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 IS, 1908. ■ $ © {— <- ' ) $ « & r >$©$<■— s H l i i i a 1 y 1 I H 'fS A Z Y j If <rs> I © r « n > j AAA 3 j? s H “ T oge the r jo in ed in C r ick e t ’s m a n ly to il.” — Byron. N o . 7 8 3 . v o l . x x v i i . THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 1908. o n e p e n n y . CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. E. H . K IL L IC K . It is fifteen years since K illick played his first m atch for Sussex, and it would not be surprising to find him still appearing for the C ounty fifteen years hence. T im e has dealt very kindly with him , for he looks scarcely any older to­ day than when he began to take part in first-class cricket. And yet, in tw o or three years’ lim e, people will refer to him as a veteran and recall the fact that he played for Sussex before either the Jam of N aw an­ agar or C. B. Fry began to assist the C ounty. As a cricketer, K illick, despite his youthful appearance, his slim figure, and his activity, is vergin g on the period of m iddle-age when, to the average cricketer, the ground seems further away when a ball has to be quickly gathered than it was before, and bats appear narrower than in earlier days. B ut K illick has ex* perienced neither o f these apparent phenomena yet, for his fielding is as keen and trustworthy as ever, and lhat he is still able to score well against the best bow l­ ing he proved as recently as Saturday last by a faultless not out innings o f i c i against M iddlesex at L ord ’s. K illick, who has undis­ puted claim s to be regarded as the finest left-handed batsman ever produced by Sussex— the late M r. F. M . Lucas, who batted so bril­ liantly just over twenty years a go, was a Surrey man by birth— holds his bat low dow n on the handle, and takes up rather a crouching position at the wicket, but he makes his strokes with ease and scores freely. Fast bow lin g he appears to appreciate m ore than slow , but he can make runs against all kinds o f deliveries over the w icket and also slow balls tw ist­ ing in from l e g ; the latter style has at times proved very effective against slow , unenterprising batsmen who have becom e set and who play the other bow lin g brought against them with confidence. A gainst H ampshire, at Chichester last year, he ob­ tained five wickets for two runs in 37 balls, an analysis which has very seldom in­ deed been surpassed in the whole history o f first-class cricket. So far his most successful season as an all­ round player has been that of 1905, when, in addition to scorin g 1,392 runs, he ob­ tained 108 wickets. H is highest innings is 200 against Yorkshire at B righton in 1901. K illick is an accom plished per­ form er on the clarionet and in the winter his services, either as a player on that instrum ent or as a piano­ forte accom panist, are in frequent request by con­ cert prom oters. “ Y ou learnt your cricket at H orsham , I b eliev e?” “ M y father took me in hand whilst I was quite a youngster, and all my early instruction was received from him . W hen about fifteen years of age I played for the H orsham Club as wicket-keeper, and a few seasons later, when eighteen years old, was tried for Sussex for m y bow ling. That w as against Kent, at B righton in 1893, when I scored 11 runs and took a w icket. I played seldom the tw o follow in g years, but did so regularly in 1896, when, instead o f quite turning out the bow ler many thought I should— I took 47 w ickets, but at a very heavy cost— I scored over 1,000 runs and cam e between R an jit­ sinhji and C. B. Fry in the averages.” “ W hat were your chief scores that season ? ” and on all kinds of w ickets. H is bow ling, which gained him his first trial in County cricket, has often g ot his side out of a tight corner. H aving been a pupil of Photo 6y\ [Hawkins Co., Brighton. E. H . K il l ic k . Alfred Shaw, it is only natural that he should appreciate the value attaching to good length. H e can bow l m edium-pace