Cricket 1913

012 CR I C K E T : A W E E K L Y RECORD OF THE GAME. September 13, 1913. T eam , Seshachari was an undoubted success b e ­ h ind the w icket. H anson Carter o f the 1909 A u s­ tralian com b ina tion was really great, and the G en ­ tlemen o f Ph iladelph ia in 1908 possessed worthy representatives in T . C . Jordan and C . H . W in te r, the form er sh ow in g remarkable form against Su rrey. A m o n g E ng lish wicket-keepers, Strudw ick or Bale wou ld be m y ch oice, th ou gh som e wou ld pre­ fer Sm ith o f W a rw ick sh ire, D o lp h in , Hu ish , or O a te s; and Buswell and Murrell are better than a g o o d many follow ers o f the gam e im agine. Lancashire has nearly always been well off for efficient keepers, and in the amateurs L ieu t. B rooke and R . A . B odd in g ton they possess two very ca p ­ able men, whilst B lom ley is, 1 consider, in a sligh tly h igh er class, th ou gh not so g o o d a batsman. If H . M artyn, the Som erset amateur, cou ld on ly find time to play the game regu larly, he would stand an excellent chance o f selection fo r the post o f E n g ­ lan d ’ s w icket-keeper, were it necessary to ch oose o n e ; whilst W . S . B ird, the old O xon ian , is another too seldom seen who is very near the first flight. C on ce rn in g Herbert S trudw ick, the editor o f W isden fo r 1912, in a b io g ra p h y o f him, s a y s : “ 1 can see no advantage in his habit o f leaving his post, and ch a sin g the ball to the boundary. T h e practice is sim p ly the restdt o f over-keenness, but as it does no g o o d , it ou gh t to be checked, and I w ou ld su ggest to the Surrey captain a system of modest fines, the amount b e in g increased for each o ffen ce .” But is this co rre ct? I maintain that it'is g o o d p o licy for the w icket-keeper to run fo r the ball in the direction o f the bounda ry or anywhere, pro­ vided he is the nearest to it, and that by so d o in g he can save a run b e in g registered against his side. E very run is valuable. Y ork sh ire knew that to their cost in 1906 when they lost the G loucestershire match— and incident­ ally the cham p ion sh ip— b y a single run. P rovided the w icket-keeper can get to the ball more qu ick ly than another fieldman he is perfectly entitled to leave his position . A . T . K em b le, one o f the pluckiest o f w icket-keepers and an excellent runner in pads, saved Lancashire many a single in this way when he kept fo r the coun ty 20 years o r so a g o . T h e In cogn iti drew their first gam e in America, v . Germantown. There is som e doubt as to the T o ron to match, and if it is not p layed they will have another gam e in Philadelph ia instead. T h e St. A lban s C .C ., o f T o ron to , have recently visited Buffalo for the first time. Next year thev intend to g o on tour in the States, and play matches at Buffalo, C leveland, Jamestown, Rochester, New Y o rk , and Ph iladelph ia. Why Help Cricket? Th e letter which follow s is clipped from the Eastern Daily Press, with the perm ission o f the writer, M r. J. H . Farmer, the old H arrovian , one o f the most whole-hearted supporters the great game has :— T o the Editor o f the Eastern Daily Press. S ir,— T h e ignorant look upon cricket as a mere time-wasting gam e o f pleasure, while the w ise man knows that cricket is one o f the most useful sch ools we possess, for on the crciket field the you th learns discipline and self-con trol, pluck and self-sacrifice; there he learns to be gentle and kind, generous even in hostility. In cricket heroism and breadth o f m ind are closely allied. C ricket destroys every tendency to selfishness. C ricket has helped so largely to m ou ld the E ng lish character that the name has passed into the language o f the peop le as a kind o f colloqu ia l summary o f those qualities upon which the A n g lo -S a x on race prides itself. Su ccess in the field may g iv e the cricketer a swollen head, but he is never a sn ob , never mean, never jealous. H e knows that there are two sides to every question, and that his personal views may be erroneous. H e is generally an optim ist, he is even sometimes a grumbler, but he never stabs a fellow in the bark. A nd in the varied walks o f life we da ily see that cricketers have quicker power o f rapid cerebration than non-cricketers, fo r does not stop p in g fast “ yorkers ” teach us to be quick o f mind and b o d y ? England w ou ld be a greater nation than she is to-day if ou r M inisters, C onsu ls, and merchants had all had a hard course o f train­ ing on the cricket fields o f England . (W h y was my dear old friend, A lfred Lyttleton, the most be­ loved and respected man in the H ou se o f C omm on s ?) T h e cricketer is not and does not claim to be infallible, but he does not rob his master. W h ile he does not nauseate his auditors with “ talking s h o p ,” in conversation he betrays qu ick ly the charm o f his training. In selecting candidates fo r appoin tm en ts, the cricketer is usually preferred, as not o n ly is he a glutton fo r work, but he is also such a delightful person to work with. In short, the cricketer, whether amateur o r professional, is an English gentleman. T h e N orfolk C oun ty Cricket C lub is w ork ing hard to mould y ou n g fellow s into cricketers, and thus help them to succeed in life, but its m issionary efforts are sadly hampered through lack o f funds, and also ow in g to the fact that cricket is not ind igen ­ ous to N orfolk , so d o let us all help this most ex­ cellent “ C ha rity ,” remembering always that the future o f England depends on the physica l and mental condition o f her you th o f to-da y .— Y ou rs faith fu lly, J. H . F a r m e r . Mundesley, Augu st 30.