Cricket 1913

M a y 10, 1913. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 169 THE SMALL HALL. A.D.N. (log.) : I go you one better, Alberto / .£ 2 5 , fo u r o f £ 2 0 , tw o o f ^ 1 0 io s ., a dozen or more o f ,£ 10 , and a very large number ran gin g from five guineas to h a lf a guinea. H o w much o f th is enthusiasm is the legitim ate p rop erty o f crick et and how much is due to footb all, n o one can say w ith c e r ta in ty ; but, an yw ay, the result is a sp len d id one. I n o t e th a t at th e dinn er o f th e W anderers C .C . last week M r. A . M . L ath am m ade a qualified pronouncement for the sm aller b a ll. H e thought the suggestion at least worth considering. F rom a northern profession al who often drops m e a lin e I get the fo llo w in g :— “ R e R .E .F . — Sm aller b a ll and more concentrated cen trifu gal force. W hat about the batsm an w h o gets h it, and the fearless fieldsm an’ s fingers ? H ow about sw ing, sw erve, and dip ? A s it is, poor K in g W illow gets h is fa c e b a d ly sm ash ed.’ ’ W o u l d a sm aller b a ll hurt th e batsman m ore? 1 doubt whether the im pact on thigh or back o f hand would be worse. B u t it does seem lik ely th at fingers w ould be cut open more frequen tly w ith the sm aller b all in use, and that it w ould be more destructive to the fa ce— esp ecially to the edge— o f the bat. I am not clea r whether sw ing, swerve, and d ip w ould b e much affected, though I su p ­ pose there w ould be som e difference, as the sm aller ball would give a m ore restricted su rface for the air pressure to exert its e lf upon. forefinger, claim s to have gone one b e tter; R . E . F oster looks on ap p rovin gly. F . H . B . C h a m p a in , the G loucestershire batsm an, w ill not return to B ritish C olum b ia, I hear. H e has accepted a m astership at Sedbergh. L e t us hope th at this means he w ill p la y fo r the county du rin g A u g u s t! I n referrin g to W arw icksh ire prospects, Mr. Lauran ce W oodhouse, in th e D a ily M ail, gave F ra n k F o ster’ s figures in first-class cricket fo r th e period from M ay, 19 1 1, to Septem ber, 19 12 , in clu d in g tw o seasons in E n glan d and an A u stralian tour. D u rin g th at tim e the W a rw ick ­ shire captain to talled 3,088 runs in 100 com pleted innings (average 30.83) and took 319 w ickets at 19.23 each. O n l y one other amateur has, as f a r as m y recollection serves, a record at all com p arable w ith this fo r a sim ilar period ; and John C ra w fo rd , lik e F ra n k F oster, was a very youn g man when he achieved th at record. F rom M ay , 1907, to Septem ber, 1908 (in clud in g the A ustralian tour o f 1907-8), h e scored 3,139 runs in 98 completed innings (average 32.03), and took 288 w ickets at 20.38 each. O ur cartoonist has developed the idea humorously. In the b ig palm o f A lb ert T ro tt a to y b a ll is seen. A . D . Nourse, w ith another sph ericle o f about the size o f an alley-taw (votaries o f m arbles must excuse m e if the name is tech n ically w ro n g ; I w as never a votary o f either marbles or croquet) held between his immense thum b and F our profession al records o f the same nature are worth chron iclin g— those o f :— B rau nd (1903, 1903-4, 1904), 3,423 runs at 3 1 .1 1 per innings, and 354 w ickets at 25.03 e a c h ; H irst (1903, 1903-4, 1904), 4 ,9 14 runs at 4 8 .17 per innings, and 296 w ickets at 18 .8 5 each. R h od es (1903, 1903-4, 1904), 2 ,9 13 runs at 30.34 per innings, and 389 w ickets at 17 .2 1 e a c h ; and R hodes again (190 7, 1907-8, 1908), 3,657 runs at 30.99 per innings, and 323 w ickets at 17 58 each.