Cricket 1913

November 1 5 , 1 9 1 3 . C R I C K E T : A WE EK L Y RECORD OF THE GAME. 697 B y t h e w a y , the critic w h o stated that V o g le r m ust h a ve go n e off b a d ly , sin ce he met w ith little su ccess in b o w lin g fo r L la n e lly , w a s quite out in h is fa cts. I h a ve not the W e ls h c lu b ’s a v e ra g e s ; bu t in S o u th W a le s cricket last season the old inter­ national m u st h a ve taken w ell over 100 w ick e ts at w e ll under ten runs each. H e frequ en tly too k six, seven , o r e ig h t in an in n in g s, and w as v e ry seldom indeed collared . V o g l e r p la y ed for three C u rrie C u p cen tres in S ou th A fr ic a— E astern P ro v in c e (he w as born out th at w a y ), N atal, and the T ra n sv a a l. S . J. S n o o k e has also p la yed fo r th ree— B o rd er, W e s te rn P ro ­ v in ce, and T ra n sv a a l. T h e s e are the on ly such in stan ces I can recall in S o u th A frica n cricket. In N ew Z ealand qu ite a number o f men have p la y ed fo r three p rovin ces, and at least tw o— W . J. C raw sh aw and F . C . S tep h en son— fo r five. C raw ­ shaw p la y ed in turn for O ta g o , C an te rb u ry , W e l­ lin g to n , M a rlb o ro u gh , and T a ra n a k i. A slip of m em ory caused me to describ e him a s a sch o o l­ master in a recent num ber. H e w as in the service o f the B an k o f N ew Z e alan d . S teph en son p layed fo r W e llin g to n , S o u th lan d , O ta g o , C an terb u ry , and (I am told) N elson . L . E . R e a d e represented O ta g o , C an te rb u ry , and S o u th la n d . E . W r ig h t p la yed fo r A u c k lan d , C a n te rb u ry , and W e llin g to n . C . G . W ils o n did fine w o rk for S ou th lan d and O ta g o , and last season p la y ed fo r W e llin g to n . A n d there were oth ers. It is cu riou s that A u s tra lia p ro vid es on ly tw o in­ stan ces o f this sort o f th in g . T h e late P . S . M cD o n n e ll p la yed for V icto ria , N ew S ou th W a le s , and Q u een slan d , and K . H . Q u ist for N ew Sou th W a le s , W e s te rn A u s tra lia , and S ou th A u stra lia . F ro m a N .Z . paper : “ ‘ A ll b la ck ’ is an h onou r­ a b le sp o rtin g co lou r, and one that has held m any a w o rld ’s ch am p ion sh ip . Y e t one o f the d elegates to the C rick et C o u n cil at C h ristch u rch su g g ested th at th e ‘ a ll b la ck ’ cricket b lazer w as too funereal and sh ou ld be replaced b y ' som e th in g b rig h t and s tr ik in g .’ W h e reu p o n another d eleg ate rem arked that it w a s p referable to a b lazer like a b u tch e r’s ap ron . W h e t h e r the com parison w as b ased upon any p a rticu la r b lazer considered to resem ble the said b u tch e r’ s apron I d o n ’ t know . I hop e not; d id not sa g e D o g b e rr y sa y that “ com p arison s were odor­ ou s ” ? T h is one sm ells o f m eat. B u t, sen tim en tal a sso ciatio n s aside, there seem s som e th in g in the first d e le g a te ’s argum en t. H e found no supporter, how ­ ev e r; an d , after a ll, it is w e ll that sen tim en t shou ld h ave a b ig sa y in such m atters. I h a ve seen caps that were more p le a sin g to the e y e than “ the old brow n c a p ,” o f w h ich D ig b y Jeph son w rote so fe e lin g ly ; bu t w hat S u rr e y man w ou ld seek to ch an g e it ? M r . C . P e r r y , of W a ira ra p a , N ew Zealand , has p la y ed 31 y e a rs for the M asterton C .C ., and has a lso p la y ed represen tative cricket for the d istrict ever sin ce the local association w as form ed . A s recen tly a s 1911-2 he scored a cen tu ry, and he w ill a g a in be p la y in g in 1913-4. L a n c a s h i r e and H am p sh ire w ill renew their m atches next season. T h e “ B a lo o brothers ” m y stery has been solved for me b y the man o f w hom I o u g h t to h ave th o u gh t first, in m y effort to elu cidate it— M r. E . H . D . S ew ell, w h o spent a con siderab le portion o f h is cricket career (still fa r from ended) in Ind ia. H e w rites :— “ T h e B a lo o is om itted b ecause there are no su r­ names in the names o f n atives of In d ia . T h e “ P a l- w ank er ” referred to is p ro b ab ly (alm ost certain ly) the name o f the v illa g e , o r su b u rb , or ham let, B a lo o w as born in. J a y a R am is B . Jaya R am b ecause h is b irthp lace w as B a n g a lo re— the B e n g e l O o r of the ancien ts, O o r b e in g T am il or T e lu g u for ‘ v illa g e ,’ and B en g e l d itto for ' b e a n s ,’ thu s B an g a lo re (a lw a y s p ronoun ced B e n ’ g ’loor b y the true n atives o f those parts) is really the C ity o f B e a n s— -which was w h a t J a y a R am used to g iv e the bow lers ! “ In In d ia B a lo o ’s b roth ers w ou ld be known as V ith a l, G u n p a t, and S h iv ram tout court w ithou t a n y in itia ls b efo re or B a lo o s a fter. R e d rin k in g w ater in tervals— th is is qu ite usual in cricke t where n atives are concerned . T h e y d rin k g a llo n s o f it d u rin g hou rs of p la y , w h ich is one reason w h y they d o n ’t last so w ell a s they sh o u ld . T h e more ‘ un civilised ’ native w ill ou tlast alm o st a n y S a h ib when it com es to a lo n g tram p in the ju n g le . B u t v e ry often the S a h ib w ill finish fresher at cricket than the native w ho is m ore civilised than h is ju n g le p roto typ e. “ I n o t e in re a d in g abou t the Q u a d ra n g u la r T ou rn am en t at B om b a y that such as C o lon el P o o re, M a jo r G r e ig , and F . L . S p ro tt are still ‘ fo r i t .’ N ineteen y e a r a g o next C h ristm a s I took part in a kind o f T r ia n g u la r T ou rn am en t on the sam e g ro u n d , w h en M ad ras succeeded in b e in g ‘ placed ’ to the P a r s is and B om b a y P re s id e n c y— there were o n ly three runners !— and it w as p retty c o rk in g hot in those d a y s. Y e t nineteen y e a rs later som e o f th e sam e E n g lishm e n are still at it— bu t not a' n ative ! W a ll ! ! S a y s som e th in g fo r Ind ia b e in g no fit clim ate for a w h ite m an, eh ?