Cricket 1911

CRICKET : a w e e k ly r e c o r d o f t h e g a m e . AUGUST 12, 1911. “ Together joined in CricKet’s manly toil.”— Byron. n o . 880 . v o l . x x x . S A T U R D A Y , A U G U S T 1 2 , 1 9 1 1 . p r i c e 2 d . A Chat with /VLr. H. A. Groom. o jrmnnt-Q. HE post of secretary to a struggling Minor County club is by no means a sinecure; and the man who accepts such a post in an honorary capacity—and almost all the Minor Counties have honorary Secretaries, while almost all are continually struggling—needs to be a real enthusiast, ungrudging of time or labour, not easily upset by disappointments, serving for love of the game, and knowing that whatever he does he cannot hope to satisfy everybody. And such, beyond all doubt, is Mr. Horace Alfred Groom, who directs the for­ tunes of Suffolk. I met the Suffolk secretary at the Great Eastern Hotei, Liverpool Street, and we had no difficulty in finding plenty to talk about. “ What was the date of your birth, Mr. Groom ? As you are still playing cricket, it can hardly be a delicate question.” “ I don’t know about that. Anyhow, I was born long enough ago to make me out rather an old crock. But I play still, it is true, and hope to go on playing for some time longer yet.” “ Where did you learn your cricket ? ” “ What little I know at Rugby. I was there in the days of E. T. Hirst, who after­ wards played for Oxford and Yorkshire, C. M. Cunliffe, of Kent, G. F. Vernon, the brilliant Middlesex batsman, f'\ L. Evelyn and A. Pearson, both Oxford blues—Vernon and Evelyn are dead, the latter dying quite recently— and D. H. Brownfield, of Staffordshire, among others. C. F. H. Leslie —one of the most remarkable batsmen the school ever had— and that’s saying something when one remembers William Yardley, Bernard Pauncefote, B. B. Cooper, Pelham Warner, and others—was a junior, not yet in the eleven, when I left. From Rugby I went up to Clare, Cambridge.” “ You played a good deal of cricket there, naturally? ” “ Yes, I even played in one trial game— the Freshmen’s match of my first year— 1875—when A. P. Lucas was playing. What did I Mr. H. A. QROOM. do ? A pointed question ! I shall leave it unanswered. Enough to say that the authorities never requested my attendance for another trial game. But I got into the Clare eleven, and had some most enjoyable cricket, and I also played for the Hanks, a club which was founded by my elder brother and another man a few years previously, by the way, and which is still one of the leading Cambridge clubs. But I cannot pretend that my cricket career was distinguished, though I yield to no man as a *looker-on.’ I have seen thirty-one consecu­ tive University matches, and have not missed an hour’s play in them all. During the past ten years, while I have been living in Cambridge, X have seen nearly every trial game played by the University.” “ Have you any centuries to your credit ? ” “ Oh, yes, I can say as much as that. It is only three years ago since I scored my last, against the Old Leysians.” “ You have now been secre­ tary of the Suffolk Club for several years, I believe ? ” “ Yes, and precious hard work it is ! Not that I grudge the trouble. But, as probably you know, all sorts of difficulties have to be met. There is the financial difficulty, and that’s always a big one. Our annual expenditure is reduced to the lowest possible figure, but even so it is a constant struggle to make the income meet it. We had a Shilling Fund lately, and netted about £150, not a large sum. but a very welcome help. This year we have kept the matches down to the minimum necessary for the Championship. We don’t even play M.C.C. or Free Foresters, though of course we should like to, and we have practically cut out club and ground games, though we had a trial match recently. People wanted a trial match, there being a notion in one or two localities that the men there are overlooked. I don’t think there is much in it, and I am sure we didn’t learn much from the trial.. Five men were invited from one place which complains that it doesn’t get justice, and not one of them turned up ! ”