Cricket 1907

CRICKET ! A WEEKLY RECORD OF TH E GAME, MARCH 28, 1907. “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly to il.” — Byron. n o . 74 2 . v o i. x x v i. THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 1 9 0 7 . p r i c e 2 a. CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. MR. EDWARD HODGES.* REMINISCENCES OP M R. JOHN W ILLES. Although he lived under as many as five sovereigns, Mr. Hodges, who was a nephew of the famous Mr. John Willes, was, to the last, a young man in spirits and enthusiasm. His memory for events of his early days was wonder­ ful, whilst his energy and activity would have been con­ sidered unusual in a man thirty years his j unior. Prom the accompanying photo­ graph, which was taken last month specially for publica­ tion in Cricket, one can readily believe that he retained his mental vigour to an extra­ ordinary degree for one so advanced in years. At the time of hig birth the present Lord’s Ground had been only recently formed, Mr. William Ward had yet to play his historic innings of 278, and several of the Hambledon cricketers were still in the flesh. Mr. Hodges attended matches at Lord’s for about seventy-five years, and knew Alfred Mynn before.he began to play County cricket, whilst the performances of the great Kent Eleven, which included such cricketing giants as Pilch, Felix, Hillyer, Wen- man, Mynn, Adams and others, were events almost of his middle age. He himself had naturally given up play­ ing, preferring to participate in the more sedate amuse­ ment of croquet, but to the last he followed the game keenly,and looked forward to seeing some good matches during the approaching sea­ son. He rendered many a song in capital style to his own accompaniment on the guitar, and, as he himself modestly ex­ pressed it, was “ still a bit of an artist.” Whilst full of enthusiasm for the men who performed their great deeds in his young days, he was by no means unappreciative . *Mr. Hodges died at Sonthsea on February 20th in his eighty-ninth year. of the ability of more recent players; he much admired the pluck and skill of Messrs. Stanley Christopherson and Brad­ ley, and spoke of the pleasure he had derived from watching Ranjitsinhji and Mr. Mason. When referring to the old- time players, he realistically illustrated their chief strokes with the aid of a walk­ ing*stick. Photo by] [J . A. Swaine , Southsea. “ I was born at Bellringham, near Sutton Valence, the seat of my uncle, Mr. John Willes,” said Mr. Hodges, “ and was brought up in his house. It was there, under his tuition, that 1 learnt the game. I left his roof when about eleven years of age, but often used to walk over from Maidstone to see him. Afterwards I moved into Devonshire, and I c.in still vividly remember how impressed I was the first time I saw the British Fleet under sail in Torbay; that, of course, was in the pre-ironclad days. There was no cricket played at Torquay at that time, so I used to go out with a bat and ball on Daddy Hole Plain and play alone. Later I went to Newton Abbott, and was fortunate enough to get some good cricket there. Every summer I sp9nt my holidays in Kent, where I took part in some most pleasant matches, but only once did I appear for the Gentlemen of Kent in the Canterbury Week. There was a strong club at River, near Dover, at the time, and to this I belonged. Edward and John Banks, both County men, and my kins­ man, the Rev. E. H. L. Willes, who captained Oxford two years, were members. Once we managed to beat Canterbury when they brought down Pilch, Will- sher, and Fryer against us. The Banks were great supporters of cricket, and used to entertain largely at their seat, Oxney Court, the grounds of which, either by accident or design, were shaped exactly the same as the field of the Battle of Waterloo. At one time I played a good deal at Battersea, and made some hundreds there. My uncle taught me the value of playing with a straight bat, and consequently I was often able to keep up my wicket for some time, al­ though runs did not always come quickly. He liked to show me off, and in a match at Maidstone once had the stumps brought out before play began, and asked Mynn to send me down a few balls. His deliveries were then terrific, and pads had not at that time been introduced. A ball was pitched to leg, aud I managed to hit it right away, much to the delight of my uncle, who then drew the stumps and took me away, fear­ ing Mynn might bjw l me the next ball.’