Cricket 1912

C R I C K E T : A W E E K L Y R E C O R D O F T H E G A M E .— J u n e 8 t h . 1 9 1 2 . 'Together joined in CricRet’s manly toil.”— Byron. No. 11 . VOL. I. n c w s e - es . S A T U R D A Y , J U N E 8, 1912. PRICE 2D- No. 900 Old Series. A Chat about fAr. A. D. Nourse. N Natal they think no end of Dave Nourse. Which is easily understood, for he is the finest batsman the Garden Colony has ever had, and a particularly good fellow into the bargain. His club, Greyville, j is counted practically invincible when Dave is | playing. He nearly always makes a long score, and he nearly always takes several wickets. Greyville has other good men, not­ ably Joe C ox; but Nourse stands out head and shoulders above the rest. Everyone knows, of course, that Nourse is not an Afrikander by birth. Croydon is his native place. He went to South Africa in the West Biding Regiment, made a lot of runs in local cricket, bought himself out, and settled down in Natal, at first in Maritzburg, later in Durban. For one season he was on the Rand, and it was as a Transvaaler that he journeyed to Australia ; but he found that after all Natal suited him best, and the Durbanites gave him the heartiest of welcomes on his return. At one time it was said that he was coming home to play for Surrey; indeed, that rumour has cropped up once or twice since, but I don’t think there was ever very much in it. If actual negotiations were begun, they did not reach an advanced stage, I believe. Nourse’s first-class career began fifteen or sixteen years ago. He was not included in either of the Natal odds teams which met Lord Hawke’s side in 1895-6; but in 1896-7 he played for the colony in the Currie Cup Tournament at Johannesburg, and in the second innings of his first match made 61 v. Eastern Province. His best performance in the Cape Town Tournament of the next season was 57* v. The Border. Later he played a good innings of 56* for Natal against a strong team brought to Durban by Mr. (now Sir) Abe Bailey. He did not play at all against Lord Hawke’s Team of 1898-9 — which missed Natal altogether—and his real fame may be said to date from the time when serious cricket began again after the War. On April 3, 190*2, he Photo by] Mr* . D, ran up 212 for Durban v. Maritzburg. Maitland Hathorn, B. C. Cooley, and Ernest Vogler were all playing for Durban ; the first- named went in first with Nourse, and scored 74. Gordon White played for Maritzburg, and made 120 for once out. Dave’s first appearance for South Africa was on October 11, 1902, at Johannesburg, against the Austra­ lian team led by Joe Darling. Going in eighth, he made 72. He did little in the other two test matches ; but for Fifteen of Natal he scored 46 in the first innings. Natal did not send a team to the Currie Cup Tournament at Port Elizabeth that season ; had she done so, it is possible that Nourse might have come to England with the 1904 S A. team. In 1903-4 the tour­ nament was on the knock-out system, and Natal failed to survive the first round. Thus Nourse, good 'xas his club record was, had scarcely been sufficiently in the limelight to make his omission quite so big a scandal as some of his admirers thought it. In 1904-5 the tournament was again on the cup-tie principle, and again Natal went down easily to the Trans­ vaal, Nourse making 1 and 22, and taking one wicket for 47. But the visit of the M.C.C. Team under Pelham Warner gave him his chance in 1905-6. Since the day when he scored 93 in the first test match of that tour, and fairly carried his side to victory on those broad shoulders of his, he has never looked back. Six men were out for 105, and 179 were still wanted for victory. Gordon White and Nourse put on 121. Vogler and Schwarz went with only 13 more registered ; but there was Percy Sher­ well to come, and Nourse and he pulled it off. For Natal against the M.C.C. at Durban Dave made a chanceless 119 in 3£ hours, and took 9 wickets for 110. In the third test he scored 61 and 55. In the fifth he made 36, and took 4 for 25 in Eng­ land’s second. His figures for Grey­ ville that season were: 9-5-677— average 169 25, and 27 wickets at under 10 per wicket. His all-round play was the principal feature of the Currie Cup Tournament held on the Rand in 1906-7. The r„ ,. . „ . , figures are so eloquent that they may [ aw ms d- Co., Brig on. je^ ^ Speak jor themselves, NOURSE, '