Cricket 1908

130 CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M a y 1 4, 1908 .) Jones, I remember, went in tenth. When we played them in 1896, Shine, in order to prevent us following on, which we should have been compelled to do had we been 120 behind, deliberately bowled three balls—two of them no-balls—to the boundary, and this, as a matter of fact, really won us the match. We had 330 to win, and G. O. Smith, who was the last man on the side to get his Blue, made 130 and we got home by four wickets. There was a big discus­ sion in the papers owing to Shine’s pro­ cedure, and Lord Cobham and his younger brother, Edward Lyttelton, held quite different views.” “ You played for Surrey before leaving the University, I believe?” “ Yes. I was first tried in 1895, when 1 had an average of 3 for six innings. Next year I made about 60 in a couple of inn­ ings, and in 1897 had an average of just under 18, with which I felt fairly satisfied, for then an average of twenty or so was not considered bad, though now, of course, it would not be considered much. I soon discovered what a big difference there is between University and County cricket. You may be a bit of a ‘ swell \ at the ’Varsity, and until tried for your county think you are a good player— like Abel, Hayward, or Key. But, more often than not, you quickly discover the truth, and, after a failure or two, do not go in with the same confidence. Then you realise that, instead of being one of the chief players on the side, you are more or less a ‘ rabbit.’ ” “ And what of Surrey’s prospects this year ? ” “ I regard them as being distinctly good on the whole. Our batting is strong, especially on hard wickets, but I wish we had another first-class bowler. Knox’s absence will be severely felt, but, although it is a little doubtful, he may possibly play for us during the last six weeks or so of the season. I am hoping that Marshal will prove valuable as a bowler, for he has obtained so many wickets for ‘ W .G .’ that there must be something in him. For some time Surrey has been hard up for a left­ hander, but perhaps F. E. Smith will sup­ ply the want. WThen he played for the county before, although he had one very successful year, he was not given much chance of showing of what he was really capable, for, with Lockwood, Richardson and Sharp in the side, he seldom went on unless the batsmen had become set.” “ You have played cricket in many parts of the world, I think?” “ In January, 1897, I accompanied Lord Hawke to the West Indies and had a splendid time. We were just the strength required to make the matches interesting. It is from that tour that I always regard Warner’s career as a great player from dating. He had made many runs before, of course, but from that time onward he learnt a lot. Gerald Bardswell also did well, coming out second in the averages, and I followed him. In the autumn of the same year I visited America as a member of Warner’s team and had another good time ; I did pretty well, too, and came out near the top of the averages. They have some wonderful club-houses over there with splendid accommodation, and you can generally feel pretty certain of having a sporting wicket to play on—one with just enough life in it to make things interesting and not too one-sided. In one of our matches with the Gentlemen of Phila­ delphia we had an experience which I, for one, had never had before. On the first day the Philadelphians m^de about 250 and when stumps were drawn we had four wickets down—those of Warner, Chinnery, Marriott, and Stocks—without a run. A weird decision, Lester being given in when run out by ‘ miles,’ made a possible differ­ ence in the result, but we lost by only four wickets. Some of the American papers were very quaint and amused us a great deal. The reporters were troubled con­ siderably with my name, and more than once I found myself referred to as the ‘ Hyphenated-Worry’ and r The man with the sanguinary name.’ In 1905-6 I was a member of the M.C.C. team which visited South Africa. The tour was a great dis­ appointment to us all inasmuch as we lost four of the five Test matches played. On paper we were a very good side, but in the Tests our batting broke down sadly. The South Africans had made enormous strides since their previous visit to England, and were a very powerful combination, especi­ ally on their own matting wickets.” “ Used you not to bowl at one time?” “ I have often bowled—and got wickets, too ! In the match with Eton in my last year at Winchester, when we won by 84 runs after declaring our second innings closed with only four wickets down, I took eight wickets for 33 runs. Mason took eight for 139, and between us we had a hand in the downfall of eighteen of the Eton wickets; furthermore, he made 147 and 71 and I 16 and 83, so it was a rather extraordinary match. When at the ’Varsity I sometimes got wickets, including five against Cambridge in 1895, in which year I was also tried in the Gentlemen v. Players’ match at the Oval. A couple of years later, when visiting the W’est Indies with Lord Hawke, I was often put on, and took 46 wickets for thirteen runs each, only Heseltine, who obtained 48, claiming more. ” “ Does the suggestion to start first-class matches on the Saturday, instead of on the following Monday, appeal to you in any way ?” “ I think the idea good, decidedly good, and, had I known earlier than I did that I should captain Surrey this year, would have proposed giving it a trial in one of our matches. But I am rather doubtful what position London cricketers would take up in the matter ; either they would flock to see the matches, or, which is just as likely, would prefer to play in their own club games. It is one of those matters which must be accorded a trial before one can give any definite opinion concerning its merits. ” PRESENTAT ION TO HARDSTAFF . SOUTHGATE 2 n d v . EDMONTON WORKING MEN’S CLUB.—Played at Southgate on May 9. W orking M en ’ s Club. Lewis, b Ford..............12 Outer, b Isner, b W hitehead............... 0 W hiter, b Whitehead 0 Rev. A. M. Bashford, b Foid ...............17 Adams, b Ford ... 2 Sealey, b Ford ... 0 Parkins, c Barker, b W hitehead............... 0 S o u th g ate . Jewell, c Barker, b Whitehead ... 11 Lovell.c and b White­ head .. 1 Gat^s, b Whitehead... 5 Taylor, not out .. 0 Byes ... Total R. T . Barker, b Bash­ ford .......................... 3 H. C. Isner, c Bash­ ford, b Jewell ... 7 J. Whitehead, c and b Bashford............... 0 H. R. Ford, c Taylor, b Lewis ...............36 R. J. Lewis, c 8ealey, b Lewis .............. 0 J. H. Lewis,b Adams 7 R. A . Maude, b Bash­ ford ............... 6 G. B. Adams, lbw b Bashford ............... C. H. W right Ingle, b A d a m s............... A . Hart, c and b Lewis ............... E. White, not out ... Byfs Total The following address was reefently pre­ sented to J. Hardstaff at a banquet given in his honour at the Waggon and Horses Inn, Kirkby :— Kirkby-in-Ashfield. To Mr. J. Hardstaff. Dear Sir,— It is with very great pleasure indeed that we welcome you home on your return from your cricketing tour with the M.C.C. Eleven in Australia during 1907-8, and most heartily congratulate you upon your brilliant achievements throughout its course. It must be most gratifying to yourself, as it certainly is to your friends, that, on this your first tour, your name headed the list of averages in batting for all matches at the commencement of the last match of the tour, and that at its close you were only .68 per innings below-your Notts, confrere, George Gunn, although you had played more innings. In the Test Matches, too, you held the highly honour­ able position of third on the list in a team which everybody acknowledges contained many famous batsmen. These results have not been obtained by you in consequence of a few sensational innings, but by a series of the most consistent displays of batting of which any Englishman may pride him­ self. In the aggregate, too, you have scored a greater number of runs than any English representative cricketer has scored in any of the many first-class cricketing tours undertaken, viz., 1,364, which is un­ doubtedly a great achievement and reflects the highest credit on your skill as a bats­ man. Not only in batting, however, have you distinguished yourself, but your field­ ing throughout has been of such a character as not only to uphold but, if possible, to enhance the brilliant reputation you already possessed in that department of the game. In conclusion, we feel that we cannot re­ frain from recording our high appreciation of the sound judgment which prompted the committee of the M.C.C. to select you as a member of the English team. We recog­ nise also that you have by your achieve­ ments conferred a high honour on this your native parish. Batting averages: All matches—No. of innings 29, times not out 2, most in one innings, 135, total runs 1,364, average 51.25. Test matches—No. of innings 10, times not out 2, most in one innings 72, total runs 311, average 31.10. With every good wish for the future success, prosperity, and happi­ ness of your family and yourself, we are, dear sir, on behalf of your admirers, J. G. Shacklock (chairman of committee), W. Clarke (vice-chairman), members of the committee—J. T. Riley, J. C. Bird, B. Wharton, J. Hibbert, L. Leivers, W. Heath, G. Shooter, W. H. Wightman, E. Coleman, F. King, W. Copeland, E. Beaver, J. Jewsbury, J. Guilor, T. Pickard. J. Mills, J. Wilson, W. Massey (hon. secre­ tary). . ' . The address was tastefully illuminated, the design including the Kirkby coat-of-arms, and the emblems of cricket, in the centre of which were the initials “ J.H .” It is said that scholastic duties w iLkeep L; T. Driffield out of first-class cricket for a month to come. .. . “ We have heard the theory eloquently ex­ pounded that club cricket is what really keeps the game alive, providing as it does a maximum of at+ractioa ill a minimum of t\xi\f.',—E%enwg Standard,