Cricket 1906

362 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A ug . 23, 1906. versity, follow in g the exam ple o f H aver- fo rd C ollege, m ay send a team over here to p la y some o f the chief P u blic Schools. T h e Evening News is responsible fo r the fo llow in g anecdote : — Tw o gentlemen were returning by train to Leeds, after a county match some years ago, when an argument arose between them as to whether Hayward or the late J. T. Brown was the better batsman. One was in favour of Brown, while the other supported the Surrey man. There was only one other occupant of the compartment, so one of the disputants asked his opinion on the matter. “ W ell,” replied the stranger addressed, “ I don’ t think I am in a position to state which is the better player of the two. Y ou see, I ’ m B row n! ” The hand is the hand o f M r. B . T rovato ! T h e G entlem en o f H ollan d conclude the active part o f their brief tour to -d a y at Haslemere, and to -m orrow n igh t leave L on d on on their return hom e. Their one success in the strenuous cricket they have p layed was over M r. L . W eiga ll’ s E leven at R am sgate last w eek end. Their first m atch show ed them perhaps to the best advantage, as at Stoke E dith they had rather the best o f the draw w ith P aul F o le y ’s W orcestershire team , w hich in ­ cluded tw o o f the F oster brotherhood and W . B . Burns. A ltogeth er, considering the difficulties under w hich D u tch cric­ keters labour, they have little reason to be dissatisfied w ith their visit. In any case, they speak h ig h ly o f the reception they have had at all hands here, w ith Bpecial appreciation o f the hospitality and hearty w elcom e extended to them at S toke E dith and BamBgate, P oor old Surrey ! N on e so p oor to do it reverence. The heaviest o f the m any blow s it has had ju st o f late, com es from that very distinguished w riter, E . V . Lucas, in the D a ily Chronicle o f Tuesday last. H e points the finger o f scorn at Surrey, w h om he considers “ an unin­ spiring side.” W orse than that he adds “ I t (Surrey) m igh t n o t exist at all as far as I am concerned.” This is very, very sad, and one can on ly w onder what th ed is- favou r o f such a pow erful critic portends. A t the same time, in all hum ility, I venture to take some little exception to his m ethods. The “ rules o f sportsm an­ ship,” o f w hich he is so full, ough t, one w ou ld think, to su ggest a little fairness. T his, in his com parison o f the K en t and Surrey teams, is sadly lacking. The m ost charitable construction, perhaps, w ou ld be that he has n ot taken the ordin­ ary pains to verify his statements. A t an y rate, his deductions are altogether w ron g , and one can on ly regret that the p u b lic is m isled b y assertions w h ich have n o foundation in fact. M . C. B ir d , the y o u n g H arrovian who p layed fo r the Gentlem en o f Surrey against the G entlem en o f H ollan d at the O val this week, w ill have another year before he com pletes his school career. H e w ill be captain o f the H arrow E leven o f 1907, w hich ou gh t, as far as one can ju d g e at this distance o f time, to be a p retty strong one. F or some years past the Standard A.C. o f P aris has carried out w ith Buccess, as w ell as pleasure, a tour on the South Coast. This year the team is visiting K en t, and have already g o t through the first part o f their programm e. The re­ m aining matches a r e :— August 23, v. Deal and District, at Deal. August 24 and 25, v. Folkestone, at Folkestone. August 27 and 28, v. Hythe, at Hythe. August 29, v. Dover Wednesday, at Dover. August 30, v. Waldershare Park C.C., at Walder- share Park. The following are taking part in the tour:—P. H. Tomalin, M. B. Godfrej, F. Smith, E. Cawdron, E. Tolfree, J. Braid, T. Freed, W. D. Attrill, J. A. Pescliair, J. D ’Arbelles, J. Jordan, W . G. Parry, W. Potts, H. Weaver and G. Hosegood. Headquarters during tour, Metropole Hotel, Dover. C ollectors o f cricket pictures w ill be interested to hear o f a set o f p hotographs taken during the progress o f the recent m atch betw een Surrey and Y orkshire at the Oval. Tw o o f them show the crow d on the different sides o f the ground, and the third is a graph ic reproduction o f the Surrey E leven in the field. The three pictures, w hich represent an artistic souvenir o f a g reat struggle, were taken b y M r. A nthon y W . H enley, o f 57, K en ­ n in gton Oval, and give quite the beat idea o f the Surrey ground in the thick of a strenuous m atch I have ever seen. T hey can be had o f M r. H en ley at the address given. The price fo r the set is 2s. 6d. A f t e r Surrey w ere beaten b y L anca­ shire on Saturday, the m ost elaborate calculations appeared in som e o f the new spaper?, show ing, if n ot clearly, at least beyon d the shadow o f a doubt, that if Y orksh ire did n o t w in the Cham pion­ ship, it w ould be because K en t or Surrey had a better percentage. A lso that Surrey must be cham pions if K en t and Y orksh ire were out o f the running, and that if K en t w ere the Champions Surrey and Y orkshire w ou ld have to w ait until another year. T h e am using idea that R hodes has lost his bow lin g, has been very frequently set forw ard this year. W henever the season has been m ore than usually dry the same idea has been prevalent, bu t the simple fact is that Rhodes has never been w hat is know n as a “ g o o d w icket ” bow ler. The m om en t that he gets the w icket which he likes he is about as deadly as ever, and it is hardly likely that an y o f the W arw ickshire team who were dism issed b y him on Saturday are under the impression that he cannot bow l now adays. T h e th eory that a bow ler begins to lose his skill w ith the ba ll to excel w ith the bat is always w ith us. B ut the theorists forget that m any bow lers who have never learned the art o f batting have lost their form w ith the ball for a season or tw o. H en ce it w ou ld seem that, instead o f discouraging a bow ler from try in g to make runs, it w ou ld be m uch better to advise him to make runs if he can. Then, if his bow lin g falls off, he w ill still be useful to his side as a bat, and b y and bye his b ow lin g m ay return to him , when the odds are that his ba t­ tin g w ill fall off. I f on the other hand the bow ler cannot bat, he is naturally left out o f the team when he has a run of ill-success w ith the ball, and his chance m ay never com e again. I n this conn ection it m ay be w ell to reflect that if Lees or R hodes had not been very useful batsm en at times when their b ow lin g was not o f m uch use to their county, they w ou ld both , in all probability, have been placed on the shelf lon g a g o . On the other hand, if T om R ichardson had been a fine batsman as w ell as a great bow ler, he m igh t still have been a very useful m ember o f his county team . I t is sometimes an excel­ lent thing to have tw o strings to your bow . C. L . T ow nsend made bis first appear­ ance this season fo r Gloucestershire on M onday at Cheltenham , and yet m anaged to run up a score o f 214 in about three hours and a-h alf, a feat w h ich w ould have been sufficiently remarkable if it had been perform ed by C. B . F ry when in full practice. Townsend had made tw o scores o f about 70 in a local m atch in the N orth a few days previously. T h e members o f the St. T hom as’ T ou rin g Club have been, accord in g to all accounts, having a g o o d tim e o f it just lately. The match betw een St. Thom as’s and L on d on Students, played at G room - bridge, produced a notew orth y p erform ­ ance on the part o f F . C. R og er. H e took, in all, fo r St. T hom as’ s eleven w ickets—seven in the second innings— at a cost o f 66 runs. E . C. K ir k , the y ou n g cricketer w ho bow led w ith such success for the G entle­ m en o f Surrey against the G entlem en of H ollan d at the O val this w eek, has had m ost of his club cricket with the Spencer C.C. H e came off as a bow ler fo r Surrey’s Second a year or tw o 8go, and w ould p robably have had a higher trial had there been a chance o f his g iv in g any am ount o f time to first-class cricket. This year he has played m ore than once for the L on d on C ounty C .C ., and it is w ell-know n that W . G. has a h igh opinion o f him . As he bow ls fast left-h an d , he presents just the variety Surrey wants, and it m ay be that C ounty cricket w ill yet find him conspicuous. H e is, m oreover, a g ood field, so that his out cricket is beyond reproach. W h en the com plete figures o f the year com e to be made up there w ill be a g o o d m any notable individual perform ances in the w ay o f ru n -g ettin g to be registered. Marshal, the y ou n g Queenslander, who w ill be qualified fo r Surrey n ext summer, must have had a remarkable season for the L on d on C ou n ty C .C ., and in him Surrey seems likely to have an all-round cricketer o f the greatest possibilities. South L on d on cricket has had tw o other consistently heavy scorers this year in D . H . Butcher, o f U pper T ootia g, and P . H . Slater, o f the D ulw ich C .C . The latter has also m ade runs w ith unfailing