Cricket 1912

2 1 2 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J u n e 8, 1912. the ball next Thursday, for he is the East London fast bowler against W est London. He got six cheap wickets at Epping, and on his day be is a good bowler ; but I do n ot think he is the best fast bowler in London club cricket. A couple of years ago I did not find a lot of difficulty in playing him at Bainham. Light in build, Mayes takes a fairly long run, and possesses that gift which makes the ball “ fiz ” up off the pitch. He has a nice easy action, and can make the ball turn slightly from the off ; but like most fast bowlers he is not difficult to play if you get down low to him and watch the ball carefully off the pitch. He is not easy to score from though, and as he can maintain his pace for hours it is easy to see that “ Sonny ” Mayes is a very useful man to have on your side. W h a t d o Y o u T h in k ? A friend asks me if I do n ot think the following eleven is the best by which East London Club Cricket could be represented :— C. J. Kortright, A. Hadden, W. Cooper, T. M. Weaver, H. Swann, A. T. Keeble, T. G. Grinter, S.CP. Meston, A. Anderson, E. Connor and G. M. Louden. While this is certainly a very warm eleven, I am not at all sure it’’could not be improved. All the same I would like to see such a team representing East London in the inter-District Championship matches/ In these “ games the ’ East London Committee might choose all the’ above players, yet it is'doubtful if they could or would play. In East London some of the leading players, I much regret to say, do not rally round the Committee in theirTefforts to assist charity. Why this is 'I cannot understand. A F o rest H i m . B o w l e r . I am not at all certain that there is a better club bowler than G. C. Hast, the Forest Hill Hon. Sec. Against Private Banks he took five wickets for 12 runs, and it was his cleverness with the ball that brought about the Banks dismissal for the small total of 32. Hast bowls a rather tricky medium pace ball. He varies his pitch with con­ siderable skill, and he knows how to make the ball rise quickly. His break is not extensive, but he makes the ball do just enough to deceive the batsman. Having a good command of length and finger spin, he is always a dangerous bowler, and if the wicket helps him at all he is quite unplay­ able. Tw o C e n t u r y M a k e r s . A batsman of distinct class is C. P. Hurditch, of Twickenham. Against West Sheen he scored 108 and played really brilliant cricket. At the crease he has a nice easy stand. He meets the ball with the face of the bat, and places his scoring strokes with fine power well away from the fielders. Another century maker was Badcliffe, of the Cyphers. Badcliffe is a quick-footed free batsman w ith a sparkling style, keen eye, and ability to score rapidly all round the wicket. A F in e A l l - r o u n d P l a y e r . An all-round cricketer above the average is J. F. Hosken, of Upper Tooting. He bats in nice free style, keeping the ball well on the ground and hitting the loose ones with rare judgment. He uses his head^withYthe ball — varies his pace judiciously, and always keeping a good length is most difficult to score from. I should say there are few better all-round men than J. F.IHosken in London club cricket. A W o r t h y S o n . In an interesting letter F. K . Honeyball tells me that he is not the bowler for the Great Western Bailway. It is his son, S. Honeyball, who bowls the deadly slow left- hand deliveries. I see young Honeyball recently secured six Westbourne Park Wanderers wickets for 15 runs, so that he is a bowler well above the average is quite certain. Worth, of Honor Oak, is another fine cricketer. He is a batsman who believes in going for the bowler all the time. Quick on his feet, Worth can make every known scoring- stroke, and with his strong defence he is always a hard player to get out. E a l in g M a t c h W in n e r . D. B. Osborne, of Ealing, is a bowler few batsmen care to meet. He only sends* down a medium pace b a ll; but he varies his pace'and pitch so cleverly that even the best of rungetters are never comfortable against him. W ith an easy action, Osborne makes the ball turn off the pitch very quickly, and his slow break ball gets him quite a lot of wickets. Ealing are a particularly strong club this season, with Tolkein and Gunning in great form, but the man who wins most of their matches is the irresistible D. B. Osborne. I notice Ilford are still on the winning path, and Louden, Eastwood and Lyon were in capital form against Buckhurst Hill, who have a fine batsman in B. G. Underwood. B o n to ft ’ s H it t in g . F. Bontoft, who was concerned in Manor Park Consti­ tutionals big ninth wicket stand of 141, is a hitter with little or no defence. He drives like a Bonnor, and hits to leg with the power of an F. G. .T. Ford. Bontoft’s share of the 141 was 88. Once on the Chigwell Ground, I and F. W. Tew, of South Hampstead and Southend fame, were playing with Bontoft in a memorable match in which he hit 64 in 15 minutes,"and won our side a victory against time. Bontoft has in his day been7a fine medium pace bowler, but as a batsman he is uncertain,"although if he happens to have a little luck he scores 6’s and 4 ’s at'an alarming pace. A r e W e S elf ish ? Are we cricketers who have made our reputations as good club players selfish ? I fear we are, for only a very few of us take the slightest interest in'our young players. W e get a good lad. Put him into our first team. If he succeeds—well and good ! If he fails in a match or two he is" dropped, and nothing more is heard of him. We never trouble to ask ourselves the cause of his failure. Yet if we did so how little would be the effort to remedy his defects and make him a fine player ! We see his faults at a glance, but very few of us come forward with the little advice that would enable him to improve and develop his abilities. I would here make a special appeal for coming young players, and ask the men of experience to be ready with sound advice for them so that when the time comes for the successful cricketer to retire the youngster may step into the first team and worthily fill up the vacancy. Captains” can" do much valuable work in this direction, and I hope this brief sermon will lead to their giving the promising youth the encouragement he deserves. W h y C e n tu r ie s a r e M a d e . I fear fielding, as far as club cricket is concerned, is rapidly becoming a lost art. Yet it is the most enjoyable part of the game. In 84 games May 18 eight indivi­ dual centuries were recorded. Now I wonder how many times the makers of these hundreds were missed. If fielders tried to make their hands safe b y catching practice once a week, I am quite certain that mighty few players would realise the ambition of their cricket life b y putting up a century score. The present moderate fielding I attribute to net practice. If I was captain of a side I would have no net practice for my team. A good wicket would be put up every night with players taking turns at wicket-keeping. There would be only three bowlers, with the remainder fielding. Each man would bat for ten minutes and then take his turn in the field. If this kind of practice became a regular rule we should soon hear little about bad fielding, m issed'catches, heavy scores, and drawn games. BEULAH (strone) Wed. July 10 away, also 2nd X I (medium) -July 6 aud 20 away, June 22 home.—Mathiesen, 8, Stratford Road, Thornton Heath. G E O R G E L E W I N & C O . , Club Colour Specialists and Athletic Clothing Manufacturers. 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