Cricket 1908

C R IC K E T : A w e e k ly r e c o r d o f t h e gam e. JUNE 11 , 1908. "T o g e th e r joined in Cricket’s m an ly toil.”— Byron. N o . 7 8 2 . v o l . x x v i i . THURSDAY, JUNE u , 1908. o n e p e n n y . CHATS ON THE CR ICKET FIELD . S ir H O M E G O R D O N , B a r t . Sir H om e G ordon’s nam e is fam iliar to all interested in the gam e as th a t o f an able and impartial critic possessing re­ m arkable statistical k n ow ­ ledge. Apparently aloof from those w ho play and from those engaged in hack- w riting, he is affected by no individual aims. All that he cares for is the best interests of cricket, and for those he writes W ith enthu­ siasm supported by wide grasp of the subject. “ Y ou must have taken early to cr ick e t?” “ As a delicate child doomed to live in London, day after day I was taken by my uncle to L ord ’s. My earliest cricket recollection is g o in g with him to Prince’s, when I could not have been m ore than six. But from the age o f nine I have watched cricket pretty regularly. O f course my two years at Eton cut into my spectatorship, but after­ wards I enjoyed a plethora of the gam e, and even when I married and went into the City I w as still able to get to one o f the m etropolitan grounds com paratively early in the afternoon. I learnt most o f all from Sir Lionel M ’Mahon, the finest ju d ge of the gam e I ever met. Others who taught me a good deal were his elder brother, M r. Denzil O nslow , Mr. J. S. Russel, M r. C. F. Reid, and M r. H arvey Fel­ lows, all, alas, passed over to the great m ajority. T o ­ day his attendance in the H ouse prevents me seeing m uch at cricket o f my lifelong fellow-enthusiast, G odfrey B aring, the member for the Isle of W ig h t.” “ D id you never p la y ?” ‘ Only with an assiduous consistency in not giv in g the scorer m uch trouble. F01 several years I took team s to C ooper’s H ill and have gathered scratch sides for other gam es, whilst I occasionally captain Gentlemen of M .C .C . teams, which are popular because the amateurs get more opportunity o f bow ling than if some of the ground-staff are on the side. One amus­ ing gam e w as for D . Q . Steel’s X I. v. Tralee. On arriving at half-past ten in the m orning we were taken to the club SIR HOME GORDON, BART. and hospitably plied with bumpers of almost raw whisky. Steel m ade a lot of runs, kept w icket at the end at which he was bow ling, and we won easily. Another pleasant m em ory was collectin g a house side for the first match arranged by Lord Verulam at Gorham bury for many years. One of my team was R . D. Brown, the Philadelphian, and on Sunday afternoon he cheerily tried to initiate the house party into the m ysteries o f baseball.” “ About your w ritin g s.” “ My first efforts were tiny contributions to C ricket, for which my old friend A lcock obdurately refused to pay. O f course I have mainly been associated with the Badm inton M agazine, and for many years have been responsible for nearly all articles on cricket. My connection with Mr. W atson has been of the pleasantest nature, and he took pains to im prove my sty le ; one point I recollect was being told that it w as not English to write o f a ‘ reliable batsm an.’ O f late years I have written several articles on the gam e in the National R eview which have aroused discussion, and so caused people to think o f the points to which I earnestly d sire to direct attention. Then annually I have written in the 'T atler on the lighter side of cricket. W'ith all of these I have renewed my con­ nection this year. At one time, how ever, I was far m ore industrious, and w rote in quite a number of journals simultaneously. W hen ‘ D u x ’ wont out to South A frica I took his place on the Sportsm an, and I w rote in both the last and the next edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Then I have been cricket sub-editor of the whole of the Victoria H istory of the Counties o f England, and the publishers, Messrs. C on­ stable, issued my ‘ C ricket Form at a Glance.* T hat w as a portion of a mass of statistics I had compiled for my own amusem ent, and the book gave me pleasure be- cause Lord H aw ke w rote the preface for it It was just one of those fine sporting pronouncem ents which- expresses his sin­ cerity and singleness of purpose.” “ Y ou have opinions on criticism ? “ N o. I only try to w rite honestly, but I have been inform ed that prom inent cricketers have disapproved o f what I have said. I am told ‘ they do not care what