Cricket 1907

A p r il 11, 1907. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 51 Full details of the construction of the Demon=Drivers and other information of interest to cricketers, w ill be found in the booKlet entitled The Evolution of a Cricket Bat, which may be obtained upon application, and from which the following extracts are taken : — D OUBTLESS buyers frequently wonder why it is that some bats are sold as low as 5a., while others cannot be bought for less than 27s. 6d., both being made of similar material. The reason is very simple. The higher-priced bats,,which must relatively be few in number, have to provide for the loss incurred in manufacturing the lower- priced bats, which are necessarily numerous. The figures here given approximately show the proportions of the various grades for 1,000 bats. They are based upon the average results produced in the ordinary course of manufacture. First or Best Division. 1st grade 2nd grade 3rd grade 4th grade 20 50 100 150 Second or Common Division. 5th grade Lower grades 250 430 =1,000. It will thus be seen that the manufacturer who intends to meet the ever-increasing demand for really good cricket bats must carry an enormous stock of timber. The stock held by Geo. G. Bussey & Co., Ltd., represents 100,000 bats. The question is sometimes asked why the “ Demon Drivers” are not more associated with the names of leading cricketers. It may be said, without presumption, that the answer involves a question of ethics which it is not intended to enter into beyond mentioning the fact that Geo. G. Bussey & Co., Ltd. (or their predecessors, Geo. G. Bussey & Co.) have never published a testi­ monial relating to a cricket bat which has not been purchased and paid for in the ordinary way of business. Cricketers all over the world are informed that orders for Bussey’s goods should be placed with Dealers on the spot. Their manufactures are graded according to a properly devised system, which provides for cricketers purchasing from the dealers in the provinces or colonies receiving the same selection as if sent direct from the Factory, which is the Largest and most Up-to-date for the Manufacture of Requisites for Sports and Games. GEO, G. BUSSEY & CO. , L TD . , 36 & 38, Queen Victoria St., LONDON. Manufactory: Timber Mills: PECKHAM, S.E. ELMSWELL, SUFFOLK. ©omgponfance. CRIOKET, 1882-1907. To the Editor o f C ricket . Dear Sir,—I congratulate you on the twenty-fifth birthday of Cricket, and wish it continued success in the future. For the completeness of reports on our national game it is unrivalled. Believe me, Yours truly, St. Andrew’s, Sydenham. W. G. G race . April 3rd, 1907. To the Editor o f C r ic k e t . Dear Sir,—I am glad to offer you con­ gratulations on the completion of your quarter of a century. As far as I know, your publication has held a foremost and honourable place in the cricket world. But I am afraid I must not say much on the subject of modern cricket. Owing to the excessive smoothness of the pitches, first-class cricket is no longer the same game as the one I was brought up t o : and, whatever be the other differences, I find the modern game dull in comparison for the spectator. We never see now a shooter played, nor a half-volley hit to leg, nor the long-leg fielding of old days. Nothing can compensate for these griev­ ous losses, not even the wonderful skill shown in playing breaking balls and in the hook stroke. I am, Tours faithfully, Eton. E. L yt t e l t o n . April 4th, 1907. AN ODD CR ICK ET NOTCH. By th e R e v . R . S. H o lm es . I hasten to comply with the request for a “ Notch ” in celebration of the completion of the twenty-fifth year of the publication of this journal. I bought the very first issue in 1882, and have regularly obtained the paper ever since. So that I am one of its oldest subscribers. My friendship with C. W. Alcock antedated the appearance of Cricket, and last July he sent me a breezy note which opened thus:—"D ea r Holmes, Glad to hear from you again.” Indeed, he was, perhaps, my oldest cricket friend. When we first met I cannot recall at this dis­ tance, but I remember urging him, after the American Cricketer had been running for a year or so, to start a similar journal for our home cricket, adding that he was the man to make it a success. A man of tremendous energy, known by all cricketers and footballers and popular wherever known, he was also a practised hand in descriptive writing on sport. So the success of Cricket was assured. I once showed him a large photo of the reporters’ tent at Canterbury, which was given me by old Charles Box. It was taken in 1871. Box told me the names of the reporters and the papers they represented:—C. W. Alcock ( Sportsman), C. Box ( Field and Times), Kelly King (various papers), C. Mather ( Bell's Life), E. Pickering (Sporting Life). Mr. Aleock was a most likeable soul. On two occa­ sions I was a guest in his delightful Streatham home. I remember calling one day at the Association Football Offices in Chancery Lane, and, amongst other things, he referred to a well-known paper on batting which bore the name of a famous cricketer, and then with a hearty laugh he said, “ I wrote i t : got ------ to read it, and, if he approved, to append his name to it.” It was just about that time that he promised, if ever I should be in town and wanted to see a match at the Oval, to let him know, and he would furnish me with an order for the Surrey pavilion. Cricket caught on at once. Its con­ temporary across the water happily described it as “ that jolly little paper.” It was wanted, and it came to stop. I never pry into trade secrets and so have no idea of its circulation, but very soon a notice appeared that Number One was quite sold out, but would be reprinted if there was a liberal demand for it. It is interesting to note that in the very first issue F. H. Ayres had a whole page of advertisements, and the same firm claims a page in the March issue of the present year. The large fortune recently left by Mr. Ayres may have been in part owing to his unbroken connection with this journal for a quarter of a century. How carefully my dear old friend laid all his plans is evidenced by the few and trivial changes in the format of Cricket during the whole period of its existence. For instance, the delightful wood-cut by “ H. J. F.” has adorned all the 742 issues. “ Pavilion Gossip ” has never once been omitted. That, by-the-bye, was a very happy hit. It was gossip, bright, chatty, and not seldom humorous; it always struck the personal note, avoided the “ Editorial we,” and in this way took you into the writer’s confidence. I used sometimes to chaff him about sundry favourite mannerisms, such as “ Unless I have been wrongly informed,” “ I have every reason to believe,” etc., etc., telling him that this was the requisite “ copy ” for the printer. In the first year—1882—as there was not very much first-class cricket to chronicle week by week, it was a capital idea to repro­ duce old Nyren’s “ Cricketers of my Time” and “ Sussex Cricket, Past and Present.” There were no winter issues in that year, but in 1883 Cricket was published as early as February, and ever since it has appeared thirty times a year. Another feature of mark has been the portrait and biography of a prominent cricketer. In 1882, the year in which the greatest of all Australian teams came over here, only the members of Murdoch’s combination were thus honoured, and at intervals of a fortnight or so. Since then a biography has been given with almost every issue. As I am claiming to-day an old fogey’s privilege of gossipy reminiscence, may I mention how “ Cricket Notches” came to see the light ? It was quite by a