Cricket 1913

‘ Together joined in Cricket’ s manly toil.”— Byron. No' 3 \ o V?£ bU s£ r SATURDAY , MAY 3 , 1913 . [a*£ 7 l £ Z £ ™ ] p - « ®d. M r. A. Q. HOSKINQS (N iw Y ork Veterans* C.C.). A Cha t abou t M r . A. G. Hosk ings . T h is is n ot a biograph y. T h e m aterial a va ilab le is insufficient fo r th at. 1 h ave n o com p lete record o f A rth u r H o sk in g s’ s doings, but the fa c t th at h e w as reckoned last year quite th e best all-round p la yer in N ew Y o rk— where th ey have some p retty good all-rounders, too— is sufficient to ju s tify his inclusion in C r i c k e t ’ s p ortrait ga llery. H o sk in gs is an A u stralian . In w h ich state he w as born,, o r when, I do not kn ow . B u t it w as on W estern A u stra lia ’ s sid e th at he first p la yed b ig cricket. W hen G eorge G iffen to ok an A u stralia n team to th e western i state in 1896-7, the home p la yers w ere too m odest to e n ­ counter it on even term s; th ey put o d d s in th e field. F o r the W .A . 18 in the gam e at P erth H o sk in gs m ade 24 in [ th e second innings- T w o years later h e scored 26 and 53, th e highest aggregate fo r his side, fo r W estern A u stralia v. South A u stra lia at Perth. T h e re a fte r com es a gap . H e has a lw ays, I believe, been som ething o f a w a n d e re r; but w herever he w ent h e must have p la ye d th e gam e whenever possible, fo r when one finds him first m akin g h is presence f e lt in N ew Y o rk he show s u p in tip -top form . T h is w a s in 1907. H e and K o rtla n g both p la ye d fo r C olum b ia O v a l, one o f the team s ta k in g p art in the M etrop olitan D istrict C rick et L eagu e, th at season. H o sk in gs h eaded both battin g and bow lin g averages o f th e Leagu e. H e to ta lled 5 r i in 11 innings, 5 times not out, average 8 5 .16 , highest score 90 not o u t; and h e took 52 w ickets at a sh ade over 5 runs each. Kont- la n g ’s battin g average w as 76.33. T h e subject o f th is 1sketch p la ye d fo r A ll N ew Y o rk again st th e M .C .C . team , o f th at year, and m ade 22. In 1908 h e again headed th e M .D .C .L .’s battin g aver­ ages— 318 runs in 8 innings, 3 not out, average 63.60. H e ran up 122 not out fo r C olum b ia O v a l v. K in g ’s C oun ty. In I-eague matches' h e took 39 w ickets a t 5.82 e a c h ; in a ll m atches 105 at 6.36. T h e fo llo w in g season saw his allegian ce tran sferred to j K in g ’s C ou n ty, fo r whom in L ea gu e m atches h e averaged 3 5 .73 , and took 57 w ickets at under 8 runs each. H e m ade one century— 100 not ou t v. C rescent A th letic. F o r A ll N ew Y o rk v. T h e Gentlem en o f Irelan d h e scored o and 32, and to ok 5 w ickets. H e w as n ot p la y in g in N ew Y o rk cricket in 19 10 , and I th in k it must h ave been in thus season th at h e did so w ell fo r the H am p stead N om ads, whose secretary te lls me th at in about a cou p le o f dozen