Cricket 1913

September 13, 1013. CR I CKET : A WE EK L Y RECORD OF THE GAME. Cricket in South Wales. By A . E . E . V o g l e r . T h is season is m y first experience o f South W a les cricket, and when, quite early in its course, the Editor o f this paper asked me to write m y views about it, I thought it better to defer d o in g so till I had seen more. N ow I can say that I have plaved on most o f the p rincipal g round s and met most o f the leading players o f Sou th W a le s ; and I am convin ced that the standard o f cricket in these parts is far higher than m ost peop le im agine. It ou gh t to be pretty g o o d , when one com es to think o f it. M ost o f the clubs have g o o d profes­ sionals, in several cases English coun ty players, like Maxwell (Somerset), Bestwick (D erbysh ire), and Hacker (G loucestershire). Bancroft, o f Swan ­ sea, is an excellent bat, and 1 think that Creber, the same c lu b ’s left-handed bow ler, w ou ld, on his own special type o f wicket, compare favourably with any bow ler o f his type p la y in g cricket to-day. Bestw ick and Hacker are at Neath, and Maxwell, with Ban croft and C reber, at Swansea. Maxwell is a very fine fast bow ler, and a hitter o f poor Jim S in cla ir’s sort. G o od batsmen, amateur and professional, are plen tifu l. Norman R ich e s, T . A . L . W h ittin g ton , J. R . T a it, S ilverlock , D y son W illiam s, Arundale and C o op e r (both o f Briton Ferrv), P ercy R ees and the three T rubshaw s, A . R ., H ., and C . S . (all o f L lan elly ) are am on g the best. S om e o f these are capital bow lers too, and another bow ler wh o must not be passed over unmentioned is E . Gee, o f L lan elly. In the L lanelly and Swansea district the game has made a marked advance even du rin g this sea­ son . T h e pub lic interest has increased, and gates are much b ig g e r than they used to be. G iven fine weather, n oth in g cou ld be pleasanter than an after­ noon on som e o f the Sou th W a le s g round s. Y ou must not con ju re up visions o f colliery stacks and fly in g smuts. From som e o f the g round s you are able to see the form er, no doub t. But what cou ld be more cha rm in g than the Swansea G round , fac­ in g the s e a ? L lanelly, L landovery, B riton Ferry, Builth W e lls , all have their attractions, to o . Most o f them lie in valleys begirt by lovely hills, with the blue vault above and the green trees around the situation is full o f charm and picturesqueness. But what o f the gam e ? W e ll, in m y experience, the South W a le s clubs play the gam e up to the hilt. T h e y are not afraid to g o fo r the g lov e s. T h e y d o n ’t care fo r the old notion— “ if we can ’ t w in w e ’ ll see that we d o n ’ t lo se .” T h e y prefer to risk som ething in order to win if p o s s ib le ; and if they declare in sporting fashion and get overturned they d o n ’ t grum ble. D y son W illiam s, the Swansea captain, is a type o f the righ t sort o f leader. H e never hesitates to declare. A n d the press and the pub lic appreciate it. T h e captain w h o takes the risk and after all sees his side lose is praised, not slated. T h is is the righ t view to take, I think. G lam organ and M onm ou th p lay coun ty cricket, o f course, th ough neither has many matches. C ar­ marthen has had to d rop out. But we have had som e cricket o f the coun ty type in spite o f the fact that Carmarthen does not com pete in the cham p ion ­ sh ip . S ir Stafford H ow ard brou gh t a T h o rn bu ry team, in clud ing several coun ty men, to play on the Stradey g round at L lan elly, and a return match was played on Augu st 25 and 26, when the L lanelly team were the guests o f S ir Stafford at his seat at Th o rn bu ry . Then there are G en tlem en ’s matches between Carmarthen, G lam organ , and M onm ou th . Car­ marthen beat G lam organ in the op en in g m a tch ; but G lam organ , at full strength, even w ithout her professionals, is the strongest side o f the three, I think. W e had a g o o d gam e at Swansea, too, when a Swansea side, with W h ittin g ton and myself, beat M r. C . O . H . S ew ell’ s X I . pretty com fortab ly . A ltogeth er there is plenty o f g o o d cricket in South W a le s , and I feel sure it w ill g o on getting better. The Best Wicket-Keeper. B y A . E . B r o o k i n g . W ick e t-k e ep in g is a branch o f the gam e that has always fascinated me, and there is no cricket sa y in g more true than this — “ a w icket-keeper is born not m ad e .” T h e first great exponent I ever saw was the late R ichard P illin g , and I suppose it w ill always be a debateable matter whether he o r John M cCarthy B lackham was the greater. T h e question as to who is the best to-day must be very much a matter o f op in ion . If P ercy Sherwell can be prevailed upon to don the g lov es against the M .C .C . T eam du rin g the fo rth com in g tour in Sou th A frica , and can repro­ du ce the form he showed in 1907 when in England , and that o f the later trip to Australia in 1910-11, I have no hesitation in setting him down as the best in the w orld . But I am afraid Sherwell must be ranked with the giants o f the past. T h e overseas sides v isitin g us have almost invari­ ab ly had g o o d wicket-keepers. In 1912 W a r d was most excellent fo r South A frica , and Carkeek on ly sligh tly less successful fo r Australia. W ha tever may have been the fa ilings o f the 1911 A ll India