Cricket 1912

C R I C K E T : A W E E K L Y R E C O R D O F T H E G A M E . — N ovembe r 1 6 t h , 1 9 1 2 . Together joined in Cricket’ s manly toil.” — B y r o n . No' s— SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1912. ] Price 2°- A Chat with Ernest Vogler. “ The greatest bowler playing cricket in either hemisphere at the present time ” : so wrote Mr. R . E. Foster ofVogler in 1907. It is only five years or so since those words werepenned.H e would be a bold man who claimed as much for Vogler to-day. But at 34— he was born in 1878— Ernest Vogler is by no means a spent force ; and certainly to look at him one would not count him am ong the has-beens. H e is now living in the outskirts of Dublin, and it is more than likely that he m ay settle down in Ireland. A t any rate he will not m ove for the present, on account of Mrs. V oglcr’s ill-health, which was the chief cause of his leaving South Africa. “ Did you play cricket as a boy, Mr. V ogler ? ” asked the interviewer. “ No. M ost men who ever do any good at the game picked it up at s ch o o l; bu t I didn’t. It was while living in Durban, when about 23, that I took to it, induced thereto by my brother-in-law, P. B. Field. H e taught me to bowl, and I owe m y quick prom otion chiefly to him. I played one season in junior cricket with the Greyville team , and we won both cups. Then the club— it is the same with which Dave Nourse and Joe Cox made their reputations— was prom oted to senior cricket.” “ W hat form of sport engaged your attention before you took up cricket ? ” “ Yachting. I was very keen indeed on that. The bay at Durban is a very fine one. I won several races in the club.” “ W hen did you first play in representative cricket ? ” “ I played for Durban v. Pieter­ maritzburg and v. Northern Districts in m y first season in senior cricket— that would be 1902-3. Oh, yes, and for Fifteen of Natal against the Australian Team , too. In the follow ­ ing season I represented Natal against Transvaal at Johannesburg, and I suppose I bowled vei-y well— 7 wickets for 90 runs or so. Any­ way, they were keen on getting me to Pretoria, where a billet was found for me at m y trade of joiner and cabinet-maker. I played for the Union C.C., and was in the Pretoria team for both inter-town matches v. Johannesburg. In these I ran up a couple of centuries, 91 and 25 not out, and got 27 wickets in the four innings of the other side. People told me I was a dead cert for the South African team of 1904 to England, and I was terribly disappointed when, after all, I failed to be chosen. I had never been in England, you see, and I had heard such a lot about the great place. W hen the team came back I hapj ened to be talking to Mr. Schwarz, and told him something of this. H e said at once that he had no doubt he could get me a billet at L ord’s, and wrote to Mr. F. E. Lacey about me. That was how I came to be on the M.C.C. staff in 1905. Y ou can take it from me that I had no notion of qualifying for Middlesex at the s ta rt; but I liked the berth, and so I decided that I would stay if they would have me, and wrote to m y fam ily to say so. B ut I returned hom e for the winter, and I played in all the tests against Mr. Warner’s team in 1905-6. W e w on four out of the five, and that gave a real m ove to cricket in South Africa. I wasn’t at Johannesburg that season, but coaching at Port Elizabeth, for which club I took 58 wickets at under 5 runs each. In 1906-7 I was back on the Rand, and for the Wanderers in Senior League matches I topped both batting and bowling averages. I made 245 not out v. Commonwealth, and 247 not out for Carlton v. Belgravia. In the Currie Cup Tournam ent I played for Eastern Province, in which I was born, averaged 40 in batting, and took 41 wickets at a trifle under 10 each. In one match— v. Griqualand W est— I had 6 for 12 in the first innings, and all 10 for 26 in the second.” “ H ow was it you did not play for Transvaal ? ” “ I hadn’t a sufficient qualifica­ tion, having been in England again during the summer. In 1905 I only played in two or three o f the big M.C.C. matches ; but in 1906 I was r p n n ■ht™ Put ' n f ° r every first class match [& Co., Brighton. x f , . except one, and took 58 wickets for the club. I also played for Middle­ sex v. Cambridge University, intending then to stay on with the county. It was afterwards that I was persuaded to go back, Sometimes I think I should have done better to stay.” Photo, by E. Hawkins] A. E. VOGLER (South Africa).