Cricket 1907

CRICKET : a w e e k l y r e c o r d o f t h e g a m e . AUGUST 1, 1907. Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil no. 759 . voi. xxvi. THUESDAY, AUGUST 1, 1907. price ad CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. M k . P. W. SHERWELL. To the very great majority of English cricketers Mr. Sherwell was unknown, even by name, until eighteen months ago. Then the M.C.C. team visited Sout'i Africa, and he was chosen to captain the home side in the series of five Test matches which had been arranged. In the first game, played at Johannes­ burg, he accomplished a performance which at once stamped him as a player of iron nerve and muuh ability. E i gland had scored 190 in their second innings, after obtaining a lead of 93 on the first (184 to 91), leaving the South Africans with the he-ivy task of makiog 284 to win. Six wickets fell for 106, and when Sherwell went in, last man, and joined Nourse, 45 runs were still rrqaired. England had Lees, Blythe, Crawford, Haigh, and A. E. Belf to bowl, so if the last wicket had fallen at once it would not have seemed very surprising. But the pair remained together, and amid ever - increasing excitement the runs were obtained, Sherwell himself making the winning hit off a full-pitch to leg from Relf. Nourse carried out his bat for 93, but, says Mr. Warner in his published account of the lour, “ Sherwell (22) deserves just as much praise, and no one could have played more calmly and coolly. Everything depended on him. If he failed the match was lost to his side, and the way he rose to the occasion and snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat stamps him as a big-hearted cricketer.” As events proved, he waB destined to dis­ tinguish himself on other occasions against the Englishmen, for he not only batted very consistently in the remaining Test matches, but captained the side skilfully, and kept wicket in a manner which repeatedly gained the admiration of his opponents. Mr. Sherwell, who is ciptain of the well-known Pirates Club, has played for MR. P. W. SHERWELL. (Photo by. Messrs. Hawkins & Co., Brighton.) the Tratisvaal since 1903. Business, however, has at times kept him out of important cricket, e.g., last winter he played in only one of the Currie Cup matches, but as he is obviously one of those players who very quickly settle down to their best form after a long absence from the bast-class matches, there was no hesitation whatever in selecting him for the English tour. And those who chose the team were wise in their generation, for he has proved himself of even greater value to the side than a perusal of score-sheets would lead one to suppose. He possesses the ideal disposition for a captain, and has led his side with sound judgment, being always alert and alive to every move in the game. His innings of 115 in the great match at Lord’s, when his side followed-on almost hopelessly in arrears was worthy of the occasion, and higher praise it would be impossible to bestow. Those who were fortunate enough to witness his play upon that ocoasion are unanimous in regarding it as one of the most brilliant ever seen in such circumstances. It is no exaggeration to say that that one innings alone would have proved sufficient to cause his name to live long after him. But the fact that he made his hundred suffering from a painfully- damaged thumb was not known at the time to the general public; had it been, the appliuse which greeted him at tbe conclusion of his innings would have been even more hearty than it was. If, as many who are in a posilion to express an opinion declare, the South Africans have several better batsmen than Mr. 8 herwell in the side, Eaglish cricketers should be devoutly thankful that the side did not viiit us in a great run-getting year. “ Will you tell me something concerning your early years ? ’’ “ I was bom in Natal, at a village called Isipingo, in 1880, and when quite young was sent to the Barea Academy, in Durban, where it was that I learnt the