Cricket 1909

CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF T H E GAME. JUN E 24, 1909. “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. No. 813 . v o l . x x v i i i . THUBSDAY, JUNE 24, 1909. o n e p e nn y . A CHAT ABOUT MR. G. L. JESSOP. I t is probable that during the past decade Mr. Jessop’s doings have been more freely discussed than those of any other player. When he first began to be talked about, many people considered that his career as a first- class cricketer would be short owing to the unorthodoxy of his methods, but time has shown how erroneous those views were, for fifteen years have passed since he played bis first match for Gloucester­ shire. He is one of the most remarkable cricketers the world has seen. Harder hitters, such as Mr. C. I. Thornton and Bonnor, have been known, but no other player has ever appeared in first-class matches who could change the whole aspect of a game in so short a time. Unlike the great majority of big hitters, he obtains a large proportion of his runs behind tbe wicket: his innings of 129 against Hampshire at Bristol last Friday was composed largely of cuts, whereas his 161 against the same bowling on the previous day had been marked by powerful driving and leg- hitting. He possesses many strokes and a wonderful eye, and makes his runs in a style •Hi generis. To score a hundred, or even two hundred, runs against some of the best bowling in the world seems to appear to him as easy a task as for the average first-class batsman to make a dozen off ordinary bowling, and, not knowing what it is to be troubled with nerves, he is the ideal man to have available at a crisis. He is one of those men whose value to a side can­ not be gauged by perusal of a score-sheet. No man is more dreaded by his opponents either as batsman or in the field ; the fear of what he might do has often delayed the closure of an innings, whilst his presence at cover-point niust have saved his side as many runs as even a very fair player might hope to make with the bat. Mr. Jessop began to obtain runs by the hundred, spoke in high praise of the style they had previously been so ready to belittle. Speaking on this matter he has himself humorously observed, “ My running-out to Mold was condemned in those days as *rustic cricket ’ by a good few of the people who nowadays talk of the same method as good forcing tactics.” His skill as a batsman has been so pro­ nounced that some people may already have forgotten that until almost recently he was also an excellent fast bowler. In 1897, and again th’-ee years later, he made over a thousand runs in first-class cricket, besides taking more than a hundred wickets. His record for 1900 was 2,210 runs and 104 wickets, being one which W. G. Grace, C. L. Towns­ end and Hirst, alone among Englishmen, have equalled. It is of interest to recall that he was the only fast bowler on the England side chosen to play against Australia at Lord’s in 1899, an honour which, good though his bowl­ ing was about that time, was not altogether deserved. Still, as he took three of the ten Australian wickets that fell and scored 51 and 4, he had no reason to be dissatisfied with his own doings, although his side was beaten by ten wickets. That was his first appearance in a Test match, and, in the opinion of all good judges of the games, no England team has been representative without him since. It is to be regretted that Mr. Jessop did not keep a record of his doings in small matches prior to his first ap­ pearance in first-class cricket, for it would have furnished very interesting reading and have told of man} a remarkable game. It may be doubted whether any player has rivalled what he accomplished for Beccles College in 1895. In thirteen innings, five of which were not out, he scored 1,058 runs and averaged 132-25 : he also bowled 168 overs for 224 runs and 100 wickets. Of his five hundreds his highest was 219 not out It was, perhaps, fortunate that Mr. Jessop was not educated at one of the great Public Schools, for, if he had been, it is more than likely that he would have fallen under the influence of an over zealous coach who would have set himself to tame his delightful unorthodoxy, and thereby have deprived the world of one of its most MR. GILBERT LAIRD JESSOP. Photo by] [Hawkins «£•Co., Brighton , popular figures. The manner in which he attempted to display his undoubted ability as a natural hitter in his first year of county cricket was unanimously condemned by the critics during the time his efforts failed to meet with any remarkable amount of success, and it was very amusing to note the manner in which the selfsame critics, as soon as