are so hard and im­ pervious that in wet weather the water does not sink into them—it simply re­ MR. J. A. MURDOCH. Photo by\Messrs. Alfred Ellis &* Walery • 51 , Baker Street, London, W.