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 game. AUGUST 13, 1908. “ T og e th e r jo in ed in C r ick e t ’s m a n ly to il.” — Byron. N o . 7 9 1 . v o l . x x v i i . THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 1908. o n e p e n n y . CHATS ON TH E CR ICK ET F IE L D . K. G . B AR LOW . There are few m en whose name occupies a deservedly higher place in the annals of cricket than that of R ichard Gorton Barlow, whom a Saturday R eview er once wittily described as theF abius Cunctator of cricket. H e played for his county for twenty-one seasons, was chosen for the, Gentlem en v. Players m atch nineteen times between 1876 arid 1885 , made three trips to Australia, and has um pired in first-class m atches for seventeen years. This is a record w hich has been equalled by few, and when it is added that he excelled at both batting and bowling and was always most active in the field, one will readily realise that he m u 3 t have been one o f the m ost useful m en to have on a side. H e was always exceptionally keen, no m atter what the state of the game was, and the zest with which he and Mr. H ornby stole runs had to be seen in order to be properly appreciated. It has been said, without contradiction, that they have m ore than once been known to make a run whilst the ball was being tossed by the wicket-keeper or point to the bowler. They certainly did some remarkable things whilst in to­ gether, and it was nothing un­ usual for Mr. H ornby to make 50 or 60 whilst his partner was scoring three or four. T he best thing they ever did was in the m atch with Yorkshire at M an­ chester in 1875 . Lancashire had to make 146 to win, and they obtained them without loss, Mr. H ornby scoring 78 not out and Barlow 50 not out, and the total being com pleted with 20 extras. Barlow ’s perform ances, have, in ­ deed, been m any and wonderful. H e was only eleven years of age when he carried his bat through the innings for the first tim e, and as recently as 1895 he repeated the feat for over the fiftieth tim e. T o do justice to his stone-walling feats would require considerably m ore space than can be spared. H e was seen in his m ost stubborn m ood in the m atch with Notts, at Trent Bridge in 1882 . In the second innings of Lancashire he went in first and carried his bat through the innings of 69 for five runs, obtained in two hours and a h a lf; at one tim e he was in an hour and twenty m inutes without scoring, whilst in the first innings he had been at the wickets an hour and ten m inutes for eight. Asked for som e particulars concerning his early years, Barlow said :—■ “ I started cricket when so young that I cannot remember when I did not play. My father was fond o f the gam e, and so m y brother R obert and I received som e useful hints whilst we were quite small boys. At that tim e I batted as well as bowled left- hand, and it was upon m y father’s advice that I took to batting right-hand in order to avoid the awkwardness and stiffness which left-handed batsmen so often display. My early desire was to be a wicket-keeper, but I was soon cured of that whilst taking pait in a m atch near Sheffield. One of the bats­ m en, Burrows by nam e, swung round at a leg-bail, m issed it, and knocked me senseless. W hen I cam e to I concluded that wicket keeping was not m y forte, and so gave it up. My fam ily had removed to Stave­ ley, in Derbyshire, when I was fourteen years old, and I learnt a lot about the game and improved considerably in m y play whilst there. One year— I was seventeen at the time— I was chosen to play against Parr's E ngland X I., and was put on to bow l when H ayward and Carpenter w’ere well set. T o m y great joy the third ball I sent down got rid of Carpenter. Richard D aft was so pleased with m y bowling that very soon afterwards he offered m e an engagem ent at Newark. My father, however, thought I w’as too young to undertake the duties attaching to such a position, and, as his view was shared by the m anager of the Staveley W orks, where I was employed, I felt obliged to decline the offer. A fter­ wards I was engaged for two seasons at Farnsley, and then passed straight into the Lancashire E leven.” “ Did you not take part :n any Colts’ m atches ? ” “ No. H iekton, who died a few years ago, saw m e playing at Staveley, and told the Comm ittee that I was a prom ising player. The consequence was I was asked to take m y bag to Old Trafford one Friday afternoon and show my form at the nets before two or three m embers of the Comm ittee. Nothing was said to m e at the tim e about playing for the County and I was considerably surprised when, three or four days later, I received a letter asking m e to turn out against Y ork­ shire at Bramall Lane. Just before the Lancashire innings started, Mr. H ornby and Mr. E . B. Rowley cam e and asked where I generally went in. I replied, innocently enough, “ Generally first, sir.” Then he said, “ Perhaps you would like to go in first Photo by] [Hawk.ns, Brighton R. G. BARLOW.