Cricket 1911

136 CUICKET : A W EEK LY RECORD OE THE GAME. M a y 13, 1911. despair as to the prospects of the northern county. Little did anybody suspect that the little village of Kirkheaton had the youngster wanted, Peel's successor, and a greater cricketer than even Peel himself. Unlike Hirst who was rather slow in developing, Rhodes at once made his mark in the very best company, and every succeeding year he has gone on from strength to strength. His left hand may have lost some of its early cunning, or perhaps it is that by this time batsmen have learned most of his w iles; but on the other hand his batting has advanced by leaps and bounds, and for that alone, coupled with his cover-pointing, he is a certain choice in a representative match. It will be an nnmixed pleasure to try and make his benefit as remunerative as Hirst’s proved. Is Rhodes the last of the greatest Yorkshire cricketers ? His at any rate will be the last benefit on the old lines. From present appearances one may predict that no other Yorkshireman will be similarly honoured for at least ten years. Rhodes has had to wait until his fourteenth season: but he’s still in his prime and not likely to retire for some time. I was very pleased when Yorkshire and the other Counties decided to give benefits during the active career of men deemed worthy of this compliment. Once upon a time it was never dreamt of ; a cricketer had to play his last match long before the cap was sent round ; in Photo by] [Phillips <£ Co ., Nottingham. THE LATE RICHARD DAFT. (See page 135.) consequence a sum of £300 was then regarded as adequate. To-day the mark is ten times that sum. And as a rule the modern pro­ fessional can pick his match ; at least a Yorkshireman enjoys this privilege. How some of the old cricketers must regret that they were not bom thirty or forty years later. The additional boon of winter-pay—another modern privilege of the professional cricketer —makes me supremely desirous that the cricket-loving public should strengthen the hands of their County Committees. This timely aid to the men who give us so much enjoyment during the summer must never be withheld. At the same time it would be even better if work could be found for them in the winter, no matter how small the pay. It is most undesirable that cricketers should be unemployed for more than half the year. Yet it is very difficult to see how this can be avoided. You can’t expect a county cricketer to resume his old employment in a coal-pit or as a plate-layer, although perhaps that would be better than loafing. In the old days many noblemen who loved the game took cricketers into their service. It is very good of Middlesex to give their old bowler Rawlin a second benefit this season, viz., the Whitsuntide match against Sussex. Fifteen years ago he received the proceeds of the Somersetshire match at Lord’s. As Hirst looks as fresh as ever and seems likely to last many more seasons, Yorkshire may be induced to set aside another match in his honour. Nothing yields me much keener pleasure than generous treatment of professional cricketers. I wish it was practicable to double their match fees, seeing that theirs is a short career as a rule. I was reminded of this only last week at the Oval where I had a chat with Hayward. Ten or eleven years ago I knew personally all the Surrey and Notts, cricketers ; to day we are strangers with the exception of Hayward and A. 0 . Jones. Ten years bound the average career of the first-class cricketer, more especially of bowlers; batsmen may and often do last longer. That’s what makes cricket so poor a profession. At a dinner given to the Yorkshire Second last summer I was not surprised to hear their captain advise the younger men present not to abandon their regular work in favour of cricket. Play it as a recreation, but not as a business, for it may prove bitterly disappointing. Great cricketers are not found every day. Not once in a decade does any county discover a class batsman, still less a bowler of mark. But as in the case of poor Lohmann and of Rhodes a county may at any time turn up a surprise card ; one never knows. Let us hope that some of the counties, at present under a cloud, will in the near future unearth a youngster who will make history for them. One of the greatest batsmen of all time was born in Norfolk, a county of no mark in cricket; what if Norfolk or another obscure cricketing county were to produce a Becond Fuller Pilch ? I was spending last week-end in Wellingborough, and paid a visit to its well-known Grammar School which dates back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth. For many years this school has been very con­ spicuous in the cricket world. One famous cricketer learned to bat and bowl there—namely, George Thompson, the Northamptonshire “ crack.” At this school, which at the present time has 180 boarders, every scholar is compelled to take part in some sport or other. The head master is an enthusiastic sportsman and a splendid batsman, and the whole staff supports him. They have the finest playing field I have ever seen—25 acres in extent, and under the care of a couple of groundsmen, who may well be proud of their work, you could find a first-class wicket anywhere. The masters are always present at the nets and in the trial matches, coaching every boy in the three elevens, as well as those who may train on and get their cap. They have one youngster whose head is only a few inches above the stumps, and who is much below the regulation age, but he has such a genius for batting that they have been compelled to put him into the first eleven; in second-eleven matches he was never dismissed ; he only lacks physical force to be a really great batsman. Everybody has heard of the master’s eleven of this school. I was shown the score of a match played five years since in which the masters were opposed by a team which included Perrin, McGahey and Buckenbam who only scored 59, whilst the masters’ innings reached 329 I may mention that in the Cambridge local examinations this school has for many past years carried off more honours than any other school in the country; skill in cricket and football has kept pace with proficiency in the class room. Their best cricketers are their leading scholars. So the sana mens need never be divorced from the sanum corpus. Whilst I was present at the Warwickshire match at the Oval last week no bowler had the customary trial balls. Had the Surrey executive forbidden them ? Law No. 18 expressly states that such balls shall not be allowed. Quite right. Then the umpires ought never to permit them. Just as reasonably might a batsman claim to have two or three trial balls as soon as he comes to the wicket and whenever a fresh bowler is put on. Laws are drafted to be obeyed. Expunge or alter them, if you like, but never break them as long as they are on the statute-book. ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY v. EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY.-Played at Craig- lookhart on May Gand won easily by Edinburgh. Score :— A berdeen U niversity . E dinburgh U niversity . W. L. Coullie, c Drummond, b E. W. Wooler, c A. B. Clarke, b Wright .......................................... 15 Coullie .......................................... 17 R. J. Bain, c Forman, b Wright ... 1 G. R. Macphail, lbw, b Coullie ... 22 R.G.Clarke, st Bogle,b Drummond 9 Dr. Campbell, c Bain,b A. B Clarke 27 J. W. Sanderson, st Bogle, b DrumG. B. Bogle, b Coullie ................... 12 mond.................................................. 0 Dr. Drummond, b Gillies ........... 0 B. Newton, b Forman ................... 4 H. S. Alexander, c Annandale, b J. S. Annandalo, not out ......... 42 Gillies .......................................... 2 A. C. M. Savage, run out ........... 2 A. Forman, b Gillies .................. 7 A. D. P. Brand, b Drummond ... 0 C. R. C. Moon, b Gillies.................. 5 W. P. Mulligan, b Drummond ... 3 H. D. Wright, not out ................. 33 A. B. Clarke, b Drumm ond........... 24 .T. Maule, c Newton, b Gillies (5 J. E. Gillies, b Drummond ........... 0 R. P. Donaldson, b Brand ........... 16 Byes, & c .................................. 0 Byes, &c.................................... 3 Total ........................... 100 Total.................................. 15(5 For Christ’s College v. Jesus College at Cambridge, on Monday, G. H. B. Sullivan (120 not out) and J. C. Butterwick (79) scored 210 together for the first wicket.