Cricket 1911

J uly 1, 1911. CR IC K ET : A W EEK LY RECORD OF THE GAME. 303 /Malvern Cricket ar^d Cricketers- B y a n O ld M a l v e r n ia n . ( Continued from page 229.) i i . Having dealt with the system pursued at the school, one naturally comes now to a consideration of the more outstanding of the cricketers reared under that system. Up to 1892 Malvern cricket may be said to have been in its infancy. So, for that matter, was the school itself, which only dates back to 1865. The most noteworthy C. J. Burnup (Cambridge and Kent)—he who once bowled out the Australians at Canterbury !—H. H. Marriott (Cambridge and Leicestershire), A. B. Thompson (Northants.), S. H. Day (Cambridge and Kent), A. P. Day (Kent), W. N. White (Hants.), B. A. White, W. H. B. Evans (Oxford and Hants.), C. C. Page (Cambridge and Middlesex), P. T. Mann (Cambridge and Middlesex), H. E. W. Prest (Cambridge and Kent), and O. Hughes (Cambridge). Of these Mann, Prest, and Hughes are still up at the Varsity. Prest was kept out of the side last year by a bad knee, but seems to have found his true form again this season. Mann, besides being a punishing bat, is a brilliant field, reminding one of 0. C. Page, for both of them are capable of returning the ball from the boundary in truly Jessopian style. The brothers Day and W. H. B. Evans probably rank next to the pick of the Foster family, S. H. Day being considered by many even now as the soundest bat among Kent’s many prolific scorers. • But for grace of style, give me R. E. Foster before them all. There is, however, a similarity in all Malvern batsmen. They all hit the ball hard, and make runs largely by a wide on-drive and an off-drive past extra cover. Six names stand out prominent as school batsmen— some of the others, notably Burnup, doing little while at Malvern to compare with their deeds afterwards. These six are H. K., R. E., and G. N. Foster, W. H. B. Evans Photo by ] [Rawkhis tfc Co., Brighton. Mr. 0 . H. SIMPSON-HAYWARD. S. H. and A. P. Day. The pick of the basket was undoubt­ edly the last-named, probably as fine a boy batsman as was ever produced by any school. A great deal has been said about the few good bowlers Malvern has produced. Certainly the list is not a long one ; but is the list of good bowlers from any one school— except perhaps Eton—a long one ? We may suffer by comparison with some other schools ; but—with the possible exception of Charterhouse—no other bowlers have to perform on such heart-breaking Photo by} [Hawkins tfc Co., Brighton. Mr. C. C. PAGE. players" produced during this early period were A. H. Stratford (Middlesex, who afterwards played a great deal of cricket in Canada and the States), J. J. Read (Essex), A. H. T. Newnham (Gloucestershire), and F. Fielding (Surrey). But P. H. Latham’s blue at Cambridge in 1892 marked an epoch in the school’s cricket history. Since that date there has been a steady outflow of good players. Without doubt, first place in public estimation would be given to the brothers H. K. and R. E. Foster, whose centuries in the ’Varsity match (in 1895 and 1900 respec­ tively) were probably the best ever played in that historic encounter. Perhaps H. K .’s was the better of the two, taking the circumstances into consideration. But R. E. has another claim to distinction, in that he has several times represented England, an honour which has fallen to the lot of no other Old Malvernian. He captained England in the three South African test matches of 1907, and he holds the record score (287) against Australia. Besides these two, and hardly inferior to them, are W. L. and G. N. Foster, the former going into the Army instead of to the ’Varsity. B. S. and M. K., the former now on the stage, the latter in the Straits Settlements, rubber-planting, must not be passed over without a word, either. A list, without pretending to completeness, of the other more prominent batsmen must suffice : C. H. Ran- some (Wilts.), P. H. Latham (Cambridge and Sussex),