Cricket 1911

A u g u s t 19, 1911. CEICKET: A WEEKLY EECOED OP THE GAME. 147 left estate o f the gross valu e o f ± 2 3 ,0 19 , w ith net p erso n alty £22,76 8 . W h i l e Y o rk sh ire w ere broiling in the sun at B ra m a ll Lan e a com ed y w as enacted, and it appears to h a v e am used a w riter in a w ee k ly jo u rn a l. K iln er, the tw elfth m an selected by Y o rk sh ire , appeared at in tervals on the ground w ith re fre sh ­ m ents fo r one or other o f the parched fieldsm en. H e began w ith sin gle glasses o f refresh in g liq u id (says the ob servan t critic), but after tw o or th ree jo u rn e ys he took tw o glasses. L a ter he ap p eared w ith a brow n ju g of goodly proportions, and fin ally th e ju g , now of a cheerful blue, had attain ed to about the largest size th at w ould be convenient for a m an to carry . O n th e 10 th in st., at G rea t Y arm o u th , a m atch w as p layed betw een tw o team s o f veteran s, the youn gest o f w h om w as in his fifty -sixth y e a r. T he oldest p layer, aged 76, m ade three runs, an d the h igh est in d ivid u al score w as 22. A m id considerable excitem ent, the m atch ended in a tie— 74 all. One o f the p articip an ts h ad not tak en p art in a m atch fo r fifty years. said : H e re ’s ± 2 ‘ W . G .’ h as w ired m e to send yo u up to L o rd ’s on M on day m orn in g.” I did not k n ow w here L o rd ’s ^vas. I w as on ly a poor gard en er, and M rs. G race w rote out on a piece o f paper all instru ction s. I w a s to take a ticket to P ad d in gton , an d then a cab to L o rd ’s, and I w as n ot to p ay the cabm an m ore th an Is. 6d. A t L o rd ’s I w as to ask for D r. G race. W h en I got there I w as told by ‘ W . G .’ th at I w as to keep w icket for the So u th again st the N o rth in E y lo tt’s benefit m atch .” B o a r d stood up w ell to the b ow lin g o f L o hm an n , Sh arp e, J . J . P e rris and M artin , an d cam e th rou gh the severe ordeal w ith great credit to h im self. A fter the m atch “ ‘ W . G .’ drove m e in h is cab to P ad d in gton , trav ellin g w ith m e, and I rode through the streets o f B risto l w ith him to his hom e. M ind you , ‘ W . G .’ w as 1 W . G .’ in those d ays. H is n am e w as a household w ord th e w orld over. I felt som ebody. T h ere w as a lot o f pride in m e. ‘ W .G .’ told the cabm an to d rive m e hom e. A w eek later I p layed m y first cou n ty m atch on M a y 18 , 18 9 1, an d I ’ve gone on ever sin ce.” L a s t w eek N otts., w ith four su c­ cessive totals o f less than 200 in their m atches at the O val and L e yto n , w ere certain ly o ff their gam e. T h ey w ere dism issed for 1 9 1 and 14 6 by Su rrey, and 15 4 and 14 6 by E s s e x , and w ere beaten severely in each m atch . It is som ew hat curious th at in the correspond­ ing gam es o f 19 0 1 th eir totals should have been 34:7, 14 4 (for no w icket), 460 and 2 1 9 ; th at Jo n e s and Irem on ger should h ave m ad e w ell over the hundred for the first w icket three tim es ru n n in g ; and that one of the p layers m entioned— Irem on ger, to w it— should n ow be chosen to tour A u stra lia m ain ly on account of his sk ill as a bow ler. L a s t w eek, w h en W orcestersh ire and D erb ysh ire w ere the visitin g sid es, excellen t gates w ere recorded at E d gb aston . T he receip ts w ere as follow s :— M on day, ± 4 10 ; T u esd ay, ±'353 ; W ed nesd ay, ± 1 5 3 ; T h u rsd ay, ± 6 8 ; F rid a y , ± 5 5 ; an d Satu rd ay, ± 15 0 — total, ± 1,18 9 . T h is sets up a fresh record, the previous best tak in gs for a w eek being ±850. A t the Old S ta g e rs’ th eatrical en tertainm ent at C an terbu ry yesterd ay w eek, the son o f L o rd H a rris in a tableau presented the p ictu re o f a batsm an w h o w as bow led by a b all delivered w hile the lim eligh t w as shinin g in the strik er’s eyes. T he batsm an objected, an d he w as given a p acket o f F r y ’s chocolate to soothe h im and keep h im quiet. In a sm u ch as he w as born as far back as F e b ru a ry , 18 6 7, J . H . B o a rd m u st be regard ed som ew hat as a veteran . T he present season is h is tw en ty-first in great m atches and he has been in quite the first fligh t o f w icket-keepers d u rin g all that period as w ell as a m ost u sefu l batsm an for m ore th an a decade past. Y e t, w ith all this length o f service to his credit— to say nothing o f tw o visits to So u th A frica and N ew Z ealan d and one to A u stralia— he has probably n ever been in better form than at present. L a s t w eek he m ade 1 and 13 6 v . Som erset at B risto l and 37 and 32 v . H am p sh ire at South am pton, and, in the latter m atch, did not allow a single bye in h is opponents’ total o f 594 for six w ickets. D u r in g the p rogress of L a n c a sh ire ’s m atch w ith K en t at C an terb u ry, M r. K . H . Spooner obtained h is 2,000th ru n o f the season. T h is is the first tim e th at he h as reach ed such an aggregate, and he is, so far, the on ly batsm an to reach such a total this y e a r. N o other p layer com bines effect and style to su ch perfection , and it is a thousand p ities th at so accom plished a cricketer is not lik ely to be seen in th e field again u n til n ext season. I t is not, w e believe, g en erally know n that B o a rd ’s in itial appearance in first-class cricket was in a rep resen tative m atch— to w it, N o rth v . So u th (R y lo tt’s benefit), at L o rd ’s in 18 9 1. It w as o rig in a lly arran g ed th at he should p la y , on the sam e d ays, for G lou cestersh ire against K en t. “ W . G .,” in fact, had asked him to be p resen t at the B risto l ground on the M on day, but w hen he arrived hom e on the S a tu rd a y night he found a telegram ask in g h im to c all on M rs. G race. T h e sequel m ay be given in B o a rd ’s own w o r d s ;— “ W hen I got there she A NON-CRICKETER’S POINT OF VIEW. W H Y IS IT STRUDW ICK APPEARS ANXIOUS TO HIDE HIMSELF BEHIND HIS GREAT, BIU GLOVES AND PADS ? NOT TO REST, ASSUREDLY, FOR— M Y WORD !— JUST W AIT UNTIL THE B A LL COMES ALONG. (SEE INSET.) T h e C an terbu ry “ W e e k ” of 1 9 1 1 m u st h ave been v e ry disappointing to K en t supporters, seeing th at the C ou n ty, so fa r from adding to the n um b er o f th eir successes, obtained on ly one point o f the ten possible. T h eir defeat by nine w ickets at the hands o f L a n ca sh ire h as cau sed the C h am p ion ­ ship to becom e an open m atter, an d a good stru ggle for first place is lik e ly to be seen. E v e n the strongest sides h ave an occasion al off-day, but K en t h ave h ad too m an y th is season to enable them to com pare favo u rab ly w ith tlie team w hich w on the C ham pionship for them five y ears ago. M r . B r e a r l e y has p roved again w h at a force he is to a side b y secu ring as m an y as n in eteen w ickets in the tw o m atches in w hich he appeared last w eek fo r L a n cash ire. A t the present tim e h e is b y fa r E n g la n d ’s greatest fast bow ler, and if a side to represen t this cou n try on a hard w icket h ad to be picked to-day he should, on h is m erits, be one o f the first