Cricket 1913

166 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME, M ay 10, 1913. C a re y , who, I believe, used to keep w icket for D evon. T h e R ev. G . H . M ullin s w as m y house m aster.” “ A ft e r U p p in gh am ? ” “ I w ent to a p riv ate tutor in Surrey— the R ev. A . C . H a y e s, o f H o lm b u ry S t. M ary, near D ork in g. H e w as an old M arlbu rian, and a very keen and u sefu l a ll­ round cricketer. Y e s, 1 got some crick et there. I p layed fo r the v illag e team , and had my first experience o f official duties, actin g as hon. secretary to the clu b . W h ile at H o lm b u ry I m et w ith rather a serious accident. In a m atch on the charm in g v illa g e green at O ck ley I broke my le ft a n kle b a d ly. T h is w as a b ig h an d icap to me fo r some tim e after, and even now I h ave a slight lim p through it. I w as a member o f the S t. G eorge’ s C .C . at hom e in N ew castle, and in the summer h o lid ays used to get up b o y s’ matches. W h ile w ith M r. H a y e s I w as preparing fo r O x fo rd . A t the ’ V a rsity I was under a p rivate tutor at first, but later at E xeter C o llege. I d id n ’t p la y much cricket there, but h a d a good deal o f hockey, and w as the first secretary o f th e O x fo rd C asu a ls H .C . I had a knee crocked a t the gam e, and th is in ju ry further interfered w ith m y cricket fo r some tim e afterw ards. “ I le ft O x fo rd w ithout ta k in g a degree, and went, fo r the sake o f exjterience, in to the office o f th e E ld e r D em pster line at B ristol. W h ile there I was a member o f th e G loucestershire C .C . C h arles T ow n sen d, I recol­ lect, w as my proposer. I p la yed a few matches fo r the C lifto n C .C ., bu t h ad very little tim e fo r cricket. A trip to Jam aica on b e h a lf o f the firm varied th e routine o f w ork. W hen I le ft B ristol it w as to join a sh ip bu ildin g firm at W ivenhoe, near C olchester. 1 am still connected w ith the firm ; bu t recent changes h a ve rendered it u n ­ necessary fo r m e to put in so much active w ork, and in consequence I h ave more tim e on m y hands than I had before. ’ ’ “ W ere you p la y in g crick et du rin g these years? ” “ N o , or at least to so sm all an extent th at I m ight be J said p ractically to h ave given u p the game. I did turn ou t, however, in a few m atches at W ivenhoe, and at the end o f the 1905 season I w as asked to accept the captain cy. I held this office du rin g 1906 and 1907. W e had some d e ligh tfu l cricket, on a p rivate ground belonging to Mr. A . K . B arlow , o f W ivenhoe-hall. D . I,. A . Jephson, M iles T ow n send, F . E . T h om as (of G loucestershire), and H . D . and R . P . K e igw in w ere among those w h o appeared in the m atches. P erh ap s, b y the w a y, you have not heard th at H . D . K e ig w in h as la tely gone ou t to R hodesia, where h is brother, H . S ., has been fo r som etim e. H . D . has accepted a m astership in a school., I th in k, at S a lis­ bury. A t the end o f 1907 w e fou nd th at th e ground was no longer availab le, and th at p ra ctica lly broke u p the club. In 1908 I w as asked to cap tain C olchester and E ast E ssex, who had just obtained a new grou nd in C astle P a rk , and I h ave skipp ered the side ever sin ce.” “ Y o u also p la y fo r th e G entlemen o f E ssex, I be­ lie ve ? Is th at side run in connection w ith the C oun ty C lu b ? ” “ Y e s and no. W e have no official connection, though most o f our men are C o u n ty C lu b members. N eville D aw so n and I hold th e secretarysh ip jo in tly . H e, with A . H . Read', o f B rentw ood, and one or tw o others, fou nd ed the clu b . W e don ’t p la y m any matches, because n early all th e men are p la y in g fo r otlier team s, and we like to put a fa ir ly representative side in the field, though our ambition in th a t direction has a check at times. In A u gu st, o f course, some schoolboys are a v a ila b le ; but in A u gu st, too, th ere are clu b w eeks and county trial matches, and w e tak e care not to clash w ith these. T h e fe w matches we do p la y are alw ays most e n jo y a b le .” “ W h at is the highest score ever made b y any one for the E ssex G entlem en? ” “ L im itin g the field to th e c lu b ’s m atches, Charles M cG ah ey’ s 1 9 7 v. Sussex M artlets at H o ve in 1 9 1 1 . But that is o n ly one o f several centuries record ed .” “ A n d , now, what o f your recent appoin tm en t? ” “ I d o n ’t know that I ough t to say much. L et time show ! B u t I shoulel like to say how very fu lly I recog­ nise the difficulty o f fo llo w in g a -m a n like M r. Charles Green— a man who has given time, money, and labour without stint, and as p layer and man h as won the esteem o f all. W h a t he lias done fo r E ssex cricket few quite realise. A n d we must not overlook the assistance ren­ dered to the C ou n ty C lu b fo r years b y gentlem en lik e Mr. G erald Buxton, Mr. A . P . L u cas (still a w o nd erfu l run- getter in clu b cricket), M r. A rth u r J. E d w a rd s, M r. F . R . P e lly , M r. S. C hisenh ale M arsh, M r. C . E . R id le y , and others w ho have recently retired from the comm ittee on which they have served so lo y a lly , so enthu siastically, and so long. F o r m y self, I am as keen as any one can b e ; I have the necessary leisure, and, given the loyal support o f the members to the executive, [ feel sure th at E ssex will pull through all her troubles. I m ay tell you th at since I was elected a member o f the comm ittee— in D ecem ber, 1 9 0 6 , i f I remember rig h tly— I have o n ly m issed one meeting, and that w as while I w as aw ay in P o rtu gal in 1 9 T 0 .” “ A cricket tour, I know. W ill you tell m e something about th a t? ” “ W e had a most enjoyable time, and met some very keen p layers. M y team in cluded the H on. S. R . Beres- fo rd , P e rcy P errin, C h arles M cG ah ey, R . and C . K en - w ard, R . T . C raw fo rd , and other w ell-kn ow n men. M cG ah ey and P errin ran u p a century each at C arcavello s, and they headed the batting averages. I topped the l>owl- in g ; but as I on ly took a cou p le o f w ickets I d o n ’t m ind ow ning that C raw fo rd , who h ad 26 at under 10 each, and M cG ahey, w ith 28 at under 1 4 , deserved a little bit more credit th at I did . W hat ga ve me a good deal o f sa tis­ faction w as the fa ct th at I h ad the honour o f m aking the w inning hit in the 1 test ’ match with A ll P o rtu ga l, which we won. b y 10 w ickets. Am ong the p layers opposed to 11s during the tour were the H o n . M ervyn H erb ert, then attached to the B ritish Legation at Lisbon , P . J. A rn a ll, the o ld Leicestershire slow bowder, O . R . C o verley (who captain ed Oporto), an o ld U p pin gham ian , and the brothers R aw es, w ho have done no end fo r cricket in Po rtu gal. H erbert m ade 8 9 fo r Lisbon in one m atch, M. B arley 82 not out in another, and B . F . F rie n d scored 53 not out fo r A ll P o rtu gal. W e d id not lose a m atch, by the w ay. W hen another team goes it ought to extend its tour to G ibraltar. Y e s, I should lik e to ta k e another, and m ay do so i f I get the o p p o rtu n ity , but I th in k th at if another sid e goes it should be under the auspices o f the M .C .C . T h e country is, I believe, settlin g down after j its revolutionary troubles now. T h e w ick ets? G rass at Oporto— not tu rf, bu t sown g r a s s ; p la y in g very w ell in ­ deed at first, but lia b le to crum ble later. M attin g over gravel at Lisbon, and the same at C arcavello s. T h e light is somewhat try in g at Lisbon. T h e p la yers? A ll B ritons, or p ra ctica lly all ; men connected w ith the w in e trad e at Oporto, with sh ipping houses and various other businesses I at Lisbon , and at C arcavellos all in the em ploy o f the Eastern T elegrap h C om p an y.” -