Cricket 1905

CRICKET, AWEEKLY RECORDOF THE GAME. OCT. 28, 1905. J oci I i i i I A f “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. iro 707 . voi. xxiv. THURSDAY, OCT. 26, 1905. p b ic e 2 d- CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. MR. F . M. BUCKLAND. There are not many men who have left the ^University with as fine a record as that of Mr. Buckland. He played for Oxford against Cambridge for three years, and after meeting with great success in his first two matches, ended his career in a blaze of triumph. When he went in to bat, third wicket down, Oxford were doing very badly, and a few minutes later half the side were out for 31. Mr. Buck­ land then played a splendid in n in g s , an d, re ce iv in g valuable assistance from Mr. H. G. Tylecote, eventually carried his bat for 117 out of 214. He also took three wickets for 23 in the first innings, and four for 29 in the second. As a boy at Eton he was undoubtedly the best bowler the school had seen for many years; indeed it may be doubted whether his record has ever been beaten at the school. In his three years against Winchester he bowled 720 balls for 231 runs, and 36 wickets, and against Harrow, in the same period, 932 balls for 230 runs and 26 wickets. Like so many other fine players, Mr. Buckland had few opportunities of playing in first-class cricket after leaving the University. For the next two years he was abroad until the middle of the cricket season, but he played occasionally for Middlesex with success. He then went to Laleham to help his father in the school, until at Easter in 1880 he went as a master to Winchester College, where he remained for four terms. But his father wanted him at the school again, and he returned to Laleham, where on his father’s death in 1883 he took over the school, which has always been a success. G. N. Bignell, who had a brilliant first season for Hampshire this year, and his brother, were both boys at the school, and if the sturdy youngsters who are there now are a fair sample of the schoolboys of the neigh­ bourhood, the Thames Yalley ought to be known as a health resort. Of his early days Mr. Buckland said, “ I was born at Laleham and lived there until I was nearly fourteen. In those days a boy had no attention paid to him, as far as cricket was concerned, and if he ever came to the front it was because circumstances happened to be'favourable afterwards. We used to play on the gravel in the playground, with no con­ crete pitches ’ or anything of that sort. We had a plain unvarnished bat, _with no spliced handle, and a kind of tennis ball. It is true that we had a field, and that a roller—not a heavy roller—went over it occasionally, but we only played there two or three times a week. About 1866 my father had a piece laid down. Such things as pads and gloves were unknown to us, and I recollect the excitement of buying them at the beginning of my first season at Eton. My brother, who is now a master at Win­ ch e s te r , w en t th ro u g h similar experiences; in fact, I suppose they Were the usual experiences of boys in those days.” “ How did you learn 'to b ow l? ” “ Learn ? I have no recollection of ever being told how to bowl, or that I copied the action of any older player, although I suppose that when a boy sees others bowling who are much better than himself he un­ consciously learns something from them. I could always bowl straight. As regards batting, I was fortunate enough to be at Eton soon after R. A. H. Mitchell went there as a master, and no one could ever have had a better or more enthusiastic coach than he was; he was always anxious to bring a boy’s best points to the front. I was lucky enough to get into ‘ Sixpenny ’ (the lower boys’ eleven) in my first year, and in the next season had the privilege of going up to Middle Club once or twice a week, where old Martingell used to bowl to us.” “ Who gave you your colours at Eton ?” “ George Longman, who was one of the best captains I knew ; everybody iu the eleven worked hard under his rule. I don’t remember having done anything to justify my promotion to Upper Glub, for in the previous year, when I played for the Twenty-two against the Eleven, I made two noughts. I was in the Eleven for three years and in two of them we beat