Cricket 1911

CRICKET- A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. MAY 20 , 1911 . “ Together joined in CricKet’s manly toil.”— Byron. No. 8 6 8 . V O L . xxx. SATURDAY , M A Y 20, 1 9 1 1 . p r i c e 2 d. A Chat about /VIr. G. A. Stevens. in a name ? ” asked Shakespeare, possibly meaning—though one does not care to be dogmatic about this interpretation—that he had no objection to being called Bacon, if certain curiously enthusiastic ladies and g e n t l e ­ men found pleasure in calling him so. But there is really a good deal in a name, especially when used as a label. Let us con­ sider the case of the minor counties. Is it not a fact that the average man who devours the news about Surrey and Kent and Yorkshire in his morning papers turns a languid eye to the scores of matches played by Norfolk, Devon or Glamorgan ? They are mere “ minor counties ” ; their cricket is inferior, or they would certainly be among the elect; their players are inferior, too—that follows as a natural consequence—and if they do make a lot of runs or take a lot of wickets, it is only because the opposition is so weak. Which is, flatly, mere “ bunkum.” It would be absurd to pretend that the general standard of playamongthe smaller brethern is as high as that among the select sixteen. But Worcester­ shire and Northants. in recent years have stepped up and held their own, mainly by reason of the fact that each possessed a number of men who were essentially first-class cricketers, whatever the class of cricket they played in ; and among the counties which now rank as minor most have in their ranks some players who would per­ form with credit in the higher sphere. One may leave out of account men like the Bev. G. B. Baikes, Mr. T, T. N. Perkins, Mr. B. W. Awdry, and others who won their spurs in University cricket, as well as Barnes, who would hardly have played for England merely on the strength of his doings for Staffordshire, great as these have been. But Messrs. T. A. L. Whittington and Norman Biches, of Glamorgan­ shire, Mr. F. W . Gillespie, of Northumberland, Messrs. E. W . Elliot Photo by] M r. G EO FFREY and C. Adamson, of Durham, and, among the professionals, Silverlock, ! of Monmouthshire, and Golding, of Herts., could hardly have made i all the runs that they have for their respective counties if they had not been essentially able batsmen. There are plenty of others who Smight be named, but these occur readily. Take Silverlock’s figures for the last ten years. He has scored between five and six thousand runs for his county, with an average of over forty, and has seven times in the decade headed its batting table. Silverlock, caught youug enough—he must be something of a veteran now—would have been a big asset to any struggling first-class county, one fancies. But, taking everything into consideration, one is inclined to think that the fiuest batsman among the minor counties at the present time is Mr. G. A. Stevens. He has done so much already, and he has it in him to do so much m ore; he is still so young, with nearly all his cricket life before him ; he has the build of a batsman, tall, powerful, active; and he can rise to the occasion. His name has been suggested for the trial matches of the season, and it would be a fitting tribute to the county which won the championship of its class last year if its pride and hope were chosen—though one would not, of course, suggest the selection for Norfolk’s sake, or even for Stevens’s, but for England’s. Geoffrey Aldred Stevens was born at Norwich on October 17th, 1890. He is the youngest son of Mr. Walter George Stevens, a leading solicitor in the cathedral city, and himself a good cricketer with the old Norfolk and Norwich club in his day. “ G. A .’s ” two elder brothers have frequently played for Norfolk, and have done well, though they have not reached his standard. Stevens pere is a regular attendant at the Lakenham ground, and he must have had some glorious hours there when the tall youngster whom he went to watch fairly got going. At Norwich Grammar School Geoffrey Stevens forced his way into the school team at the early age of ten, which must surely be [Charles Aldous , Norwich. A L D R E D STE V EN S.