Cricket 1913

310 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J une 21, 1913 1899 Canada v. United States, 23* and 39* ; 8 w. for 117. 1899 Canada v. K. S. Ranjitsinhji’s Team, 21* and 31 ; 2 for 48. 1901 Canada v. United States, 26 and 3 ; 6 w. for 105. 1901 Canada v. Mr. B. J. T. Bosanquet’s Team, 6 and 6 ; 1 for 43. 1902 Canada v. United States, 23* and 18 ; 5 w. for 84. 1903 Canada v. United States, o* and 12 ; 2 w. for 44. 1905 Ottawa v. M.C.C. Team, 11 and 13 9 w. for 81. 1905 Montreal v. M.C.C. Team, 16 ; 5 w. for 51. 1905 Eastern Canada v. United States, 8 and 2 ; 1 w. for 21. 1907 Eastern Canada v. United States, o and 6 ; dii not bowl. 1907 Canada v. M.C.C. Team, 29* and 2 ; 2 w. for 13. These figures are creditable enough. There is no really high score, and only one sensational bowling a n a ly sis; but there is plenty o f evidence o f all-round use­ fulness. It would be a mistake, however, to estimate the form o f any Canadian player by his doings in the very occasional big matches. These come at such long intervals that a man really has little chance o f showing at his best in them. T h e twenty matches listed above are spread over a period o f twenty years. I f M cG iverin had been an Englishman playing first-class cricket regularly he would probably have appeared in over 400 matches during such a period ; as an Australian, even without a trip to E n g ­ land, he might have played in something like a hundred; even as a South A frican he would have had a chance o f figuring in a considerably larger number. On the other hand, there is a distinct danger o f over­ rating a man’s prowess if regard is had chiefly to his club performances. The T riton among the minnows may not, after all, be anything very wonderful transferred to higher planes. But general testimony is sufficient to prove that McGiverin was really something more than a success­ ful club bowler, and that, given opportunity, he would have been likely to make a big name in first-class company. In 1888, for Ham ilton v. O ttawa, he took 6 wickets for 3 runs. In 1889 he had 52 wickets at under 6 each for Hamilton, in the next year 37 at under 10 e ach ; o f his doings in 1891 I have no record, and in 1892 and ’93 he was in England, where he played with considerable success in good club cricket. Seventy-four wickets fell to him at 8.60 each for Ham ilton in 1894. This season he was quite at the top o f his form , and proved the main factor o f the defeat o f a strong Ph iladelph ia team, in­ cluding G. S. Patterson, E . W . C lark, F . E . Brewster, A . G. Thomson, Newbold E tting, and L . B iddle, by a picked Ontario eleven on ’Varsity Lawn, Toronto. P . C. Goldingham , an old Cheltonian, with 30 and 38*, and the Rev. F . W . T erry, who used to play for Somerset, with 35 and 30*, did the greater part o f the run-getting; but M cG iverin’s services as a bowler were o f even greater value than their work. H e had 7 for 23 and 6 for 40, getting the crack, G. S. Patterson, in each innings. For Ham ilton v. Toronto— always a keen match, for the two are old rivals— that season he took 7 for 27. In 1895 he was absent in South A frica , and in the next year he p layed comparatively little. H e went to Chicago with a team captained by A . H . Collins, o f the Parkdale club, and in a week’s cricket there twice did the hat trick. About this time he removed from Hamilton to O ttawa, and for two or three seasons thereafter the American Cricket Annual gives small account o f him. H e is noted in the 1900 issue as the only first-class bowler Canada had on its side in the two big matches o f the year, in which he took 10 wickets for 165 and scored 114 runs for once o u t; but as J. M. L aing played in one o f these games this judgment Can hardly be accepted. Both in form, these two made a capital contrast, for Laing had i a good turn o f speed, kept an excellent length, and had w- | plenty o f devil, while McGiverin, slow and tricky, could j break both ways, and was good at discovering the bats- w , j man’s weak points. McGiverin captained Canada in I 1899, by the way. On September 3, 1900, playing for Ham ilton v. Rose- I dale, he took five wickets with five successive balls, which is not a record, even for the American Continent, as my informant thinks, for John Wisden took six at Rochester in 1859, and seven have been taken in England ; but it is perhaps as good as any feat o f the sort recorded in a game as to which one can feel tolerably certain that the victims were not “ out o f the hu tch .” A biggish gap in the records occurs here. The American Cricket Annual lapsed in 1901 ; the fiJst issue o f S fold ing ’s Official Guide did not appear until 1904, and it is not until that for 1905 (dealing with the cricket o f 1904) that one comes upon McGiverin in the club game once more. Then one finds him and M. G. Bristowe, another man long in the forefront o f Canuck cricket, doing nearly all the bowling for O ttawa— McGiverin 67 wickets at under 7 each, Bristowe one more at just over 8. The slow bowler was second in the batting averages, too, with 19 per innings. In the next season he played less frequently, but substantially maintained his form. H e was in England during part o f this season, I believe; anyway about this time he became a member both o f the M .C'.C. and the F ree Foresters. In 1905 he was President o f the Eastern Canadian Association, and captained the Ottawa team against the M .C .C . ; in 1906 he had the honour o f being elected President o f the Canadian .C ricket Association. From this time on his appearances in the field became very infrequent. H is profession claimed h im ; and in Canada very few men put p lay first, work afterwards. Those who do are soon shown that the great Dominion is no place for them. A fine baseball player, McGiverin was— it goes almost without saying— an excellent field. H e began Rugby football at school, played afterwards for Ham ilton and for Toronto, and helped to organise Osgoode, which club won the championship in 1891. H e played the game in England, too, and after his return with O ttaw a ; and in 1897 he captained one o f the best teams C anada ever had. Subsequent to his retirement he became President o f the Ottawa club, and also Vice-President and a Governor o f the Inter-Provincial Union, and one o f the trustees o f the Earl Grey Cup. J. N . P. ' ' —- ■'■- (T^S------------------- The Sportsman says 33 first-class centuries were made in May, the Athletic News reckons the number at 32. The correct total is 34. Quaife and Mead each made three during the month, Hobbs, Makepeace, and Rhodes each two, and Bowell, Drake, F. R. Foster, Gunn (G.), Hardinge, E. L. Kidd, Kinneir, R. B. Lag­ den, A. H. Lang, Langdon, C. D. Mclver, the Hon. H. G. H. Mul­ holland, J. W. W. Nason, L. Oliver, Relf (A. E.), Seymour (Jas.), S. G. Smith, P. F. Warner, Whitehead (H.), A. C. Wilkin­ son, Wilson (B. B.), and Woolley (F. E.) each one. G E O R G E L E W I N & Club Colour Specialists & Athletic Clothing Manufacturers. OUTFITTERS BV APPO INTMENT TO The Royal Navy and Army, Cornwall, Kent, Middlesex, Somerset and Surrey Counties, and London Scottish, Irish and Welsh, Blackheath, Harlequins, Rich­ mond, Catford Rugby Football Clubs, and all the loading Clubs in the British Isles and abroad ; M.C.C. S. African Tour 1909 , S. African Cricket Association 1910 , and Queen’s Club, Kensington, the M.C.C. Australian Team 1911-12, and the South African Association Cricket Team 1912. Established 1869 . W rite fo r Estim ates. Telephone: P.O. 607 C IT Y . Works at Camberwell. 8 , CROOKED LANE, MONUMENT , E.C.