Cricket 1909

434 CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. O c t . 28, 1909. I must have played during part of 1852 as well, for “ W .G .” recently told me, when I met him in the Beddington ground, that he had come across my name in his father’s score-books for that year. It was about that time that I went on a visit lo friends at Neath, and played for the club there against Swansea and, making a fair score, was then asked by Mr. Vivian and the Messrs. Grenfell to play on the following day at Singleton Park for Swansea against the 77th Regiment. Again I was fortunate enough to do very fairly with the bat, and perhaps still better in fielding, as I was a fast runner and had good sight and tolerably safe hands.” “ Did you take pains to keep yourself in good condition ? ” “ A ll my life I have been very fond of out­ door exercise and consequently have always been fit. When eighteen I, with seven or eight others of about the same age— among them was John Fowler, the iuventor of the patent steam plough— was a premium pupil in some larpe engine works at Middlesbrough-on-Tees, and, whilst there, was repeatedly urged by my fellow pupils and others to run a race with one of the fastest and best-known professionals in the north of England. A t last I consented on two conditions: first, that it should be purely and solely for the purpose of deciding which was the faster runner, and not for a stake of any kind, and second, that it should be a strictly private affair. Accordingly it was left to the two contestants to decide for what distance, and when and where they should run. I was roused by my rival throwing some gravel against my window about 6 o’clock on February 9th, 1849—my eighteenth birthday. It was a nice bright morning, and, after dressing as quickly as possible, I slipped out quietly. Having reached the chosen spot, we paced off a hundred yards on a perfectly smooth piece of road, drew a line at each end, went into a field and stripped to shirt and drawers, put on running shoes, and emerged on to the highway, where, to my great vexation, a m ilkman going to the town drove up, and, scenting some fun, stopped to enjoy it. The first stait was a bad one and I called the “ pro ” back. The second was pretty good, but still he got about a yard the better of it. At fifty yards we were level, for about twenty- five more we were neck and neck, and in the last twenty-five I drew away and beat my man by a yard and a-half. As soon as the race was over the m ilkcart was off like a shot, and before we had dressed and returned to the town the news had spread all over the place. I shall never forget my feelings when, after receiving a small ovation wherever I went, I was sent for to be severely lectured, and how relieved I was when at the end of it, just as I was closing the door of the chief’s office, I heard the head of the Firm say, “ But we are glad you beat him .” “ D id you find yourself able to devote much time to cricket just then? ” “ I did not, for I had resolved to apply myself seriously to the study of naval architecture and iron ship-building. Before I was twei)ty-one I had built my first vessel — a very fast iron schooner of 121 tons, which was afterwards bought for use as a despatch boat by the Russian Government, v.iio changed her name from Fearless to Vostock. I made a passage to the Azores in her on her first voyage and, soon after my return, was preparing for another voyage, to the Ionian Islands, when I received a very tempting offer to settle in the north of England to lay out and take the entire management of an iron ship-building yard at Stockton-on-Tees, whicb, of course, I was only too glad to do. Then came the question, “ W hat about cricket ? ’ I had become extremely fond of it, and was improving encouragingly. I soon, however, decided to give it up, and in doing so abandoned all hope of ever becoming a first-class cricketer. I put all my cricket clothes, bats, & c ., at the bottom of a big box and tried to forget all about them : at any rate, I never saw them again for 14 years, until, that is, I was thirty- five years old. I then jo:n<d the Redcar and Coatbam Club, whose ground was close to the house to which I had removed, and from the windows of which I could see all the play that went on. On that ground I practised assiduously under a good profes­ sional, who took great pains with me. I became captain of the club and retained the position till 1875, when I went to live in Scot­ land. My play improved after I had become a member of the Yorkshire Gentlemen, Yorkshire United and Middlesbrough Clubs : the last-named was much stronger than the Rcdcar and Coatham and had an ever- w illing and energetic professional in Tom Emmett. From Tom especially as well as from H. Reynolds (a very good and obliging ‘ pro. ’ to my home club at this time) I was as anxious to take hints and advice as they were ready to give them. I can recall Emmett once saying to several players who were standing round him, ‘ I like being in with Mr. Duck— he‘s so fast between the wickets : in any matches in which he was captain and I was playing he invariably placed me at mid-on and long-slip, so I suppose I was pretty active and able to cover the ground quickly. And this, too, after experiencing one of the most terrible ordeals that a man could pass through. On January 30th, 1871, I was jumping into a train in motion outside Redcar station, and jnst as I grasped the handle of a carriage door I slipped on a frozen pool. I was jerked forward and fell between the carriage and platform, and was turned round and dragged by my right heel a distance of 37 yards (the traces were measured by the stationmaster directly afterwards) until the train stopped, when, to use his words, I was ‘ up like a hare ’ and ran to pick up my hat and skates. The first thing I then saw was the said official coming along, followed by three porter.?, two of whom were carrying a shutter or a dcor and the other a sack— the former to put my body on and the latter for any other purpose for wh:ch it might be required ! Wonderful to re’ate no bones were broken, but I had three flesh wounds, one in which the muscle iu the calf of my left leg was torn away to tLe bone. I was in bed six weeks, and am deeply thankful to be able to say that very shortly after that I was as sound and active as ever. But some scars on my left leg I shall have as long as I live.” “ The accident, then, did not keep you fn m the running and walking exercise in which you used to indulge in order to keep fit? ’ “ So far from that being the case I would, at the close of the season, go for country walks of from ten to thirty-five miles or so, and I have a clear recollection of one of twenty-seven miles— thirteen and a-half out and home by the same jo a i. Two friends were with me and one of them suggested that in order to have a little more exercise we should vault both ways, i.e ., over and back again all the gates passed on our return; two of us—I was one of them—did so. I had a great dislike to driving or being driven in a carriage, and it was my frequent habit, if my wife and children were driving, to take off my coat, cap, and waistcoat— for 16 years I di l not wear braces—toss them into the trap aud run alongside for miles, sometimes nine or ten. One more instance of my fondness for running can be given. On my first visit to the Highlands of Scotland I ran alongsi 'e and iu front of the coach for five and a-half miles on the road from Ballahulish to King's Ho ise, Glencoe, and the full seven mile-s back i*i what [ was told was ‘ perfect Glencoe weather,’ that is, brilliant sunshine alterna ing with tremendously heavy showers of rain, which of course drenched me to the skin. On arrival at Banavie in the afternoon, and having changed a 1 my clothes on the steamer, I climbed with a frien I upwards of 4,000 feet up Ben Nevis, and but for a mist wTe would have gone to the top. But besides all this, I was captain of the Tees Amateur Rowing Club and did a great amount of hard as well as easy sculling and rowing in boats of my own, off and on, at all times of the year except when the river was blocked with ice. In short, I suppose I fairly earned the title often given me, ‘A glutton for exercise.’ ’ “ W hile captain of the Redcar aud Coatham C.C. I laid down at my own expense a board pitch of 20 feet by 10 feet for practice in winter. The bonds were ordinary fio 'ring boards, grooved and tongued, and were nailed to cross-bearers let into the ground at a part of the field near the fence. This b >ard practice I found of great advantage in keep­ ing the muscles of the arms, legs, back and shoulders in go&d condition, and more par­ ticularly in prom< ting quickness of sight. I remember very well New Year’s Day, 1874. It was a beautifully bright frosty morning, clear sun and no wind. A good many of my frieuds went off to skate, but I preferred cricket practice on my boards. Tom Emmett, always ready to come from Middlesbro’ to bowl (and of course to have some batting too), Roger Iddison, the old Yorkshire county player, who had come from Malton, another “ pro ” whose name I do not feel sure of (but I think he was George Walton or H. Rey­ nolds) and one of our resident members, George Bradley— a fairly good bowler— four iu all. turned up soon after 10 o’clock to have bowling practice at me. After a few balls from each, fueling that I was in pretty good form, I said “ Now then, sixpence on the wicket for every dozen balls from each of you,” and after the first four dozen I became very confident and put a shilling “ on the wicket ” for the next, and so on until it had grown to seven and-six. Then it occurred to me that the fun was becoming too much of a gamMe, so at the end of that lot I said “ That w ill do. One of you can come in.” But Tom Emmett called o u t4Let me have one more ball, sir.’ I did so, intending to have a s'ash at it, but alas ! I missed it and he bowled me, with the result that I never saw a man jump so high in the air as Tom did. Poor Tom, Iddison and Reynolds are dead now, but if George Bradley be still living, and happen to see these remaiks on old days at Coatham, he w ill remember cl<arly that day and Emmett’s 4One ball more, sir.’ Although I am certain that this b >wling practice was beneficial in playing fast bowling, I am not sure that it was so for slow when one played early in the season ; at any rate I m\ self felt a tendency at first to play too soon at a slow.” ‘ Did you play with many other well-known old cricketers during the time you lived in Yorkshire ? ” 4 One of the best I ever had the pleasure of meeting was the Rev. H . M. Sims, a Cam