Cricket 1912

J une 22, 1912. CEICKET: A WEEKLY EECOED OF THE GAME. 253 H a m ish S tu a rt w rites :— In concluding m y observations (which w ere w ritten from d ay to day) on the flrst d ay ’s play in the second test m atch I w rote : “ T ru ly no d ay’s p lay has ever more c le a rly show n the difference in class betw een tw o sid es.” T his w as h a stily w ritten an d I left out the im portant qualifica­ tion “ ab so lu tely considered ” after “ no d ay ’s p la y.” Such difference in class as existed w as collective, and, as I subse­ quently en d eavoured to show , the double failure o f the South A frican s on M on day w as due rath er to w ron g m ethods than to lack o f sk ill. M y ch ief desire w as to do the South A fricans ju stice and to em phasise our lu ck, w ithout, at the sam e tim e, being le ss than critically ju st to Spooner, R hodes, B arn es and Foster. I t is som etim es extrem ely difficult to adjust the scales. M y critica l sym p athies are ever w ith the under dbg, sim ply because m ost folk are apt to belaud the top dog beyond his m erits an d to belabour the alread y defeated dog below . I should lik e to add th at I thought the catch w hich F r y m issed w as the reverse o f easy. A ll high catches under w hich a m an has to get by an exercise of ju d gm en t and ag ility are difficult. w ill p la y h is la s t g am e fo r S u s s e x y e t . T h e y o u n g ste rs m u st be g iv e n a ch a n ce , a n d th e rec o rd h e h as m ad o w a s b e tte r b ro k e n th a n m a in ta in e d lo n g e r w ith o u t fu ll ju s tific a ­ tio n ; b u t h e is n o t d on e w ith , b y a n y m ean s. H e m a y v e r y lik e ly tu rn o u t a t H o rsh am , h is n a tiv e p la c e , n e x t w ee k . M r. G e o rg e A lls o p , the South A frican m an ager, w rites to object to one o f H am ish S tu a rt’s criticism s, w hich seem s to him to reflect upon M itch ell’s captaincy. I t w as not from the p avilion end, M r. A llsop says, th at P eg ler did so w ell v. M .C .C ., so there is no cause to blam e the captain for failure to put him on there u n til over 300 ru n s w ere up. T here is not tim e to com m unicate w ith M r. S tu a rt; but I am quite sure that he w ill be h eartily so rry for an y m istake he h as m ade. T h e E n g lan d team at L o rd ’s on M on day w ill be : C. B . F r y , P . F . W arner, R . H . Spooner, F . R . F o ste r, B arn es, H obbs, A L L H era ld in g th e “ T e s ts ,” o r te s tin g o ur H e ra ld ry . D esign fo r a C o at o f A rm s. F r y got so w ell under th is high b all that he m ade the catch look ea sy . H e seem ed to m eto lose his balance at the suprem e m om ent. W it h th e d ro p p in g o f K illic k fro m th e S u s s e x te a m la s t w e e k th e re com es to a n en d a r e a lly w o n d e rfu l reco rd . F r o m G eo rg e B e a n ’s b e n e fit m a tc h on J u l y 1 1 , 18 9 8 — w h e n h e flrst w o re g la sse s on th e field— to J u n e 1 2 , 1 9 1 2 , K illic k w a s n e v e r a b se n t fro m a n y o f h is c o u n ty ’s m atch e s. D u rin g t h a t p o rio d h e p la y e d in 38 9 g am es fo r S u s s e x (in clu d in g th e m a tc h v . W e st o f S c o tla n d in 19 0 3 a n d th e tw o G la m o rg a n e n co u n ters in 1 9 10 ) , a n d w a s a lso in th e lis t fo r tw o m a tc h e s a b a n d o n e d ow in g to w e a th e r. H e b a tte d in a ll b u t tw o o f th e 38 9— v . L a n c a sh ire a t M an ­ ch e ster, 19 0 2 , a n d v . H a n ts a t S o u th am p to n in 19 0 9 . H is o n ly p a ir d u rin g th e p erio d w a s a g a in s t G lo u cestersh ire a t H o v e in 19 0 5 . I h e a r t h a t w h e n to ld o f h is om issio n K illic k sa id : “ T h is is th e b e g in n in g o f th e e n d .” H e seem ed to ta k e i t m u c h lt o h e a rt. B u t it is b y n o m ean s lik e ly t h a t h e R hodes, W oolley (F . E .), Sm ith (E . J.) , D ean , and either G . L . Je sso p or H earn e ( J. W .). H a ig h ’ s bow ling form in recent m atch es h as been rem ark ­ able— 5 for 32, 6 for 14 , 4 for 4 3, 3 for 8 1, 9 for 25, and 5 for 40 in successive inn in gs. It is w ell that he should be in fettle, for H irst’s dam aged knee is so troublesom e th at G eorge w ill have to lie up fo r a tim e. W a l t e r B r e a r l e y has a qualification for C heshire, and it is said w ill assist the coun ty in its com in g m atches, or som e o f them . C heshire can do w ith him . C B IC K E T TOU RS OR DAY M A T C H E S.—Ex-County Cricketer open for engagement as Tour Manager, or for Umpiring or Scoring.— D a n ie l l , 32, Raul Road, Peckham , S .E . FO R S A L E —C kicket F ie ld , 1892 to 1895, complete, unbound, in good condition. What offers?— J . W . W ., c/o C b jcret, 33 and 35, Moor Lane, E .C ,