Cricket 1912

542 CRICKET: A WEEKLY EECOKD OF THE GAME. O c t . 12, 1912. A Chat about Mr. W. T. Greswell. A few years ago the decline of amateur bowling was lamented in all quarters, and som e pessimists prophesied that before long the attack would be w holly in the hands of the paid contingent. But* the unpaid have done pretty good work in 1912. Eight amateurs— W . T. Gieswell, F . 11. Foster, H . L . Simm s, S. G. Sm ith, J. W . H . T. Douglas, N . J. H ollow ay, D . W . Carr, and E . L . Kidd—have taken 7*26 wickets among them , and others who did less bowling are well up in the averages. F or the sake o f Somerset it is a thousand pities that when next season com es round Mr. W illiam Territt Greswell will be back in Ceylon. N o one could have been m uch surprised if he had played in some of the test m atches this season, and for the Gentlemen he must have been one of the first pair of bowlers choseni H e could not lift ^om eiset to a leading place am ong the cou n ties; but, with very little help in the bowling line, except from that worthy veteran, Ernest Robson, he m ade it a side m uch m ore worthy of respect than in 1911, and it is a noteworthy fact that during the whole cam paign only three centuries were registered against the Somerset attack. Greswell is a Reptonian, and was a contem porary at the D erby­ shire school of quite a number of m en who have figured in first-class cricket—J. N. Crawford, R. A. Young, N. V . C. and R . H. T. Turner, H . S. Altham , R . Sale, lan Campbell, A . T . Sharp, and J. L . S. Vidler. It was not until his third season in the Repton eleven that he made his mark very conspicuously. Then he took 49 wickets at 12*42 each. In 1908 he had 59 at 12*10. That season saw him for the first time in the Somerset ranks. H e took 22 wickets for the county, and though they were secured at rather a heavy cost—over 28 each— good judges spoke in high terms of him . H is 7 for 42 in the second innings of Hants at Southam pton, and his 7 for 67 in the first of Yorkshire at Taunton were really fine performances. Playing regularly in 1909, he did big things. Only in one match did he fail to get a wicket. F or Mr. H . D . G. Leveson- Gow er’s X I. v. Cambridge University at Eastbourne he took 13 for 170; for his county he had such analyses as 9 for 99 (both innings) v. Lancashire at Manchester, 9 for 155 (both) v. M iddlesex at Lord’s, 4 for 11 (second) v. Australians at Bath, when he and R obson very nearly brought off a sensational win for their side, 3 for lb (second) v. W orcestershire at W orcester, and 5 for 35 (both) v. Gloucestershire at Bristol. In all first-class games he took 94 at 22*10 each. Am ong other hard-hit scores of the useful order one innings stands out conspicuously. Against M iddlesex at Lord’s he hit up 100 out of 148 in 70 minutes, giving only one chance. It is an open secret th^t Greswell refuses to take his batting seriously, preferring to reserve his energies for bowling. H e m ay b e right; but it seems a pity that a hitter of his calibre should be practically- lost by this preference for the other branch of the game. After the season was over he went to Ceylon, where his life’s business now lies—the cricket campaign of 1912 was only an interlude in that— and at once began to take wickets and also, though to a less marked extent, to make runs. There is nothing approaching first- class cricket, as we use the term , in C eylon ; but there is plenty of good club cricket, and it was not against duffers that between October, 1909, and M arch, 1912, Greswell took 438 wickets at an average of 6 per wicket. His total of 232 in 1911 is easily a record for Ceylon cricket. In m atch after match this season he has borne the brunt of his county’s attack, and has almost invariably had good figures, som e­ times great figures. If Somerset had played anything like as big a programm e of m atches as m ost counties, he must have taken 200 wickets. As it was, bowling in only 20 m atches altogether, he took 132. H is best analyses were against Sussex— 11 for 119 at.Hove, 11 for 126 at Taunton ; and his bowling at H ove gave his side its first win since May, 1911, its second since August, 1909. Ten for 205 v. Kent at Gravesend, 8 for (55 (both innings) v. Derbyshire at Bath, 8 for 65 (first innings) v. Derbyshire at Derby, 9 for 152 v. Gloucester­ shire at Taunton, 8 for 110 v. Yorkshire at Dewsbury, 6 for 89 (first) v. Hants at Southampton, 5 for 44 (first) v South Africans at Bath, and 11 for 142, Free Foresters v. Oxford University were among his other performances ; but he was always bowling well, and never took less than two wickets in a match. Swerve and nip from the pitch are his great assets. Tall and strong, he brings the ball well over at a good pace, and there is brains in his bowling. When you get pace and brains together, with swerve thrown in, you g t a bowler of m ore than customary excellence. Such is W . T . Greswell. F or S a le : Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack, 1879 to 1912, in­ clusive, 34 volum es in all, 15 cloth bound, rest in original covers. W hat offers? W . J. B . , ( / » the Manager of C r ic k e t , 33 and 35, M oor Lane, E .C . A Chat about Mr. H. L. Simms. One of the features of the season has been the fast bowling of a man who left England for India three or four years ago with no reputation at all as a bowler in county cricket. But Harry Lester Simm s was a pretty useful trundler in his schooldays at Malvern, and there seems little doubt that he m ight with advantage have been given m ore chances for Sussex before he went abroad. H e was then reckoned as a hard, rash hitter, a very useful m an on a side, but in no sense one of the side’s mainstays. To-day he is a player who would be one of the mainstays of any side, how ever powerful. H e never wastes time at the popping crease; but his defence is better than it was, and if he was not good for a run he would be worth playing for his bowling alone. Like Mr. Greswell, Mr. Simm s was born overseas. The old Reptonian first saw the light in India. T he old Malvernian was born where the City of Churches, Adelaide, lies under Mount Lofty. Simms is the older of the tw o ; but there is not so m uch between them but that they have played on opposite sides in a school match — Malvern v. Repton in 1905. That was the season in which Simm s first assisted Sussex— his fam ily hom e is at H ove, hence his retention of qualification— playing in four matches, with a well-hit 44 v. Middlesex at H ove as his best effort. In 1906 he was a regular m ember of the side, and. though his form was not consistent, played several good slashing innings. Very few runs came from his bat during May and the earlier part of J u n e; but he found him self in the Oxford University match at Eastbourne, when he slammed up 81 in under an hour in the first innings, and made 40 in the second. Against W arwickshire at Edgbaston a few days later he hit up 62 when his side was in Queer Street, he and George Cox, who defended finely, m aking a plucky stand. At Derby in the next match he rattled up 5 9; against York­ shire at H ove he hit 45 on a wicket which gave R hodes so m uch help that no one else but Killick could do anything with h im ; against Hants at Portsmouth he made his 88 in about 70 m inutes; and am ong his other scores were 49 v. Notts at Trent Bridge, 50 (top score of the innings) v. Kent at Canterbury, 65 (top score again) v. E ssex at Leyton, and 71 (in 40 minutes) v. Gloucestershire at H ove. H is total for the season was 922, his average 23*64. In 1907 he played in only 10 m atches for the county, and three scores of between 40 and 50 (all, curiously enough, against Gloucestershire) were his chief perform ances; and in 1908 he did very little indeed, 43 v. Derbyshire and 36 v. Somerset being his only scores of over 20 in 18 innings. At the end of that season he went out with the Jam Sahib to Nawanagar, and settled down to farm there. Agricultural operations did not prohibit cricket, and there is ample evidence that Simm s improved his game in India. For the Bom bay Presidency v. the Parsis he figured with considerable success as a bowler, and he made m any runs and took m any wickets in other matches. Back in England at the beginning of this season— I believe he will return to India shortly, and no doubt, like Greswell, he wanted to get in as m uch cricket as possible while at hom e— he soon proved his value to Sussex as an all-round man. H e began with an innings of 45 (top score) v. Lancashire at Manchester, and throughout the season he sandwiched batting feats of the true spectacular type between fast bowling performances that showed him possessed of great stamina and ability. In successive matches he took 8 for 57 v. W arwickshire at Edgbaston and 9 for 107 v. Derbyshire at H ove. At the Oval, he and Albert R elf very nearly upset the Surrey apple-cart when the odds had looked 100 to 1 on the hom e side. Seven for 100 v. Kent at Tonbridge, 7 for 147 in the Gentlemen v. Players match at Lord’s, 5 for 53 v. Northants at N orthampton, 6 for 37 (first innings) v. Eastbourne at Leyton, 5 for 24 (second) for Mr. L ionel R obinson’s X I. v. South Africans, and 7 for 132 for South of England v. Australians were am ong the bags that helped him to a total of 110 wickets. He also aggregated 1,099 runs, and thus joined the select band of amateurs—W . G., Jackson, C. T. Studd, Charles Townsend, J. R . Mason, G. L. Jessop, B . J. T. Bosanquet, John Crawford, Sydney Smith, and Frank Foster— who have scored 1,000 runs and taken 100 wickets in a season. Am ong several fine innings he played the m ost remarkable were a 126, worthy of Jessop him self, v. Notts at H ove, a 98 v. E ssex at Leyton, and an 80 against the same side at Eastbourne. T he rest included such as 53, 50, 45*, 45, 45, 39, 33, and 30, usually got in double- quick tim e. H e was a tower of strength to Sussex in 1912, and if not available in 1913 will be greatly missed. It is said to be likely that J. R . •H azlitt will settle down in South Australia and play for that state on his return to Australia. H e has already represented Victoria and X. S. Wales.