Cricket 1913

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 . — A P R IL 1 9 t h , 1 9 1 3 . Together joined in Cricket’ s manly toil.”— Byron. N o. 34-. V O L . II. N e w S e r i e s . No. 923 Old Series. SATURDAY , A PR I L 19, 1913. ] Pr'ce 2°- A Chat about Victor Trumper. No other Australian cricketer— not even William Murdoch, the idol of Sydney in long-ago days, or Charles | big things ; Bannerman, for a few brief years before Murdoch the premier batsman of Australia, or Clement Hill, great as is his popularity on all grounds, or big- hitting Bonnor, or dashing Percy Me Donnell — has ever seized the popular imagination down under as has Victor Trumper. From the day when he first appeared for New South Wales as a still-growing lad, not so quick on his feet as in latter years, and with a good deal to learn, yet with genius evident in him, he was marked out b y the critics for future g r e a t n e s s . H i s struggle for a place in the 1899 team for England won the sympathies of the crowd. What he did in England that year put him in the top class. B u t it was 1902 that raised his fame to its zenith— the season when on all sorts of wickets, most of them helping the bowler a bit, for 1902 Photo, by] without scoring. Since then he has accomplished many in 1905 and in 1909 over here he was responsible for work that would have seemed s p l e n d i d done b y almost any one e ls e ; and now, when some were say­ ing that he had lost much of his power, he has had a revival comparable only to that of W. G. in 1895, though, of course, V. T. is more than a decade younger than was W. G. then. Thousands in Eng­ land will rejoice to hear of the well- deserved success of the t e s t i m o n i a l match given him. W ith gate - monev, collections, and sub­ scriptions (the latter amounted to well over four figures when the last mail received left Sydney) he will take a sum of £ 3,000 odd. They say that he has not prospered greatly in business ; I hope this is incorrect, but if it is true his bene­ fit will be all the more w e l c o m e , a nd I should think no man living will begrudge him a penny of it. Mr. V. T. TRUMPER . [E. Hawkins <k Co., Brighton. was a wet year, he did all sorts of audacious things, [When he went in to bat during the match the crowd wielding a magic bat, almost invincible, never once out |rose and roared a many-throated welcome ; the men in