Cricket 1910

CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. MAY 19 , 1910 . “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”—Byron. s i No. 8 3 8 . v o l . x x i x . T H U R S D A Y , M A Y 1 9 , 1 9 1 0 . o n e p e n n y . A CHAT ABOUT ARTHUR WOODCOCK. Death has been busy among Leicester­ shire cricketers during the present month, Charles Bandon, William Tomlin and Arthur Woodcock all passing away—the last-named as the result of poison self-administered— within a fortnight. Wood­ cock returned to his home at Billesdon late on Saturday night and asked his sister to kiss him, saying that he had come home to die. Shortly afterwards he became uncon­ scious, ond, although the doctors did everything possible to save his life, he passed away at three o’clock on Sunday morning. Arthur Woodcock was born nt Northampton on Septem­ ber 23rd, 1865, and was there­ fore in his forty-fifth year at the time of his death. When only a few months old he was taken into Leicestershire, and it was in that county that he learned the game aud spent the greater part of his life. As a youth he joined the Billesdon C.C. and it was whilst a member of that club that his doings as a fast bowler began to be talked about. In 1887 he accepted an engagement with the Mit­ cham C.C., of Surrey, for which he did so well during his first year that the seventy- three wickets he took were obtained at a cost of just under five runs each. It is interesting to recall that whilst there Tom Bichardson came under his influence and as a result developed his powers to no small extent. Woodcock’s form whilst at Mitcham was so good that Mr. Alcock, upon being asked to recommend a player as coach at Haverford College, at once mentioned him, the consequence being that he entered upon the engagement in 1888 and retained it until 1894. Owing to the vacation he was enabled to play in England every year from July until September, but it was not until 1889 that he was invited to assist Leicestershire, and then his services were restricted to a single match—that with Lancashire at Manchester, which Lancashire won in a single day by an innings and 69 runs. Before Woodcock’s arrival at Haverford cricket had been played there for many years, but it is no exaggeration to say that under his guidance the game at the College increased enormously in popularity and that Reproducedfrom] [“ Famous Cricketers and Cricket Grounds . ARTHUR WOODCOCK. the high position the Haverford C.C. now occupies among cricket clubs may to a very great extent be attributed to his influence. Speaking of his work there, he said: “ Most of my coaching was done during the winter in a shed specially constructed for the purpose. This shed is 110 feet long by 30 feet broad, with a glass roof well protected with netting, the walls also being protected by canvas and nets.” Woodcock became a regular member of the Leicestershire team, so far as his American engagement permitted, in 1890, when, in consecutive matches against Essex at Leyton and Warwickshire at Edgbaston, he took seventeen wickets for 201 runs. He headed the County’s bowl­ ing averages that season with forty-four wickets for thirteen and a-third runs each. Whenever he was available, his assistance was gladly secured, and how much Leicestershire’s promotion to the first class was due to his bowling all those haviDg any acquaintance with the history of the game well know. His performances in the early part of 1895 created quite a sensation and, inci­ dentally, obtained him a place on the ground staff at Lord’s. In consecutive matches he took nine wickets for 92 runs v. Surrey at the Oval, ten for 88 v. Nottinghamshire at Leicester, seven for 138 v. Lancashire at Manchester, and twelve for 115 v. Essex at Leyton. He fell off after­ wards to some extent, but during the season took 102 wickets for a fraction over nineteen runs each. That, as it happened, was his most successful year in first-class cricket. He continued to ap­ pear for Leicestershire regu­ larly for a few more seasons, but knee-trouble handicapped him severely and in 1903 he dropped out of the side. Standing 5 ft. 10 in. and weighing when in his prime 13stone, Woodcock possessed a splendidphysieal development, and at one time was, Mr. C. J. Kortright alone excepted, the fastest bowler in England. As a batsman he was poor, but at Old Trafford in 1838 he astonished every one by making 62 not out against the bowling of Mold, Cuttell and Briggs. During recent seasons he had appeared occasionally for the M.C.C., and when playing against Lewts Priory on the Dripping Pan, Lewes, the year before last, bowled a bail off the wi?ket