Cricket 1913

J an . 18, 1913. CRTCKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. rare good bat ; he p layed a v e ry fine uph ill gam e for his sid e.” “ W hom do y o u consider the best of th e W est Ind ian batsm en ? Y o u should be able to judge, for y o u h a ve p la y ed against W est Ind ian sides more often th an an y oth er Englishm an, I b eliev e .” “ A u stin— H arold Au stin , th a t is— b eyond all doubt. R eal class ; a good-bred one e v e ry w a y ; defence and h ittin g all there. Oh, yes, P e rc y Good­ man is an excellen t bat, and so is Constantine, and H a rra g in ’s a fine h itter, and C. A . B rowne and others are qu ite good ; b u t I pu t A u stin first, w ith perhaps G eorge Challenor— a much younger man, of course — n ex t. T arilton ?— oh, he has a Wonderful defence. He b a tte d a v e ry long time against u s tw o years ago, bu t d id not m ake v e ry m an y run s.” “ T h e bow lers ? ” “ Y o u n g C. R . B rowne is v e ry good indeed. H e is a go o gly exp onen t— now in England , as you know . John, of Trin idad, another coloured man, is fast, w ith a cap ita l action, and to m y m ind abso­ lu te ly fair, though some people expressed doubts of his d elivery. There are p len ty of others— L ayn e , Woods, B u rton , Cum berbatch, Worm e— some o f them no longer p laying, of course.” “ A b o u t the grounds ? ” “ I would not ask for a b ette r w icket than th a t at Bou rda, th e G eorgetown ground. It is rea lly excellen t. T h a t at B ridgetown , B arbados, is good too— y e r y fast, and somewhat resembling L o rd ’s, bu t not so fiery as L o rd ’s sometimes is. K in gston ? The soil is a kind of reddish clay, and there is v e ry little grass indeed ; bu t it is b y no m eans a bad w icket on the whole. The St. C lair O v a l, at P o rt of Spain, is th e one big ground where m a ttin g has to be used. Here an insect called the m ole-cricket p lays the v e ry deuce w ith th e pitch. T h e y used to p la y on tu rf there, and talk of doing so again ; bu t in m y opinion it ’s hopeless. T h e y m igh t start a m atch on a decent p itch, bu t in the course of tw o or th ree hours a number o f m iniature molehills, abou t the size of th e palm of on e’s hand, would arise.” B u t su rely m a ttin g does not p reven t their appearance ? ” No, bu t it m inim ises th e ir effects. E v e n so, stand in g tw e n ty -five yard s behind the w icket, I h a ve had a b all p itch in g in fron t of th e batsm an go over m y head on th e first b ou n d .” “ T h e w icket m ust be a b ad one for visito rs.” “ Y e s. It rea lly does not giv e an English side much chance. W e qu ite exp ect to be b eaten in T rin idad , though, of course, w e shall tr y all we know to w in .” “ W ho are y o u r team th is tim e ? ” “ S ydn e y Sm ith, T . A. L. W h ittington , C ap tain G. A. M. Docker, D . C. F . B u rton , M. H. C. Doll, B. P. Dobson, A . Jaques, S. G . Fairbairn , m y son and m yself, w ith A lb ert Relf, E dw a rd Humphreys, and W . C. Sm ith, who goes as umpire, bu t w ill p la y if needed.” “ Y o u m a y h a ve to p la y Sm ith as a batsm an. H e m ade 200 odd for Su rrey second once, you know . The bow ling looks all right w ith ou t him. R e lf and S ydn e y Sm ith m a y not need changing at all in some m a tch es.” “ T h e y w ill get changed, though. On a tou r it’s im portan t to keep a bow ler’s muscles in condition, again st th e chance of his being w an ted . T h e side’s the thing, and w h a t is best for th e side. I think cap tain s should be v e r y carefu l w ith their bowlers. D on ’t let them get o vertired ; and don’t on any accoun t let th e men in th e field sling in at them in a n y random fashion th e y choose.” “ Y o u h ave eight bow lers, including Sm ith— th a t is, if F airbairn is a bow ler, as I b elieve.” “ H e says he isn’t much. B u t in the Sandhurst averages a y e a r or tw o b ack he t6pped R . S t. L. Fow ler, th e old E ton ian , q u ite one of th e best pub lic school bow lers o f recent y e a rs.” “ W ho is you r second w icket-keeper ?! V “ W e h a v e n ’t one ! In v iew of th a t fa c t, I am h avin g special glo ves made, w ith increased protec­ tion for m y th um b s.” “ I t w ill be a b it aw kw ard for th e side if y o u are crocked. B y th e w a y , you are not visitin g J am aica th is tim e, I b e lie v e ? ” “ No. The d ifficu lty is th e long tim e taken. Peop le don ’t realise i t ; b u t J am aica is hundreds of m iles from th e other W est Ind ian cric k e t centres— close on a thousand , indeed. T h e v o y a g e from P o rt of Spain to K in gston is a coastal one, w ith four po rts o f call, and ta k es nine days. A llow fo r nine d a ys each w a y, g iv e a fortn igh t for m atch es in the A Y R E S ^ 1 2 t h Y e a n o f I s s u e . NOW READY . Price 6d., post free. DulwichCollege. By W. R . W e ir . The County Championship, 1912. By C h a s . P l a i r r e Cricket : The World-Wide Game. By J. N. P e n t e l o w . Fascination of the Past. By A S u r r e y S c r ib e . Mitcham Cricket and Cricketers. By F. S . A s h l e y - Cricket in Turkey. By H is t o r ic u s . _ C o o p e r . “ School Notes. By S m ith M in im u s. ( 1 I I lli? P A M T f l M ^ a'ance P o w er in Cricket. By “ C o v e r p o in t ." Northants Cricket.” By A . W . L a n e -J o y n t, Etc. , Etc- V V l f i r / l l l l v l ! I N C R E A S E D N U M B E R O F P O R T R A I T S AND I L L U S T R A T I O N S . 1913. I l l A U D E R S G A T E S T R E E T , L O N CRICKET