Cricket 1911

A u g t js t 19, 1911. CEICKET: A WEEKLY EECOED OP THE GAME. 443 Countv) Secretaries. V M e . W . C. HANCOCK. Few of the minor counties have done so well in recent years as Staffordshire ; in fact, taking one year with another, only Glamorganshire can be said to have achieved a record at all equal to theirs for consistencv. Mr. W. C. Hancock, who has been Honorary Secretary of the Staffordshire Club for over nine years, modestly disclaim s any personal credit for the m anifest improvement in the county’s cricket. But he cannot really substantiate this disclaimer. He believes the improvement to be due to the League system in club cricket. Now Mr. Hancock, as any Staffordshire cricket enthusiast w ill tell one, is the originator and father of that system in the county. It was he who started the North Staffordshire League in 1889, and this was actually the pioneer cricket league, for that of which Lancashire boasts only came into existence two years later. Thus, indirectly, if not directly, Mr. Hancock is more than any other man responsible for Staffordshire’s rise in the cricket world. “ I have been a Potteries man all my life,” Mr. Hancock writes, and is obviously proud of it, as he has good right to be. T his son of Photo by] MR. W. [Pollard Graham db Co., Burslem. C. HANCOCK. the Five Towns which Mr. Arnold Bennett has made fam iliar to all lovers of fiction was born at Fenton, “ about a mile from the County Cricket Ground at Stoke,” on May 13 , 1860, and was educated at Brcewcod Gramm ar School, where his head-master was Mr. T . E . Rhodes, father of the Rev. H. A . Rhodes, just appointed Head of Cranleigh School from Ardingly, and of Dr. T. B . Rhodes, the Malvernian who played for both Worcestershire and Warwickshire at different times in the nineties. At school Mr. Hancock played little cricket, being handicapped physically, but the years brought him increase of strength and health, and for a decade or so—from his twenty-fourth to his thirty-third year—he was a keen player, though he says he cannot remember ever doing anything notable. He was at one time both secretary and captain of the old Tunstall St. Mary’s club, and recalls vividly the first match his team ever played for the Staffordshire Cup, when it was dismissed for 24, him self highest scorer with 10 , and in turn, am idst intense excitement, put out T unstall for 19 ! Later on Tunstall St. M ary’s dropped out of existence, and Mr. Hancock became the holder of the same dual office in connection with the T unstall club. Removing to Longton in 1893, Mr. Hancock ceased to play the game, but not to work in cricket’s cause. A s early as 1886 he had become Secretary to the County Cup Competition, and soon after joined the Committee of the County Club. When the club was re­ organised, in 19 0 1, he was appointed its Secretary, and has continued to hold that post ever since. On accepting this office he gave up that of Secretary to the North Staffordshire League, which he had held for twelve years ; but he has always continued to feel the keenest interest in the doings of the League clubs. He was also active in the form a­ tion of the Staffordshire Sentinel Competition. Some people rail at leagues. Mr. H ancock is a firm believer in them, and is ready with reasons for his belief. “ Club cricket is a very real thing in the North,” he writes, “ and is in striking contrast to the easy-going methods obtaining in some other parts of the country. Some counties would be glad to see the crowds that our clubs draw on Saturday afternoon—crowds that understand the game they are watching too.” It m ay be worth while to note here that another firm adherent of the League system is Mr. Charles Townsend, who has seen it at work in Durham . Whatever may be said against it on the score of its possible promotion of stormy feeling between clubs—one of the arguments most frequently advanced—there seems no possible doubt that it achieves three great ends. It renders cricket keener ; it makes players more punctual and less c asu al; and it helps to educate the public who watch but do not play the gam e. After all, a cricket match is essentially competitive, and to increase the element of com­ petition must do good in some directions, even if it possibly does harm in others—though one hardly fancies Mr. Hancock him self would adm it this latter possibility. J . N. P en telow . D o r s e t . CORNWALL v. DORSET, by Cornwall by nine wickets. First innings. W. H. Budge, b Whiting ....................... J. W. Hardy, b Hawken................................... W. T. Knight, c Maunsell, b Hawken R. H. S. Bolton, c Romer, b Hawken R. Manser, c Vibart, b Hawken ............. G. M. Gordon, e Bickford-Smith, b Hawken F. A. S. Sewell, c Tresawna, b Hawken C. J. B. Webb, not o u t......................... A. M. Harrison, b Whiting ........................ P. P. Hope, c Vibart, b Hawken ............. R. Patey, b Hawken ................................... Byes, &c........................................ -Played at Camborne on August 7and 8 and won Score and analysis :— Second innings. b Whiting ......................... c Vibart, b Hawken b Trevarthen .............. c Whitworth, b Hawken... b Trevarthen .............. c Bickford-Smith, b Haw- k o n .................................... c and b Trevarthen b Trevarthen .............. c Tresawna, b Hawken ... b Hawken ......................... not out ......................... Byes, &c........................ 19 0 6 18 0 8 Total... First innings. 80 C o r n w a l l . A. S. Whitworth, st Hardy, b Sewell ... 18 W. N. Bickford-Smith, c Harrison, b Sewell 24 Vibart, b Webb ............................................... 0 T. Romer, b Webb .................................... 0 Trevarthen, c Gordon, b Sewell .............. 2 R. Maunsell, c Hopo, b Webb......................... 4 H. Tresawna, not o u t ....................................88 E. Hawken, b Webb .................................... 8 G. H. Escott, c Hopo, b Harrison .............. 7 O. G. Hobbs, st Hardy, b Sewell .............. 1 Whiting, lbw, b Sewell....................................29 Byes, &c. .........................11 not out b Webb not out Total ............. Second innings. 1(51 13 8 Byes, &c. Total... ... 192 Total (1 wkt.) , 50 First innings. D o r s e t . Second innings. 0. M. R. W. 0. M. R. W. Hawken ............ 21*4 3 48 8 .............. ... 24*1 6 55 5 Trevarthen ... 7 5 2 0 .............. ... 21 6 54 4 Tresawna ............. 4 2 11 0 ...................... Whiting ............ 10 3 17 2 ............. !!! 22 7 41 1 Hawkcn bowled four widcs. First innings. C o r n w a l l . Second innings. O. M. R. W. 0. M. R. W. Webb ............ 22 5 59 4 ......................... 10 1 21 1 Sewell ............ 27 6 54 5 .............. ... 7 1 8 0 Gordon ............ 4 0 12 0 ............. Hope ............ 4 0 22 0 ...................... Harrison ............. 9 0 30 1 .............. Patey ............ 1 0 4 0 ...................... 3 0 9 1 Sewell bowled ono wide. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. L . C. D . E lio t . — (a) A cricket club maintained by a gentleman as a hobby. (6) Stedm an and B aker, yes. Not the others, who are engaged for special occasions only, (c) We should suggest H itch. ( d ) Perhaps Hearne (J. W .). “ K cgb y.” — W e will keep your suggestion before us and try to act upon it.