Cricket 1911

C R IC K E T : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A P R IL 2 2, 1911. "Toge ther joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. n o . 8 6 4 . v o l . x x x . SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 1 9 1 1 . p r ic e 2 d. Chats on the Cricket Field. Mr. F. F. KELLY . F rederick F itzmaurice K elly is one of the best- known cricketers in the United States. Though Philadelphia is the strongest cricket centre there, the Quaker City has no monopoly of talent. In San F r a n c is co, Chicago,Bal­ timore and New York the game is played with keenness and zest, and the last-named city has had several men who would have been, and has now several men who are, worthy of places in an All-American team. But no All-American team has ever been got together. The Annual United States v. Canada match is practically Philadelphia v. Toronto, and though the ad­ visability of giving places in the U.S. team to New York cricketers has often been dis­ cussed, very little has ever been done in that direction. The subject of this Chat is a particularly busy m an; but a cricket career lasting over thirty years, and by no means ended yet, has left him with enthu­ siasm still young and vigorous, and he submitted with the best grace in the world to the ordeal of an interview. “ You were born, Mr.Kelly—” “ I was. At Cannanore, in the East Indies, to be precise. I won’t mention the date; it’s a long time ago, anyhow, and I did not know much about dates then. I am the third son of Photo by] the late Colonel Thomas James Mb* f - *' ■ Kelly. You will find one of my brothers,James Fitzmaurice Kelly, in ‘ W ho’s W ho.’ He has written a Life of Cervantes,’ and a number of other works dealing with Spain, and was for some years Examiner in Spanish at Oxford University. Years and years ago he scored 100 in the first and over in the second innings in a match near Cromer.” One felt that to “ F. F .” this feat of his brother’s counted for at least as much as his literary fame. “ Did any of your other brothers go in for the game ?” “ Oh, yes. There were five of us, and we could all throw a cricket-ball over a hundred yards. My brother George, now a major, was in the Sandhurst team in his time.” “ What was your school ? ” “ St. Charles College, Bays- water. We had some good men there, too. Sir Timothy Carew O’Brien was the best of them, perhaps. At any rate, he be­ came the best known.” “ When did you begin to meet with success as a bowler ? ” “ In 1878. I took six for 22 for the school against the Emeriti. But it was after I left school that I really de­ veloped . I played for a number of clubs—amongthemBromley, Plaistow, the Stoics, the Hamp­ stead Nondescripts and the Emeriti. A match that I re­ member particularly well was one in which I played for Eighteen of Bromley against a mixed eleven of amateurs and professionals. I took eight wickets for 10 runs — Abel, Henderson, K. J. Key and F. E. Street being among the men I dismissed.” “ Is there not one match— in 1886—that you remember even better? ” [Dana, New York, U.S.A. Mr. Kelly laughed as he KELLY. answered. “ You mean Hampstead v. Stoics ? Yes, I think I shall remember that as long as I have any memory left. So will every man on our side. It wasn’t a bad side, either, though far from the Stoics’ best. Stoddart and W . B. Marshall went in at 11.30. The first hour saw 150 up with only one wicket down. At luncheon time ‘two hours ami-a half of play—they had made 370. Five