Cricket 1913

C R I C K E T : a w e e k l y r e c o r d o f t h e g a m e .— m » y 17™, 1 9 1 3 . ;Together joined in Cricket’ s manly toil.”— Byron. No. 3 8 . V O L . II. N e w S e r i e s . No. 927 Old Series. S A T U R D A Y , M A Y 1 7 , 1 9 1 3 . P" 'CE 2 °- A Chat about Mr. C. 0 . H. Sewell. T he new G loucestershire skipper is South A frica n , born and bred, though few people remember the fact. H e first saw the lig h t at Pieterm aritzburg on D ecem ber 19, 1874. B u t h is fath er, M r. J. J. S ew ell, was a county cricketer o f renown, p la yin g both fo r M idd lesex and fo r Gloucestershire, or rather the Gentlem en o f G lou ces­ tershire, fo r his career anteceded th e days o f the county club. C y ril O tto H u dson Sew ell thus possesses G loucestershire ties, and the fa c t th at he had relatives at C irencester gave him a fam ily home qu alifica­ tion fo r th e county in 1895, though at th at d ate his father w as still liv in g in South A fr ic a . P erh ap s n ow a­ days th e qu alification w ould be held in ad eq u a te ; but it was good enough then. H e must h ave begun to p lay w ell very young, i f the “ Sew ell, C . (Stan d ard ).— A chip o f the old b lo c k ; prom ising Bat, and good field ,” o f the N a ta l Cricketers' A n nu al o f 1887-8 was he, and I think there is little doubt o f that. N o th in g more than promise cou ld w ell be ex­ pected o f a boy o f 13 p la y ­ ing among men. N ext year one finds him given a s : “ S ew ell, C . (C o llege).— Small bu t stu rd y c ric k e te r; plays a fine free g a m e ; can bowl slow w ith a b ig off- break ; is a good field anv- where, w ith a qu ick retu rn .” photo, by HawHns] “ C o llege ” is M aritzb urg M r. C. 0 . C o llege. G . H . Shepstone, later o f R ep ton and the 1901 S .A . T eam , was with S ew ell there, but neither did great things th at season. In 1889-90 S ew ell to talled 221 for the C ollege, averaged 18, took a dozen w ickets, and again h ad a good character given him in the A nnu al, though to ld o f his bad hab it o f getting l.b .w . H e p layed in the Intertow n gam e, D urban v. M aritzburg, on the D urban O v al, bu t did little therein. In 1890-1 he topped both the b a ttin g and b ow lin g aver­ ages fo r the C o llege w ith io innings, 4 not outs, 338 runs, average 56.33, and 12 w ickets a t under 8 each. “ One o f the best, all-round men in th e colon y, and seems to im prove each y e a r,” says the N . C . A . H e also p la yed fo r the M aritzburg C.C., averagin g over 30. It is somewhat curious th at he should never have figured as a representative N atal c ric k e te r; but such is the case. H e p layed fo r X X I I . o f M aritzburg against the E n glish X I . o f 18 91-2, securing 2 and 2 0 ; but N atal had no team in the C urrie C u p Tournam ent o f 1892-3 at K im b erley, and Sew ell w as absent from the team sent to C a p e T ow n in 1893-4. B efo re it went, however, he had been chosen fo r the F irst South A frica n T eam to E n glan d . T h e junior member o f r* Co., Brighton . th at side, he proved b y long H. S E W E L L . odds its best bat, though it