Cricket 1912

122 CEICKET: A WEEKLY EECOED OP THE GAME. M ay 11, 1912. Yorkshire wound up their practice at Headingley b y a match between the County X I and X V I Young Players on Wednesday and Friday of last week. Kilner made 45 for the X V I in 17 minutes ; but no one else did much, Haigh (7 for 23) and Hirst (6 for 35) being as of old on the spot. The X I. scored 301—Bates 68, Wilson 65, both retiring. The X V I. could only total 93 in their second innings. Whiting, a fast bowler, showed promising form for the youngsters. Bridges hit up 101 not out in the Somerset Trial, between Mr. Gerald Fowler’s X I and Bridgwater on Satur­ day. He made his runs in 75 minutes, he and R. Nichols adding over 150 after six wickets had gone down very cheaply. For Bridgwater Robson took 5 wickets for 41. Men of the Moment in London Club Cricket. T h e J e a co ck e F a m ily— A C le v e r T e io — I lf o r d C aptures — Two F in e P la y e r s — A W a lth a m stow S ta r — T he B ook Y ou M ust G e t . B y S ure C atch . I am pleased to hear that this new feature of C r ic k e t is likely to be appreciated by London club cricketers. We mean to pay par­ ticular attention to the London players’ doings, and if the men and their clubs only support our efforts by becoming regular readers, and introducing C r ic k e t to their friend's, it is the intention of the Editor to extend considerably this feature. Every player can help by bringing C r ic k e t prominently before the. followers of his club, and in this way make hundreds of new and regular readers of the only paper exclusively devoted to the summer game. A P le a s a n t C h at. The weather last Saturday could hardly have been worse, but although it was quite impossible to play their favourite game thousands of men had the exercise of carrying their bags to the various grounds dotted all over the metropolis ; and a pleasant chat with old friends in the pavilion compensated them for the fruitless journeys they undertook. In spite of their inability to get a knock in their opening matches, many of the leading London men are already in form, and with the prospect of a great improvement in the weather they will shortly be scoring heavily on the fine wickets that pre being prepared all over London. Even the park and recreation ground pitches are getting special attention, and I am glad to know thafyhe juniors are likely to have better wickets to play on this season l thef have ever had before. T he J bacocke F am ily . I" < W6tw8lf-Jmown men in London have opened in amazing style. W e y !tl¥^)H.-;Hooker and A. Jeacocke. Against H. Lockwood’s elttVe®I'thfe iritylishl 'pair of White House batsmen both passed the efeuturyjil Thfey>fetaAed the innings and Hooker registered 104 while 'j6&booke!iliit>U84;>>li!This must be a record, for I never before Yemkwbeiithelfiirst-twiiIbatsmen in their opening match exceeding the century. The Jeacocke family are wonderfully good cricketers and real enthusiasts. Possibly A. Jeacocke is the star all-rounder IS? W W t .<#]y.f |first-class rungetter, but he can bowl a W i i j M 1. •WdY*®i,inst H - Lockwood’s Eleven, after iP1!0iSWla‘8r^ iiM p 1ftW!)6ft °MtW'ed half a <lozen wickets cheaply. Tpjhia a^iJUjties.jwtjfo tty? {(fill Jeacocke adds a smartness in jh ^ ajn e best club cricketers in London - - ------Juable — ----------- '— i'-- ,TT1 ‘‘ ami an inval r&atcli-winnn^j, member of the White House team. At the crease Jeacocke is a watchful batsman, with a keen ifc^I1o.vj9is i M i w is of the so*ic* typ®-but he is the bal1 away to leg as wel1 laU?ws the «rass to «row Vyfo e ReiS a$<{he )v:lckefJ Asatrundier he keeps a nice length—and To! ^ hi m a most difficult T D r m i & ® 7 riiL ' Jeacocke is also a a brainy bowler- i >it.ii , firnoT s'mBrfwo VL Ai dB®Ifed!XB 9 •I 1 H):ffl8»ke«id'*(^Sn-ff*«4TwBofi««V«Hiifitt(}rs the bowler. His defence is goo&5; W<*tei%&rous is his natural scoring abilities. He hits good length balls, and, having the knack of placing his strokes well out of the reach of the fielders all round the wicket, he makes runs at a fine pace. Although we do not often hear much about them, there are some wonderfully fine players in H.M. Navy; and when the Fleet were stationed at Southend a few years ago I saw the officers of the Fleet in a match against Southend play some of the finest cricket I have ever witnessed. The Commander of the “ Dreadnought” in the match especially dis­ tinguished himself. He is a left hand batsman with a unique off-drive and sent the ball right over mid-off’s head at a furious pace. The Navy can also furnish many other top class batsmen although I doubt if they have so many fine cricketers as the Army. Capt. E. L. Henslow, the century maker, is perhaps one of the best run-getters connected with military cricket. He owns a fine upstanding style, and can make almost every known scoring stroke, being particularly clever in getting the ball to the boundary on the leg side. I lford C aptures . After building up a new record by going right through last season without ever looking like being defeated, it is just a little curious that Beckton, probably the strongest club-eleven in London, should lose their first match of the present season. The Tar Works men were evidently not in form against Ilford, and their defeat by 13 runs in a low scoring match was very disappointing to Capt. Keeble and his colleagues. Ilford had not until the opening match this season met Beckton for some years, but the sides have at last been brought together through the good offices of the Club Cricketers’ Charity Fund, and, despite Beckton’s unexpected defeat on their own ground, the game was a very pleasant one. The ball, however, was always master of the bat. Except Scoulding, Beckton will have no new men this season ; but Ilford are introducing some very promising talent. They have T. A. Lyon, from Birmingham, a splendid promising batsman, H. J. Eastwood of Walthamstow Wanderers—a fine left-hand hitter and useful bowler, and J. Humphreys, the South Essex left-hand quick scorer; while in J. Gathercole they possess an exceptionally fine wicket-keeper. B uckeridge and B ead . Biver Plate House are a lucky club to possess such an attractive batsman as F. C. Buckeridge. This young century maker is a start­ ing batsman, well above the average. He has a fine stance at the crease, meets the ball with the full face of the bat, and scores all round the wicket with delightful ease. Buckeridge looks a thorough athlete. He is always out to win, and few men playing the Saturday afternoon game get the ball away to the boundary more frequently than the dashiD g Biver Plate House batsman. Another very fine match winning cricketer is E. G. Bead, the late captain of H eathfield. Bead is a wicket-keeper who can take the fastest of bowling, stand­ ing right over the stumps, and yet stump you if you are unlucky enough to get even your toe over the line. He takes the ball on the leg side beautifully, and is in my opinion one of the safest wicket­ keepers in London. But it is as a batsman that I like him most. He wastes no time when he gets to the crease. If the first ball is one to score from he promptly despatches it to the boundary. His full shouldered drives are thing3 of beauty. He can also cut, and he knows how to score freely on the leg side. I regard Bead as one of the most attractive Club Cricketers in the metropolis. S immons in F orm . An East London man of marked ability with the bat and ball is W. Simmons, the Walthamstow star all-rounder. Simmons can bowl the slow break ball, and he can send down a fairly fast one. He has a nice easy action, a good control over his delivery, and his variation of pace and pitch is very cleverly concealed. He has ■opened the season at the top of his form, and against North Middle­ sex he made the ball nip from the pitch at an alarming pace. As a rungetter Simmons possesses a fairly good defence, and he can make some very pretty scoring shots past cover and wide of mid off. H ave Y ou G ot T his ? Have you seen a copy of the Club Cricketers Handbook ? If not you should get one at once. It only costs 3d., and contains 160 pagtes of first-class photos and very entertaining matter. There is an interesting article (by “ W. H. L .” ) on County Facts and a new championship table, all the details of England’s wonderful deeds in Australia, plea for cricket reform, and excellent articles by eminent writers on the game. There is also a guide showing you how to reach the Club grounds in London, and over 1,200 names and addresses of Hon. Secs. It is a great threepennyworth, and can be obtained of all newsagents and at 7, Paternoster Bow, E.C. The Editors of this useful book are W . H. Long and E. A. C. Thomson.