Cricket 1911

C R I C K E T : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S E P T E M B E R 9 , 1 9 1 1 . Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. n o . 8 8 4 . v o l . xxx . SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 0, 1911. price 2 d. h Chat about Silverlocl{. the many fine batsmen who are to be found in the ranks of the Minor Counties there are few who can stand a comparison with Arthur John Silverlock, the Monmouthshire crack. Year after year he has done great things for his county in the batting line, while he has often been one of its best bowlers; for the Newport club he has proved himself a very tower of strength all round. Silverlock is not Monmouth­ shire by birth. He was born in Victoria Park Road, South Hackney, some forty years ago, though one would not suspect him of being as old as that from his appearance in the field. He learned his cricket, he says, at school at Crouch End and in Victoria Park, bnt never had any coach­ ing. His natural talent for the game must have been great; but it is clear that he also possessed the ability to profit by study of the methods of others, for he refers to William Gunn’s great innings of 228 for the Players against the Australians at Lord’s in 1890 as the best cricket lesson he ever had. It would be difficult to find a more worthy model than the Nottingham giant, who will be pleased, one feels sure, to hear that he assisted, all unknowingly, to the mak­ ing of a first class batsman— a really first-class batsman, though he does play for a minor county. The Newport club gave Silverlock his first, and what will probably turn out to be his last, engagement. He went to Newport twenty-one years ago, and he has stayed there ever since. His annual crop of runs for the club and the county has averaged nearer 2,000 than 1 , 000 ; and in almost every season he has taken over 100 wickets. It is a misfortune that he has never kept any account of his doings, for one would have liked a full list of his centuries and complete tables of his batting and bowling figures year by year. Perhaps some South Wales admirer may be able to supply them. Meanwhile the few outstanding feats which have somehow stuck in Silverloek’s memory are full of interest. He refers to a bat, formerly his property, now in the possession of Messrs. Wisden and Co., with which he played a succession of not out inninss for Newport, scoring well over 500 dismissal and 7 . A. J. SILVERLOCK. luns between one the next, with 168 not v. Water Rats. 160 not out v. Llanelly, 149 not out v. Cardiff, 77 not out v. Glou­ cester, and 9 v. Clifton, total 553 for once o u t! But he has forgotten in what year he did these things, though no doubt some reader of this paper, who is ever on the watch for records, can supply the omission. Silverlock also mentions that up to the beginning of August in the season now ending he had scored six centuries—126 Newport v. Penarth, 102 v. Swansea, 141 v. Gloucester, 107 v. Hereford, and 102 and 113 not out for the county v. Bucks. Probably he has made more since. One searches “ Lillywhite ” and “ W isden” in vain for any records worth mentioning of Monmouthshire cricket prior to the present century. Bnt during the nineties the county which is English in name and Welsh in all o',her res­ pects played matches with Glamorgan, Hereford, M.C.C., and other sides, and Silver­ lock began to play for the team as soon as he was qualified. In 1897 he ran up 115 not out v. M.C.C. at Newport, his side’s total being only 202. Two years later one finds innings of 211 for Newport v. Penarth, 100 v. Swansea, and 100 v. Thornbury credited to him in the century list in 11 Lilly- white.” In 1901 Monmouthshire entered the Minor Counties’ Championship, and from that date onward it is possible to give Silverlock’ s figures for his county season by season. We append them, including the innings played by him for South Wales against the Australians, South Africans, West Indians, Philadelphians and Yorkshire. out ibs* ? tM * 73* !Sk* SSi