Cricket 1912

588 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. D ec . 14, 1912. p la y S h ep p ard ’s team in B arbados then. In fa ot, S. E. G. is rep u ted to h ave said, the A ustralian side w ou ld p la y n o t on ly in the prin cip al colonies, b u t “ w h erever th e gam e is p la y e d .” This is d istin ctly a large order ; and, a fter his eigh t visits to th e U n ited K in g d om an d his three to A m erica, w ith on e to S outh A frica an d tw o to N ew Zealand th row n in, the gallant A ustralian skipper m ig h t ha ve a cqu ired (on e w ou ld think) a little better sense o f geography. B ut p rob a b ly S. E . G . on ly m ean t to refer to the W estern w orld. E ven so, the A ustralians w ill find their w ork cu t o u t to tour C anada, the S tates, an d the W est Indies, an d to p a y flyin g visits to M exico, B razil, Chile, and th e A rgen tine, du rin g a single tour. I f th ey cou ld arrange to be a w a y a cou ple o f years or so th ey m igh t also, n o d o u b t, tak e in S ou th A frica, the G old C oast, j E g y p t, G ibraltar, M alta, In d ia, C eylon , the Straits Settlem ents, H o n g K o n g , Shanghai, J apan, F iji, an d N ew Zealan d. B u t I ha ve g o t them n ea rly h om e again, an d I had in ten d ed to suggest that th ey m igh t finish u p here, as b y th a t tim e a n oth er A ustralian visit to E ngland w ou ld be n early d u e. A n d , look in g over the list, I see th a t I h a ve om itted St. H elena, S am oa, an d N ew Guinea, in all o f w hich places cricket is p lay ed , as n o d o u b t it is in B orn eo, the M auritius, and oth er spots on the m ap w hich are colou red red. K en t , the m ost fortu n ate o f co u n ty crick et clu bs in these days, h a d a p rofit balance o f ju st ov e r £266 on th e year. T h e greater p a rt o f this w as d u e, o f course, to their share o f the test and trial m atch es’ proceed s. G. J . Y . W eiga ll su cceeds th a t w on d erfu l veteran, C aptain W illiam M cCanlis, as crick et tu tor to the y ou n g players. W arw ick sh ire is a d d ed to the list o f counties m et— w h ich m eans th a t on ly D erbysh ire is m issing from the card. ; T he M.C.C. an d O x ford U n iversity are also to be played. E ssex an d W arw ickshire w ill be m et durin g th e T on b rid ge W eek , | W orcestersh ire an d Y ork sh ire at T u n brid g e W ells, Lancashire and M iddlesex a t M aidstone, Sussex a n d N otts a t C anterbury, H an ts an d N orthants a t D ov er. O utside th e five weeks K e n t p la y So'm erset a t C atford, S urrey a t B lack heath (one d oes n ot w on d er, b u t w ou ld n ’t S urrey rather play anyw here else ?), G loucestershire a t G ravesen d, an d Leicestershire a t C anterbury. R egret is expressed at J oh n M ason ’s retirem ent. W ell, an official rep ort ca n n ot say all the glow in g things th a t those res­ pon sible fo r it m igh t like to s a y ; b u t regret is n o t h alf strong enough. E ven a side as pow erfu l as K e n t ca n n ot ligh tly part w ith such a great all-rounder as th e o ld W yk eh am ist— one o f the finest cricketers w h o ever d on n ed flannels. T h ebe is no danger, how ever, th a t m en o f K en t an d K entish m en sh ou ld underrate J . R . M a s o n ; it w ou ld n o t be easy to overra te him . I d o think som etim es that the K e n t cricket crow d is ju st a little too m uch w rap p ed u p in K e n t’s doings. I h a ve associations With the co u n ty d a tin g b ack o v e r tw o d e ­ cades, am a m em ber o f the co u n ty clu b , and seld om pass tw elve m on th s w ith ou t p a yin g a longish v isit to an o ld hou se that I know in a valley som e three m iles from one o f K e n t’s principal tow ns. I was there durin g the greater part o f the w retched A u gu st o f this year. “ S een an even ing paper ? ” I asked a K en tish partisan at the end o f on e o f those grey days. “ Y es. N oth in g d o n e a t D o v e r,” he answ ered. “ W h a t o f th e test m a tch ? ” w as th e n ex t qu es­ tion. “ O h, F ran k W o o lle y ’s goin g strong— 5 fo r 2 9 ,” the reply. W h a t w as the A ustralian tota l ? T h a t he d id n o t k n ow ! W h a t had h a p p en ed on oth er grounds ? H e really h a d n ’ t n oticed ! A n d h e w as n ot the o n ly on e o f his kind w h om I m et. A n elem ent o f danger lurks in this too n arrow devotion . I t is akin to the sentim ent o f the fo o tb a ll crow d . In m y exp eri­ ence the staunch su pporter o f a cou n ty clu b throu gh g o o d and evil days alike is a m an w hose sym pathies are w ider. N o t even K e n t can alw ays be on to p , a n d the m an w h o loses interest in a gam e o f w hich his ow n side has the w orse is a p t to drop o u t after a b ad season, whereas if he h ad on ly a ccu stom ed him self to tak e an intelligent interest in the oth er fellow s’ p la y he m ig h t ha ve felt far m ore p hilosoph ic. B u t perhaps it is easy fo r one w h ose ch ief o ccu p a tion in life is w ith cricket— to w h om the gam e is part o f every d a y ’s w ork an d e very d a y ’s pleasure— to preach thus. I can o n ly say th a t to m e all cricket is interesting ; th a t its “ in ­ finite va riety ” never stales ; and th at th e A ustralian or South A frica n or N ew Zealand paper w h ich com es along durin g the “ w inter o f our discon ten t ” w ith the score o f a b ig m a tch is op en ed as eagerly as it w ou ld have been tw en ty years ago, “ W h en all the w orld w as you n g , lad, A n d all the trees w ere green, A n d every goose a sw an, lad, A n d every lass a queen ! ” P ossibly J. R . M ason’s retirem ent m ay be like others one rem em bers— first, bu t n o t final. A m on g the best all-round A ustralian players w ho h a ve never visited E n glan d is J . F . Giller, a stead y batsm an and g o o d m ed ium -p ace bow ler, w h o d id well in the tria l m atch es fo r the 1899 team , an d cou ld n o t h a ve been far o u t o f th e running fo r a p lace then. H e retired a yea r or tw o later, ow in g to indifferent health. H e cam e back som e years afterw ards, an d scored a cen tu ry fo r V ictoria v. N ew South W ales. T h en his star d rop p ed below th e h orizon again ; b u t at the beginning o f the season o f 1912-3 he is fou n d again in harness for the S outh M elbourne C lub, an d in their opening penn an t m atch he b a tted and bow led w ith alm ost all his old skill. H abey M oses , a left-hander w ho m ig h t p ossib ly h a ve been ranked w ith H ill and D arling, B ard sley a n d R an sford , if he had paid us a visit, as he was several tim es pressed to d o, also retired m ore than once. I suppose n o one w ou ld be greatly surprised to see M. A. N ob le, C. J. B urnup, or L . C. H. P alairet em erge from their retreats. S peaking o f M oses rem inds m e th at the Johannesburg I Sporting Star, in an article on sch ool cricketers, expresses som e opinions w h ich m ay be read as d istin ctly d erog atory to the |standard o f E nglish p u b lic sch ool cricket. E . C. M oses (a nephew' of the crack) has lately returned to Joh an n esbu rg a fter som e I years at R e p to n , where he d id big things, being cou n ted am on g ; quite the best sch ool batsm en o f the last tw o o r three seasons. H e p lay ed in a few m atch es fo r D erbysh ire, and, though he did little, shaped w ell enough to suggest b etter things. B ut [the Sporting Star s a y s : “ A n oth er striking case is that o f E ric M oses, who m ade a nam e fo r him self here, an d later [ on w on fresh laurels at R e p to n C ollege, E ngland. M oses is back again, an d ex ce p t th a t he can send d ow n a go od length ball, he is n o better than m an y o f the players perform ing in secon d |league cricket to -d a y .” I d o n ’t know w hat th e standard o f Johannesburg second league cricket i s ; b u t if, as im plied, th e a bility to b ow l a goo d length ball is rare in it, on e w ou ld im agin e it sca rcely high. There can be n o d ou b t that a m an w h o d id as w ell as M oses d id a t R ep ton is in a class a b ov e this sort o f thing. T h e change from tu rf to m atting has p rob a b ly h a n d ica p p ed him , after his years in E ngland ; and a d u ck or tw o h ave led to this particular critic taking a pessim istic view o f his capabilities. I f the R ep ton b o y d oes n o t v a ry his duck s w ith a cen tu ry or tw o before long, I will ow n m yself w rong. I offer n o N ew castle (N .S .W .) gu aran­ tee, please observe. A eteb all, W ellin gton m a y n ot ha ve K ortla n g’s help this season. H e has gon e to G u am , it appears. I h on estly believe that m y know ledge o f colon ial geogra p h y is better (thanks largely to crick et research) than th a t o f n in ety-n in e o u t o f a hu ndred ed u cated E n glish m en ; bu t I d o n ’t k n ow a b it w here G uam is. G uana I know , an d gu ava ; b u t G uam gets m e guessing. P ro ­ bably it is in N ew Zealand, bu t perhaps not.