Cricket 1913

J an . 18. 1913. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 25 eventually reached Burgess knee high and was at the same time swerving away from him, but the Shepherd’s Bush man not only succeeded in getting both hands to the ball but to the astonishment of us all he made the catch and threw the ball up with delightful non­ chalance. It was, I think, the most wonderful piece of fielding I have ever seen, and reminded me vividly of another remarkable piece of work I saw some years ago at Tunbridge Wells. A W o n d e r f u l C a t c h . This was in a game between West Ham and Linden Park. One of the Linden Park batsmen barely touched a fast ball which, travelling at a lightning pace about four inches off the ground, was grabbed b y short slip in extraordinary fashion. This catch was, perhaps, more remarkable than that I have described above which Burgess made at Ilford, because the ball went to the short slip, who was standing close in. at such a pace that it was astonishing he ever saw the ball let alone make the catch as he did. There was no fluke about either of these catches. They were made in clean fashion, and in each case the fielder threw the ball in the air without any apparent effort after effecting the catch. A s . a R u n g e t t e r . Apart from his fielding, which I am sure no cricketer in London can surpass, Burgess is a batsman with very few superiors. His style may not be quite that of, say, a Percy Perrin, but it is effective. He has a defence that is sound, and he can get runs at the pace they are required to win afternoon matches. He can hit with plenty of power all round the wicket, and once he gets set he scores with delightful freedom. W ith t h e B a l l . With the ball he may not be quite so well known, but he is always a dangerous bowler. He mixes his deliveries so well that few batsmen can score with free­ dom off him. As a sportsman Burgess is as much ad- admired as he is as an all-round cricketer. The next photo, will be that of A. C. Higgs, the Parson’s Green all­ round performer. G e t t in g R e a d y . Many of the London clubs are now starting to get ready for the coming season. Nearly all the fixture cards are completed, and the men are beginning to talk about the coming summer. From what I can hear there will be more enthusiasm than ever for cricket next season. It is not expected that many changes will take place in the club teams, but a few clever players have come to London from the North and Midlands, and these will, no doubt, help to strengthen the club elevens. T h e L e a d in g P l a y e r s . The two most successful sides of last season, Ilford and Honor Oak, will again have very powerful elevens. Lockton, Miecznikowski, Thorpe and Anson will again assist Honor Oak, and this famous pair of match- winning bowlers, Londen and Weaver, will be helping Ilford. G. W. Hammond, who scored 635 runs and took 65 wickets last season for Hornsey, will also turn out for the club again, and Walter Ruffels will continue to play for the Arlington. W est Indian Cricket and Cricketers. Within a few days of the writing of these lines the seventh English team to visit the charming islands in the Caribbean Sea will embark. Mr. A. F. W. Somer­ set captains it, as he did the side of two years ago, and a list of its members will be found on another page. The West Indies in a geographical sense and the West Indies in a ciicket sense are not quite the same thing. The cricket West Indies include British Guiana, which is, of course, on the mainland of South America, and rule out the big islands of Cuba, Porto Rico, Hayti and San Domingo, and many lesser ones, though I believe the game is played in Danish St. Croix— anyway, C r i c k e t has two or three subscribers there. An enchanting region for a holiday tour is this of the Caribbean, and it is not to be wondered at that men Mr. H. B. Q. AUSTIN. who make one cricket journey thither are keen to go again, given opportunity. The work of such a tour is far less strenuous than that of one in Australia or South Africa, and there is greater variety of scenery. No bigger mistake can be made than to suppose the West Indian islands “ much of a muchness.” For instance, Barbados, where the best cricket is, cannot be considered at all picturesque. It is an island of coral formation, and such islands are flat in character. The other islands are mainly volcanic. Grenada is, perhaps, the most beautiful of them, a land of mountains and waterfalls and woods. Trinidad, with its pitch lake, is the most curious, but it is rather an enervating place. Jamaica makes one think of rum at once ; but there is much besides rum in Jamaica, and it boasts a lovely climate,