Cricket 1912

A u g u s t 17, 1912. CRICKET : A WEEKLY EECOED OF THE GAME. 425 reckoning. It is in keeping with the general government of first-class cricket that the system of scoring is unknown and will not be announced until all the games are played. It certainly had not been announced before the eighth became history. The fact suggests Jeddart justice. Under this Border system a man was hanged—as he safely might be, for most freebooters merited hanging—and the justice of his doom was discussed and decided after he had been “ justiced ” i.e., executed. Men of the Moment in London Club Cricket. (B y “ S u r e C a t c h .” ) I see the “ Chiel ” in last week’s issue alludes to the bad fielding in the slips in club cricket this season, and attributes it to the “ chipping ” that goes on among slip fielders. I do not think missed catches in the slips are really due to “ chipping.” They are more frequently due to the placing of fielders in the slips who will never, as long as they play, be any good there. To be even m oderately successful in the slips, you must have a natural gift for fielding in that position. You can make a good point, a good cover, a good m id-off, and a good long-field out of players who are quick in their movements by giving them regular practice in these positions, but unless a player starts in the slips when he is young and shows a natural aptitude for fielding there, you will never make him really good, however m uch practice you give him . T h e n , t h e y w o n d e r w h y ! T o m y m ind m uch of the bad fielding we see in club cricket is entirely due to the stupid fashion in which m any captains place their field. There are the nine recognised places for the men to take after the opening bowler and wicket-keeper have been decided upon, and the average captain without giving a thought to the known scoring strokes of the incom ing batsmen just sends the men in a haphazard kind of way to these positions. Of course there are good captains who do not work on the lines I have suggested, but many captains I have seen lead their team (if it can be called leading) thus, and then wonder why their side nearly always loses ! O n l y o n e c o r r e c t w a y . T he correct placing of the field in a match is of far m ore im ­ portance than anything else if your team is to do itself justice. You m ay have splendid bowlers, but what use are they if you do not know how and when to use them ? Y ou may have great fielders, but what good are they if you persist, as I know some captains do, in placing them in positions quite unsuitable to them ? In the course of m y long playing career I have seen several captains put men in the long field who cannot even throw. There is only one correct way of placing your field, and that is to distribute your men so that the batsman’s favourite scoring strokes are as com pletely blocked as possible. If you watch the batsman you will soon see the scoring shots he can make. If you gradually close these up to him by altering the places of your fielders you not only get on the batsman’s nerves, but you force him to attempt other strokes in his efforts to score, with the result that he speedily gets out. The captain who uses his brains in the placing of his field rarely sees a score of 200 put up against his side even on the best wickets. H ow it W o r k s . E ven a moderate fielding side can be made quite good by judici­ ous placing of the m en. I was associated with a rather striking illustration of this last season when, at the last m om ent, I had to take charge of a side at Southend. This team, a weak one I admit, lost 6 wickets for 11 runs ; but the tail end did their duty, and in the end a fair score of 127 was made. W e had not any very great fielders, but I knew the scoring strokes of the Southend batsmen, and was able so to place the field that they could not get the runs to win, although they had time to do so. In three later matches I had the pleasure of captaining the same team, who in each match fielded really well and won capital victories. In one m atch I played in four years ago I actually saw a batsman make 89 by pushing the ball to leg for singles. This was the only shot he could make ; yet the captain never thought of putting a man there to kill his one scoring stroke ! Only quite recently at Edgware I was fielding, and saw one of the Edgware m en hit some lovely fours wide of point. I watched it for an over or two, and then gave the bowler a quiet tip. H e m oved a man round to the right position and bowled up an inviting ball on the off stump. T he batsman saw his stroke past point was close up and tried to get the ball away in another direction, with the result that he was clean bowled. The bowler who assisted in this little trap was Walter Ruffels. T h e P l a c in g o f S l ip s . W hile the above illustrations prove the value of correct placing of the fielders according to the saoring abilities of the batsman, it must be admitted that the slip fielders in very few m atches are properly placed. In my young days I was nick-nam ed “ 3ure catch ” by m y friends because of catches I used to make in the slips, but then I never stood more than six yards away from the batsman, however fast the bowlers were. Now I see short slip fielders so deep that often a run can be scored when a ball goes to them . No matter how fast the bowling, I would always have m y first slip, if he is reliable, close up. The second slip should be deeper and so finely placed that he C. S W A N N , Beckton C .C. can not only gather catches, but get across to the balls which pass the wicket-keeper on the off side of the stumps. Third man should be so placed that he fills up the late cutting space between point and the second slip, while I would always have a man who can catch in the gully quite close to the batsman. If placing of the slips as I have indicated became general we should soon hear less about bad fielding. N o t e on A d l a & i . I am this week indebted to Mr. S. Adlam for the photo I present of C. Swann, the well-known Beckton and Essex second eleven century maker. Adlam , in addition to being the best amateur photographer I know, is quite a good cricketer, and generally starts the batting for his side. H e has a wonderful defence, and if he could only develop some strong driving and cutting powers he would speedily becom e one of the best run-getters in London club cricket.