Cricket 1912

112 CEICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M ay 4, 1912. now defunct Tottenham Club on the Tottenham ground, where Charlie McGahey and Percy Perrin scored so many hundreds. Curiously enough I have been associated with Caton in his three unique records. In the match at Tottenham I was 27 when Caton joined m e ; I was 29 when he was out, he having scored 66, by sixteen successive fours and a two, while I made two pingles. The placing of the field in thi3 match was quite remarkable, for Mr. Thomas, the captain of the Tottenham club, had all his men fielding round the boundary while Caton was hitting, except the bowler and wicket-keeper. Caton’s innings at Tottenham was the most amazing batting I ever saw. Caton accomplished another great feat at Barking on July 8, 1911. We played 1*2 a side. Caton took the whole eleven Barking wickets for 66, then went in first with me and after I had hit the first ball for 4, he scored the next 35 runs. On the Rectory Field at Manor Park Caton was once associated with C. Beal in a partnership for the first wicket that produced 94 runs in the brief time of 25 minutes. In another season Caton scored three 50’s and a 77 in his first four innings.” B ankers ’ E arly F orm . That Private Banks will miss E. C. Kirk is beyond question, but their loss will be London County and Westminster’s gain. With the possible exception of “ T ray” Grinter, I should say the Surrey player is the best match winning cricketer in London Saturday afternoon games. Kirk did not do anything very remarkable in his first game with his new Bank team. It is true he scored 27, but only took 3 wickets for 35. Still, he will no doubt soon run into his best form. What makes Kirk such a deadly bowler is his strong belief that the best way to get a batsman out is to keep making him play you with the bat and not his legs. Every delivery of Kirk s will hit the wicket if you do not play it. He rarely makes the ball turn more than the width of three stumps, and this combined with his nip off the pitch makes him the most difficult of all club bowlers to play and score from. W ith Kirk at one end and Mills at the other the London County and Westminster will always want a tremendous lot of beating. Mills has opened in quite his best form and his 7 Heathfield victims could only hit 32 from his deliveries. Last season Mills captured twice as many wickets as any of his colleagues. He is a tricky bowler with a deceptive flight and he makes the ball turn very sharply off the pitch. Another useful Bank cricketer is V. H. Kirby, who has been quite the bowler of the opening week of the season. He captured 7 Balham Wanderers wickets for 11 runs aud he varied.his length and pace so cleverly and made the ball whip back off the pitch so quickly that he was almost unplayable. Yet his side, by poor batting, were beaten. H iggs and E ngland . The brothers Higgs, who play regularly for Parson’s Green, are amongst the best cricketers in London. Both are always worth watching. A. C. Higgs indeed is an all-round man of marked ability, and he started the season in great style against Clapham Ramblers. One of the Ramblers was telling me last Monday that he thought Higgs a very fine player. He is, according to my friend, just the batsman to win games against time. He punched the Ramblers’ bowler quite freely. With a good defence and his quick footwork Higgs scores all round the wicket at an alarming pace when set, but it is as a bowler that he is thought most of. He has the happy knack of maintaining a perfect length, worrying the batsman with his subtle variation of pace, and then clean bowling him with what looks quite a simple ball. Auother Parson’s Green man of moment is F. England. He is a really class batsman with a variety of charming scoring strokes all round the wicket that enable him to register runs freely off the best of bowlers. S porting C aptains . I have played under many captains, including R. F. Knight, of Northampton fame, whom I first met on the Yarmouth ground. Quite a number of the chief captains in club cricket are old personal friends of mine. They are the best of fellows. They play the game in the right spirit, and they are, I believe, the best-liked men in London club cricket. Bertie Earl, the leader of Clapham Ramblers, is, I should say, the most popular figure in his large club. Earl is not what I call a great cricketer. He is just a good leader, and the Ramblers are never beaten until ihe winning run has been scored against them when Earl is conducting the game. He bowls lobs with some success, but it is his knowledge of the game and brainy bowling changes that make him so invaluable to the Ramblers. Another captain who is quite a personality in the club ciicket world is P. H. Slater. He is one of the best sportsmen I have ever met, and one of the finest run getters. Slater is the right build for a cricketer. He is tall, has plenty of strength, and with a solid defence as well as a remarkable number of scoring 3 A R D D A F T ’S N O T T IN G H A M S H IR E M A R L.—Particular apply Radcliffe-on-Trent, Notts.— (A dvt .) shots, the Dulwich Captain is generally regarded as one of the most stylish run getters in the Metropolis. What Slater is in South London the evergreen Arthur Keeble is in East London, a popular figure and sporting captain who always plays the game in the right spirit. Keeble is not so strongly built as Slater, but he is almost as useful with the bat. A keen man at the wicket, Keeble meets the best bowlers with the straightest of bats. He has a sound defence and when set makes that beautiful shot past cover of which Tom Hayward is so fond with wonderful precision. Alf Porter of Ilford is a captain everyone likes to meet. He has been a splendid footballer, and is still a batsman above the average with the most reliable of defences and a pretty bagful of effective scoring strokes. Walter Kekwick, of Manor Park Constitutional, is another of the true sporting captains. Not a great run getter, Kekwick can play an uphill game with fine resolution. He is a good leader, always a thorough trier in every­ thing he attempts, and on certain wickets a good bowler with a peculiar low delivery that puzzles the best batsmen if he finds his length in the first couple of overs. G. W . Hammond, the leader of Hornsey, is not only a good captain but also a fine all-round player, who during the season puts np many notable performances, while Arthur Anderson, the Barking giant, is I should say one of the safest batsmen playing in Saturday afternoon cricket. Anderson owns a long reach. He plays a beautiful straight bat, is a strong scorer on the leg side and can make a shot just over cover-point’s head that earns him a big crop of boundaries every season. A R e a l E n th u sia st. I wish every cricketer enjoyed his game as Jack Hoare does. This fine young all-round player resides at Wandsworth, yet he plays all over the metropolis. Slightly built, but tall, Hoare is a splendid sporting cricketer. A fine bowler with a low deceptive delivery, he can keep a tantalising length, while as first wicket down rungetter and gieat field in any position the popular Jack wants a lot of beating. Important Meetings at Lord’ s. B o a r d o f C on tro l a n d C r ic k e t I m p e r ia l C o n f e r e n c e . At Lord’s on Tuesday a meeting of the Board of Control was held, Lord Desborough (President,), Lord Harris, Mr. W. H. Patterson, Mr. H. D. G. Leveson-Gower, and Dr. Bussell Bencraft representing the M.C.C., while of the ten counties en­ titled to send delegates only Worcestershire was unrepresented, Messrs. F. B. Foster, J. B. Mason, G. MacGregor, J. Horner, John Shuter, C. E. Green, and A. 0. Jones appearing for their respective counties, while Mr. F. E. Lacey deputised for Northants. Messrs. C. B. Fry, H. K. Foster, and John Shuter were chosen a selection committee for the tests. Mr. Fry was selected as captain of the England team. After the meeting, the Cricket Imperial Conference was held. Lord Harris and Lord Desborough represented England, Messrs. G. S. Crouch and W. Findlay Australia, Messrs. George Allsop and H. D. G. Leveson-Gower South Africa, Messrs. Frank Mitchell and Claude Jennings were also present. The chief business transacted was the selection of umpires for the nine Tests. A few each of the following volumes of “ C r ic k e t ” for sale at prices stated (sent post free). A reduction of ten per cent, will be made to anyone buying two or more, and of twenty per cent, to anyone buying five or more. -Volumes 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8 (very scarce), 10/- each. Volumes 16, 17, 18, 21, 26, 27, and 28 at 7/- each. Volumes 14,15,19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 29 at 6/- each. Apply to the Manager of “ C r ic k e t ,” 33 & 35, Moor Lane, E .C . THE AMERICAN CRICKETER. F ounded 1877. Published by H. H. Carnlsh on behalf of The Associated Cricket Clubs of Philadelphia. An Illustrated Journal of Cricket, Association Football, Tennis, Golf, and Kindred Pastimes. No. 608, Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.A. PRICE— IB/- per annum, post paid anywhere. Specimen copies mailed on request.