Cricket 1912

324 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J uly 13, 1912. Men of the Moment in London Club Cricket. A M atch W inner — A P rolific W icket T aker — H is N atural G ift — A P icturesque G rou nd — T hose I nnocent L ooking B alls — M en in F o r m —F rom all Q u arters — T wo C entury M akers . B y “ S u r e C a tc h . ” I bear from quite a large number of friends that they are often unable to obtain C r icket . My friends have twro ways of meeting this difficulty. One is to order C ricket to be delivered with your morning paper on Saturday by your newsagent. The other is to get into touch with the Manager at 33, Moor Lane, E C , and arrange with him for a direct supply. Hon. Secs, of the clubs by this last named method can easily arrange to supply their members with C ricket , for the Manager will send every week to any club Hon. Sec. half-a-dozen copies of C ricket for 10 penny stamps. I should much like to see club captains or Hon. Secs, arranging for a direct supply of C ricket so that their players can purchase from them their weekly copy every Saturday afternoon. If any player or reader should in future have a difficulty in getting C ricket from his newsagent I shall be much obliged if he will at once communicate with the Manager at 33, Moor Lane, E .C . A M atch W inner . It is exceedingly doubtful if there is a finer match wincing bowler playing in London club cricket than T. M. Weaver, of Ilford, whose photo. I am able to give in this issue by the kind permission of the Editors of the Club Cricketers’ Handbook. Weaver, who has played cricket in many towns and villages, has enjoyed a remarkable career for a slow bowler. On no fewer than 44 occasions he has performed the hat trick. Amongst the notable men he has clean bowled are C. B . F ry and the famous R an ji, who h ive both, with E . M. Sprot, played under W eaver’s captaincy. Another distinction that has fallen to Ilford’s match winner is the taking over of the first eleven En glish cricketers tbat have ever visited France. In one of these games on French soil Weaver took all ten wickets. A P rolific W icket T aker . I believe W eaver’s first London club was the Bees, who used to play at Tufnell P ark ; but he has also played a lot of cricket in Nottingham and Hampshire. In fact he spent seven years in Southampton before coming to London, and with the Deanery club during this period he captured over 900 wickets. There is no greater enthusiast than W eaver in club cricket, and with all bis experience of getting men out it is astonishing that he has never been able to m aster battiug. H is heart has always been in bowling, and whatever club he has assisted has invariably been successful in most of their games. In m any respects as a bowler Weaver is quite unique, for no batsman is able to score freely from him , yet to the onlooker he looks so simple that unless you have played against him you think every ball he bowls ought to be hit out of the ground. H is N atural G if t . On several occasions during his stay in Southampton Weaver was invited to play for H am pshire, but business calls always pre­ vented his accepting those invitations. Once at the Oval he hoped to turn out against Surrey right up to the last minute, but here again his luck was out, for an important unexpected business engagement forced him to give up his place. Had he been able to devote the necessary time to first class cricket, W eaver m ight easily have developed into an England bowler, for he has the natural gift of getting first class men out. A P icturesque G round . Since he joiued Ilford W eaver, on a wicket equal to that furnished ou any of our country grounds, has accomplished some extraordinary performances. If any reader of C ricket has never spent a Saturday afternoon on the Ilford ground he has missed a real treat. Situated in Valentine’s Park, about five m inutes’ walk from Ilford Station, the cricket ground is an ideal place to enjoy yourself as a spectator. Surrounded by picturesque scenery and pretty gardens, there is much to please the eye, while the matches played by the Ilford Club are frequently more interesting than county games. The batting is high class, the fielding very smart, and the bowling almost up to county form. Indeed, G. M. Louden and T M. Weaver, Ilford’s chief match wiuners, have both been invited to play for county teams. T hose I nnocent L ooking B alls . W eaver’s action is a little curious. He is most precise in tbe placing of his field. Then he just glances at the batsman, takes two steps to the crease, and with his left hand extended above his bead tosses the ball in the air. Its flight as it comes to the batsman is most deceptive, and when it touches the ground you have not the remotest idea which way the innocent looking ball w ill break. Besides his spinning delivery. Weaver bowls with the same action a swerving full toss and a ball that swings aw ay with the arm . These puzzling balls lie m ixes with one that swings in from le g ; and a more difficult bowler to watch when you are at the crease I have never seen. M en in F orm . 1 notice A. S. Ling, the well-known Brentford goalkeeper, who I understand is quite a first-class wicket-keeper, is batting exceptionally well this season. Ling has a pretty style. H is defence is solid, and he scores all round the wicket with a variety of finely executed shots. Bowes Park have a first-class run-getter in Ciladwin. He is a stylish batsman with a sound defence and ability to persuade the ball to the boundary at a great pace. F rom all Q uarters . Keenan of Bexley Asylum is a batsman right above the average. H is cutiing and driving strokes are beautifully made. Kothwell of Croydon is playing good cricket just now. He is a fast scorer when set, being very strong on the leg side. Crofton Park have two fine cricketers in Theobalds and Cox. Theobalds is a stylish run-getter, with a number of elegant scoring strokes. Cox is a solid type of batsman, who knows how to stop the extra good balls and how to punish the loose ones. Abbott of Chigwell is another neat bat to watch. He has a rare off-drive. He cuts well and gets the ball away to leg skilfully. In Phillips Dulwich have a century maker. A fine player to watch, Phillips wields a straight bat, defends his wicket well, and makes his scoring strokes on the off and on side with delighful ease. Childs of Derrick Wanderers is an all-round player well above the average. He bowls a deadly medium pace ball, and with the bat cuts and drives with rare precision. Two C entury M akers . Weaver of Hornsey, who is not, I believe, any relation to the Weaver of Ilford, is as tine a batsman as his namesake is a bowler. The Hornsey century maker keeps the ball very low, aud his great scoring shot is a splendid off-drive. Polytechnic have an equally clever run-getter in V. Ii. Hoare, who is fond of putting up century scores. Hoare is a stylish performer at the crease. He comes down hard on the ball and sends the loose ones speeding to the boundary. Hoare is an old Harrow boy, and has, I fancy, played for Norfolk. T . M. W EA V ER . (Ilford C .C .)