Cricket 1911

140 C E IC K E T : A W EEK LY EECOED OF THE GAME. M at 13, 1911. RADLEY. Considering the difficulties with which Radley has to contend, owing to half the School choosing the river as their summer pastime, cricket at the School is maintained at a surprisingly high standard. They rarely possess a great side, ’tis true, but always manage to give a good account of themselves. There is no reason to expect anything different this year, for five of last year’s Eleven remain and there is plenty of promising talent available. The captain, F. M. C. Hare, was a little disappointing with the bat last season, but bowled consistently well all through, and headed the averages with twenty-three wickets for 11'87 runs each. He belongs to the hard-working type of cricketer. A. K. Boyd topped the batting averages last year, and is expected to do well this summer. Some of his strokes make one think that he is a “ class ” player in embryo. O. A. Reid, though still rather on the young side, is described as a very promising wicket-keeper, though but a poor bat. L. G. F. M. C. M AR E, R adley. Hill is a natural bowler and extremely useful on his day, whilst J. L. Rennie, the remaining old colour, is likely to develop into a fine run-getter. The most probable candi­ dates for the vacancies are C. R. Hind, R. S. M. Sturgess and G. S. Hodgkinson as batsmen, and R. E. C. Adams and L. C. Heygate, both of whom are quite useful with the ball. There is certainly foundation for a sound eleven in the five members left from last year’s team, and if energy counts for anything the School will benefit from having Hare as captain. Batting may possibly be the weak point, and the diffidence which characterised last year’s Eleven must be thrown aside. There are several batsmen in the School with style and ability, which must be allowed freedom if runs are to be made. In fact if aspirants to the Eleven would only realise early in the season the value of dash and determination in the field, the results should be good con­ sidering the material at hand. BRADFIELD. Bradfield still play too few matches. Last year no batsman had more than ten innings which, besides rendering it impossible to form any real estimate of the strength of the side, or of the capabilities of its members, tends, with so few chances of distinction, to make the boys much too excited to do themselves justice. But, taking the meagre fixture-list into consideration, they turn out some sound players at Bradfield. Only four of last year’s Eleven, with P. H. H. Gray as captain, remain to do duty again. This player failed to come off last summer owing to a strained arm. He is a cramped bat, but is often of the greatest value to his side, and bowls a right-arm medium-paced ball with some effect. E. Bagot is the wicket-keeper, and at times he is quite first-rate. He is also capable of making runs, but was not nearly so successful last year as in 1909. In A. C. Donne the side possess a sound stonewaller, who also has some powerful strokes at command : he batted very consistently last year, and is expected to do so again. He will probably open the attack with his captain, for he is very good on a slow wicket and manages to break a great deal. C. M. Dixon, as a bat, failed to come up to expecta­ tions last season, being inclined to slog under any conditions. The bowling will be recruited from G. A. M. Gray, A. G. Warde and J. Stevens, whilst F. H. Postlethwaite and A. Furze (captain of the second eleven) should find places for their batting. Through illness the services of A. C. Topping, who made some capital scores for the second Eleven last season, may be lost. Radley is the only School played, but new fixtures have been arranged with the Free Foresters and I Zingari. The Merton College, Oxford, match has been dropped. UPPINGHAM Uppingham is another school which can boast great cricketing traditions. Has not its story been told by Mr. W. S. Patterson in a book every word of which tempts one to quotation ? C. G. Tomlin, last year’s captain, who is now at Cambridge, should add lustre to the School’s record for good judges regard him as one of the best wicket­ keepers turned out by any school in recent years, and it is safe to say that his doings will be followed keenly by all past and present Uppinghamians. All last year’s bowlers are available, but they were not a very effective quartet, and unless great improvement is shown Uppingham will again be a weak bowling side. H. B. Moore, who is captain for 1911, was the most successful of them, but his twenty- seven wickets cost over 21 runs apiece, which is a rather high figure. He is slow right-hand. C. M. Morris is said to be “ a very useful medium pace right-handed bowler,” which his figures of eighteen wickets at a cost of over 26 runs apiece scarcely, bear out. A. R. Trubshaw bowls fast- medium right-hand and is likely to be more effective. M. J. L. Walker—when he doesn’t bowl no-balls—sometimes captures a wicket; he is fast and should be persevered with. As regards the batting of the side, H. B. Moore is probably the pick of a distinctly moderate set. J. V. Wilshin is a very promising and steady bat, with good style, whilst Trubshaw is expected to make runs. Of those likely to find places in the team J. Hale and G. F. Cameron are two steady batsmen who show promise, whilst B. Palmer would be included for his bowling. Repton, Haileybury and Shrewsbury are the schools to be played, whilst a new fixture has been arranged—with the Cryptics—to take the place of the I Zingari match, which has been dropped. SHREW SBUR Y . Shrewsbury is a small school, but its standard of cricket ranks with that of schools double its size. For the past two years, however, the Elevens have only been moderate, but there is every hope that the side will perform very creditably this summer. The bowling should certainly give no cause for anxiety, but the batting may not be quite so good. In D. Boumphrey the team has a captain of whom much may be heard should he keep up the game. He is not a brilliant player, and never will be, but he is a batsman who takes infinite pains, with the result that he can show a steady improvement each year. This is his fourth season in the Eleven, and he should do great things for his side. A. R. A. Dickins is a quick-scoring left-handed bat who is worth more runs than he gets ; he played one very free innings last season. A very useful batsman to open an