Cricket 1913

CR ICK ET : A Weekly Record of the Game.— SEPTEM BER 20 lk, 1 9‘ 3- “ Together joined in Cricket’ s manly toil.” — Byron. N0 S A T U R D A Y , S E P T E M B E R 20 , 1 9 1 3 . [ * ~ A^ £ pa] A CHAT WITH DR. M. E. PAVRI. T o v e ry few cricketers w ill the name that heads this article be un fam iliar. It is not on ly on Ind ian g ro u n d s that D r. P a v ri, w h o has been, called “ the W . G . o f I n d ia ,” and h a s certain ly been the head and front o f P a rsi cricket for m an y y ea rs, has ach ieved su ccess. T h e d o cto r w as a m ember o f the P a rsi team in E n g la n d in 1888, s c o rin g 630 run s and ta k in g the la rg e num ber o f 170 w ickets at under 12 e a c h ; a fterw ard s he spent som e yea rs in the U n ited K i n g ­ dom , p la y ed once fo r M idd lesex, and w as a tower o f stren gth to the E astbou rn e C .C . “ I need not ask the date o f you r b irth , D r. P a v r i,” b e g a n the in terview er. “ I t’s in ‘ W i s ­ den ’— O cto b er 10, 1866, w h ich m akes you clo se on 47, and p la y in g s t ill.” “ Y e s , p la y in g s till; bu t not, I fear, for v e ry much lo n g e r. I h a ve had a lo n g sp ell. T h re e yea rs a g o 1 celebrated m y silver jub ilee a s a repre­ sen tative P a rsi c rick e ter; th is y e a r I com pleted 25 yea rs sin ce I first cap tain ed the P arsi te am .” “ W a s not a testim on ial raised fo r you in 1910 ? ” “ Y e s ; am o n g P a rsi cricketers o n ly . M an y sch o o lb o y s con tribu ted their pence, w h ich g re a tlv pleased m e. T h e total am oun t w a s abou t R s . 6,000 — sa y , ^ 400 . T h e comm ittee w anted to hand the rem ainder, after d e d u c tin g exp en ses o f the en ter­ tainm ent and cost o f the life-size po rtrait o f m y self, over to me in hard ca sh . I d id n ’t need it, and I told them s o ; and at m y su g g e stio n the m on ey w as invested fo r the benefit o f P a rsi cricket. T w o g o ld medals, fo r the best bow ler and the best batsman resp ectively in representative m atches, are g iv e n .” “ N ow a b ou t y o u r cricket. B u t I h a v e n ’t sp ace to tell o f it a ll, you k n o w .” “ I w o n ’t w e a ry y o u . I b eg an p la y in g in go od m atches in 1886, w hen I w as selected as a fast bow ler, and took, if I rem ember a rig h t, 8 fo r 34 in m y first m atch . I w en t to E n g la n d w ith the team o f 1888, and took o v er 150 w ickets fo r it. In 1890 the late M r. G . F . V e rn o n said th at I w a s the best b ow ler in I n d ia ; and he w a s a g o o d ju d g e and had p la y ed a g a in st a ll the fron t-rank m en, so n atu ra lly I h a ve a lw a y s va lu ed th at o p in ion . In 1895, when I had a m edical practice in S t. P an cra s, he recom ­ m ended me to M r. W e b b e , and I p la y ed fo r M id ­ d lesex v . S u s se x at B rig h to n— the first P a rsi to app ear in an E n g lis h coun ty team . M y p rofession did not a llow me to p ractise r e g u la rly at th at time, and so I had to d ecline fu rth er in v ita tio n s .” “ Y o u p la yed a go od deal o f clu b cricket, I b elieve ? ” “ I p la y ed fo r B eckenh am , L o n d o n C o u n ty , F o rest H ill, S u rr e y C lu b and G ro u n d , E astbou rn e,