Cricket 1907

CRICKET ! A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. JAN. 31, 1907. “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly to il.” — Byron. n o . 7 4 0 . v o x ., x x v x . THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 1907. p b i c e s a . C R I C K E T CHAMP IONS : No. 5. M r . w . w . READ. B y TffE R ev . H arold A . T ate . The year 1906 began with the loss of a great cricketer in the death of V. E. Walker; similarly, our presen t year had hardly commenced when the death of one even better known was tele­ graphed all over the land, and the papers were full of the detail* of the career of Surrey’s g rea test batsman, Walter William Read. Who would not weep for “ Walla Walla,” old Surrey’s joy and pride ? Who amongst cricket- lovers will not fondly rememberthedays when his finely-propjrtioned figure stepped forth from the Oval pavili >n on to the green sward, to the accompaniment of loud clappings, and when the hush of eager expectations of great doiDgs fell upon the crowd ? Who that ever saw him play a great innings would ever for­ get it—the variety and multiplicity of his strokes, the speed with which the ball raced to the boundary, the mas­ terfulness of his on­ slaught on the bowling ? The late George Lacy once wrote to me in a letter that it seemed to him that such men as Abel, who, without any physical advantages, laboriously gained the front rank, deserved greater praise than mtn like Grace, Guun, and Walter Read. This m-iy, in a sense, be true, but the men of noble physique and natural aptitude for the game, like those just mentioned, and like “ glorious Alfred Mynn” of old, whom we dealt with in last month’s issue, are th e men w h o most appeal as than, in all his youthful glory, Daft, E.Lockwood, and Jupp. Hornby, Yard- ley,Mitchell and the Walkers, and, as cricket is largely learnt by the eye, would have insensibly fallen into correct ideas ofstyle and methods. But he had no coaching of the sort that most amateurs receive from famous old professionals at the Public Schools. However it may be, he must have been a good boy player, as at the age of 13 he made 78 for Reigate at Ton­ bridge against Mr. R. Lipscomb’s bowling, and we find him selected to play for Surrey in 1873, before he attained his eighteenth year. It is said that he owed liis introduction to Surrey cricket at, so early an age to Jupp, who had seen him practise at the Oval, and the famous old profei-si >iial must have felt proud of h:s choice on many an occasion when the two made long stands together, the chief of which was in the memorable match against Yorkshire, in 1877, when the two put together 206 for the first wicket. For 25 years Mr.Read played first-class cricket, and for at least 10 years of that time no Eleven could have been chosen as representative of England unless it in­ cluded him in its ranks. From 1883 to 1893 may be mentioned as the decade referred to, and in some of those years he was bracketed with Shrewsbury as second only to “ W.G.,” and not far behind either, as W.G.” was in those days. Though he played for Surrey in 1873, it was not until 1881 that, having accepted the Assistant-Sacretary- ship of the Club, he was able to play in all Champions of the game to cricket lovers. Yet Walter Read must be set down as a self-taught player. Born on November 23, 1S55, at Reigate, where his father kept a school, and where he in his younger days helped his father as assistant master, {Photo by mr . w. w. read . Thiele & CV.] he would doubtless in the summer holi- ( days have often journeyed to the Oval or to Lord’s and have witnessed the cracks of the late sixties and early seventies. He would have seen “ W .G.,” the Levia-