Cricket 1913

A p r il 26, 1913. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 127 of Sir G eo rge L e H u nte, G overn or of T rin id ad , who was formerly G overnor of South A u stralia. But it seem s very doubtful whether a sufficient extension of time w ill be possible. T h e thirty m atches ta lk ed o f on the North Am erican con tin en t w ill take close on fou r months, and to visit the W est Ind ies w ould need another two months at least. T h e one chance fo r the C aribbean cricketers to test their m ettle again st the C orn stalks w ould seem to be a failure o n the p art o f the prom oters to arrange all the matches anticipated in Am erica. It w ould certain ly be a good th in g for the gam e in the W est Indies if the A ustralian s cou ld be induced to go thither, even if only for a brief visit. I n the course o f a ta lk with M r. A . F . Som erset the other day, I got several interesting sidelights on the recent tour. T h e M .C .C . skipp er does n ot agree with the state­ ment that the clim ate o f T rin id a d is enervating. H e says the air is a s in vigoratin g as th at of S cotland , and though the heat is great, th ere is alw ays a w ind blow ing, which tends to m ake it m ore easily bearab le. H is men did not feel tired a fter a long d a y ’s c rick et in it; and, fo r him self, he w as rapp>ed u p a t three o ’clo ck on Sunday m orning to go tarpon fishing (this a fte r two d a y s’ busy p ractice, and three d a y s’ m atch p la y from T u esd ay to Saturday), had a short n ap later in the d a y , but did not retire till nearly m idnight, rose at five on M onday morning, kept w icket from n oon to 5-35, and felt quite fit afterw ards! B ut, o f course, M r. Som erset is a man o f exceptional physique. T he West Indian cricketers are very anxious that he should take out another team in 1915. He says he shall be too old then; but they say he told them the same story’ last time. I n B arbados, I gather, M r. Som erset con siders the standard o f crick et im proved. T h e islan d ’ s team can scarcely b e said to have a tail, and is strong all round. In Trin idad there has been no im provem ent, and the game there seem s to have few er attractions for the white p o p u la ­ tion, though the b la c k s are as keen as ever. In British Guiana there 'has been a fallin g-off, though this applies rather as from my in form an t’s earlier visit in rgo5 than to the last two vears. T h e team had bad w eather on the voyage ou t, and there w as on ly on e m eal at which the fiddles w ere not on the tables. T h e y experien ced a pretty strenuous time in B arbados, three m atches with on ly a Sunday to break them, and lots o f field in g! G eorge C hallen o r is, Mr. Somerset considers, good enough fo r any c o u n ty ; and his brother, w ith T arilto n , In ce, Brownie, G oodm an, G ibbs, and K id n e y , m ake up a batting list enough to frigh ten any bow ler on a good hard w icket. W hen D . C . F . Burton helped Som erset to add 89 for the last w icket in the secon d test gam e, h e upset a record in which h is brother, D . S. G . B urton, had shared. Stuart Barton an d “ D o c to r ” Y o u n g added 80 fo r the tenth w icket in the B ou rda test of tw o years ago, the best stand for the last p air in these gam es till that noted above. O n the evening o f the day H . W . Ince m ade his big score at P o rt o f Spain, he received fou r congratulatory cables from B arb ad os. C ab les, m ind vou, not m ere six ­ penny w ir e s ! T h e re can be no doubt about W est Indians being keen on th e gam e. I n T rin id a d , as in B arb ad os, the team had three m atches right off the reel— nine d a y s’ crick et out o f ten. H a rd grounds, too. T h e num ber of men “ carryin g one leg ” and o f bow lers com p lain in g of strained am is rather alarm ed the skipper. O n the voyage from P ort o f Spain to G eorgetow n flying fish w'ere driven before the vessel all the way. M r . S om er set h a s now p la ye d in seven test m atches in the W est Indies, and has been on the w inning side in six of them . In five o f the seven he cap tain ed . T h e re have been 11 such m atches in a ll, E n glish team s w inning 7, the W est Indies 4. T he M .C .C . side w ere keen to p lay B arb ad os again on the w ay b a ck , and th e B arbad ian s were no less k e e n ; but a m atch cou ld not be m anaged, the islan d crick et season bein g over, a n d sh ip s’ sailings also interfering. T h e id ea l m ethod o f condu cting such a tour would be in a y a c h t; and the M .C .C . cap tain su ggests th at ju st possibly some possessor of a suitable vessel m ight allow’' it to be chartered for the next tour. T h e money paid the R .M .S .P . m ounts up to a con siderable sum , and the p ro jeci seem s feasible. T h e other day I received from M r. J. B . Sheridan, th e cap tain of the B uenos A ire s C .C ., one o f the most in terest­ ing letters* th at has reach ed m e for a lo n g tim e. In the F ebru ary num ber I had hinted that m ore news from the A rgentine cap ita l w ould be w elcom e, and my corresp on ­ dent su pplies it. H e says th at my estim ate of 400 active cricketers in B uenos A ire s is fa r too lo w ; his calculation is at least 1000, includin g those w h o on ly p la y occasion ally. A n d m atches are p la yed at R osario, B ah ia B lan ca, C ord o h a, Junin, Pergam ino, M endoza, and T ncum an , as w ell as in B uenos A ires. “ W hen I left Stonyhurst C o lle g e and cam e to South A m e ric a ,” writes M r. Sheridan, “ I said good -bye to all m y crick etin g and foo tb a ll kit. I little im agined th at in A rgentina crick et w as so w id ely played and footb all so imm ensely popu lar. M y first vears in the country were spent on a cattle ranch, but even there, though I had on ly two com rades wrho kn ew anyth in g o f crick et, I purchased a bat, and in our odd moments we used to en jo y a go. F oo tb all is universal in A rgen tin a now’. T h e first gam e I e ver p layed in this country was in a little cam p tow'n c a lle d S a lto , and most of the p layers were natives. Stam ina and speed are attribu tes o f the A rgen tin e, and he can last out the hard est of gam es. C rick e t is catch in g on a bit with th e n atives; but the A rgen tin e w ill never take to it quite seriously until the co lleges have comm enced to teach it. “ In the North v. South m atch the North includes e v e ry p la yer living north o f an im aginary line drawn from B uenos Aires d u e w est to the Andes. M en livin g in the cam p (i.e ., the country) com e in fo r th e cricket w eek, w’hich comm en ces the M onday before C arn iva l, and co n ­ tinues to th e end o f the C arn ival h olidays. N orth v. South is p layed on th e lo vely H u rlin gh am ground, where (A rch ie M acL aren says) the p itch is equal to any in the o ld country'. C . T . M old , to p scorer fo r the South in the last m atch, is an o ld D ulw ich b o v ; H . T . Mawsom, who m ade o v er 50, is an o ld W h a lley R a n g e r; N eville Jackson, whom M acL aren christened the A rgen tin e T rum per, is