Cricket 1913

August U, 11)13. CRICKET: A WEEKLY' RECORD OF THE GAME. 487 Cricket Chirps. ( B y E. H. D. S e w e l l .) ’T is sad new s that W arren has bow led his last b all for Derbyshire. D iscip lin e is discipline, th o u g h ,; a fter all. W arren was one of the tip-toppers w ith the b a ll, for he had that priceless one which pitched on or ju st off the off- stump, and either bow led you flop ! or caught you the right kind o f stinger in the hammy part of the right thigh. By the pain, m any men can tell whether they are up against a bow ler or not. HirSt stung like the very deuce, so did Lockwood. Some bow lers hit you, but it’s a ll over in a: jiffy. Not so w ith the three I have named. W hat causes the “ bite ” ? Is it the extra bit of pace or the extra bit o f tw ist or spin ? It can ’t be sheer pace, for others were faster than Lockw ood or H irs t; for example, Kortright. But did “ K o rty ” sting like these others ? I never h a d 'th e m isfortune to have to face him “ on busi­ n e ss” on a fast one. T o jud ge by what I saw of discre­ tional retreats tow ards the square-leg umpire he must have stung a bit, for m any a batsman who w ould have been h ighly indign ant if one had hinted he wasn’t first-class, I have seen run like the dickens directly K o rty ’s arm was up. - T h is retiral from the advance of a fast bowler, is a pecu­ liar th in g altogether. In igo2 I was practising at the same net as a man who had just done all one man could do at Ladysm ith. N o, it was not Johnny T urn er, who got shol in the w'rist and heel. “ Must have been running away, Johnny,” w as what C, L. Green remarked to him when he said h e’d been hit in the heel ! And this fellow , who had been through the m ill, one of the stiffest m ills at that, simply w ould not look at a fast bow ler. He had had ex­ perience of cricket, and was fa r from being a novice, but the fast b all on the leg-stum p produced the strategic move­ ment to the rear every time. W arren had the true fast b all o f a fast bow ler. He had little actu al off-turn, but the genuine body action break, which got him many a w icket. F a s t? W e ll, yes, yards faster than anybody bow lin g to-day except H itch on a fast pitch. He had— and m ay h ave now— a temper. A fast bow ler is a ll the better for that, provided it is not the sulky type o f 1temper which causes retirem ent to mid-off and a state of shan’t-try, that gets on everybody’s nerves. You cou ld not upset W arren by punching him. He bowded a ll the faster and better for that. He w as a very- fine catch , indeed, at second or third slip, and a useful run-getter, sixth or seventh w icket down, if you placed the field w rongly. H e and B estw ick used to share talent money, and probably did w ell over an arrangem ent that some other “ p a ir s ” m ight im itate. I don’t know what has led to his departure from the gam e, but I am sorry the “ som ething ” has happened, w hatever it was. I presume we m ay now h ail K ent as Champions of 1013? T hey are undoubtedly the best side, even if the existing silly scheme m anages during the next three weeks to de­ prive them of that honour. I hope, if they do even tually finish No. 1, we sh all be spared a repetition of the nauseous d rivel about the extraordin arily sporting game they p lay— d rivel which so annoyed many of the most staunch men o f K ent years ago when M arsham ’s side punched its w ay to victory. T hough here and there there are county elevens that p lay a very different game to that of K en t, still the m onopoly of sporting cricket is very far from belon gin g to the Cham pions of 1913. Indeed, there have been instances, but why labour the point ? The Championship has again changed hands, which is ,a jo lly good th in g fo r the game. The return of E. R. W ilso n to first-class cricket w ill be welcomed by all who love the gam e and the men who play it as it was meant to be played. W ilso n is still one of the best length bow lers we h ave, w ith ju st enough leg-break action to force batsmen to err, and return pavilion- w ards sw earing they were out because the ball went the other way. Howbeit, W ilso n does not bow l googlies. F rien d ly competition, the M inor Counties com petition! H erts and Bucks alw ays have been the best of pals, and alw ays w ill be, I hope. I feel sure w'e did nothing at Broxbourue last w eek to cause a breakin g off of good rela­ tions. F o r we ga ve a ll the batsmen on their side four inn­ in gs instend of two, and some had even more ! W e had them beatsn at least three tim es, but we lost a ll right by three w ickets. And thoroughly w ell deserved to lose, too ! Our friend ly relations with the noble shire of Beds should also continue for the same reason, although we endan­ gered our prospects by getting four of them out second K n ock before they could get the necessary 13 to win. W e m ight have had 5 out for 10 runs ! W hen the catch ing w ill come off the Fates alone know , but somebody has got to catch it for the deeds of the B ucks X I. in their first three games this season. T h e wheels of the selectors' chariot tarry, and we know not who w ill be the am ateurs for the M .C .C . tour in South A frica , w hile not a ll the professionals are yet known. I hope it is true that H. K. F oster is to captain. A better could h ard ly be chosen. He must be the best cricketer we ow'n who has never played m a T est match. F rom what I can glean , South A frica has not a m illion to one chance. But W eig h t and Sea may make a difference. Too Old at——? T h e e ld e r ly a th le te , w h o is b e in g ru n d o w n in som e q u a r te rs ju s t n ow , w a s v e r y m u ch in e v id e n c e in a c e r ta in m a tc h p la y e d la s t M o n d a y . L e s t m is ­ a p p re h e n s io n s h o u ld o c c u r, I m a y p e rh a p s e x p la in th a t E . H . D . S e w e ll is n o t the e ld e r ly a th le te in q u e s tio n ; b u t th a t g e n tle m a n m a y se rv e a s a t y p e o f th e ::lass a tta c k e d . I f h e is to be ta k e n a s su ch , it w o u ld a p p e a r th a t th e e ld e r ly a th le te s c a r c e ly ‘‘ la g s sm p erflu ou s ” on th e g o o d g r e e n s w a r d . 1 h e m a tc h w a s M r. A n th o n y d e R o t h s c h ild ’s X I . v . H u ro w W a n d e r e r s . T h e W a n d e r e r s s c o re d 250. E . IT. D . a n d D . G . W ig a n , th e O x o n ia n , la s t y e a r in th e E t o n X I . , w h o is a lm o s t y o u n g e n o u g h to be h is son —h e c a n n o t b e m o re th a n tw o o r th re e y e a r s o ld e r th a n D . A . D .— w e n t in firs t a n d p u t u p 305 in 130 m in u te s b e fo r e th e y w e re p a r te d . W ig a n d i d w e ll. H e w a s y8 n o t o u t a t th e c lo s e , w h en th e sco re s to o d 320 f o r 2. B u t it w a s th e e ld e r ly a th le te w h o m a d e th e lio n ’s sh a re o f th e ru n s. S e w e ll’s 2 1 6 in c lu d e d se v e n 6’s a n d th ir ty - o n e 4’s. S e w e ll w ill b e 40 n e x t S e p tem b e r. ’N u ff s a id ! O r s h a ll I a d d u c e a n o th e r in s ta n c e ? F r e d B o w le y w ill b e 38 in N o v em b e r . O n M o n d a y h e m a d e 17 7 w ith o u t a c h a n c e , p r a c t ic a lly w ith o u t a f a u l t y stro k e , in a t o ta l o f 266 w h ic h in c lu d e d 21 e x tr a s — o v e r 70 p e r cen t, o f th e ru n s fro m th e b a t. O n ly tw o m en on th e s id e — B u r r o w s a n d H u n L — a re o ld e r th an B o w le y .