Cricket 1906

CR IC K E T : a w e e k ly r e c o r d o f t h e g am e . MAY 3, 1906. -------- )fi© fic ■ | s | — «-■ ; .. i t ifc ) - * = - J a g — g< | ! “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. n o . 716 . v o l . xxv. THURSDAY, MAY 3, 1906. p r i c e 2 d. TWO SURREY CRICKETERS. A happy combination of circumstances is accountable for the fact that the frontispiece for the opening number of the cricket season is a picture of two of the most popular members of the Surrey Eleven. To-day Surrey commences another heavy programme of inter­ county matches with a match against its old rivals and neighbours, as well as good friends, of Hants. In all probability Surrey’s first line of defence will, as last year, be in the capable hands of the two cricketers whose portraits are given herewith—Tom Hayward and J. B. Hobbs. It is somewhat difficult to realise that the pair represent the extremes of age for the Surrey Eleven. To see him in the Easter Week match at the Oval, as he was in his very best form, with more variety, if possible, than ever, one would hardly realise that “ our T om ” is the veteran of the Surrey side. Yet the fact remains that he is an easy first iu yeais as well as in point of service as his protege, and pupil, J. B. Hobbs is in both respects the junior of the team. Of Tom Hayward nothing can be said too high in praise of his record on the cricket field. Though now only thirty-six his figure, as well as his cricket methods are familiar to the thousands who follow the game at home as well as in the great centres of Aus­ tralia. His pluck and grit in the Test matches against Australian teams have got England out of a tight corner many a time, and have earned for him the heirty respect of not only his comrades but of our friends the “ enemy ” as a cricketer always to be relied upon howeverthegame is going—one with a big heart who plays the game to the bitter end and is never down. Though born in Cambridge, Tom Hay­ ward, it may be news to some cricket readers, comes of a good old Surrey stock. His forebears were, indeed, Surrey men, thew and sinew. Two generations ago the Haywards lived and flourished at Mit­ cham, taking part, at least some of them, as was only to be expected of a sporting race, in the village cricket of the day. Daniel Hayward, Tom’s grandfather, was playing for Surrey in the forties by the right of birth, and there is plenty of evidence to show that he was even more than a county cricketer, in fact, among the foremost players of his time. Subse­ quently he seems to have moved to Cam­ bridge and settled there. In any case Cambridgeshire was able to claim the next generation of Haywards among its children. Tom Hayward, the great all­ round player of the sixties, his uncle, and Dan Hayward, his father, were both born at Cambridge, and both contributed with Tarrant and Carpenter to the fine show Cambridgeshire was able to make for some few years. To Tom Hayward, too, Surrey is mainly, one may say entirely, in­ debted for the presence of Hobbs in its Eleven. It was on his recommendation and by his advice that the young­ ster applied for an engage­ ment at the Oval four years ago. He was then only nineteen, and as the form he showed on his trial was sufficiently good to prove him a cricketer of more than ordinary promise, the Surrey authorities were ready enough to add him to their staff. While he was qualify­ ing for Surrey by residence he played for his native county of Cambridge," and with signal success. His form in 1904 in particular must have satisfied the Surrey executive, if they had had any doubts, which is unlikely, that they had a recruit of great possibilities to look forward to in the following year. That season his record for Cambridge­ shire showed an aggregate of 696 for twelve completed innings, which gives an average of precisely fifty- eight runs. His entry into Surrey cricket last year was not marred by any ill-luck as is so often the case, and his place in the County eleven was assured from the outset. To Hayward’s active encouragement he owes a good deal, it goes without saying. In one respect he has certainly profited by the example of his mentor. His play generally, it was soon seen, had been moulded on the best possible standard, Hayward’s to wit, and indeed many of his strokes were very suggestive of the style of that model for young batsmen.