Cricket 1913

0 2 0 CR I CKET : A W E E K L Y RECORD OF THE GAME September 20, 1913. and P h o en ix, D u b lin , a t v a rio u s tim es. F o r the last-nam ed clu b in 1893 I took 63 w ick e ts at under 13 ea ch , bu t d id not m ake m an y ru n s— 44 w a s m y h ig h e st score. F o r E a stb ou rn e three y e a rs earlier 1 scored o v e r 1,000 runs, a v e ra g e 38, and took 163 w ic k e ts at 14 ea ch . T h e y p resen ted me w ith a s ilv e r b a ll, e n g ra v e d , an d , o f cou rse, th at is am o n g m y m ost v a lu ed tr o p h ie s .” “ C an y o u recall a n y in d iv id u a l p e rfo rm an ces for E a stb o u rn e ? ” “ A g a in s t M r. E . N o a k e s ’s X I . I took 6 fo r 5, in c lu d in g the h at trick . O h , y e s, I still bow l in the B om b a y S h ie ld m atch es. Bu t one o f m y knees trou b le s me a g o o d d e a l.” " Y o u were rega rded a s m erely a b ow ler at first, I understand ? ” “ Y e s . M y b a ttin g cam e later. I d o n ’t claim h ig h rank fo r it. I cou ld never p lease the sp ecta ­ tors b y b ig h ittin g , as G a g r a t d i d ; I c o u ld n ’t com ­ pete w ith M eh erh om ji fo r g ra ce or w ith M istry for v e rs a tility . In fact, I w a s rather o f the b arn-door ty p e , a m ade b atsm an , not a b o rn on e, h a v in g to w a it on occasion , not to do m y w ill w ith the bow lers. B u t m y exp erien ce in E n g la n d in 1888 helped me a g o o d deal, and th e y s a y th at I h a v e done best w h en m y side has been in a tig h t corner, wh ich coun ts fo r s om e th in g .” “ In the f i e l d ? ” “ S h o rt-slip in the old d a y s— su p p o sed to be v e ry g o o d there, if I m a y s a y it w ith ou t v a n ity . P o in t in these later y e a rs— m y sig h t isn ’t a s keen as it w a s .” O f h is c ap ta in c y , D r . P a v ri preferred not to sp e a k . l i e th o u g h t th at p o ssib ly h is lo n g retention o f the lead ersh ip w as testim on y to its su ccess. O n e a g re e s. A n d from oth ers one learn s that h is g rea t ju d gm en t and k n ow le d g e o f the g am e h ave been in v a lu a b le to th e P a rsis, that he h a s shown at his b est in tim es o f em e rg en cy , and th at, apart from h is w o rk on the field, he has done sp len d id service in cou n cil. H is ab so lu te im p a rtia lity has never been d o u b te d ; neither fear nor fa v o u r has sw a yed him ; and he h a s earned the affection as w ell as the respect o f those he has led. W h ile he w as in E n g la n d an un fortunate sp lit to o k place in the P a r s i ran k s ; he retu rned to In d ia in 1897, ar|d m an a g ed to b r in g the d issen tien ts in to line at once. T h e P a rsis h a v e n ever lost a m atch a g a in st the P re s id e n c y at B om b a y w h en P a v r i h a s cap tained them , I am to ld . T h e on e m atch lo st there w ith him in comm and w as th e return w ith L o rd H a w k e ’s T e am in 1892, and that b y 7 runs o n ly . “ A n d now abou t cricke t am o n g th e P arsis, D r. P a v r i? ” “ T h e re h a s been g re a t im p rovem en t in b a ttin g and fie ld in g o f late. D u e to the 1911 tou r in E n g ­ lan d ? N o . I am p o sitiv e th at th is is not the case to a n y exten t worth m en tio n in g . I put it down m a in ly to the regu la r S h ie ld m atch es, and the en ­ hancem ent o f interest am o n g y o u n g cricketers due to th em .” “ T h en you do not rega rd the 1911 tou r as a su ccess even from the edu cational po in t o f v ie w ? ” “ D o n ’t m isunderstand me as to th a t. 1 adm it the grea t edu cational va lu e o f su ch tou rs a s a gen e­ ral p rin c ip le ; and I am prepared to g iv e m y rea­ son s fo r re g a rd in g th is p a rticu la r one as an excep ­ tion to the general rule. In m y v iew , the selectors were gu ilty' o f v e ry sh o rt-sigh ted p o lic y in sen d in g so m any men o f m ature y e a rs. T h e s e were past the sta g e when th e y cou ld d erive from exp erience the benefit that y o u n g e r men m igh t h a ve done. M . D . P arekh , D . K . K a p a d ia , S a p a l M . C h o th ia , and I). D . D riv e r am o n g th e P a rsis, V ith a l and S em p e r o f the H in d u p la y ers, S y ed M ahom ed K h a n and U su f B e g o f the M ahomm edan s, shou ld have been in cluded . A ll the fou r P a r s is named are go od all-round m e n ; and in fie ld in g K a p a d ia , D riv e r, and V ith a l w ou ld h ave d eligh ted E n g lish c ro w d s .” “ H ow w as it all were left o u t? ” “ T h e P a rsis were om itted on the g ro u n d that w ith six of ou r men a lread y in the team w e shou ld h ave too b ig a representation— an ab su rd th eo ry if the best A ll Ind ia team w a s b e in g so u g h t. P a re k h w as first reserve, and w h y he w a s not put in when N o o r-i-E lah i g a v e up h is p la ce is still a m v stery. T h en I I .H . the M ah a ra jah o f P a tia la shou ld never h a ve been appo in ted cap ta in . T h is w as done p a rtly to raise the te am ’s sta tu s, but ch iefly in order to secure M istry , w h o cou ld not be had w ith ou t h im . B u t after all both the M ah a ra jah and M istry were absent from m ost o f the m atches, and the fo rm er’s cap ta in cy w a s th e reb y rendered one in name o n ly .” “ D id the members o f v a rio u s races pu ll tog eth er as w ell a s you e x p e c ted ? ” “ I am not su re that I expected them to pull w ell tog eth er. O n the w h o le, I th in k a purely' P a rsi team w ou ld have done m uch better. T h en there were in ju d icio u s press comm en ts, wh ich helped to stir up strife. T h e su ccession o f defeats at the outset— due to a fa u lty a rran gem en t o f fix ­ tures, those w ith stro n g oppon en ts w r o n g ly com ­ in g first— took the heart ou t o f som e o f the m en. A fa st bow ler w as needed, and several p la y ers alto ­ ge th e r failed to field up to their p rop er form . T a k e the effects o f the tou r now— and I th in k I am in a po sition to sp eak as to them , for I know the form o f a ll the men. W a rd e n has im proved m a rv ello u sly in b a ttin g ; bu t h is b o w lin g has su ffered . H e has lost sp in . D r. K a n g a and M istry are ju s t the go o d p la y ers th e y were— no better, no w orse. M eh erh om ji has not shown h is old form since his retu rn. B a lo o w a s overw o rk ed , and does not seem to me the sam e bow ler he w as b efore the tou r. S h iv ram , w h o wras an unexpected su ccess in E n g ­ land , has fallen off to su ch an exten t th at the