Cricket 1912

S e p t . 14, 1912. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 499 upon. You will not acquire it while your attention is being given to your action. Thirdly: don’t alter your body swing when you attempt the wrong W You give the game away if you do. Your run and body work should be exactly the same as for the leg break. Fourthly : hold the fall as if for a leg break, but when about to deliver it drop your wrist. I mean that the top of the wrist and back of the hand are underneath, the palm uppermost, when the ball leaves the hand. This can easily be seen from either side or from behind. But it cannot be seen from in front—that is, by the batsman. When delivering leg breaks, one only brings the hand half over ; and it is the extra spin obtained by dropping the wrist when the googly is bowled that makes the ball turn from the off instead of from leg. You will need a lot of practice for this. If you are not desperately keen, don’t try to make yourself a googly bowler. Your length will go all to pieces, while the wrong ’un still refuses to come at your will. But if you are keen enough you will find yourself bowling the googly by-and-by ; and then you must try your hardest to combine length with it. I repeat that if you have not acquired length beforehand you are not likely to get it now, A really first-class googly bowler can only be made out of a good-length leg-breaker. Men of the Moment in London Club Cricket. B y “ S u r e C a t c h .” This week I am able to give a photo of G . W . H amm ond the well-known H ornsey player, who is undoubtedly one of the best all-round cricketers in London. In the recent rain-ruined London Championship m atch at E aling the subject of this sketch acted as captain of the North London eleven, and in the game com pleted his thousand runs for the season. As he w ill be playing right up to September 21 he has a splendid chance of accom plishing the double event, for already he has captured nearly 100 wickets. As a worker for the Club Cricketers’ Charity Fund, as a keen all-round cricketer, and a true sportsman I do not think G. W . H . has a superior in the London cricket field. A lw ays P lays to W in . In the past, and during this season, the clever H ornsey batsman and bowler, who has often captained the side, although not its elected captain, has accom plished many remarkable deeds. H e is the right sort of cricketer. H e always plays to win. H e is a quick run-getter, a bowler who has realised the value of m ixing his deliveries, and a fielder who takes most of the chances that come his way. A whole hearted cricket enthusiast, G. W . H . is the type of batsman we all like to see. At the crease he never flatters the bowlers. H e starts trying to score directly he reaches the wicket, and few men can hit harder or register runs against the best bowling at a faster pace. A k tfu l V ar ia tio n of P ace . W ith the bat G. W . H amm ond can make almost every known scoring stroke, but I think the best feature of his play is his clean, hard driving. W ith the ball he can be depended upon to keep the batsman playing all the time. H e does not believe in the big break, but in artful variation of pace and pitch ; and on certain wickets he is almost unplayable. In the field he is very keen. Several London club players are finishing the season in great style. The leading Albemarle and Friern Barnet trio, Lyon, Clarke, and Buxton, were very much in the picture against Mr. Lane’s eleven. Lyon and Clarke are a pair of batsmen the public dearly love to watch. Both wiold a stylish bat and both score at a fine pace. Lyon is very severe on all loose balls, and Clarke places his scoring strokes all round the wicket very cleverly. Buxton is a bowler right above the average. He is *what I call a natural bowler. His action is easy. His length invariably good, and he possesses the knack of making the ball come off the pitch quickly. A F in e P l a y e r . I do not think there are many better club cricketers than H. M. Bannister, of the Bank of England. He has already rendered Leicestershire good service this season, and if he could play county cricket regularly he would be one of the best cricketers in England. Against Bichmond he made 100. As a batsman Bannister never flatters the bowlers, and as a bowler he never gives the batsman any rest. With a resolute defence Bannister, when set, hits all round the wicket powerfully. When bowling he sends up an innocent looking delivery that breaks sharply from the pitch, and if the wicket helps him at all he is quite unplayable. Two M a t c h W in n e r s . Beckton, who lost their first game of the season to Ilford, could not beat the successful East London Club in the return match. There was some very fine cricket in this game. Cooper, the dashing left-hander, was in form, and Louden bowled with success. The more I see of Cooper the more I wondor how he came to be such a failure in the Essex team. He is a natural all-round player, and; if he could reproduce his club form in county games he’ would be considered a most valuable man. Cooper, for M r. a. W . H A M M O N D . (H ornsey C.C.) a left-hand batsman, plays a wonderfully straight bat. He is strong, and he comes down on the ball very heavily. When he plays forward and times the ball correctly it goes to the boundary. A terrific hitter, Cooper quickly gets set, and he does not take long to score a hundred. He i3 just a tricky left-hand bowler who varies his pace and pitch with fine judgment. Louden I have often alluded to. He is, in my opinion, the best match-winning bowler and batsman in London club cricket. A B a tsm a n a n d B o w l e r . Boston Park have so many clever batsmen that it is not surprising they win many victories every season. One of the est of their match-winning players is E. .T. Clark, who plays consistently good cricket. Clark is a batsman of class. His stand at the crease is easy and correct. He