Cricket 1905

CR IC K E T i A W E E KLY RECO RD OP T H E SAM E. JUNE 22, 1905. n o . 693 . v o l . x x i v . THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 1905. f b i c e aa- CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. MR. W. BARCLAY-DELACOMBE. THE DERBYSHIRE SECRETARY. The cares of business, and bis duties as county secretary, have prevented Mr. Barclay-Delacombe from playing much county cricket, but from 1892 to 1900 he occasionally represented Derbyshire when a man was wanted. Shortly after play­ ing his first match for the county at Leyton in 1892 he dislocated his knee when playing at Trent Bridge for the Frairs against Notts Amateurs, and this accident kept him out of the field until 1894. WhenDerbyshire plays away from home he generally accompanies the team and [keeps the score. He was born on the Island of Ascension, where his father was captain of the Marines, but he was brought to England at the age of three, and lived at Wool­ wich until he was seven, when he *went with his family to Vancouver Island. In his last year at the Collegiate School at Victoria he was in the baseball team, but although cricket was played in a desultory manner at the school, he made his first practical acquaintance with the game at King Edward’s School at Bruton, in Somerset. The family removed in 1874 to Derby, where his father was at first Commander of the Recruit­ ing Station, and afterwards Chief Constable. In 1876 Mr. Barclay- Delacombe went into business, and, succeed­ ing Mr. Arthur Wilson, who had acted as honorary secretary for several years, became secretary of the Derbyshire County C.C. in 1899, an office which he still holds. He had all the makings of a fine athlete, and when he was under fifteen years of age he made a long jump of 19 feet 1 inch, besides running the hundred in 10y seconds. But by doctor’s orders he was condemned in the following year to give up athletics entirely. One of his best performances as a bowler was to take all ten wickets against Mr. Thring’s eleven at Dunstable for the Incogniti. Mr. Barclay-Delacombe stands six feet, five inches in his boots, and his height has not increased since he was fourteen years old and a half. “ I had an amusing experience when I was under fourteen,” he said. “ I was then six feet, two and a half inches. In April, 1874, at the beginning of the summer term, I went to King Edward’s School, at Bruton, in Somerset, to report myself to the head­ master. I arrived at the school at about nine o’clock at night, which it seemed was the time at which a new mathe­ matical master named Pochin was expected. I knocked, asked if Mr. Nor­ ton was at home, and was ushered into the headmaster’s room by a maid-servant, who announced me as Mr. Pochin. Fortunately, the headmaster had pre­ viously seen Mr. Pochin, and also knew that I was very tall, so that no compli­ cations ensued.” “ In my younger days my great height naturally made me look older than I was,” continued Mr. Barclay-Dela- combe, “ and, as I grew a beard when I was nineteen, I had some interesting experi­ ences. Once when I was playing for the Incogniti at Clifton College I fielded at deep third man and in the long field, and had a lot of running about to do. A friend of mine overheard two small boys talking about me and my exertions in the field, and presently one of them said in an admiring way, ‘ I say, that old chap with the beard is wonderfully active, isn’t he ? ’ On another occasion I was playing for the Friars at Shrewsbury School at the time when Spofforth used to play for the club—you will remember that when he settled in England and married he played for Derby­ shire for some time, as well as for the Friars. Now it appeared that a rumour had spread among the schoolboys that Spofforth would play for the Friars in the match. When I descended from my cab I said, ‘ Good-morning ’ to the ground-man. ‘ Good- morning Mr. Spofforth. Very pleased to see that you are play­ ing,’ he said. Very much amused, I assured him that I was not Spofforth, but he wasn’t convinced, and I fancy that the boys were not convinced either for some time. But I was put on to bowl and gave three wides in succession, where­ upon I asked in triumph, ‘ Are you satis­ fied now that I am not Spofforth p ’ ”