Cricket 1905

C R IC K E T , A W E E K LY RECO RD OP TH H GAME* AUG. 10, 1 8 0 5 . ! = s £I © 0— © $(— 3 —• l e |— e = 1 4 le jc _ 3 — «©e— ft : m i “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. n o 700 . vol . x x i v . THURSDAY, AUG. 10, 1 9 0 5 . p b i c e ad- A CHAT ABOUT J. VINE. It is not altogether surprising that the exemplary patience shown by Vine when batting has led humourists to refer to him as Job Vine, although they know that when his friends call him “ J o e ” they are only using the ordinary abbre­ viation of “ Joseph.” So many years have passed since Vine began to play the steady game which has made his name famous that one is apt to consider him as a born “ stonewaller,” who could not hit if he tried to do so. For in the large number of his long-drawn-out innings, which have been so exceed­ ingly useful to Sussex, one forgets the fewer occasions on which, for the good of his side, he has let himself g°- In his early days for Sussex Yine made runs pretty quickly, and attracted attention by his powers of driving. For some time before he first represented his county he had been marked out by Jesse Hide as a cricketer who was worthy of a place in the team, and at last in 1896, soon after he had made a score of 229 at Eastbourne, he was given a trial. But he did not take his place regularly in the eleven until June 19th, 1899. Since then Sussex has played 183 matches (including the Glou­ cestershire match this week) and Vine has taken part in all of them except one— against Cambridge Univer­ sity in 1900—when he was given a rest. On an average each of his innings must have lasted about a couple of hours, and I should think that he has been on the field longer than any other cricketer between June, 1899, and August, 1905. It was in the match between Notts and Sussex at Brighton in June, 1901, that Vine first came into prominent notice as a man who could keep up an end. Sussex had to face a total of 642 for eight wickets made by Notts, and they naturally tried to bring about a drawn game. In their first innings Vine, who had played a steady game, found a most useful partner for the ninth wicket in Tate, and the two men put on 138 in partnership in two hours and five minutes, Tate’s share of the runs being 84. In J. VINE. (From a photo by Messrs. Hawkins & Co.y Brighton). the absence of Ranjitsinhji the Sussex team was captained by Mr. Fry, who was much impressed by Vine’ s steady play, and when Sussex followed on the first of the long partnerships between Fry and Vine began. Cricket of June 20, 1901, refers to this partner­ ship as follows: “ The innings began just before lunch. The order of the day was to keep in without bothering about runs, and even Mr. Fry accommodated himself to circumstances. The older members of the Notts team must have thoroughly enjoyed the situation when 8 runs went up after half an hour’s play, to be followed by about a dozen maiden overs. At length Mr. Fry began to let himself go a little, but Vine, with his eye on the end, could not be induced to make a move. After lunch he was in for an hour and a half without making a run, which must ,be something like a record. When things looked quite safe Mr. Fry, who had de­ served well of his county, was dismissed. Thanks to him and Vine Sussex were able to accomplish their object, although four more wickets fell.” This match was the turning point of Vine’ s career. From that time he nearly always went in first with Fry, and the two men have established a record for first wicket part­ nerships of more than a hundred runs; there are no better judges of a run in the world than these two men when they are together. There are some who think that Fry spoiled Vine’s play by taking him in with him, and encouraging him to play the waiting game. But it is a very great question whether Vine would ever have attained to half the height of fame which is now his, if he had played the game which seemed natural to him. For years he has been almost as much feared by opposing teams as Fry and Ranjitsinhji, for it has always been recognised that, if you could get Vine out, the two great batsmen might never get a chance to make a large score. To Sussex his services have been of incalculable value, and over and over again he has had a very large share in saving his side from defeat. Like Alec Bannerman, George Brann, Hayward, Arthur Shrewsbury, Noble, and every