Cricket 1913

152 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M a y 3, 1913. South African Cricketers. C U R R I E C U P M A T C H E S . J o h a n n e s b u r g , April 5, 1913. T h e conclusion of the Eastern and W estern Province m atch brought the C u rrie Cup cam paign o f 1912-3 to an end, with Natal handsom e w inners and the W estern Province honourable runners-up. T h e T ran svaal, even a t full strength, cannot be described as quite as good a s either of these cen tres; but between the T ran svaal and the tail-enders, the Eastern Province and the F ree State, there is a g rea t gu lf, despite the fact that the T ran svaal only beat the latter by one w icket. T h e greatest disappointment of the tournament has been the poor form shown by these teams. T he Eastern Province, it is true, had an exceedingly heavy and tryin g programm e. L eavin g Port Elizabeth on the Thursday morning, they had a railw ay journey of 34 hours to Johannesburg, a rriv in g on the evening of Good Friday. T h e next day they turned out for an early start in their match w ith the T ran svaal, w ithout any opportunity for rest, practice, or g e ttin g accustomed to the strange con­ ditions. W ithin three hours o f the term ination of this match they had to entrain on a 24 h ou rs’ journey to Durban, arrivin g in the e v e n in g ; and there again they were obliged to m ake an early start the follow in g day. A few hours after the conclusion of this match they embarked on the mail-boat for Port Elizabeth, being accompanied by the Western Province men, w h o had enjoyed three d a y s’ rest. A rrivin g at Port Elizabeth on the Saturday m orning, both teams made straigh t for the ground to comm ence their gam e again st one another. A ll this must be allow ed for in ju d gin g the Eastern Province; but even so, on their sh ow ing in Johan­ nesburg, they stru ck one as bein g rather a poor sid e ; Law rance, D elbridge, Glisson, C rouch, Bennett, the w ick et­ keeper, and W alters only risin g above absolute mediocrity. In Crouch it w as hoped w e should find a fast bowler who m igh t reasonably be expected to fill K o tze’s p lace; but I am rather afraid he w ill not train on sufficiently to justify his in­ clusion in a South A frican side. H e has m et w ith success in each of the four m atches he has p la ye d ; h is a g g re g a te of 19 w ickets at a cost of between 16 and 17 runs eacih being very good. B ut a s a m atter of fact he is not very fast, and after his first tw o or three overs he slow s down to little above medium . T h en , too, he breaks his run just before delivering the bait, a fault which, if continued, w ill effectually bar his advancement. It is possible Crouch m ay have learnt a few w rinkles from his last three matches, and that he w ill ultim ately confound his critics. F or a youngster he is a jolly good b o w le r; bu t there h a ve 'been m any good bowlers — it is som ething above the merely “ good ” we w ant for international purposes. On the T ransvaal side again st the Eastern Province M. J. Susskind headed the score w ith 136. H is innings w as m arred only by one chance. T aken altogether it w as a very fine display, though on occasions he made the bow ling look more difficult than it really w as. Susskind, who is now probably a better bat than ever he w as in England, has proved a g rea t acquisition to T ran svaal cricket, and one trusts the new s that he intends rem aining here after all is true. In h is three m atches for the State h e has scored 212 runs, avera gin g 53 per innings, quite the best T ransvaal average. J. V . M orkel, after a somewhat poor beginning, rattled up 84; but the hittin g gem w as L e R o u x ’s 50, made in 26 m inutes and including three sixes in four balls ! When the Easterners w ent in a second tim e H . V . B aum gartner wound up a wonderful season by ta k in g seven w ickets for 34, bringin g his Currie C up record to 20 for 258. The previous day for Pretoria again st the E .R .P .M . he took 7 for 83. T h is m atch w as a decider for the L eagu e cham ­ pionship, both team s h aving finished equal. T h e Sunday before th at e igh t E ast Rand Union w ickets fell to him for 16 r u n s ! N a ta l’s matches at Durban again st the tw o Province teams w ill doubtless be dealt w ith by another hand. There can be no doubt that N atal is now far and aw ay our strongest centre, and her resources seem w ell-nigh unlimited, for in addition to the sixteen players w ho have figured in one or more of her matches this season there a re many others clam ouring for recognition. O rmerod Pearse, with 61 and 33 against the W .P ., both not out, h a s every reason to congratulate him self on h is ddbut in C urrie Cup cricket. T h e fact that this w as P earse’s first C urrie C up gam e has, curiously enough, escaped com m en t; possibly very few people realised that this w a s so. It is the more rem arkable seeing that he played his first match for N atal as far back as January, 1906, and that he has also represented South Africa. I w as not surprised when I heard that K enneth L o gan had obtained a place in the N atal team again st the Eastern Province. When I last saw L o gan play I w a s much im ­ pressed w ith his style. H e is a fast medium bow ler, and if the progress he has made this season is maintained in the next tw o cam paigns it is quite probable h e w ill earn his South A frican cap again st the Australians, even if he does not against the M .C .C . On their own ground at Port Elizabeth the Eastern Province failed dismally again st their rivals, the Western Province. It is extraordinary, seeing the number of ducks (8) in the first innings, that no spectacles w ere earned, and still more extraordinary that in the second kn ock everyone made something, humble though the contributions of all but Glisson to the score-sheet were. D u rin g the two days prior to the Eastern Province match here w e enjoyed a visit from G riqualand W est. T h e G riquas, as they are popularly called, were unable to enter the tourna­ ment through lack of fu n d s; but a Good Sam aritan, in the person of Mr. H ill, a w ealthy K im berley gentlem an, rolled up and financed the trip to Johannesburg. O n e of the happiest men on the W anderers’ ground during the course of the m atch w'as Mr. H ill, for he had the pleasure of w atchin g his team adm inister a sound th rash ing to the T ransvaal. W e have to turn the pages of history back to 1891 for the last such event. T his w as the memorable match in Johannesburg which extended over six days and in which 1,402 runs w ere scored; the G riquas won then by 58. H ad the T ransvaal cricket authorities followed contem ­ porary cricket in other centres they would have entertained a grea ter respect for the visitors, and would have fielded a stronger side. As it w as, they picked eleven men apparently haphazard. It did not matter to the Union th at the eleven men did not include a w icket-keeper, had only one bowler above slow medium, and he merely medium pace, or th at at the very outside the number of men w h o could be counted upon for runs did not exceed s ix ! No, they had to humour these G riqua people! O f course it w as a frigh tful bore their w an tin g to com e; but still no financial risk attached to the undertaking, whilst there w as the certainty of a small profit— so an eleven w as slung to g e th e r! T h e G riquas won by eigh t w ickets, lookin g round all the time. T h ey could have won by an innings had they not relaxed their efforts when the T ransvaal were w ell beaten. On the T ransvaal side A. H . Cooper, H . B. Strieker, and F . W . E lw orthy w ere the only players to justify their in­ clusion. T h e T ransvaal first innings score of 192 w as passed by 31 runs ere the third G riqua w icket fell. L . G . Tapscott demonstrated that h is big scores in the trials last year were 110 flash in the pan by pasting the bow ling to the tune of 90 out of 121 in 58 m inutes. T here w as no blind sw iping, though he seemed reckless to a fault. T ap sco tt’s defence is offence. From C ap e A gh ulas to the Zambesi, from Nama- qualand to Am atongaland, there is no harder hitter than Lancelot T apscott, and none, save perhaps Ormerod Pearse, with a greater variety of strokes. Probably Tapscott excels Pearse in this respect; but Pearse has learnt that sometimes it is best to play a ball without try in g to h it it for four. Tapscott has this yet to learn. Y o u people in En glan d were