Cricket 1913

290 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. Jun e 14, 1913. confident, and has fine punishing powers. . . . I must say that on two or three occasions when I saw him against leg-break- bowlers he did not shape at all well. But he will speetiily get rid o f any defects in this respect, and I think he may be set down as very likely to be in the next Australian team for England. He has very much improved in his fielding.” T h e genial “ F e l i x ” has also good words for A. Brown, H. Sandford, and H . Bracher. He says Cannon, Armstrong, and Ryder are the best three Victorian bowlers. Unfortunately Cannon, a leg-breaker, is not a colt. O n e hesitates to impugn the judgment of Tom Horan ; but T . J. Matthews is a pretty useful bowler, and on form generally it is difficult to imagine Cannon his equal. Matthews, by the way, is out o f hospital; a bit pale and shaky, but confident o f being fit for next season. W . J. W h i t t y was never a likely member of the team for America. He says that he stated all along he had no intention of going. But it is a fact that up to the last moment Trumper’s joining the side was always possible. Heroes of the Past. (“ So the mighty Bonnor has passed to the Elysian fields ."— C r ic k e t, 1912, p a g e 303.) Stalwarts of the manly game, Shadows now of the misty past, Memory dwells on the laurels you won, Treading the greensward ’neath summer sun ; And ever the years bring you gathering fame, Heroes of Cricket, resting at la s t! Aye, on many a field of yore, Grim giants of the long-ago. You wrestled hard and you wrestled fair For victory’s wreath, doing well your share W ith deadly ball or with m ighty score In the way that great hearts only know’ ! Or you fielded the weary hours through O f an innings so long it seemed never done, And you cheered from your hearts the victor w ho’d played His part so Well with right trusty blade : You were one w ith the Heroes, noble and true, For, victors or vanquished, your spirits were on e! Heroes all that the gam e has seen. As I picture your passage at the last Through the valley dim where the shadows lie To the darkling river that hurries by, ’Tw ixt Earth and Elysium ’s pastures green, Whither the pioneers have passed, Plaudits as of a concourse vast Upon the ears of my fancy throng; Such at the Oval cheered each good stroke, And the echoes of far-famed Lord’s awoke, When in the Great Game’s mellow past Willow and leather sang summer’s so n g ! Play the gam e nobly, children of E a rth ! True to the creed of its sons gone by. For cricket lives on in the cricketer’s soul As he goes on his way to the ultimate goal, Leaving the willow-girt fields of its birth. He passes. The gam e —that can never d ie ! A. G o r d o n H u n t le y , Ceylon. H. Gradidge &Sons, Manufacturers and Exporters of all requisites for Cricket, L awn Tennis, Racquets, Squash Racquets &c. Reblading Cricket Bats 8 Festringing Tennis Bats a Special Feature. P R IC E LIST S & S P E C IA L QUOTATIONS FREE. Every o th er requisite for Cricket, including balls, leg guards, batting gloves, gau n tlets, stumps, nets, &c. “ Imperial Driver” & “ Improved Gradidge ” Lawn Tennis Racquets. Factory : ArtilleryPlace, Woolwich, S.E. Patentees and Sole Makers of the “ IMPERIAL DRIVER” CRICKET BATS. M ade in M en’s, S m a ll M en’s, College, 6, 5, 4, & 3, sizes. All Goods Carriage Paid to any part of the United Kingdom. S ole Makers o f the