Cricket 1909

M ay 6, 1909. CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 103 CORRESPONDENCE. [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions ofhis correspondents.] THE BEST CRICKET BOOK. To the Editor of C ricket . S ir , —The question you put to me, What is the best Cricket Book ? recalls the spacious days when Lord Avebury agitated the world with the choice of the best hundred books. It is easier to choose the best hundred than the best one. Can there be a book which is always the best? One has moods, and likings change with the seasons. There are breakfast books, if one is a bachelor and the newspaper does not arrive until after break­ fast. Wisden is a good breakfast book. There are books best on long lazy after­ noons in August, if one is lucky enough to have leisure then, and there are bed-time books. I should choose a book of reminis­ cences or biography for bed-time, and there are now many such. Besides Dr. Grace’s, there are books by, or about, Daft, Giffen, Alfred Shaw, Caffyn, F. S. Jackson, Ranjit- sinhji, and, not least, ‘ Old Ebor’s ’ “ Old English Cricketers.” The reading-books of our youth had a section, which we avoided, called “ didactic.” But the didactic books on cricket are those we read first. I fancy they pall on the taste as age advances. I daresay the modern books are good. I am sure Mr. Beldam’s and Mr. Fry’s “ Great Batsmen ” and “ Great Bowlers and Fielders” are very good. But I don’t want to be instructed now. I know no instruction will ever make me a great cricketer. I value them chiefly for Ihe con­ tortions on the bowlers’ faces which the camera reveals; if I can’t bowl a double­ swerve yorker like A or B, at least I may not look as the camera sees them. But I don’t believe any modern book better than the Badminton volume, or Dr. Grace's in­ struction in his two books, though the theory and practice of cricket changes yearly. Pycroft’s “ Cricket Field” was the in­ structor of my youth ; I have always thought, it over-valued by the critics of that remote day. Books of cricket travel do not appeal to me very greatly, except “ Wickets in the West.” The best reading of all is a full account of a match you have seen. A book of cuttings of contemporary reports, such as the sporting papers used to give, with every hit of note in an important match and every change of bowling chronicled, recalls the joy of the game as nothing else on paper can do. There was no fine writing then, but the facts were given. But to enjoy this fully we must have seen the games de­ scribed. The cricket of our youth will always remain the best cricket for us. So I try to forgive young people who think there was no cricket to speak of before the era of Fry and Jessop and smile disdainfully when I speak of Lohmann and Jupp, and most of all the Champion. I have a fondness for Mr. Horace Hutchin­ son’s “ Cricket,” which reproduces many interesting and rare pictures, and more for his little “ Cricketing Saws and Stories.” I like Nyren much, but I feel he is an acquired taste. For “ Scores and Biographies” I have respect but not liking: one can’t love a work of reference. I have a pier siut recollection of “ Jerks in from Sbort-leg,” of Mr. Norman Gale’s verses and of Mr. Cochi ane’s ; the county histories are inter­ esting ; and a day in bed with influenza was made happy for me by Mr. Collins’s “ An Old Country Cricketer’s Diary ; ” but if I am on oath and bound to select one book as best, I choose Mr. Bettesworth’s “ The Walkers of Southgate,” which, valued and praised though it is, has not been praised or valued enough. Yet if but one book were to be left us I don’t know that I should choose that. I suspect that Wisden and the red Lillywhite are really more often taken from the shelves than any other books on cricket. But surely, sir, when you put the question to me you forgot (like so many other people) that I once wrote a cricket book myself! True, in moments of depression I do not consider that the best cricket book ever written. But I may be wrong. You can’t trust an author’s judgment on his own books. A friend who wanted to see me and had forgotten my precise address told me he asked the postman, and received the answer “ Mr. So-and-so, the author of ----- ? ’’ and was directed at once. I thought this at the time a peculiarly impudent piece of invention, intended as flattery. But I may have done my friend injustice. He may have told the truth. At any rate, sir, in order to avoid the appearance of vanity and self-advertise­ ment I beg to be excused from answering your question. Yours &c., THE AUTHOR O F ----- May Day , 1909. NATIONAL PROVINCIAL BANK v. WHITE - HOUSE.—Played at Lower Sydenham on May 1. W h ite H ouse . N.H.Vincent,cWright, b Richards .......... 12 S. Blundell, c Kemble, b Richards .......... 17 L. Jeacocke, c Harri­ son, b Richards ... 5 W. Brown, c and b Jones..........................25 A. Jeacocke, b Harri- 4 C. Phillips, b King ... 20 H. Cornwall, cWright, b Jones ...................10 H. Hooker, not out... 3 P. Jeacocke, not out 6 B 10, lb 2 ...........12 Total (7 wkts) *114 C. J. Oakley and S. L. Covell did not bat. ♦Innings declared closed. N. P. B a n k . A. Harrison, b Covell 10 R. Wright, c Hooker, b Covell .................. A. King, b Covell A. C. Purnell, b Corn­ wall .......................... C. G. E. Jones, c Corn­ wall, b Covell........... O. C. Manners, c Covell, b Brown 16 G. A. Cosser did not bat. J. P. Kemble, b Covell 2 H. E. Moore, b Corn­ wall .......................... 12 P. E. H. Masters, not out .......................... 8 J. W. Richards, not out ........................... 0 B 4, lb 3 ........... 7 Total (8 wkts) 60 HAMPSTEAD v. LONDON SCOTTISH.—Played at Hampstead on May 1. H a m ps te a d . J. Armitage, b Read... 36 G. G. Dumbleton, c L. Lienard, b H. G. V. Homer .................. 5 G. A. S. Hickson, b R ead......... .......... 16 F. R. D. Monro, c Hen­ derson, b Hogg ... 24 E. L. Marsden, b Hogg 66 F. Whinney, not out 12 C. C. Monkhouse, b E. A. Bennett ... 14 H. T. Davis, lbw, b E. A. Bennett ... 0 C. M. Hodgson, c E. A. Bennett, b S. Lien­ ard .......................... 7 R. W. Ashley, b E. A. B e n n e tt.................. 0 A. A. Barron, not out 6 B 6 , lb 4 ...........10 Total (9 wkts}*196 * Innings declared closed. L ondon S cottish . E. A. Homer, b Mars­ den .......................... 3 W. G. Henderson, lbw, b Marsden .......... 16 S. Lienard, c Ashley, b Hickson ...........13 L. Lienard, b Dumble­ ton ..........................50 E. A. Bennett, c Dum­ bleton, b Hickson... 3 E. Hogg, b Hickson... 0 H. G. V. Homer, b Dumbleton ........... A. H. Read, b Dum­ bleton ................... R. Suttill, b Hickson R. A. Bennett, notout II.C.Hodgson,c M<>nk- house, b Dumbleton B 12, lb 1 ........... Total ...106 T-OR SA LE .-JOH N WISDEN’S CRICKETERS’ I Almanack from 1887 to 1003. W ell bound and in perfect condition. What offers? C. M., c/o Cricket, 168, Upper Thames Street, London. HEREFORDSHIRE CRICKET. This match was played on Friday and Saturday last on the occasion of the Herefordshire C.C. opening their new ground on the Racecourse at Hereford. The game was drawn. Score:— H. D. G. L eveson -G ower ’ s XI. First innings. Second innings. J. N. Crawford, st Gauk- rodger, b Cuffe................ 63 c Cuffe, b Arnold 26 J. W. H. T. Douglas, c Foster, b Arnold ... ...58 cFoster, bArnold 30 V. F. S. Crawford, b Arnold 16 b Arnold ............39 H. Teesdale, c Gaukrodger, b Arnold .......................... 10 b Arnold ...........57 C. T. A. Wilkinson, b Cuffe 26 not out ...........29 C. J. Cox, b Cuffe ........... 4 b Cuffe................... 0 C. Thompson, b Arnold ... 6 lbw, b Cuffe ... 2 C. Masefield, b Arnold ... 3 b Cuffe.................... 0 H. D. G. Leveson-Gower, not out .......................... 0 c Foster, b Cuffo 1 Capt. Rolleston, run out ... 3 b Cuffe.................. 0 O. Burden, b Cuffe ........... 0 not o u t................. 1 Byes, &c.......................10 Byes, &c. ... 11 Total ..................199 Total (9 wkts)*195 * Innings declared closed. II. K. F oster ’ s XI. First innings. Second innings. H. K. Foster, b J. N. Craw- c Cox, b Leveson- ford .................................. 7 Gower ............44 W. B. Burns, c and b Wil- c Rolleston, b kinson..................................19 Lcvcson-Gower 2 Arnold, cV. F. S. Crawford, b D ouglas.......................... 72 Cuffe, b Douglas...................35 M. Jewell, bJ. N. Crawford 0 b Wilkinson ... 14 G. W. Grasett,b J. N. Craw­ ford ... .......................... 0 Rev. A. E. Green-Price, c and b Wilkinson ...........19 Gaukrodger, not o u t ..........17 O. Croft, run out.................. 0 R. B. Umfreville, b J. N. st Teesdale, b Crawford .......................... 1 Wilkinson ... 26 O. Burdon, b J. N. Craw­ ford .................................. 0 Byes, &c....................... 6 Byes, &c. ... 2 Total ..176 Total (4 wkts) 88 STUARTSURRIDGE&Go. CRICKETBATS CAN BE PURCHASED AT Lords,Oval, andthe Principal Colonial Cricket Grounds throughout the World. STUART SURRIDGE’ S PATENT R A P I D D R I V E R AS MADE EXPRESSLY FOR THE Princes Edward and Albert of Wales. FromLord Dalmeny, M.P, S u r r e y C ounty C ric k e t C lub , K enninoton O v a C, S.E. I have always used Stuart Surridge’s Bats and have no wish to use any other. D A LM E N Y . S u r r e y C ounty C ric k e t C lu b , K enninoton O v a l , L o ndon , S.E. 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 bats­ man, and I myself consider your bats the best I have ever used. Yours truly, T . H A YW A R D (Surrey XI.). P ra c tic al M anufactu rers. 175, Borough High St., LONDON, S.E. Send for Trice Lists.