Cricket 1906

194 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME J une 14, 1906. indeed, native cricket generally on a firm basis, and his un failin g sym pathy w ill alw ays be a household w ord in Indian cricket. The institution of the Parsee P residency matches was directly due to L o rd Harris, through whose initiative th ey w ere established in 1892. The challen ge shield he gave, kn ow n as the H arris Shield, has done an immense am ount o f g ood in stim ulating cricket am on g the schools, to w h om it is open fo r competition. 1A ll the recent G overnors o f B om bay, am ong them L o rd Sand­ hurst, L ord N orth cote, and L ord L am in gton , have been g o od friends to native cricket, w hich received a great im petus b y L o rd N orth cote’ s g ift o f a shield for com petition am ong the colleges. T he establishment o f a Parsee G ym ­ khana was due to a predecessor, L ord E eay, under w hose governm ent a valuable site at M arine L ines was given about 1885-1886. The provision o f new and m ore capacious headquarters gave a great stimulus to P arsi cricket, w h ich is n ow housed in a fine bu ildin g on the E splanade M aidan. The exam ple o f the Parsees has been since follow ed b y the M ahom edan and H in du Gymkhanas, w hich are w ell provided for close at hand, so that the three races are now neighbours, w ith everything to make for m utual toleration and the spirit o f sporting relationship, th ou gh at present there is som e friction. A n enquiry as to the m ethod o f train­ in g the y cu n g cricketers elicited from M r. P atel the hope that in the near future the services o f a g ood professional coach from E nglan d w ou ld be secured. O ver tw enty years ago H enderson, the Surrey player, was in B om bay fo r a short tim e, and from him the Parsees first learned forw ard play. H e received the sobriquet o f “ F ram jee,” and was very popular. Since then there has been no regular tuition o f this par­ ticular kind, and M r. P atel is look in g around w ith a view to the possible en­ gagem ent o f a suitable coach. O i the subject o f the best individual players, M r. P atel was enthusiastic in praise o f K . M . M istry, the Parsee cham pion. “ A s an all-rou n d cricketer I should place him in a class b y him self, even above R an ji. E ven as a batsman he is, o a his day, as g o o d as R anji. H e is left- hauded both in b a ttin g and bow lin g. As a batsman he has every variety of s'roke, w ith plenty o f pow er as w ell as excellent defence. M istry, I m ay add, is a personality o f interest off the cricket field. H e is A ssistant-Guardian to the Maharajah o f Patiala, and is certain to rise to the highest rank in his service.” D r. M . E . P avri is w ell know n to E n glish cricketers. Then there are the three M odys, the three K angas, Bulsara, the fast bow ler, Seshachari, o f Madras, tbe w icket-keeper, and A . H . M ehta, the best bow ler the Parsees had at one time, w h o went to Lancashire to qualify, but had to return o w ir g to ill-health. i m m g tbe H indus, B jI o o and T elang stand out m ost conspicuously at the m om ent. The form er is quite one o f tha best bow lers o f the day. H e is slow w ith an easy action, and at times a very deceptive delivery. H e also keeps a good length and m ixes his pace w ell. Telang is a bat o f g ood style, one o f the forcin g type, w h o, if once allow ed to g et set, scores very fast. Another H indu, B . Jayaram , show ed him self to be a sound and reliable bat over here three or four years ago when he had a season w ith the L on d on C ounty C.C. H e has been accounted one o f the best batsm en in India, after perhaps the tw o Parsees, M istry and M eherhom ji. The M oha- medans have several excellent all-round players, notably Ahsan-ul H ak w h o did g o od service fo r the H am pstead C.C. and M iddlesex a few summers ago. On the subject o f a probable visit o f a team representative o f all India to E n glan d, Mr. P atel was especially keen. “ I t was hoped to have carried out this scheme in 1904, bu t for m ore than one g o od reason, e.g., the fact that several of the best players could n ot g o that year, and, what was o f even greater im portance, that the finances were not in a condition to warrant the risks incidental to such a tour, the m ajority o f the comm ittee which was representative o f A n g lo - Indiau as w ell as o f native cricket decided that the p roject should b } deferred for the m om ent. Still, I am confident that such a visit w ill take place in the near future in spite o f many and obvious difficulties, and under the captaincy o f K . S. R anjitsinbji, w h o has shown great interest in the matter. I am sure from the cordial sym pathy expreseei by cricketers o f all classes since I have been in E o g lic d that such a team w ould n ot only be heartily w elcom ed in E ngland but w ould do great g ood from an Im perial standpoint as the Australian and South A frican tours have already. “ O f the future o f cricket iu India I am very hop efu l,” M r. Patel added. “ The encouragem ent given b y succes-iye G overnors of B om bay, n otably L ords Harris, Sandhurst, N orth cote and L am ington, has acted as a great stimulant in developing the cricket cult am ong the schools and C olleges. The N ew H igh School, which has w on the Harris Shield seven times, has had great success. But everywhere there is a marked evidence of activity in athletics am ong the youth o f India, which is sure to make for a steady developm ent in the quality o f the cricket o f the next generation. A m on g the colleges E lphinstone C ollege has done much to im prove Parsi cricket, as A ligarh C ollege has to encourage M oha- medan cricket. The D irectors o f P u blic Instruction have h appily rt cognised the great value o f gam es in the educational curriculum , and their active sym pathy w ill be a great and im portant fa ctor in the realisition o f a universal federation o f sp ort.” On the great su bject o f cricket as a political m issionary M r. P atel waxes eloquent. I qu ote now from his book : “ Indian cricktt is the child o f progress o f the friendly em brace o f the E ast and the W est. E ducated Indians are quite alive to their Im perial destiny and yearn to share w ith their w hite fellow -subjects the rights and privileges o f their great heritage alon g w ith its burden. India is the p ivot o f B ritish pow er in A sia, and it will be well if this Im perial and practical phase of sports is n o longer overlooked b y sportsmen and statesmen.” It is with great regret that I am com ­ pelled to part w ith M r. P atel and the interesting 6ile o f cricket he so ably represents. B ut space, like necessity, has no law , and I w ill close this chat with the last paragraph from his “ Stray T hou gh ts.” “ L et cricket b e one out o f m any links to unite the citizens o f the greatest Empire the w orld has ever seen. L et the providential alliance o f In d and Britain be cemented w ith the lasting and endur­ in g ties o f one peace-loving K in g-Em - peror, one beautiful language, one v ic­ torious flag and, last but not least, one grand Im perial g am e.” G ood luck to M r. Patel and his m is­ sion ! C W .A . LONDON SCOTTISH v. CHARLTON PARK.- Played at Charlton Park on June 2. C harlton P ark . J. R. Johnston, b Read 11 E. C Thompson, c Koe Child, b Read 13 H. Mills, b Read..........56 G. B. Osmond, c P. Child, b Read..........54 R. M. Allen, lbw, b P. Child ................. 0 L. A. Cross, run out... 6 A. J. Mascall, b Con­ nell ... H. G. Rickwood, c Robbins, b Connell 1 H. Gibbard, c P. Child, b Read ... 1 L. Webber, b Read... 0 H. F. Turpin, not out 0 Extras .......... 5 Total ...156 I . on don S cottish . 24 P. Child, b Allen H. C. Hodgson, Allen....................... 2 F. H. Robbins, c Mas­ call, b Thompson ... 54 A. H. Read, run o u t.. 40 F. R. Connell, b Thompson .......... 6 >S. Artaud, G. S. Angore, E. Macdonald and J. Lambert did not bat. A. Kinrose, not ou t... 10 C. Koe Child, not out 4 Extras.................22 Total (5 wkts) 164 LONDON SCOTTISH v. FINCIILET.—Played at Finchley on June 4. F inchley . D. J. Cramp, c Lowe, b Connell ........................ 0 b Connell ..........19 F A. Bishop, st Chown, b Connell ........................25 c Lowe, b Bush 11 F. Stephenson, hit wkt, b Connell ............... ... 7 N. J. Cox. b Connell......... 3 lbw, b Bush ... 11 F. Tuck, 1>Lowe................ 0 c Lowe, b Bush 29 A. J. Walkington, ran out 5 c P.Ohild.b I.owe 30 A. V. Kislingbury, not out 11 notout................. 6 H. M Speight, c Morris, b Connell ....................... 7 b Bush.................15 E. G. Hulton, c Macdonald, b Connell ........................ 1 J. Kirkwood, b Connell ... 0 eMorris.bConnell 4 W. M. De Paula, b Connell 5 notout............... 7 Extras .......... ... 6 Extras... ... 4 Total .................73 Total (7wkts) *136 L ondon S cottish . J. S.Chown, c Tuck, b De P a u la ...............................32 runout ... ... 3 F. H. Robbins, b De Paula 28 b Tuck ......... 5 C. Koe Child, c Tuck, b De Paula ... ........................ 2 not out................. 0 L. J. Bush, c Speight, b c Stephenson, b Cox ................ .......... 2 Walkington ... 10 P. Child, b Tuck................ 15 b Walkington ... 4 F. R. Connell, b De Paula 8 b Tuck.................. 5 R. H. Lowe, c Cox, b De c Stephenson, b P a u 'a ............................... 0 Tuck .......... 0 A. P. Morris, c Speight, b Tuck ............................... 22 b Tuck ............ 0 II. Chown, b Tuck .......... 9 c Kislingbury, b Walkington ... 0 E. Macdonald, c Hulton, c Tuck, b Walk- b Tuck ........................ 5 ington .......... 0 H. R. Fry, not out .......... 1 b Walkington ... 0 Extras ................. 3 Extras.......... 5 Total ... ..127 Total