Cricket 1910

D e c . 2 2 , 1 9 1 0 . CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 4 6 7 The construction of the Demon Drivers is fully described in The Evolution of a Cricket Bat, which may be obtained free upon applica­ tion. CRICKET IMPROVED MAKE-KEEP THEIR SH A PELA S f LONGER I! C A T A L O G U E U PO N A P P L IC A T IO N . BKSSEfl RACKETS C A l A L O G U E U PO N A P P L IC A T IO N . C A T A L O G U E U P O N A P P L IC A T IO N . UWUJGUt.oMwmcAiimj----------------- FO 0 TM 1 LSI IMPR VEDMAKE-KEEPTHEIR SHAPE-LASTLPHSERj C A T A L O G U E U P O N A P P L IC A T IO N . I A t b U M a DEMON D R I V E R S J ^ |AREOUTANDOUTTHEBEST. l g r a d e s 7 - 6 '-S '- 4 'e - 4 - 3 '6 - 3 '-2 '6 r 2 '- C A T A L O Q U E U P O N A P P L IC A T IO N TO GEO. G. BUSSEY & Co.. L td 36 & 38, Qneen Victoria St., LONDON. Manvfactory— Timter Mills— PECKIJAM, S.K. ELMSWELL, SUFFOLK A g e n ts all o v e r th e w o rld . Mr. C. I. THORNTON & BONNOR. [Readers of Cricket will remember that in the November issue some amusingly inaccurate state­ ments made by G. J. Bonnor to a representative of an Australian paper were quoted. Bonnor is stated to have referred to Mr. Thornton as “ the great hitter of England, whose lamp of fame I extinguished.” We may warn our readers that we have strong reasons for believing that the following interview with Mr. Thornton was done in the American manner—that is to say, it never took place.— E d . Cricket.] Despite the claim made by Eonnor that he extinguished Mr. Thornton’s lamp of fame, all other cricketers in the world are agreed that Mr. Thornton was the greatest hitter the game ever produced. When I was ushered into Mr. Thornton’s study I fancied for a moment that I had got into an archfeological museum by mistake, so many curiosities in stone—broken windows, chimney pots, etc. were scattered about on all sides. I hap­ pened to kick against a large piece of stone­ work which looked like the gargoyle of a church. “ Ah !” said Mr. Thornton, smiling, “ There is a curious tale attaching to that stonework. You may remember that in one of the Kent matches against the Australians at Canterbury there was quite a remarkable finish. It happened that when the last man was in with me seven runs were wanted to win, and there were only two more balls to be bowled. The other batsman—I forget his name for the moment—was merely a bowler, and the case seemed hopeless. How’ever, by a great fluke he scored a single, thus bringing me to the other end. I realised that unless I hit the ball out of the ground we could not win, and so did Spofforth, who was bowling. He gave me the fastest yorker I ever had. I got it full on the bat and—well, you see the result in a fragment of Canterbury Cathedral. I may add that tbe Dean and Chapter de­ clined at first to give me the stone as a memento, but a friend of mine spoke about the matter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who then made his famous jeu d’esprit, ‘ I Cantaur-der a man like Mr. Thornton to moderate his hitting.’ The Dean and Chapter were so greatly impressed by this that they at once sent off the stone without paying the carriage. I remember that it came by pas­ senger train.” So amazed was I at this remarkable story that I hastily sat down on the nearest seat, which happened to be a big drum. It gave off a hollow sound, and this reminded me that I had come to speak to Mr. Thornton about Bonnor. “ Strange that you should connect Bonnor with a big drum,” said Mr. Thornton, “ for he was the most retiring and modest man I ever met. To give you an example : We were opposing the Australians at Scarborough and there was an execrable band playing, when Bonnor, getting well hold of a ball from Alfred Shaw, sent it right on to the top of the big drum, and made a hole in it. Instead of boasting about this hit Bonnor sighed and said, ‘ I ’m sadly afraid that my hit has deprived an honest musician of half- a-day’s salary.’ And I believe it is a fact that when his innings came to an end shortly afterwards, he went round to the drummer and presented him with twopence, or it may have been threepence, halfpenny. I secured the big drum as a memento of a most un­ assuming player. ” “ I may mention another instance of Bonnor’s humility,” said Mr. Thornton, “ and again the scene is laid at Scarborough. Bonnor tried to hit Tom Emmett out of the field, but the ball only got as far as his teeth, one of which was loosened and fell to the ground. We all sympathised with him, and I said, ‘ If you had got properly bold of that ball it would have gone into the sea.’ Smiling half sadly, Bonnor replied, ‘ Only on the North Shore side.’ You will remember that the South Shote is four or five times ss far away. I picked up the tooth and offered it to Bonnor, but he said he had no further use for it. So I had it framed.” I said that I was very pleased to hear these things, and then I asked Mr. Thornton why one of his window curtains was apparently an old fishing net. “ Thereby hangs a tale,” he said. “ I was playing against tho Australians at Brighton. Midwinter was bowling, and gave me a very fast ball. I merely leaned on my bat, but I suppose that I must have timed the ball very accurately, for it went straight into the sea. Curiously enough it was afterwards brought to shore in this fisbing net. I have kept the net in memory of a hit which Bonnor generously described as quite a big one.” Feebly, I ventured to ask Mr. Thornton whether the hit was measured and whether it was made on the old Brunswick ground, which was close to the beach. “ Ou no ! ” he replied. “ It was from the present ground at Hove. You could, of course, measure a hit like that ‘ if it wasn’t for the houses in between,’ as the well-known Lymn says. But I see you are looking at this piece of green board with four little bits knocked out of the top. A curious tale attaches to that. Bonnor and I were playirg at Prince’s, and a friend of mine very rashly made a bit that I would hit more sixes than Bonnor. We only had one innings each, and, as it happened, Bonnor batted first and hit three sixes. Owing to rain, I only went in about ten minutes before the game was to end, and as it was a frightful wicket I got no chance of a hit. As a matter of fact, I had forgotten all about the bet, but when the last over was to be bowled, my friend sent out a message imploring me to help him win his bet. I never like to disappoint a friend, so I pulled myself together and determined to see what I could do. But the Australians were equally determined that I should not win my bet, so what do you think they did ? They put on their very fastest bowler and told him to bowl nearly wide to leg, knowing that it was practically impossible for me to hit out of the ground in that direction. But I was young and active in those days. I cut every ball hard and square—in fact, each hit was almost a catch to point - and, as it happened, each ball—there were only four balls to tbe o v e r at that time—went just over the fence and struck the top of this board, which was part of the garden boundary of a neighbouring house. I never found out whether the holes were cut in exact order, but I remember that point put up his right hand to the first ball and his left hand to the fourth.” There were many other things about which I should have liked to ask the great hitter, but I remembered that at Christmas time cricketers would, perhaps, not have quite as much leiEure as usual for reading. W. A. BETTESWOKTH. B e c k e n h a m .—g o o d c r i c k e t o r t e n n is GROUND TO BE LET, about 25 minutes from City and West End by two fast services. Splendid Pavilion, about 4 acres, level, good turf, near Station. Apply to Messrs. B axter , Payne and L epper, Beckenham, Bromley and 00, King William Street, E.C.