Cricket 1913

138 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A peil 26, 1913. tim e of the year for m aintaining the grou nd in condition w as the summ er, when it w as used by the cricketers, who w ere quite unable to contribute the amount the footballers and others th ough t due from them . A gen eral m eeting of the sporting bodies concerned resulted in a deadlock. Another w a s called. It w a s at this second m eeting that Mr. T aylor m ay be said to h ave made his reputation. T o those assembled he outlined a scheme for the municipalisation of L o rd ’s ground. Standing w ith his back to the w all, he spoke in quiet measured tones. H is proposals sounded U topian, and m any were scep tical; but for w ant of anything better they were compelled to a gree-to - a sub-comm ittee’s being appointed to w ork on the lines Mr. T aylo r had suggested. But the man responsible for the scheme had not come to the m eeting unprepared. H e had know ledge which at the time he w as not at liberty to disclose. Quietly and un- obstrusively he had sounded various members of the Town Council, and had found them sympathetic ; and so it w as that w ithin a very short space of tim e the L ord’s ground at Durban w as taken over by the Corporation— one of the most progressive Corporations in the world, be, it said. 'Thus cricket in Durban, instead of being stifled out of existence for w ant of facilities, has been fostered, and has flourished in consequence. T h e ground itself prom ises soon to be the best and the best equipped in all South A frica, not even exceptin g the W anderers a t Johannesburg. C ricketers in N atal gen erally, through lack of know ledge, do not appreciate as they should how great a debt they owe to Mr. T aylo r. H e does not advertise. It w as he who w as m ainly instrum ental in g e ttin g a test match for Durban, and it w as he who (in face of opposition front those who held that the money should be diverted to other uses) insisted th at the profits which accrued to Durban from this test match and the X a ta '— M .C .C . match should be spent in providing competent coaching for youn g players. Nor do South African players in other centres realise that the present C urrie Cup system , which is proving an unm istakable success, is the w o rk of Mr. T a y lo r’s brain, and that to him and Mr. C rockett the whole credit is due. Possibly the Border centre and the S.A . B oard itself m ay claim to” have had a finger in the p ie ; but I am in a position to m ake an unqualified statem ent on this score. D u rin g the recent T ra n sva al— N atal m atch I seized an opportunity of interview ing Mr. T aylor. B ut from an inter­ view in g point of view he w as an absolute fr o s t! He simply w ould not talk about him self. When I broached my desire, he told me he really th ou gh t I knew more about N atal cricket than he did. W ith this I cannot a g re e ; but I do happen to know a few th in gs about Mr. T aylo r himself, w hich w as fortunate, for ou t o f him I could g e t nothing of a personal nature. In regard to his future programm e he w as more communicative. N atal cricket, he assured me, w a s in a most prom ising state, and though the team that w as then p laying w a s quite a youn g one, there were sti.l other youngsters pressing its members hard for their places. He expressed his re gret that the sum set aside for coaching purposes had been exhausted, and the position w as further complicated by the heavy loss entailed by the S.A . team in En gland. Mr. T ay lo r w as hopeful, how ever, that the approaching M .C .C . and A u stralian s’ visits would not only place N atal on its legs a gain financially, but would enable the Association to refund the losses incurred by the Natal guarantors for the T ria n g u la r Tournam ent. Asked whether they purposed g e ttin g a coach out from E n glan d next year, Mr. T ay lo r replied that this w as a m atter for consideration. H e personally w as very anxious to do so, in order to avoid a break in the good w ork which w a s being d o n e; but funds were low, and it would mean d raw in g on the speculative profits of the visits referred to. Moreover, to obtain these profits heavy guarantees would have to be given to the S .A . Board, and th ou gh he did not anticipate any difficulty in th is direction, h e w a s naturally reluctant to see h is Association undertake too grea t financial responsibility. B ut on the whole, he said, he hoped and believed means would be found for continuing the coaching. In this connection he paid a high tribute to both Alec. Hearne and G eorge C ox, not only in relation to their work at the nets, but as to the exam ple they had set. Mr. T aylor has alw ays advocated the encouragem ent of young players, and from that point of view h e criticised severely the B oard’s action in selecting the team they did for Australia, more especially w ith regard to the inclusion of Llewellyn, who years a g o had severed his cricket connec­ tions w ith South A frica. T he present Currie C up system , as stated, is Mr. T a y lo r’s idea, and though adm ittedly the scheme is not perfect, it is the best which h a s yet been tried. M r. T aylo r agreed w ith m e that it embodied the worst feature of the County Championship— the optional arrangem ent of m atches if more than five centres en tered ; but it w as N a ta l’s intention to play a full programm e, h ow ­ ever many matches this m igh t entail, and how ever many players it would necessitate callin g upon. Mr. T aylo r went on to say that N atal, like O liver T w ist, intended a skin g for more ; h aving obtained one test match, they now pur­ posed a sk in g for tw o. He. w a s confident the public would respond. In the past they had never been backw ard in supporting good cricket, and now that their representatives were doing so finely there need be no qualm s for the future. In conclusion, replying to a question from me, M r. T aylor assured me that N a ta l’s relations with the other centres and w ith the S.A . B oard w ere of the most cordial nature. For m any years there w as a strained feeling between Natal and the Board, due largely to the latter’s repeated neglect of the form er’s cla im s; but of late the insistent demands of the Garden Colony had been sym pathetically received. Mr. T aylo r w as not garrulous on this su b je ct; but I can say from m y own kn ow ledge that it is the strong and definite policy which N atal has adopted since M essrs. T aylor and C rockett took up their respective offices which has resulted in the desirable condition of affairs now existin g. C ricket is Mr. T a y lo r’s hobby, and it is indeed lucky for Natal that they have such a capable man a t the helm . T he pity is that Mr. T aylor does not reside on the Rand, for here a w ider and more important sphere of action would be provided for hint. Possibly— whisper it not in G a th ! — the day m ay come when the hegem ony of S .A . cricket w i'l pass to Durban. C y p h e r . ----------------------- ■■ ...........................- Correspondence. T o th e E d it o r o f “ C r ic k e t .” S ir ,— Are the authorities at L o rd ’s and the O val — to say nothing of the other county grounds— ta k in g tim ely heed of the latest aspect o f the “ monstrous regim ent of wom en,” with a view to protecting their sacred ch arges? After the golf greens, su rely the cricket grounds in their due season ! And that will be a matter of vastly larger import to the main body of the community. “ A word spoken in due season, how good is i t ! ”— Yours, V e r b . S a p . S u f f . April 16, 1913. N o t e . — My correspondent seems to have overlooked the fact that the Tunbridge W ells pavilion has already been burned down in w h at looks like a Suffragette ou trage.— E d it o r . ■■■■■— ■■ - » ■ ■ --------- -------- '' On one occasion Sherman appeared at one of the provincial towns to assist the local twenty-two against the A ll England Eleven, and as soon as Clarke saw him on the ground he went up to him and said : ' Oh ! I suppose you think you’re going to bowl, don't you ? ’ Sherman replied that was exactly what he had come for. ‘ Well, then,’ said Clarke, ‘ th at’s just where you’ve made a mistake. I ’m not going to have halt my team smashed up, and you won’t bowl, because if they try to put you on we shall walk off the field.’ Rather than have no match, the local authorities gave way.” — From “ Mitcham Cricket and Cricketers,” in Ayres' Cricket Companion.