Cricket 1913

C R I C K E T : A Weekly Record o f the Game.— A U G U S T 23rd , 19 13 . Together joined in Cricket’ s manly toil.” — Byron. n o . e a . v o l . S A T U R D A Y , A U G U S T 23 , 1913 . [ Rf" ^ 3% £ . P 0 '] p * ' CE 2D. No. 941 , Old Series. A CHAT ABOUT FREDERICK PEAR50N . G reat cricketers are n ot am on g the products o f W orcestershire. T h a t is a general statem ent to which there is one striking excep tion— the F oster clan. N o W orcestershire-born profession al has ever greatly d istin gu ish ed him self in the cricket field since the county b ecam e first-class. B ow ley was born in B reconshire, and learned his cricket in D erbyshire. A rn o ld is D evonshire- born o f a Sussex father. B urly D ick Burrow s is a Y orksh irem an . Cuffe hails from far A ustralia. W h eld o n— no, I am not quite sure abou t W h e ld o n ; bu t I d o n ’t think the county can claim him as native. W ilson cam e from O xfordshire, C o llier from B anffshire, Straw from (I believe) N o tts. C orden , B ale, T u rn er, and last, but not least, the cap a b le all-rounder who is takin g his benefit this w eek-end, all own Surrey as the county o f their birth. T h e first o f m any m atches that I saw on the W orcester grou nd du rin g the five years 1900— 4 was the first in which F red Pearson, then a youn gster o f 19 (he was b om at B rixton on Septem ber 23, 1880), played for the county. It was again st L o n don C oun ty, led by the great W . G ., who had w ith him W illiam Q u aife, San tall, B raund, L illey , W illiam M urdoch, L ivy W alker, and others o f less note. T h e talk at W orcester then was o f what a fine bow ler the new man, not yet qualified, was go in g to make. Mr. P. H . F o le y had spotted him , and Paul F o ley was a rare good ju d ge o f a cricketer. Pearson used his head, and never bow led two b a lls alike, they s a id ; he could m ake the leather do all sorts o f things. D id he try too m uch ? H e has certainly, though often o f use, never fulfilled his early prom ise as a bow ler. But he has alw ays been a rare good bat, lack in g m aybe in those little differences o f style which in dividu alise some few men am on g others equ ally as go od as they, not in clin in g to the unorth odox (and perhaps none the worse for that), bu t sound, free on occasion , ab le to p lay a defensive gam e when need be, and scoring his thousand or near it in most seasons w ithout ever draw ing upon h im self the critical gaze o f the selectors o f representative team s. I th in k P earson m ight do well in A ustralia. I feel sure th at his com rade, B ow ley, would. But the years roll on, and the ch an ce com es to neither. It is scarcely lik ely it w ill ever com e now. Pearson did n oth in g m uch in th at first m atch ; but I rem em ber the look o f him as he was th en— and he has n ot altered so very m u ch— a you th o f m edium heigh t and ruddy, healthy face, rem inding one a little o f R h od es, but som ewhat less serious o f visage. A n d I rem em ber how F R E D E R I C K P E A R S O N . w ell he played a month later again st the W est Ind ian s, recallin g L lew ellyn ’s deeds, while still unqualified for H am p sh ire county m atches, again st the A ustralian s. H is scores were 12 and 88 not o u t; he to o k 6 for 73 in the first innings, 4 for 25 in the second, T h e m atch d id - not