Cricket 1912

172 CEICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M a t 25, 1912. 1888. Good bat, though just recently he has not scored heavily ; capital medium-pace bowler, flighty and brainy, and fine field. C h a r l e s K e l l e w a y . — Born at Lismore, N.S.W., April 25, 1889. Steady b a t ; right-hand medium-pace bowler somewhat o f the M. A. Noble type, though with less variety ; excellent field in the slips. D a v id S m it h . — B om at Bichmond, Melbourne, Sep­ tember 14, 1884. Hard-hitting bat and fine out-field. H a r o l d W . W e b s t e r . — Born at Sydney, February 17, 1889. Good wicket-keeper and fair bat. G e o r g e S t a n t o n C r o u c h . —Manager. Born at Bec­ kenham, Kent, August 20, 1878. May not play during the tour, but will be worth his place if he does. A really good bat and field. Men of the Moment in London Club Cricket. S o u t h e n d ’ s P a s t a n d P r e s e n t -—W h o w il l it b e ?— - T h e L e a d in g P e r f o r m e r s — I l f o r d ’ s F in e T e a m — S o m e C l e v e r P l a y e r s — E x c it in g C r ic k e t in W e s t H a m P a r k — V ic t o r ia P a r k P l a y e r s . B y “ S u r e C a t c h .” What is the matter with Arlington and Leytonstone ? Captain Beal’s eleven opened the season in rare style with a convincing victory over Manor Park Constitutional, but since then the batting and fielding of the side has been amazingly weak, and last Saturday, on a fast easy wicket, the Forest Gate club could only score 40 against the rather moderate Southend bowling. While the seasiders had out a good all-round eleven, and played bright attractive cricket, I am quite at a loss to understand the poor batting of such well known run-getters as Miles, Hoare, Wiles, Beal, Halse, Davis, Buffels, and Cole. In his real form each one of these men is capable of scoring heavily against the best of club bowling, and how they all came to fail at Southend, of all places, is astonishing. S o u t h e n d ’ s P a s t a n d P r e s e n t . That Southend deserved their exceptional triumph is beyond question, and their big victory against one of the strongest sides they are likely to meet this season is one of the finest achievements the present Southend Club have ever accomplished. Most of the players in both teams are persona i friends of mine, and while I am sorry captain Beal and his colleagues did not show their real ability, I must congratulate captain Davey on the excellent all-round cricket his side played. Although Southend are not what I should call strong in bowling, principally I think because they always have to bowl on such real fast batsmen’s wickets, there is no doubt that they are a long way the best club in the town, and if they can keep the side that beat Arlington so easily together, the seaside club ought presently to have a team equal to the old Southend club of years ago when Jack Hemmann was the Hon. Sec., the late J. McEwan, the captain, and J. Barrow, F. Sides, B. W. Steward, W . H. Long, F. Cox, A Shepherd, G. Larman, H. Purser (a brilliant wicket­ keeper in those days), and several other players, whose names I forget for the moment, assisted regularly. Many people in Southend may remember how the old club once sent a team to Leyton under the captaincy of G. Larman and had all the best of a drawn match with an Essex Club and Ground eleven that included such cricketers as A. S. Johnston, Beeves, Tremlin, Bussell (the old Essex stumper), T. W . Saint, and three other county players. So impressed were the Essex authorities that when the club visited Leyton the following year they found C. J. Kortright, the late F. G. Bull, Beeves, Tremlin, and Bussell amongst the team they had to meet. I shall always remember this match, for I asked Freddy Wiles to play in the game, and he and I opening the innings had the pleasure of knocking off C. J. Kortright, F. G. Bull, and Tremlin, before we were parted. The present Southend Club certainly has many excellent players. F. W. Tew and W. J. Whelan, two South Hampstead batsmen, are amongst the best men in the team. Tew is a brilliant cricketer who can make every known scoring stroke. Whelan is as stylish as he is effective. Bobsie Smith is a dashing run-getter and useful bowler. Bert Davey is an effective batsman. Walter Peake is a quick scorer, fine fielder, and a bowler who can keep a good length, while Councillor H. W. Bichardson, one of the most popular of captains, is a batsman with a cool resolute defence and a scoring shot that sends short-pitched balls right over cover-point’s head to the boundary at a lightning pace. W h o w il l it b e ? I am wondering when Freddy Wiles is going to have a catch made off his bowling. In three Saturday matches this season I believe Wiles has secured about 10 wickets, but if all the catches and stumping chances had been accepted from his slow deliveries he would have had something like 22 victims in the three matches for quite a trifling cost. Wiles is one of the biggest-hearted cricketers I know. He is quite a good first slip fielder, a punishing batsman, who can cut and drive, and a slow left-hand bowler with a remarkable action. He walks several yards, does a funny little hop before he reaches the crease and then delivers a peculiar ball that hangs in the air, and breaks from leg. He also has a funny ball that pitches on the middle stump and goes away from the batsman, who in attempting to hit this tempter often puts up a catch to extra cover. In spite of the number of years Wiles has been playing he is still a fine bowler, and when properly backed up in the field, and by the wicket-keeper, gets a large number of wickets. If he had been coached when he was a lad of nineteen or so, I am certain Wiles would have been a county player. Who is going to make the first catch of the season off this persevering bowler ? T h e L e a d in g P e r f o r m e r s . The leading performers in a heavy scoring week have played some great innings. Gill, of Blackheath, a stylish batsman with a strong defence and a fine variety of scoring strokes, has made 112. J. B. Mason, of the same club, has hit 122. That is not surprising, for Mason would still have been an England player had he been able to assist Kent regularly. Dawdry, of Battersea, a cricketer with a neat pose at the crease and owner of most of the known shots that score runs, has obtained 102 not out. Hadden, the Beckton wicket-keeper, who cuts and places the ball to leg so skilfully has scored 105. Cooper of the same club has also played an innings of 105. He is a left-hander with a fair defence, who cuts hard, hits to leg splendidly and drives with amazing power. Monro of Hampstead has registered 100 not out. He is a match-winning batsman who picks out the right ball to hit and places his strokes well away from the fielders. Butcher of Upper Tooting has also scored 100. He is a beautiful batsman to watch. His stance at the crease is almost ideal. He gives the ball the full face of the bat, and bis cutting, driving and placing to leg is first class. Marriott has cored 125. He is a player quite as neat in his methods as Butcher. I l f o r d ’ s F in e T e a m . Have we a better club team than Ilford at the present moment ? I doubt it. In three successive matches Louden’s fast balls and Weaver’s tricky slows have dis­ missed Beckton for 43, Westcliff for 74, and Enfield for 44. Ilford have won all three games, and against Westcliff and Enfield they have scored 626 runs. A t Enfield, Spelling, the Hon. Sec., hit 75 not out in the brief space of 35 minutes and the captain, A lf Porter, scored 41, chiefly by neat strokes on the leg side. Already two Ilford players have scored 70 and over without getting out. Who will be the first century maker for them, I wonder ? Besides being able to field, bat and bowl, Ilford have one of the best wicket-keepers in London in Gathercole. S o m e C l e v e r P l a y e r s . I see Cairns of South West Ham has brought out some of his old hitting powers. Parson’s Green have found a treasure in the Fulham district in Harrod, who makes a fine square cut, scores rapidly and bowls a deadly fast ball. I do not think there are many better all-round players than Gill of Old Charlton. He is a stylish batsman