Cricket 1913

206 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M ay 17, 1913. The Long and the Short of it. I t has fo r long been a comm on-place th at a good cricketer m ay be o f alm ost any physique, though great height seems at first sight to b e a distinct; advan tage both fo r battin g— from the greater reach it gives— and fo r b o w l­ ing— from the greater drop given to the b a ll. Y e t R . A bel and the late John B rigg s are p ro o f enough that great stature is not necessary fo r first-rate achievem ent in either departm ent. T h e average crick eter is certain ly a tolerably w ell-m ad e m a n ; it m ay be claim ed th at he shows a more g racefu l figure than th at o f the average fo o tb a ll p layer, who tends to be clum sy, or than that o f the average g o lfe r, w ho is not u n lik ely to be stiff and inactive. A good eleven, whether th at o f a c lu b , a cou nty, or o f E n glan d , most lik e ly contains men o f several s iz e s ; bu t the average w ould p robably be fo u n d to b e about 5 ft. 9m . or 5 ft. io in . It m ay be interesting to con sid er a list, which does not pretend to be exhaustive, but w h ich con tains as m any w ell- known instances as cou ld be fo u n d , o f p layers w ell above and w ell below such an average, i.e ., than over 6 ft. and those o f 5 ft. 6in. or under. T o begin w ith, the ta lle r variety, as in almost every cricket list, there comes first th e cham pion , D r. W . G . G race, w ith his 6 ft. 2in. A n d it can sa fe ly be said th at his heigh t and reach fo r fo rw ard p la y d id a great deal to m ake his b attin g w h at it w as, but not a ll, fo r m any men h ave been as ta ll o r taller, and yet in spite o f all their efforts remained duffers at the gam e. T h e tallest o f fam ous p layers w as p ro bably G . J. B onnor, the A u stra ­ lian , w ith his 6 ft. 6 in ., and when h e chose he probably hit as h ard and as fa r as anyone ever did . T h e tallest E n g lish p la ye r seems to have been A . W . R id le y , 6 ft. 4m ., o f th e O x fo rd and G entlem en’ s X I . ’s o f th e early ’ 70 ’s ; a great lob-bow ler, w h o did much to w in the sensational victo ry b y 6 runs in 1875 ; he w as also a fine bat and field. T h en there w as the demon bow ler, Spofforth, w ith his 6 ft. 3m ., which aided his b ow lin g to get u p qu ick ly in addition to its p a ce and break. W . Gunn (6 ft. zjin .,) w as one o f ithe ta lle st o f p ro fe ssio n a ls; a p erfect bat in sty le, i f at times rather slow , and a m agnificent outfield. T h e fam ous E to n and O x fo rd p la yer, and a fterw ard s E ton m aster, R . A . H . M itch ell, w as 6 ft. 2 in .; he, in his p la y ­ in g years, which w ere alt too short, w as unsurpassed by any batsm an. Another well-known p layer in his d ay w as G . S trach an , o f S urrey and G loucestershire (6 ft. xin.), who riv alled the R ev. V ern on R o y le as a cover-point. O ther am ateurs are the G loucestershire w icket-keeper, J. A . Bush (6 ft. 2 i n . L . C . D ock er, o f D erb ysh ire and W a rw ick ­ shire (6 ft. 2in.), W . H . H a d ow , o f O x fo rd and M id d le­ sex (6 ft. o iin .), T . S . Pearson -G regory, o f M iddlesex (6ft. 2111.), and John W a lk er, o f the fam ous brotherhood (6ft. iin .). Am ong the p rofession als I,ong John T u n n icliffe, o f Y orksh ire (6 ft. 2in .), fam ous fo r his first w icket stand and short slip catches, has not long le ft the field ; M idw in ter, o f G loucestershire (6 ft. 2 jin .), P o rter, o f D erbyshire (6ft. 2in .), and the great bow ler o f the fiftie s and sixties, J a c k ­ son, o f N otts (6 ft. o ] in .), th e hero o f P u n ch ’s “ A n H over from J a ck so n ,” who in the three years 1857-8-9 took over a thousand w ic k e ts; T y le r , o f Somerset (6 ft. 2in.), and A rn o ld , o f W orcestershire (6 ft. iin .), whose deeds are known to th e present generation o f p la yers and readers, m ay be added to th e list. Am ong the amateurs one had almost forgotten C an on J. M cC orm ick (6 ft. 3m .), who m ade 137 and 27 in th e N orth o f the Tham es v. South o f the T h am es m atch in 1868, when W . G . m ade h is first pair o f cen tu ries; he p robably w ould h ave been one o f E n g ­ la n d ’s best known amateurs, but h e p ra ctica lly .gave up big cricket on tak in g orders. It m ay be noticed th a t o f the eighteen p layers men­ tioned eleven are am ateu rs; o f seventeen to be nam ed o f 5 ft. 6in. or less, fifteen are p rofession als. T h is con ­ firms what statisticians tell us, th at the p rofession al classes — in another sense— reach a greater average h eigh t than th at o f the p opulation gen erally. B u t the sm all men include m any great crick eters; con sider, to begin w ith, R . Peel, o f Y o rk sh ire (5 ft. 6in.), J. B rig g s, o f Lan cash ire (5 ft. 5in .), and R . A b e l, o f Surrey (5 ft. 5m .), a ll three through a great part o f their careers among the first choices fo r an E n glan d side. T h e b ow lin g o f P eel and B rig g s does not seem to have lost much from their sh ortn ess; nor in their d ay did that o f the origin al L illy w h ite ( F . W..), o f Sussex (5 ft. 4-in.), or o f his son John (5 ft. sin.,), or o f Southerton (5 ft. 6in.), w ho p la yed fo r three counties, Sussex, H am pshire, and S urrey, or o f W isden , o f Sussex (5 ft. 4|in.), who in a North and South m atch in 1850 clean bow led all ten w ickets in the second inniings, or o f M r. D . Buchanan, o f W arw icksh ire (5 ft. 5m .), w h o on ly began to p la y fo r the G entlemen when he was approach in g his fortieth year, and continued to d o so till close on fifty . N o r does th e fo llo w in g list o f baitsmen su ggest th at shortness o f stature need be much o f a h an dicap :— M r. J. Shuter, o f Surrey (5 ft. 6in.), S elb y , o f N otts (5 ft. 6in.), H enderson, o f Surrey (5 ft. 6in.), T . H um ph rey, o f Surrey (5ft. sin .), Robinson, o f L an cash ire (5 ft. 6in.), and the three K en tish H earnes, G . G . (5 ft. 6in.), A . (5 ft. 6in.), and F . (5 ft. sin.j). It is w orthy o f rem ark also th at M r. Shuter, S elb y , Robinson, and F . H earn e were noted as free-h ittin g and fast-scorin g batsm en : sm all size indeed gives quickness and activity i f it denies length o f reach. T h ere remains to be mentioned the tw o sm allest p layers o f a ll, both w icket-keepers and first-class ones at that, P h illip s, o f Sussex (5 ft. 4m .), and W ood, o f S urrey (5 ft. 3in .), o f whom P h illip s once m ade a cen tu ry again st the A ustralian s, and W ood m ade m any a u sefu l score, la rgely -— i f tradition is to be believed— b y means o f th e “ cut to leg ” ! S uppose w e choose an eleven to represent either d iv i­ sio n ; W . G . G race, R . A . H . M itchell, C anon M cC orm ick, A . W . R id le y , F . R . Spofforth, J. A . B ush, Jackson, M idw inter, Gunn, T u n n icliffe, and A rn old fo r the giants, and J Shuter, D . Buchanan,, S elb y , A b el, H um phrey, P h illip s, P eel, B rigg s, Southerton, W isden , and R o b in ­ son fo r the m idgets, d o we not find th at either is a very strong sid e? T h e form er certain ly is w ell u p to the strength o f an E n glan d side, w ith such batsmen as W . G ., M itchell, M cC orm ick, Gunn and T u n n icliffe, and such a variety o f bow lin g as Jackson (fa st), Spofforth (fa st medium). A rn old (medium), W . G . (slow ), and R id le y (lobs), to say nothing o f M idw inter and M cC o rm ick ; the other sid e ’s batsmen are less comm anding in reputation, but Shuter, S elb y, H um phrey, A b el, P eel, B rig g s, and Robinson are a pretty useful lot, and in their d ay as tx>wlers Southerton (slow right), W isden (fa st right), P eel, B rigg s, and Buchanan (all slow le ft) were unsurpassed. It is sin g u la r that the ta lle r side has no left-h a n d bow ler, as T y le r w as not selected, and the shorter has three. D oes shortness o f stature h e lp a le ft-h a n d er? O n e can on ly w ish that such a match were p o ssib le ; it is a lw ays one o f the regrets o f the o ld er generation th at th ey cann ot see the heroes o f the p ast matched w ith those o f the present. Perh aps such contests are reserved fo r the E ly sia n fields 1