Cricket 1908

A p r il i 6, 1908. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 79 Dr. Godfrey Howitt passes me in the pavilion, and after leaving- him I meet iienry C. H. Agg, whose father, the late Alfred John Agg, used to play with the present Premier, Mr. Bent, in the old Coast Club at Elsternwick, in the days when the Chief Justice played with Bob Ovens at Essendon. In the pavilion I get a hearty shake-hands from Mr. Norman M‘ Lean, whom I had not seen for many years. He is down from Maffra, and re­ calls with pleasure the great match we had at Sale, in the old coach days. That was the match when the Maffra slogger, a giant of a man, batted in his socks, and W. W. Gaggin told poor old Wyndham to give him ‘ a yorker on the toes.’ ” R. G. B A R L O W ON C R I C K E T * Inasmuch as it is thirty-seven years since he made his first appearance for Lan­ cashire, Barlow must be regarded almost as a veteran. His county career lasted all but a quarter of a century, he paid three visits to Australia, and since his retire­ ment has umpired regularly in first-class matches. A man with such an experience should naturally have an entertaining story to tell, and as Barlow was suffi­ ciently methodical to preserve newspaper cuttings concerning the matches in which he played, and to make a note of anything particularly interesting or unusual which came to his notice, he had plenty of material available when he decided to pen his reminiscences. It will be news to many to read that in his early days he batted, as well as bowled, left-hand. On the ad­ vice of his father, who was then secretary ' to the Staveley C.C., in Derbyshire, he j took to batting right-handed, and with ! such success that he never returned to his former style. In 1861, when only eleven years of age, he carried his bat through an innings for the first time in his career, and as late as 1895 repeated the feat. It is only natural that the author should opine that present-day cricketers do not derive I nearly so much pleasure from the game as I the old players, for cricket during the past few decades has gradually become—per­ haps inevitably—more and more of a busi­ ness. Barlow records his experiences of Australian cricket—he received £ 7 2° ^or his three trips, and had all first-class ex­ penses paid—and speaks highly of the hos­ pitality everywhere offered to the English teams. He adds, “ I am sorry, however, I to have to complain about the umpiring in Australia. At some of the matches we played the decisions were very bad indeed, both for and against us.” He regards Giffen, Noble, and Armstrong as the greatest players produced by Australia; Murdoch, Trumper, and Charles Banner- man as the best batsmen, with Moses and Hill first among left-handers; G. H. S. Trott (point), S. E. Gregory (cover-point), |A. C. Bannerman (mid-off), Boyle (mid- on), and Blackham (wicket-keeper) as the finest fieldsmen; and Spofforth and Tur­ ner, taking them on all kinds of wickets, first among bowlers. Alfred Shaw, how­ ever, he places before either of the last- named—an opinion shared by many other excellent judges of the game. Barlow’s book, if somewhat disjointed 1in its arrangement, contains a great amount of interesting information, whilst | j his remarks upon batting, bowling, and I fielding should prove very useful to young cricketers. The volume, which is beauti- j fully printed and produced, contains 255 ! pages and 44 full-page half-tone engrav­ ings as well as an index and over 300 fac- | simile autographs of leading cricketers, and is “ respectfully dedicated to my old and highly-esteemed friend and colleague, A. N. Hornby, Esq., for many years Cap­ tain and President of the Lancashire County C .C .” * Forty Seasons of First-Class Cricket. By R. G. Barlow. His Career and Reminiscences. With 44 full-page illustrations. Manchester: John Heywood, Ltd., Deansgate. Price, 4s. 6d. nett. OBITUARY . M r . W. S. B u t t e r w o r t h . Mr. Wilfred Selkirk Butterworth, who' appeared for Lancashire on a few occa­ sions between 1877 and 1882, died at Roch­ dale on the 9th inst. Scores and Bio­ graphies (xiv.—95) described him as “ an average batsman and field.” In county engagements he commenced 15 innings, was once not out, and, with 22 as his highest innings, scored 83 runs with an average of 5.93. He was for some years associated with the Castleton and Roch­ dale Clubs, and played for the latter against various England teams, the United South of England XI., and the Australian team of 1878. In his second innings against the last-mentioned he scored 18 off the bowling of Spofforth, Garrett, and Boyle. In later years he settled in Texas, where he kept up the game. At one time he excelled as a Rugby footballer. M a jo r W. E. H a rd v . The death is announced of Major W. Eversley Hardy, the well-known military cricketer. He became a member of the M.C.C. in 1883 and had served on the Committee. He was buried at Bath on Saturday last. a h h ■ ■ m ■ ■ b% ■ iTn^ itte p i a M akers o f th e Celebrated STUART SURRIDGE & CO., p r d. cricket bats, ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ J As used by both the English and Australian Teams. L o r d ’s C r i c k e t G r o u n d , L o n d o n , N.W. Dear Sirs,—I have great pleasure in sending you an old bat, one of your make, which I used during the last two seasons. I have made about 1,600 ruus with it, and do not hesitate to say that I consider it one of the veiy best I ever remember having played with.—Yours truly, (Signed) F. STANLEY JACKSON. S u r r e y C o u n t y C r ic k e t C l u b , K e n n in g t o n O v a l , L o n d o n . Dear Mr. Surridge,—I have made with this bat 2,500 runs, and quite endorse Mr. G. L. Jessop and Mr. C. B. Fry’s opinion that they contain all the points essential to a batsman, and myself consider your bats the best I have ever used. Yours truly, T. HAYW ARD (Surrey XL). S o m e r se t V il l a , C h e l t e n h a m . Dear Sir,—You will be pleased to hear that one of your bats that I purchased at the Oval was used in all my matches, both 1st and 2nd class, last season. I should in all probability have been using it next season had not the damp got hold of it whilst crossing over to America. I can safely say it was the best bat I have ever had in my career. You are at liberty to make any use of this recommendation you please. Sincerely yours, GILBERT L. JESSOP. Seasons 1889, 1900, 1901— 3,600 runs with this bat. Price List on Application. S u r r e y C o u n t y C.C., Kennington Oval, S E. I have always used Stuart Surridge’s Bats, sr.d have no wish to use any other. D A L M E N Y . ^ S u ssex C o u n t y C .C ., B r ig h t o n . * 5 ^ ^ The bats made by Stuart Surridge Co. are excellent in every way. The *0 willow is the right sort, and the shape and balance leaves nothing to be desired. The new blades are fit to meet new balls without fear of crack or split. C. B. FR Y (Sussex XI.). L o r d ’s C r i c k e t G r o u n d , L o n d o n , N.W. Dear Sirs,—I played with one of your bats right through Lord Hawke’s tour in the West Indies, and made 984 runs with it, and also in England at the beginning of the season. It certainly was one of the best bats I have ever had, if not the very best, and those of your make I am now using are going beautifully. Yours truly, P. F. WARNER . To Stuart, Surridge & Co. 175, BOROUGH HIGH ST ., LONDON, S.E.