Cricket 1913

C R I CK E T : A W E E K L Y RECORD OF THE GAME September 27, 1913. w ick e ts th is tim e. A s the m ain o b je c t o f the tou r w a s en jo ym en t, w e did not w o rry m uch abou t re­ su lts, and ou r cook w as v e ry in d ig n a n t that no m em ber o f the team show ed an y s ig n s o f lo sin g h is app etite as a sequel to d efeat. H ow e v e r, we o b ­ lig ed him on on e o ccasion , th o u g h it is d oub tfu l w h eth er even then he d erived much satisfaction from it. O u r efforts to cook a m arrow the p rev iou s y e a r had not been v e ry h a p p y , and ou r d ism al tale so m oved the lad ies o f on e o f the n e ig h o u rin g clu b s th a t th e y p rom ised to send us a stu ffed m arrow w ith fu ll in stru ction s fo r c o o k in g . T h is d u ly a rrived , w rap p ed in a fa ir linen clo th , w h erein (b y in stru c­ tion s) it w as to b e b o iled fo r 30 m inu tes. O u r cook ex celled h im self, and the m arrow w as d u ly served u p , the clo th rem oved , and the first slice cu t. In fa nd um , reg ina , ju b e s renovare dolo- r em ! O u r e a g e r ey es w ere greeted b y a sodden m a ss o f s a w d u s t! Is ou r lack o f su ccess at cricket s u r p r isin g c o n s id e rin g th at ou r fa ir and friend ly en em ies so u g h t to nou rish u s on su ch a d ie t? T h e next m atch w as d raw n . T h e hom e team put u s ou t for 143, a lth o n g h the secreta ry g a v e a hin t o f that form w h ich w as to g iv e him an a v e ra g e of .3 0 for the tou r b y c om p ilin g a v e ry u sefu l 40 odd . S e v en o f the hom e team had g o n e fo r 115 when stum p s were d raw n . T h e last m atch o f th e first w eek w a s the o n ly real b ad b e a tin g o f the tou r. A fte r 70 had been on the board w ith ou t loss w e were a ll ou t for 140. O u r oppon en ts sp en t th e rest o f a hot afternoon p u ttin g up 260 fo r 6 w ick e ts. In extenuation o f ill-su ccess w e can plead th at we had a w ell-known G lou ceste rsh ire am ateu r and fo u r D o rse t C o u n ty men ou t a g a in st us. O n S u n d a y a la rg e tea p a rty w a s held in cam p . T h e lad ies rose to the o ccasion n o b ly , and w e had th e p leasu re o f se e in g a ll ou r w a sh in g -u p done for us, w h ile we w ere forb idd en to h elp under severe p en a lties. A m ild sen sation w as caused d u rin g tea b y the a rriv a l o f tw o o f th e team , soak ed th ro u g h , w ith a la rg e b ask et o f m ackerel w h ich th ey had been c a tch in g fo r M o n d a y ’s b re ak fast. T h e con tinu ed fine w ea th er m ade the w a sp s a g re a t nu isan ce, and the rem ark s o f on e m ember of the team on the u p s p o rtin g condu ct o f a w a sp w h ich s tu n g h im , w h ile sh a v in g , in the b a c k o f the neck w ou ld m ake in terestin g rea d in g if th e y ever go t p ast the b lue p e n c il! H e su b seq u en tly adm itted that he had a friend in the fish m arket. V erb . sap. O n M o n d a y “ w e notched five p o in ts ,” as the D a i l y -----------------w ou ld s a y , b y w in n in g ou r o n ly g am e . T h e re w a s no m istake abou t it. T h e a g g r e ­ g a te o f their tw o in n in g s d id not total ou r one, w h ich is a fa irly po lite w a y o f p u ttin g it. W e d n e s d a y ’s g am e w a s the m ost e x c itin g o f the lot. F o u r o f the lo cal team left fo r 30, and ou r bow lers were lo o k in g quite ch eerfu l. T h e next man started off w ith tw o fou rs and a six and con­ tinued on the sam e lines. W h e n he w a s ou t the score board read 129, 5, 99, w h ich , to those m athe­ m a tica lly inclined, w ill show th at in a partnersh ip o f 99 he scored ev e ry run. It w ou ld be in terestin g to know if th is is a record. P erh ap s the E d ito r of C r i c k e t can h elp .* F in a lly th e y left us 14.3 to w in , bu t a fter a grea t s tr u g g le we cou ld o n ly put togeth er 137 - O n T h u r s d a y w e had no m atch , and so the secre­ tary p la yed for a team o f schoolm asters a g a in st the town . O u t o f a total o f 220 he took 116 not ou t, and had 5 w ickets to h is name, w h ich helped to restore the to u rists’ p restige, a lth ou gh u n fo rtu n a tely it w as not in on e o f their own m atches. O f the tw o rem ain in g m atch es o f the tou r one w as lost and the oth er d raw n . In th is latter our row in g represen tative, w ho is one o f the m a in sta y s of the O rie l boat, show ed h im self in a new ligh t, and b y virtu e o f a sp le n d id ly s tra ig h t b a t and a v e ry lo n g reach put tog eth er 40 o f the best. A lth o u g h we o n ly won one m atch th is y ea r, we had, if possible, an even m ore en jo y a b le tim e than last y ea r, as our p reviou s exp erien ce o f cam p in g and c o o k in g enabled us to g e t th rou gh th e neces­ sa ry w o rk more q u ic k ly , w h ile the w elcom e and h o sp ita lity we received from ou r op p on en ts were in them selves sufficien t indu cem en t to repeat the tou r. T h e total cost, in c lu d in g e v e ry th in g , w o rked out at abou t £ 7 per head fo r the fo r tn ig h t; and we shou ld like to d raw th is item to the atten tion of those peop le w ho w ish to co lle ct ,£100,000 in order to a ssist va riou s un fortunate peop le in th row in g a lum p o f lead a few inches fu rth er than som e un ­ known fo reign er. W h y not sp end their m on ey in p la y in g a gam e w h ich is, and a lw a y s w ill be, the best and most en jo y ab le in the w orld w hen p layed in the r ig h t sp irit, and lea ve their p rofession al m ethods to the aforesaid fo r e ig n e r ? T h e re is no doubt abou t w h ich o f the two men w ou ld m ake the better citizen , and be— er, b la n k e d— to th e new s­ papers w ith their w a ils o f “ decadence ” ! E . D . W a r d . A. E. Wilson, who hit a splendid century for L. & N.W.R. v. Ilford on the 13th, lives at Ilford, and helps the local club occasionally, so he must have enjoyed himself most thoroughly. He entertained his comrades to tea after the match, and music followed tea, W. R. Sandeman, the side’s umpire, and Mrs. Alec Houghton, who had come over at the special invitation of the Ilford ladies, the two non-combatants, scoring heavily in this part of the day’s proceedings. Freeman made a century and Russell 97 for the Xonians v. Mr. H. D. Swan’s XI. on the 19th inst. * H e cannot. Records have got beyond him.— T h e E d ito r .