Cricket 1911

CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF TH E GAME. AUGUST 5, 1911. “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. n o . 879 . v o l . x x x . S A T U R D A Y , A U G U S T 5 , 1 9 1 1 . p r i c e 2 d . A Chat with fl[r. /VI. C. gird. ^M ^ ^ giR E Q U EN T E R S 0f the Oval are good judges of cricket, and it was not long ere they found that in the Old Harrovian was a player after their own heart. Probably not one person in three in the ring who watched his early appearauces for Surrey was aware of his brilliant do­ ings at Harrow, and therefore it was on his merits, and not on his repu­ tation, that he sailed into popularity with what poor Craig, with some truth, de­ scribed as “ the most intelligent portion of the cricket public.” The man in the ring loves a cricketer who will exert every effort to bring success to his side. Hard work in the field is a true index to keenness, and ability to break up a long partnership, or to make a good score when the odds against the side are greatest, stamps a player as one who is capable of rising to important occasion. Such a cricketer is Mr. Bird— with this in addition, however: that his batting is generally of the brightest description, and that, when once set, he can be relied upon to hit brilliantly. The more desperate the occa­ sion seems, the better does he perform. Turn up the scores of the matches played by Surrey in the latter part of each of the three last weeks, and what do we find? That against Worcestershire he made 109, against Essex 30 and against Kent 90, on each occa­ sion playing the highest innings of his side. Surrey, as it happened, lost each match, but that was not their captain’s fault. He gave of his best, and no man can do more. Photo ly] It is not surprising that Mr. Bird should have taken to the game, for his father, Mr. George Bird, was a very useful player in his day and Mr. C. C. Clarke, of Esher, is an uncle. Mr. George Bird appeared in his time for Middlesex, Lancashire and the M.C.C., of which club he has been a member since 1870. His great performance was to score 116 not out and 30 for 15 Gentlemen of the M.C.C. (with Rylott) v. Mr. R. A. FitzGerald’s Anglo-American team of 1872 at Lord’s— Mr. MOR1C6 CARLOS his first appearance on the ground. The runs were made against W . G. Grace, Appleby, C. K. Francis and others, and therefore had to be thoroughly earned. Asked whether it was at Harrow that he first took to the game, Surrey’s captain replied:— “ I played cricket first at a small school in Hertfordshire, but developed my game con­ siderably at Harrow. At the Hill we were fortunate in having such a coach as George Baker, of Lancashire—in my opinion the very best in England. The instruction of young players is a gift, and the best cricketer does not neces­ sarily make a fine coach. Baker, however, was good in both respects. He did not go through his work in a stereo­ typed fashion, but adapted his methods to suit individual requirements. As perhaps you know, I got my colours in 1904 and was in the Eleven four years.” Mr. Bird did not say so, but his last season was a great personal triumph for him. He headed both batting and bowl­ ing averages, scoring most runs and obtaining the largest num­ ber of wickets, and led his side to victory by 79 runs in the match with Eton, wherein he scored 100 not out in his first innings and 131 in his second. “ I take it that it was the form you showed for Harrow which obtained you a trial for Lancashire ? ” “ I suppose it was. You see, I was born at Liverpool and my father had assisted the county about thirty years ago, Brighten. so we were naturally pleased when the invitation to play reached me. But I made very few runs, and fear I proved rather disappointing Here it may he stated that Mr. Bird had bowlers’ wickets to play upon on the few occasions he appeared for Lancashire, and that, as several of the old hands failed, it was not surprising that a youth of nineteen should not make large scores. But his fielding on the off was excellent and he proved himself a useful change bowler. [Ilawl int. tt* Co. BIRD.