Cricket 1906

226 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME J une 28, 1906. regular dearth o f g o o d amateur bow lers exists. W e have lots o f bow lin g o f a sort, bu t I fear the * g o o d ’u n s’ can be counted on one hand. N o w on der, y ou w ill say, that you can make runs ! Y es, bu t the wickets have to be taken into consideration, and, except fo r one grou n d , cricketers have hardly ever a plum b pitch to p lay on. W e have some v ery useful bats capable o f m aking runs against any class o f bow lin g, bu t it is difficult to find tim e for practice and this, coupled w ith the fact that all our m atches are on e-d a y games, is not conducive to g o od batting. I f a g ood w icket is provided it is generally a case o f mafeiag runs as qu ickly as possible or o f g ettin g out, and thus wickets are constantly bein g throw n aw ay. W e have n o tw iligh t at all, and imm ediately the sun sets it becom es too dark fo r p lay, so it is a question o f “ fu ll steam ah ead ” from start to finish. A ll our matches are played on Sundays and holiday s.’ * “ W hich are our principal clubs ? ” you ask. “ W ell, the oldest club is the Buenos A ires C ricket C lub, which has a very p retty ground at P alerm o, a suburb o f Buenos Aires. This club for m any years has taken the place o f the M arylebone C lub h ere ; that is to say, it has kept a loof from all com petition, and has given all clubs friendly hom e and hom e matches, both first and second elevens. R ecen tly t i e authorities th ou gh t fit to enter teams for the first and second eleven cham pionships aud the Saturday after­ n oon league, a step b y n o means approved o f b y some o f the older members, and the C lub has suffered in consequence. The H u rlin gham C lub, some thirty-five m inutes b y rail from Buenos Aires, possesses a beautiful ground, which is under the charge o f W . L acey, an old N otts professional, w h o provides perfect w ickets if the conditions are favourable. O ther clubs w ith grass wickets are the Quilmes C lub, the Lom as C lub, the B e 'g a io CluS, the San L id r o Club, the San M artin C lub, while the L iru s C lub still p lay on m atting. A ll these places are suburbs o f Buenos Aires. There are m any m ore clubs com petin g in the second division o f the championship, in addition to w hich there is a school cham pionship.’* “ W hat is the character o f the wickets generally P ” “ As you may have surmised from the fo re g o in g remarks, nearly all our wickets are n ow o f grass, on ly a very few m atting w ickets bein g left. E x cep t H urlinghain, the great draw back to them all is that th ey soon crumble, how ever carefully prepared, ow in g to the sandy nature of th e soil. W e have tried dressing the pitches w ith fine clay and other sub­ stances, but have so far not been suc­ cessful.” “ A lm ost all our chief players,” Mr. A nderson said, “ are E nglish or Portenos, w h ich means born o f British parents in the A rgentine. T he natives, how ever, after h old in g aloof fo r so lon g are now begin n in g to take to it, and w e are doing everything to encourage them . In the neighbouring R ep u blic o f U ruguay, so keen have some o f the native boys becom e that the M onte V ideo C lub w ill regularly include tw o o f them in their team —b y name, Pena and Cam acho — b oth useful bats, useful bow lers, and excellent fieldsmen. A s regards the future, should cricket eventually ^* take o n ,’ as soccer has, the future is indeed rosy for the gam e in the A rgentine, for, bar the all-im portant and essential virtue o f patience, w hich should be one o f the chief characteristics o f every true cricketer, they have the m aking o f really g o od players.” A question as to any specially note­ w orth y incidents w ithin his experience elicited the follow in g an ecd ote:— “ A s a p ro o f o f the extraordinary superstition that exists am ong certain cricketers, professional and otherwise, and w ith all due apologies to Titchmarsh — V alentine A dolphus o f that ilk— m ay I be allow ed to recount a little incident that occurred about 1892. W e — the H ertfordshire team— were g oin g up to N orw ich to p lay against N orfolk, having ju st term inated our gam e w ith the M .C .C . at L o rd ’s. On the p la 'form (I think it was L iverpool Street) I met Titchmarsh alm ost in tears. ‘ H u llo, T itc h .! ’ I ex­ claimed, * what’ s the matter ? 9 * I t ’s no g ood , sir,’ he replied, *it’d n o g o o d g oin g to N orw ich , we shall be badly beaten.” B ut w hy, T itch. ? ’ I asked, ‘ what makes y ou think that ? 4Think, sir?’ he snapped b a ck ’ : * I d on ’t think at all, I jo lly well know . M e and B illy H earn have just m et a cross-eyed w om an.’ ” “ Y o u ask fo r a general survey of A rgentine cricket. Considering the ad­ verse cotd ition s under which the gam e is played the class o f cricket is w onder­ fu lly g o o d . O w ing to the lack o f prac­ tice, and to the fact that on ly one-day matches are played, batsm en are hardly likely to im prove. N ow that the schools are taking a greater interest in the game the future looks healthier, fo r hitherto we have had to alm ost entirely depend on E nglan d fo r fresh blood . W e have quite a number o f old ’Varsity and public school men, bu t the m ajority live in the Camp, at great distances apart, so it is a very difficult m atter to get a really repre­ sentative side together. A s it is, some of the Northerners have to travel fo r a week to get dow n to Buenos Aires for the b ig annual m atch betw een N orth and South. In conclusion, if I have helped to remove the erroneous impression— no doubt held b y the m sj jrity o f your readers in E n glan d— that the A rgentine is a * ild and uLc'vilised country, this interview w ill n ot have been in v a in ; and the com plim ent p9id A rgentine cricketers b y asking for this interview w ill be much appreciated b y those whom fate has w illed shall spend their days in one o f the fairest lands the sun shines upon ! ” C RICKET Report Sheets, lOd. per dozen, post free. Order of Going-in Cards, 7d. per dozen, post free ; Oricket Score Books, 6<Land Is. each; postage 2d. extra—To be obtained at the Offices of “ Oricket,” 168, Upper Thames Street, London, E.C. LONDON AND WESTMINSTER BANK v. NATIONAL PROVINCIAL BANK.—Played at Norbury on Jane 12,13 and 14. L. & W . B. S. Bowman, b Cosser R. S. Hartree, b Richards................. 3 C. J. Bowman, b Richards................. 0 F. W. Newcomb, b Cosser .................21 H. S. Baker, b Cosser 5 H. O. Manfield, b Cosser ................. 9 W. Bradbery, not out 7 N. A. Harrison, c C. Bow­ man, b Baker.......... 4 W. B. Palamountain, c Sub, b Willson ... 0 C. G. E. Jones, b Power ....................29 E. H. Stocks, run out 13 C. A. Shaw, st Bow­ man, b Hartree ... 11 J. W. Richards, b Power ....................15 H. E. Power, b Jones 30 A. G. Gough, c Stocks, b Richards 7 O. C. Simpson, lbw, b Cosser................. 8 E. A. Willson, b . 1 ,. 9 B 5, lb 4 Total ...103 P. B. E. W. Armstrong, c Bradbery, b Baker 17 H. E. Moore, b S. Bowman.................23 A H. B. Read, notout 16 G. Cosser, c Sub, b Willson ................. 7 R. Wright, not ou t... 0 B 13, lb 4 ..........17 Total (9wkts) 152 LONDON AND WESTMINSTER BANK (2) v. SENECA.—Played at Norbury on June 18 and 19. S en eca. D. Adams, b Power... F. Bulfield, b Power R. Bulfield, b Steven­ son ........................ A.Ohapman,b Steven­ son ........................ G. Repton, b Power. S. Bulfield, b Logan 13 F. Kirby, b Power ... 7 L. & W. B. (2). 16 W. Hyde, c Stevenson, b Logan ................. P. Brown, not out .. E. Ashmore, run out G. Harris, b Logan ... B 4, lb 2 .......... Total ...105 A. M. Cockell, c R. Bulfield, b Adams 0 S.Bennett,bF.Bulfield 44 A. W. Stevenson, c & b R. Bulfield ..........13 G. Logan, c Repton, b Adams .................12 C. F. G. Wellborne, lbw, b Chapman ... 33 C.J. Orossley, b Chap­ man ........................38 H. E. Power, b Adams 20 G. P. Rhodes, b Adams 1 F. Ralls, c Harris, b Repton ................. 7 W. E. Redington, c Hyde, b Repton ... 0 A. Podmore, not out 1 B 5, lb 9, nb 1 ... 15 Total ...184 LONDON AND WESTMINSTER BANK v. EASTBOURNE.—Played at Eastbourne on June 11. E astbourne . J. T. Fishwick, b S. Bowman................. 0 T. B. E. Piggott, b S. Bowman................. 1 R. MeAndrew, c Pitt- Brook, b Simpson... 1 E. P. Paul, not out ... 5 Preston, c Pitt-Brook, b W illson................. 7 B 19, lb 5, nb 1... 25 Total ..........296 W. B. W. Bradbeiy, b Pig­ gott ........................ 6 H. O. Manfield, not out ........................ 2 L. Pitt Brook, not out 8 B2, lb 1, wb 3, nb 1 7 Total (5 wkts)223 H. S. Baker, R. S. Hartree, C. C. Simpson and E. A. Willson did not bat. LONDON AND WESTMINSTER BANK (2) v. COUTTS’ BANK.—Played at Norbury on June 21 and 22. L. & W. B a n k (2). Capt. Harrington, b 0. C. Simpson..........104 E. G. Read, c Pitt- Brook, b Willson ...111 G. W. Cancelloe, b Sim pson................... 36 Rev. A. M. Sullivan, run out ................. 0 E.Booker,c Pitt-Brook, b S. Bowman........... 1 W.Trask, c Pitt-Brook, b S. Bowman.......... 5 L. & C.J.Bowman,cBooker, b Paul ..................121 A.G.Gough,c Sullivan, b Booker................. 9 F. W. Newcomb, st Read, b Piggott ...32 S. Bowman, c Paul, b Trask..........................38 A. M. Cockell, c Jar- rett,b R.W. Thomas 21 H. E. Power, c Jarrett, b A. R. Thomas ... 5 G. Lo*?an,c Dowlen, b R.W . Thomas......... 27 C. F. G. Welborne, b R. W. Thomas.......... 6 C. J. Crossley, b Dow­ len ........................ 3 G. P. Rhodes, c and b R. W. Thomas..........14 F. Ralls, b R. W. Thomas ................. 1 D. W. Cox, b R. W. Thomas .................19 A. Anson,c Thackery, b Sercombe ... ... 4 R. G. A. Kerr, b R.W. Thomas .................19 A. Podmore, not out 0 Byes ................. 9 W.V.Stevens, b Power 52 H. C. Sturton, b Kerr 8 E. Tyler, c Cockell, b K e r r........................ 1 C. Jarrett, c Rhodes, b Orossley .................35 H. W.E.Sercombe, lbw, b Power ................. 2 R. W. Thomas, b Kerr 1 W.J.Dowlen, c Steven­ son, b Lo^an.......... 22 C outts ’ B ank . Total ...128 A. R. Thomas, b Kerr 0 A. A. Thackery, lbw, b P ow er................. 0 O. Parker, c Rhodes, b Kerr .................13 F. O. H. Stokoe, not out ........................ o B 6, lb 5 ..........11 Total ...145