Cricket 1911

A pril 22, 19 1 1. CRICKET : A W EEK LY RECORD OP THE GAME. 83 Feb. Mar. April 20.— J. B. Conyers, Hamilton v. The Philadelphians (seratch match) ... 25.—J. H. Savigny,West Launceston v.North Launceston 25.—R. Westbrook „ v. ,, 25. - -E . A.Windsor, East Launceston v.South Launceston 25.—N. O. Nott, University v. West Torrens East (B Grade) 25.— S. R. Titus, Trinity v. Wesley (C e y lo n )................ 2.—F. W . Holmes, Durban v. Maritzburg 4.— T. Jones, Leaderville v. Y.M.C.A. (West Australia) 4.— H. O. Smith, North Launceston v. West Launceston 4.—W . Dick, Carlton v. Essendon ............... 4.— C. McKenzie, Mtzroy v. North Melbourne 4.— B. G. Johnstone. Melbourne v. University 4.—A. E. Y. Hartkoil, University v. Melbourne 5.— H. Torre, San Isi ro v. Hurlingham ]5.—Redfern, Bamsbottcm v. Lowerhouse * Signifus not out; r, retired. *102 122 119 114 116 174 rll6 *116 164 *100 192 *111 183 117 *100 Corr^spond^nc^. [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions of his correspondents.] To the E d ito r o f C r ic k e t . E N G L A N D ’ S G R E A T E S T E L E V E N . S ir , — In what year o f m odern times w ould the best England eleven have been the strongest ? The question is decidedly theoretical, as opposed to p ractical; but none the less it would be extremely interesting to learn the views of m en like “ W .G .,” competent to give a sound opinion. I suppose the team w ould of necessity include “ W .G .” and Freem an, which w ould suggest 1870 or 1871 as the best year. H ow w ould the follow ing represent 1871 ? W . Yardley, V . E . W alker (capt.), Freeman, Shaw (Alfred), Emm ett, 1. W . G. Grace, 6. 2. C. J. Ottaway, 7. 3. D aft, 8. 4. R . A. H . M itchell, 9. 5. E . M. Grace, 10. 11. Pinder, with reserves, G. F . Grace, I. D . W alker, C. E . Green, C. I. Thornton and Shaw (J. C .). Or could others have claimed preference ? [Thornton w ould probably not have been chosen at the time ; but since our experiences o f the Australian hitters, and later o f G. L . Jessop, he would, I should think, be considered indispensable now.] Though, to be sure, the England elevens o f 1880 and 1882 would want some beating. I enclose m y card. Y ours, &c., “ R O X A .” L o r d H a r r is w rites:— “ It is difficult eno’ to pick the best E ngland team in a selected year, even in times when there were n ot as m any cricketers playing in first-class matches as there are n o w ; and as your correspondent has selected 1871 I append a very good, if not the best English team o f that y e a r; but fear I must decline the, I should say, impossible task of saying in w hich year England was at its strongest. I expect you will find if you refer to others that tot homines applies. I have asked Mr. R . D. W alker for his opinion and you w ill see we cannot quite agree : I think “ W . G .” w ould be the best judge. I have picked m y “ best” team from the two Gentle­ men v. Players matches o f 18 71:— W. G. Grace G. Freeman E. Pooley (or E. F. S. Tylecote) I. D. Walker (captain) W. Yardley R. Daft H. Jupp A. Lubbock (or G. F. Grace) D. Buchanan (or Jas. Lilly- white) J. C. Shaw (or A. Appleby) A. Shaw (or Southerton) Others w ould very likely find room for -Ephraim L ockw ood, John Sm ith (o f Cambridge), A . N. H ornby and C. E . Green. Mr. W alker, you w ill observe, prefers Carpenter and Hayw ard. I think they were too old, and with such bad fields on the side as D. Buchanan and Shaw (J. C.) it is necessary to strengthen the fielding w ith A. Lubbock or G. F . Grace. The form er w ould, I think, have been preferred at that date. It w ould not be a brilliant fielding side even then, and it has a distinct tail.” [M r. R . D . W alker, in his letter referred to above, said :— “ I think the follow ing would have been m y England team : W . G. G race, Daft, Carpenter, H ayw ard, I. D . W alker, W . Yardley, Freem an, Emm ett (or J. C. Shaw), D . Buchanan, Alfred Shaw (or Southerton), P ooley or Pinder. G. F . Grace, A . N. H ornby, Ottaway and A . Lubbock would, how ever, have their supporters. Neither Ottaway nor A. L ubbock was in full play.” ] C a p t . W . E . D e n is o n , asked t o express an o p in ion o n th e su b je ct raised in th e a b o v e letter, k in d ly w rites :— ‘ ‘ I h a v e here n o w o rk o f referen ce, su ch as Scores and B iograp h ies , an d w o u ld n o t like to tru st t o m y m em o ry as to w h ich cricketers w ere in the z en ith o f their fam e in a n y p articu la r year, m o re p a rticu la rly as the year referred to is so lo n g ago. In selectin g w h a t o n e thinks w ou ld be the stron g est side, it m ig h t w ell h a p p e n th a t on e m ig h t in clu d e som e p la y er w h o m ig h t a t th a t tim e n o t h a v e rea ch ed his best, as w ell as others w h o m ig h t alread y h a v e passed th eir’s. Messrs. V . E . W a lk e r an d R . A . H . M itchell w ere b o th g rea t personal friends o f m y ow n , b u t I th in k th a t th e fo rm e r h a d a lm ost a b a n d on e d first-class crick et b y 1871 a n d th a t the latter, bein g a m a ster a t E to n , th ou g h h e p la y e d a g o o d deal o f I Z . crick e t in A ugu st, h a d few o p p o rtu n itie s fo r first-class m atch es, e x ce p t during the C a n terb u ry W e e k . T h e nam es fu rn ish ed b y y o u r corres­ p o n d e n t are all th ose o f q u ite first-class cricketers, b u t the side w o u ld b e o p e n to criticism . T h ere is a stron g nu cleu s o f b ow lin g in A lfred S haw , F reem an an d E m m e t t ; bu t M r. V . E . W a lk e r h a d a lm o st le ft o ff b ow lin g , th o u g h Mr. E . M . G race m ig h t ta k e his p lace. I t w o u ld h a v e b een d iffic u lt to p la ce th e side in th e field . T h ere w ou ld h a v e b een to o m a n y can d id ates fo r certain p laces, w h ile others w o u ld h a v e h a d to b e fille d b y those n o t h a b itu a ted to th em . I f th ose w h o se le cte d eleven s w o u ld alw a ys con sid er h ow th eir m en w ere to stan d in th e field, th e y w o u ld o fte n m o d ify th eir origin al ideas. I h a v e alw a ys lo o k e d u p o n o n e of th e P la y e rs’ E lev en s in th e eighties, as origin ally selected , as th e side m o st com p lete a t all p oin ts w h ich I h a v e ever c om e across. I t d id n o t p la y as selected as Shrew sbury, o n a cco u n t o f an in ju ry , g a v e w a y to F low ers ; b u t, still, it w as a p e rfe ct side. T h ere w as p le n ty o f g o o d b a ttin g w ith n o d ifficu lty in arrangin g th e ord er o f g oin g in , and e v e ry p ossib le v a rie ty o f first-class bow lin g . T h e m ain fea tu re, h ow e v er, w as th e field in g. E v e r y m an w as in th e p la ce w h ich h e o ccu p ie d in his co u n ty eleven, a n d in w h ich h e w as a sp ecialist. I n ev ery side a p e rfe ct fieldsm an sh o u ld b e in th e p articu la r p lace in w h ich h e has m a d e his n am e fo r h im self. I t is all v e ry w ell to sa y th a t a really g o o d field sm an ca n field an yw h ere. S o h e can, b u t h e is o f m o st use t o his side in th ose p o sitio n s to w h ich h e is m o s t a ccu stom e d , an d it is w astin g his ex cellen ce t o p lace h im elsew here. T h e ex tra o rd in a ry v e rsa tility an d u b iq u i­ tou s excellen ce o f an A . O. Jon es o ccu r b u t seld om in a g e n e ra tio n .” A f a m o u s o l d C a m b r id g b C a p t a in , w h o ap p eared in rep resen ta tiv e m atch es o n m a n y occa sion s, w rites :— ‘ 1 T h ere is n o d o u b t th a t th e m en w h ose nam es are m en ­ tio n e d w o u ld b e a p re tty u seful lo t o f p layers, an d th a t a v e r y stron g E le v e n co u ld h a v e b e e n selected from th em , b u t w h eth er th e y w o u ld fo rm th e best side to represen t E n g la n d in a n y on e yea r during m o d e rn tim es is v e ry p ro b lem a tica l, an d, p erson ally, I d o n o t th in k th a t in the y e a r m e n tion ed— 1871— E n glish crick e t w as q u ite a t its h ig h e st sta n d a rd .” W il l ia m C a p p v n , in S eventy-one N o t Out, says (page 25 6) :— “ I am o ften ask ed w h eth er I con sid er th e crick e t o f to -d a y su perior to w h a t it w as w h e n I w as a y o u n g m an . A frien d o f m in e la tely sen t m e an elev en on p ap er, com p o se d o f o ld players, w h ich h e d ecla red w o u ld equ al a n y eleven o f th e p resen t g en eration . In this o p in io n I en tirely con cu r. T h e o ld eleven , as g iv en b y m y frien d , is as follow s :— ■ H on . C. G . L y tte lto n R . A . H . M itchell V . E . W a lk er H a yw a rd C arpenter D a ft P arr C a ffy n W illsh er L o ck y e r J a ck so n