Cricket 1913

C R I C K E T : A Weekly Record o f the Game.— A U G U S T 16th , i q i j . Together joined in Cricket’ s manly toil.” — Byron . ° oid Series.sER1E s■ S A T U R D A Y , A U G U S T . 1 6,1913* asaNe A C h a t a b o u t A. W . S p r i n g . No cricket nursery scheme can be a success without inflicting real hardship upon a number o f aspiring youngsters. This statement may not be obviously true at first sigh t; but it really needs but a very little thinking about. The matter is one o f supply and demand. The county eleven needs fresh b lood from time to time. It is the business o f the nursery to supply that fresh b lood as far as the professionals are concerned. Now i f the nursery has no man o f approximately county standard in waiting it has fa iled in its purpose. A nd when it has several such in waiting— as it should have— well, then it’s a bit rough on the youngsters ! Th ey all join with ftie hope o f regular places in the county eleven some day. It is a certainty that all cannot win through to those places. But each ! trusts that he w ill be one o f the few. H e waits. He scores his centuries or gets his sheaf o f wickets in young players’ , club and ground, even in second X I . county matches. Promotion seems very near when a really g o o d showing fo r the second X I . has been made. And promotion comes. The colt is mounting the ladder fast now. He w ill soon be at the top, he feels sure. But in many cases he never gets there. U n looked - for obstacles are in his path. Perhaps his chance has arrived at an unlucky time, and he fails to show the best that is in him. Perhaps, after d oin g very well, he has to stand down for some acknow ledged crack. Perhaps he lacks just that little which makes the difference between a first-class player, i f on ly o f the rank and file, and a g ood second-class player. Ouite as often he does not get sufficient opportunity to prove that he possesses it. Pie may find a place with a county whose standard o f quality is sligh tly lower, and may do b ig things for it. But this happens less frequently nowadays, since the laws governing such changes have been made more stringent. Instances do not need to be searched for. N o one | who knows anything o f first-class cricket during the I last ten or twenty years w ill have any difficulty in supplying them by the dozen. A B lythe, a W oo lley , a Ducat, a Mead walks straight into the county eleven— not into his own county’s, however, in one o f these cases. A Jennings, a Collins, an Abel, a Sandham, a Spring, a Roberts, a Jupp hangs on the edge o f it, now in, now out, d oin g his best, waiting his chance, and bearing his ordeal with what grace is in him. It is not the fau lt o f county committees. Beyond all doubt they d o their b e st; and if they make mis­ takes they make them honestly. One cannot always see eye to eye with them. Personally I should a . w . S P R I N G . always prefer W illiam John Abel, in spite o f his way o f dipping at the wrong ball occasionally, or Amos W illiam Spring to some o f the men who have been given more frequent chances fo r Surrey. But that is merely a personal opinion. It is extremely probable that the Surrey Committee know better than I do. When one comes to think o f it, indeed, it is almost certain— shall we say quite certain, or, to use the horrible catch-word which is always crop­ p ing up nowadays, “ abso-lutely ” ? A ll said that may be said, none will deny that Spring is a most useful all-round player. A natural hitter, he never wastes time when in. He can bowl a very fair fastish medium ball. He is well up to the average in the field. A nd during the last