Cricket 1913

154 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M ay 3, 1913. The County Championship. (Contributed..') O f the m any suggestions m ade o f late for the “ im p ro vem en t” o f cricket, perhaps none has aroused so m uch interest as th at o f M r. A . G . Steel to alter the lbw rule. M an y argum ents h ave been pu t fo rw ard on both sides, but, ap art from the question o f whether th e p ro ­ posed alteration w o uld tend to cram p the batsm an, su rely the most im portant point (a poin t which has p er­ h a p s been rather overlooked) is :— A re cricketers gen erally | dissatisfied w ith the present rule, and w ould the alteration improve the gam e as a gam e fo r the -players ? A s M r. R . E . F oster has recen tly said , one o f the fun dam en tal rules o f th e garrle should not be revised unless a general desire fo r a change is shown among all grad es o f cricketers. It is not sufficient fo r an alteration to seem desirable m erely in respect o f county cricket, which, although it has such a number o f follow ers, has, o f course, not nearly so m any actu al p layers as c lu b cricket. C lu b crick et is the backbon e o f the gam e, and it is surely among th e great arm y o f clu b cricketers th at an opinion on this m atter sh ou ld be sought. A lth o u gh one frequen tly he'ars batsm en grum ble at decisions m ade again st them , and b ow lers grum ble when um pires have not u pheld their a p p eals, there does not seem to be any indication o f gen eral dissatisfaction w ith th e present w ordin g o f the rule, and in these circum stances it would' be hard to ju s tify an y tam pering w ith it. A g a in , w ould M r. S te el’ s alteration im prove the gam e as a gam e fo r p la y e rs? O n e looks in vain in the numerous letters ap p earin g in the press fo r arguments in su p p ort o f th is theory. T h e p rin cip al reason adduced seems to be that the batsmen w o u ld be dism issed more q u ick ly and th e gam e w o uld be m ade brigh ter fo r the spectators. H e re w e com e to a point o f v ita l moment to cricket, v iz., in w h at position should the spectators stand in relation to th e gam e? In th is connection one m ay read w ith profit th ose able articles w ritten in his own m agazin e som e ten y e ars ago by M r. C . B . F ry , whose argum ents a p p ly w ith equal force at the present juncture. Mr. F r y w ro te : “ In all the host o f so-called reform s, there is sc a rc e ly , a poin t w h ich has been aimed at im ­ proving th e gam e as a pure gam e fo r th e p la y e r s ; and some o f them , had th ey been adopted, w ould have actu ally l>een detrim ental to th e gam e as a gam e fo r the p layers. In fa rt, p ra ctica lly all the 1 reform s ’ (proposed fo r the ‘ good o f the gam e ’) have, on clear-head ed inspection, one o f tw o a im s; nam ely, eith er to make the gam e more excitin g and am using to that large section o f the sp ec­ tators who, whether round the rin g or in th e pavilion, are not cricketers in fe e lin g or in kn ow led ge, but are mere sightseers, or else to fac ilita te and increase the interest in new spaper c ric k e t.” T h is then is the p it in to which we are in danger o f fa llin g — a llow in g the crow d to dom inate th e game. O f course, the spectators are entitled to a good deal o f con­ sideration ; but it is difficult to know where to draw the line, fo r the great m ajority o f those w h o watch cricket have no true kn ow led ge o f its finer |x>ints. A s an instance, o n e may cite the B irm ingham crow d. U n til W arw ickshire began to do well in 1 9 1 1 thev had com p aratively poor ga tes ; but now large crow ds assem ble at nearly every m atch. W h y ? M ain ly because o f F ra n k F oster, because o f the glam our o f his person ality, to see him “ ’ it ’em ’ ard and ’ igh and horften ’ ’— not to w atch the gam e in all its v ary in g aspects. T h e y do not re a lly understand th e science o f cricket, and they never w ill, fo r they are too much under the heel o f that curse, L e a g u e F o o tb all. T h e y expect to find in a cricket m atch th e concentrated excitement o f 90 m inutes’ fo o tb a ll. W ith o u t spoiling county cricket it is im possible to turn it in to a popular spectacle fo r the m any on the lin es o f L e a g u e F o o tb a ll; but, u n fortun ately, there is a strong tendency to m ake the attempt. T h e in evitable consequence o f such a course w ould be to deliver the gam e over entirely in to the ju ris­ diction o f the spectators, which w o uld m ean what M r. F r y ca lls “ m ob-rule,” or in p la in w ords “ the ta k in g in charge o f cricket b y that section o f the sp ectators who, so fa r as concerns a kn ow led ge o f the gam e and its finer points, and a feelin g fo r its conventions and traditions, m ay fa irly be called a m o b ; together w ith th e sacrifice o f the best interests o f the game to th e real or supposed requirements o f th e sp ectators.” W e have before us in L ea gu e F o o tb all an eloquent exam p le o f the effects o f “ mob ru le ” on a game. One o f these is the drivin g aw ay o f the amateur and consequent over-professionalisation. One says th is in no sp irit o f antagonism to either the profession al fo o tb a lle r or the profession al cricketer, the m ajority o f whom are worthy o f adm iration and re sp ec t; but a gam e can scarcely be p la ye d in th e true sporting sp irit as a game when most o f th e p layers are p rofession als. T h is is o n ly n a tu ra l; profession als, dependin g as they d o upon the gam e fo r a livin g, cann ot p la y it so ligh t-h earted ly and w ith such “ abandon ” as amateurs. F ortu n ately, professionalism in cricket has not yet assumed such proportions as to be detrim ental to the g a m e ; but there is a distin ct danger th at it m ay do so. I f we yie ld to th e clam our o f the n ew s­ pap ers and th e “ m o b ,” and institute a cham pionship w ith tw o divisions and autom atic prom otion and relegation , it is to be feared th at county cricket (o f w h ich there is alread y a surfeit) w ill become so much less a sport and so much more a business, ta k in g up so much more tim e, that the amateur w ill be driven ou t entirely. T h e county club s w ill then steadily deteriorate in to mere “ firm s,” like the L eagu e F o o tb all club s, w h o sim p ly p rovid e public entertainm ents b y the medium o f troupes o f p a id players. A n d this true sport and real sportsm anship sooner or later w ill be elim inated. In considering the so-called crisis, it is w e ll to m ake sure whether there is any real dim inution in the interest taken in first-class cricket. T h a t able w riter, the E d ito r o f the “ A th letic N e w s ,” on the 26th A u gu st last, m ade some remarks on th is point which are w orthy o f notice. H e w rote : “ I t is w ell in these days, w hen w e are so repeatedly to ld by the 1 kn ow -alls ’ that c rick et has lost its savour, to add th at 4 4 ,717 people p aid fo r adm ission on th e fou r d a y s at K ennin gton O v al last w eek, and these figures do not include at least 3,000 others each d ay classified as Surrey members, A u stralian visitors, and in ­ vited guests. W hen 56,000 people w atch a cricket m atch in such w eather as w as experienced last w eek, it seems idle to prate about the permanent decline o f the interest in cricket. T h e game has as strong an appeal as ever, but w hat is w anted is better w eather. A stronger cham pion ­ ship and keener management to fight against any waste o f time w ill, however, be much appreciated b y a fa ith fu l follow in g. It w ould be interesting to know how many people w ould have been at the O val had there been su n ­ shine and h ad th eir p rivate affairs perm itted. T h ere were men o f every rank, from C ab in et M inisters to pale, young curates, and among the gathering w ere many celebrities in the world o f sport and pastim e, politics, literature, and th e arts. T hese attacks on cricket have been out o f p la c e .”