Cricket 1908

M ay 14, 1908. CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. *37 early part of May,” was the reply. “ Don’t you remember those terrible games in the parks when we were nearly frozen to death?” And yet it is under such depres­ sing conditions that many a fine cricketer, often in the only trial accorded him, has failed to do justice to his paper form of the previous summer and, in consequence, has lost whatever chance he may have possessed of obtaining a place in the Uni­ versity side. It is pleasing to see the well-known cricket name of Leslie to the fore again at Oxford. Those whose memory carries them back a-quarter of a century or so will be glad to know that the J . Leslie who bowled so well in the Freshmen’s match a few days ago is a son of C.F.H., who played against Cambridge from 1881 to 1883 and who visited Australia as a member of the Hon. Ivo Bligh’s team in the winter of 1882-83. Leslie the younger went up to the University with such a fine reputation as an all-round player that it was certain it would not be long ere he made his mark there. For Winchester in 1906 he averaged 34.85 for fourteen com­ pleted innings and took 49 wickets at a cost of 14.20 runs each; last year his figures were 36.84 for thirteen completed innings and 58 wickets for 13.43 runs apiece. Wisden describes him as a capital slow bowler with some work either way and a sensible head, and a hard-hitting batsman with sound defence. F rom The Field :— It has been plausibly conjectured that the original domicile of cricket was deter­ mined bv the geographical range of the right kind of turf. The game flourishes where meadow hay of a certain quality is producible; where the rainfall suffices for the nourishment of a strong sward but not for the maintenance of the picturesque and treacherous verdure of a Kerry hillside or a Glasgow bowling green. Nowadays, however, we are becoming indifferent to the actual presence of grass underfoot, pro­ vided that the earth can be made firm and level by means of the heavy roller. Bulli soil and Nottingham marl satisfy the bats­ man, whose interests are almost exclusively studied, and our national elevens can barely hold their own with opponents reared on cocoanut matting. The county batsman thinks himself badly treated if towards the end of a third day he is more or less at the mercy of a fast bowler on a crumbling pitch; even the club cricketer expects to find twenty-two yards of something re­ sembling a Brussels carpet awaiting him on each Saturday afternoon. Whether cricket could ever have been evolved if our climate had been all that is desirable and the perfection of modern grounds had been one of the obstacles to the efforts of David Harris is a theme for speculation. There is at least some excuse for believing that the vagaries of British weather are not unmixed evils, and that we are scarcely justified in grumbling at the showers to which we may owe the very existence of proficient professional bowlers. It may be also that a dripping May and the custom­ ary cold winds of early June serve to add to the zest with which the brief remainder of the season is enjoyed. Cricket is above all things a game of hope and patience. It is these qualities that bring success to a player; that retain in the ranks that useful and abounding votary the man who never is but always to be blessed with something like a respectable average ; that enable thousands of Englishmen on Satur­ day afternoons to add themselves cheerfully to the category of those who “ did not bat ” ; that characterise, though perhaps to a lesser extent than formerly, the very spectators of county contests. J. N. and R. T. C r a w f o r d were well to the fore in the match at Newport (Mon.) on Saturday last between Newport and a team raised and captained by Mr. C . Wil­ liams, of Goytrey Hall. They had a hand in the downfall of every Newport wicket, dismissing the side for 89, and in their four innings made 102 runs, “ J.N .” scoring 3 and 26 and “ R .T .” 59 and 14. The latter obtaned 28 runs off an over of seven balls—a 6, five 4’s, and a 2—and 46 off three consecutive overs. Mr. C . Wil­ liams’ XI. scored 113 and 146 for five wickets. L o r d H a w k e turned out for Leeds on Saturday last in their Leeds League match against Stanningley and Farsley. After the latter had been dismissed for 55, Leeds made 57 for one wicket, Lord Hawke carrying out his bat for 38. T he M a y o r e s s o f C a r lis le says R. H. fpccnsr played his first game at cricket in her old vicarage home. She did the field­ ing. T h e Yorkshire County C.C. have re­ ceived nearly ^1,000 toward the Lord Hawke Testimonial Fund, and it is ex­ pected that many more subscriptions will come to hand before the list is closed on June 15th. What form the testimonial will take will be decided at a Committee meeting of the Yorkshire County C.C. at Bradford on Monday next. “ P r o v id e d a man keeps fit,” says G. L. Jessop in The Athletic News, “ there is no reason why he should not be able to play such cricket as will ensure his place in his county team until he is forty-five. But to do this he cannot afford to take any liberties with himself. He must not only preach the gospel of fitness, but he must practise it.” F rom the Morning P o st :— It is good for the play of a county eleven that it should not perform too frequently upon the same pitch and before the same spectators. But the reasons why it is good are not material, but spiritual. For ex­ ample, it cannot be denied that the spectators exercise a subtle influence on those whose exploits they are watching. And spectators get accustomed to expecting certain things from certain men if they see them too often. The best player in the Northamptonshire team will not call his partner for a run unless there is time to walk it. The Northampton crowd watch this dilatoriness without comment. But if the team played occasionally in some town within the borders of the county other than the capital the great man might be roused to an appreciation of his dereliction of duty by a chorus of “ Come tw o !” answering his solo “ Stay back !” Or, again, a man who has established a settled reputation at Tonbridge as a fair but not brilliant fielder may be shocked by the appeals of a Can­ terbury crowd into making an effort to raise his standard of efficiency. These are little things, but they count for a good deal by the aid of multiplication. M. H. F a lc o n , who scored 86 and 10 in the Freshmen’s match at Cambridge, was in the Harrow XI. in 1906 and 1907, aver- aging 25.50 in the former season and 19.25 in the latter. Last year, during the holi­ days, he played in a few matches for Nor­ folk and did so well that his average for six completed innings worked out at 76. (He had been tried for the County in 1906, when he scored only five runs in two in­ nings.) His experience of county cricket may assist him considerably in his effort to obtain his Blue. P la y in g for Bath Association against Swindon (G.W .R.), at Bath on Saturday last, Walter Brearley and Braund, bowling unchanged, dismissed their opponents for 39. Brearley took five wickets for 7 runs and Braund five for 27. On the same afternoon J. Daniell, Somerset’s new cap­ tain, scored 137 in two hours and a-half for Taunton against Exeter on the ground of the former; he hit a 6 and fifteen 4’s. “ T h e r e is little doubt,” says R. O. Schwarz, “ that * googlie ’ bowling will occupy a very important place in first-class cricket in the future. Last season when I came over to England with the South Afri­ can XI. our side was particularly strong in bowling of all descriptions ; in fact, had the wickets been harder and, in the ordinary way, calculated to be of material advan­ tage to the batsmen, I am fully convinced our attack would have met with as much success as it did on what were called ‘ bow­ lers’ wickets.’ This fact I attribute to the number of slow to medium bowlers we pos­ sessed who were able to disguise in their delivery the way in which they were ‘ breaking ’ the ball.” T h e Leicestershire County C.C. Com­ mittee have issued season tickets to school­ boys at half-a-crown each. The innovation appears to be much appreciated. “ G a r e t h /’ after making some general remarks concerning cups and various other forms of trophies presented to mark suc­ cess in sports, has something to say in the Referee on the subject of Mr. Bailey’s pro­ posal to donate a cup in connection with