Cricket 1911

S ept . 9, 1911. CEICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 499 Cricket Notches. B y t h e R e v . R . S. H o lm e s . the C ou n ty C h am pionsh ip fo r 1911 goes to W arw ickshire, an d the chorus o f con gratu lation s to C aptain F oster a n d his “ m errie m en ” signifies th a t this c o v e te d h on ou r has b een fairly a n d squ arely w on . Silence bein g re­ stored , th e v o ice o f th e d etra ctor has its o p p ortu n ity :— 1‘ Is n o t K e n t the stron ger co u n ty w ith 17 w ins again st W a rw ick sh ire’s 13, each h a v in g the same n um b er o f losses, 4 ? ” A n d th en w e are g rav ely inform ed th a t b y th e p rev iou s tw o or m ore m eth od s of p lacing th e cou n ties K e n t w ou ld o c cu p y the prem ier position. W h a t u n con sciou s h um orists these serious folks are ; a t a n y ra te th e y are to m e fu n n y b e y o n d d escription . M y w o rth y critics, fa cts are stu b b o rn things, a n d th e fa ct in this case is thp p resent sy stem to w h ich all the counties consen ted, a n d I fo r on e h o p e th a t it w ill rem ain in force for a t least on e m ore season. N o b o d y , h ow ever, w as p rep ared fo r W arw ick sh ire’s su prem acy. W h e n I saw th eir first m a tch o f the season at the O v a l th e y sh ap ed lik e a th ird rate team ; b u t F oster to o k n o p a rt in th a t m a tch . In d eed , a t th a t tim e there were rum ou rs th a t first-class crick et w o u ld see n o m ore of him , ow in g in p a rt, I w as to ld , to th e fa ct th a t his C omm ittee had o ffe re d h im th e ca p ta in cy fo r a m o n th on ly . I f th a t were so— a n d I d o n o t v o u c h fo r its a ccu ra cy— w iser counsels soon p rev a iled , w ith th e d eligh tfu l resu lt fam iliar to us all. O f cou rse on e regrets th a t W arw ick sh ire d id n o t m eet M iddlesex a n d K e n t ; b u t w h ose fa u lt w as it ? M iddlesex have con sisten tly d eem ed certa in cou n ties t o be foem en n o t “ w o rth y o f th eir steel,” su ch as D erbysh ire, L eicestershire an d N orth am p ton sh ire, a n d h ith erto th e y h a v e never w asted p ow d e r a n d sh o t o n W arw icksh ire. P erh aps it was w ell fo r th em th a t th e y d id n o t ch an ge their tactics this year, fo r during J u ly a n d A u g u st W arw ick sh ire w ere in v in cible, a n d in th e sam e w eek as th e y bea t L ancashire in a single inn ings M id d lesex w en t d ow n before Lancashire. A t th e sam e tim e I h a v e a lw a ys con ten d ed th a t a lim ited p rogram fa vou rs su ccess, a n d w e shall n ever arrive a t a p erfectly sa tisfa cto ry stage u n til a ll th e first-class coun ties p lay an equ al n um b er o f m atch es, b e th a t n um ber th irty— S urrey’s m ark , or tw en ty— W a rw ick sh ire’s. In a sum m er of e x cep tion a l brillian ce it is e v id e n t th a t cricketers p la y in g ev ery d a y are at a serious d isad van tage w ith regard to those w h o e n jo y spells o f rest. W a rw ick sh ire’s re v iv a l recalls Y o rk sh ire ’s first C ham ­ p ionsh ip season , 1 8 9 3 n o b o d y e x p e cte d it, fo r in 1892 th e y s to o d n o high er th a n six th am on g th e nine first-class coun ties. A s I w rote a t th e tim e— “ n o t a single fresh cricketer o f n o te cam e in to th e eleven. S urrey also h a d been so p re-em in en t fo r m a n y years th a t it w as alm ost tak en fo r gran ted th a t th e y w o u ld still b e th e prem ier cou n ty . W h o cou ld h a v e e x p e cte d th a t th eir p lace w o u ld be tak en b y Y ork sh ire ? V eteran s like U ly e tt, P eel a n d L o rd H aw k e w ere, h ow e v e r, a lm ost, if n o t qu ite, as vig orou s a n d effectiv e as ever, w h ilst th e y ou n ger m en w ere gain in g th a t ex perien ce w h ich is in d isp en sable to success in all bran ch es o f sp o r t.” N ow su b stitu te K e n t fo r S u r r e y ; K in n eir, Q u aife an d C harlesw orth fo r U ly e tt, P eel an d L o rd H aw k e ; an d W arw icksh ire fo r Y o rk sh ire : an d th e sto ry o f 1893 has been rep ea ted in 1911. T h e ‘ ‘ y ou n ger m en ” o f W a rw ick ­ shire are F o ste r, the broth ers Stephens a n d Sm ith . Ju st see w h a t experien ce has d o n e fo r th em : F o ster’s ba ttin g average in on e year has in creased from 18 to 44 ; F . O. S tep h en ’s from 17 (his o n ly innings in 1910) to 35 ; S m ith ’s from 12 t o 27 ; w h ilst th e o th er S tephens d id n o t g e t a chan ce o f scorin g la st yea r in th e one m a tch p la y e d b y him . Y e t an oth er parallel. W h e n N otts w o n the C h am p ion ­ ship in 1907, th e bow lin g w as m o n op olised b y W a ss an d H a llam w h o dism issed n o less th a n 319 ba tsm en as again st 60 b y the oth er bow lers. T his year F oster an d F ie ld h a ve tak en 238 w ick ets, or e x a c tly d ou ble th e n um b er secu red b y th e rem a in in g bow lers. B u t 1907 w as all in a b ow le r’s fa v o u r, w hereas 1911 has b een a b a tsm a n ’s season. S o th a t th e ch ief h on ou rs g o to th is season ’s C h am p ion s. I shall sa y n oth in g o f F o ste r’s in spirin g ca p ta in cy , w h ich has p erh ap s been th e ch ief fa cto r in th e su ccess o f his co u n ty , se co n d on ly to h is all ro u n d a b ility w ith th e b a t an d ball. H e is first in b o th b a ttin g a n d bow lin g— a d ou b le first w h ich has been tak en b y o n ly W . G ., H irst a n d T a rra n t sin ce th e in stitu tio n o f th e C ou n ty C h am p ion sh ip in 1873. I t is scarcely to be w o n d e re d th a t his co u n ty a t a sin gle b o u n d has a d v a n ce d n o less th a n th irteen p laces in o n e season— an im p rov em e n t o n Y o rk sh ire ’s w on d erfu l r e co v e ry eigh teen seasons sin ce. F oster is th e o n ly b a tsm a n to score a cen tu ry in each m a tch a g ain st Y ork sh ire this y ea r. T h is does n o t set up a fresh re co rd , fo r W .G ., M a cL a ren , F ry a n d K illick h a d p re v io u sly le ft a sim ilar m ark on th e score-sh eet w h e n p la y in g fo r their resp ectiv e cou n ties ; w h ilst R a n jitsin h ji a n d S torer ea ch h elp ed h im self to th ree centuries a t Y ork sh ire ’s expen se in th e sam e season , 1896. Can W arw ick sh ire b e a t E n g la n d n e x t w eek ? C an t h e y rep ea t Y o rk sh ire ’s so lita ry success in 1905— a su ccess w h ich d id n o t fa ll t o th e lo t o f either K e n t, M idd lesex, N o tts or L an cash ire in their C ham pionsh ip seasons ? W h e n S u rrey last earn ed this h on ou r— in 1899— th e m a tch , th e C h am p ion C ou n ty v . th e R e st o f E n g lan d , h a d n o t b een set o n fo o t. B y the b y , w h a t a ca p ita l m a tch th is w o u ld m ak e— F oster v . H irst, or F oster v . T a rra n t ; e a ch b a tsm an to ch oose tw o fielders. O n e w ou ld d ea rly like to see su ch a sin gle-w ick et m a tch again . W h e n A lfre d M y n n a n d F u ller P ilch w ere in their p rim e variou s crick eters ch allen ged th em to a sin gle-h an d ed com b a t, w h ich p ro v e d am a zin g ly p op u la r. T h is w as before m y tim e, b u t I h a v e a v iv id re co llectio n o f a sim ilar m a tch in w h ich th e fam ou s C am ­ bridgeshire cou p le , H a yw a rd a n d C arpenter, m e t a n d d efea ted th ree N o rth e rn e rs ; th is m a tch w as n o t p la y e d fo r ‘ ‘ lo v e ” ; it w as arran ged , if m y m em o ry d o n o t trick m e, b y J a ck son , a w ell-k n ow n b o o k -m a k e r. B e fo re leav in g W a rw ick sh ire let m e express a sincere w ish th a t th e y w ill fo llo w Y o rk sh ire ’s m o st p ra isew orth y exam p le a n d p la y o n ly m e n b o rn in th e C ou n ty . A t th e p resen t tim e nearly all their p rofession a ls are im p orta tion s :— K in n eir from W iltsh ire, Q u aife from S ussex, S an tall from N o rth am p to n sh ire , C h arlesw orth a n d B a k e r from L a n ca ­ sh ire, P arson s from O xford sh ire. F ie ld ’s n a tiv e p lace is A lcester : I m u st con fess th a t m y acqu a in ta n ce w ith g eo g ra p h y is n o t ex ten siv e en ou g h to lo ca te th a t to w n , or v illa g e .’ L e t W arw ick sh ire establish a crick e t n u rsery a n d th en g iv e carte blanche to L ille y to scou r the co u n ty a n d take p rom isin g you n gsters in h a n d . S om e o f us are o f o p in io n th a t th ere is e n ou g h crick etin g a b ility in e v e ry c o u n ty to p ro d u ce a rea lly first-class team ; o n ly it m u st be fo u n d , a n d w h e n fo u n d m u st b e w ell coa ch ed . I h a v e an in stin ctiv e h a tred o f th e com p o sitio n o f m o d e rn A sso cia ­ tio n fo o tb a ll team s ; th a t gam e n o lon g er attra cts m e ; n or w o u ld c o u n ty cricket if ru n o n sim ilar lines. I f a n ew law w ere p assed , fo rb id d in g a crick eter to p la y again st a n y co u n ty fo r w h ich he h a d p re v iou sly p la y e d , this abuse w o u ld be la rgely scotch ed . W h a t h on ou r is there in w inn ing m a tch es b y th e help o f foreign ers ? T h e o n ly e x ce p tio n I w o u ld p e rm it is w h en a crick eter o f p rom ise happens to be b o rn in a co u n ty w h ere there is n o co u n ty clu b , as w ell as w h en his o w n co u n ty is u n able to offer h im an en gage­ m en t. B arn es has d on e b ra v e ly t o stick to S ta fford sh ire after his lapse in to L ancashire. H as ever a bow ler la sted as lon g a n d reta in ed his skill as J a ck H ea rn e ? L a st y ea r, w h en he to p p e d all bow lers, his w ork w as d iscou n ted b y m a n y critics o n th e grou n d th a t the season h a d been w et. B u t h e has been alm ost as su ccessfu l in th is d ry summ er. W itn ess his la test success— 6 fo r 40 a g ain st S urrey o n a faultless p itch . H e is still ou r greatest m e d iu m -p a ce d bow ler o n a ll w ick ets, than ks in p a rt to th e sou n d ju d gm e n t o f his cap ta in . H a d H earne b een under som e captain s h e w o u ld h a v e b een p la y ed o u t lo n g ago. I w ish here to rep ea t m y p erson al d eligh t th a t W a rn er w ill b e th e sk ip p er in A u stralia, fo r h e know s h o w to rin g th e ch an ges on th e bow lin g a n d w ill n o t give a n y on e bow ler m ore th an a reason able am ou n t o f w ork. A t least, th a t w as his ta ctic in th e C o lo n y e ig h t years sin ce. T h e S u rrey ca p ta in m ig h t w ith a d v a n ta g e tak e a leaf o u t o f W a rn er’s b o o k , fo r th e n w e sh ou ld n o t h a v e h a d th e fia sco w itn essed in th e s e co n d inn ings o f M idd lesex y esterd a y ♦Alcester is in Warwickshire.— Ed., Cricket .