Cricket 1907

CRICKET ! A WEEKLY RECORD OF T H E GAME. AUGUST 15, 1907. “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.” — Byron. no. 761. vo i.. x x v i . THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 1907. p b ic e 2a CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. P. C. HOLLAND. The meeting of Surrey and Yorkshire at the Oval to-day would, even in the ordinary way, have proved a very great attraction, but as the proceeds of the match are to be set apart as a benefit for Holland the game has added interest. C rick eters in general, and those of Surrey in particular, will be unani­ mous in hoping lhat the weather (hiring the three days will be all that could possibly be desired, and that the match will produce excellent cricket and not finish until late on Siturday afternoon. Although it is thirteen years since Holland first appeared in the Surrey Eleven, he is now only thirty- one years of age, having been born at Battersea on February 10th, 1876. He was evidently a somewhat precocious child, for he was only three years of age when he first took to the game. He is one of nine brother?, and in his early attempts to master the rudiments of cricket he was encouraged by the seven who were his seniors, the result being that as soon as he entered his teens he was not only devoted to the game but a very fair player, especialjy so for his years. But in this there was, perhaps nothing remarkable, for his father, uncles, and brothers —the whole family in fact— were very fond of cricket, and were naturally always ready to encourage the boy. The father was also a great rifle shot in his day, and it is perhap3 to him that the subject of these few remarks owes the keenness of his vision. It seems some­ what strange to hear, on his own confession, that Holland’s early cricket was marked by successes as a bowler instead, as most people would have imagined, of a series of useful scores. At that time he was captain of a Batter­ sea Park Club called the Advance C.C., which iu the year 1890 won the Battersea Park Association challenge cup, and also played a good deal for the Oxalis C.C. As tending to show how kesn he must have been even in those early days, it may be mentioned that he was only fifteen years of age when, acting entirely Photo by\ upon his own responsibility, he took the latter team to Croydon to meet the Croydon Tradesmen, and, what is more, led his side to victory. That year his average was as high as 35, and, as a result of his Buccess, he wrote to the Surrey authorities at the Oval asking to be given a trial. The letter, in the ordinary course of things, came before the Committee, who remarked upon the youth of the writer whilst acknowledging that his doings had been excellent for one so young. “ If,” slid Sir Richard Webster—now Lord Alveratone, L C.J., —“ he can use a bat as well as he does his pen, he will be worth having.” Mr. Alcock agreed, the Committee approved, and a letter was sent to the young aspirant after fame inviting him to appear at the Oval to show what he o u ld do. The trial proved eminently satisfactory, and, after his father and Mr. Alcock had discusstd with him the advisability of adopting cricket as a profession, he became a member of the ground-staff at the Oval in 1892, when just sixteen years of age. In that year and the following he showed good all-round cricket, but it was in 1891 that he began to come to the front. In the last-mentioned season he was very successful with the County’s sscond eleven, averaging over 34 with the bat and taking seventeen wickets at a cost of 13 52 runs each. His form, in fact, was so good that he was twice included in the first eleven, and in the only two innings he had he scored 31 not out against the first South African team, and 76 against Essex at Leyton. Surrey won each match by an innings, and on each occasion Holland made the second highest score on the side. These successes naturally made those interested in his wel­ fare anticipate his doings in 1895 with much interest, thought that he would do well if given a good opportunity were proved correct in their surmise. In his very first innings he played an innings of 123 v. Essex, and he followed it with 62 against Warwickshire, and 171 against Cambridge University. Each of the matches took place at the Oval, and in the last-mentioned he and Abel (165) put [ Pickering , Leicester. Those who