Cricket 1913

698 C R IC K E T : A W EEK LY RECORD OF THE GAME. November 1 5 , 1913 . “ B om b a y and the P a r s is had som e cricketers in those d a y s, at a n y rate for the B om b a y w icket. M . R . Jard ine, the best slip and lo n g -le g in the sam e o v er that ev er b reath ed— E . B . R a ik e s, a tip ­ top righ t-h and slow— R . L . S in c la ir, from R ep to n , righ t-h an d fast— G r e ig and P o o re, at their burn ing best Ihen — W r ite r , a n a ilin g g o o d lert-hand bow ler — K . M . M istri, ju st c om in g to h is b est— N . C . B ap a so la , a ch eery pun ch er w hom we used to call ‘ B a b y S o d a ’— the M o d y b ro th ers— G a g ra t, then know n as the P a rsi C h am p io n , th o u gh he w as never in the sam e cla ss as P a v ri or M istri— and two elder b ro th er o f D r. H . D . K a n g a . “ C r i c k e t is nowhere keener than on the B om b a y m aidan , not even when L an ca sh ire and Y o rk s h ir e h a ve g o t to g r ip s , or when S u rr e y are fig h tin g the B la ckh ea th sup erstition p lus B ly th e and the rest o f K e n t. E v e r y P a rsi la d y in B om b a y tu rn s ou t in her best and m ost p ictu resqu e k it. T h e much- vaun ted luncheon parade at the ’ V a r s ity m atch is drab and drear com pared w ith the B om b a y maidan tow a rd s sun set on the d a y o f a P a rsi v . P re sid e n c y gam e. “ P o o d l e - f a k i n g tenn is and g o lf h a ve p la y ed the d ev il w ith cricket in In d ia, I hear. M o re ’s the p ity ! T h e s e can never b rin g ru lers and ruled tog eth er as cricket can . A s gam es th ey are not to be m en tioned in the sam e w o rld . W h a t Ind ia w an ts is a few more G o v ern o rs like L o rd H a rris in B om b a y and L o rd W e n lo c k in M ad ra s, a c ric k e tin g C .- in -C ., a c ric k e tin g C o lo n e l in e v e fy can tonm en t, and none bu t c ric k e tin g b lu es appo in ted as C o llecto rs and I .- G .’s o f P o lic e . T h e n in a few y e a rs we shou ld h a ve the S election C omm ittee at L o r d ’s scra tch in g th eir head s in s o lv in g the kn o tty prob lem o f g e ttin g a side go o d en o u g h to beat ‘ these darned fellers from Ind ia ’ ! T a k e it from me, the m aterial is there ! ” 1 w i s h S ew e ll w ou ld w rite a book abou t Ind ian cricket. I d o n ’t know w h eth er he has kep t the old scores— p ro b a b ly n o t ; I im a g in e he is not one o f the scrap -b o o k fra te rn ity . B u t there are m any of them worth perm anen t record. T a k e , for in stan ce, the T o u rn am en t o f w h ich he w rites. I h ave unearthed the score o f M ad ras v . B om b a y , but can find no score o f the m atch between M ad ra s and th e P a rsis, if su ch a m atch w as p la yed — and I th in k it must h ave been , for the gam e be­ tween the two P resid en cies w a s d rawn (B om b a y 168 and 300, M ad ra s 216 and 99 for 8), and fo r M ad ras to h a ve been placed th ird w ou ld necessitate at least on e defeat, p resum a b ly at the hand s o f the P a rsis, betw een whom and the P re s id e n c y I h ave no match record for the date. B u t if B om b a y P resid en cy beat the P a rsis, the P a rsis beat M ad ra s, and the two P resid en cies drew , the order w ou ld be as stated. C o l o n e l (then C ap ta in ) P o o re scored 101 in B om b a y ’s second inn in g s, and C ap ta in A . I I . T . N ew nh am , w ho p la y ed a few tim es for G lou ceste r­ shire, took 12 for 102 in the m atch . T h e P resid en cies met at O otacam un d in M a y, ’93, and B om b a y won in an in n in g s, F . L . Sp ro tt sc o rin g 91 not ou t for them , and C ap ta in C . G . Barton (H an ts) and E . B . R a ik e s d o in g m ost of the b ow lin g . E . H . D . S ew e ll (40 and 9) w as w as p la y in g , and G r e ig , a sub altern then, and the late S u rg e o n -C ap ta in J. E . T r a s k (Som erset), and two o f the K in d e rsle y s. In D ecem b er, ’93, the P a rs is p la yed the M ad ras C lu b at M ad ras. H . R . N . E lliso n m ade 129 for the clu b , and S ew ell, g o in g in N o . 9, w a s second scorer w ith 37 not ou t. R . E . M o d y (49) and “ B a b y S o d a ” (41) were the ch ief P a rsi scorers. T h e g am e w as d raw n . A r i d i c u l o u s opposition to the v isit o f the N .S .W . team to C e y lo n has been en gin eered b y certain gu tter ra g s in C o lom b o . It is b ased on the fact that A u stra lia excludes colou red imm igran ts, and upon a recent fu ss abou t a C e y lo n e se doctor carried b y one o f the P . and O . boats. T h e se th in g s h a v e n ’t a n y th in g to do w ith the c a se ; but that d o e sn ’t m atter to the p eop le w h o are stirrin g the du st and s lin g in g the m ud abou t. T o t h e prom oters o f the tou r the w h o le th in g must b e sin g u la rly ex a sp e ra tin g . It is ea sy to be calm abou t it all at a d is ta n c e ; bu t they are in the hid st o f the du st-stirrin g and m u d -slin g in g . T h e issue o f the C ey lon Spo rtsm an to hand b y this m ail hits the du st-stirrers and m u d -slin g ers h a r d ; and it is all fa ir h ittin g , ab o v e the b elt, too. T h e ed itor o f one o f the gu tter ra g s had th e im pu ­ dence to in terview prom inen t n ative cricketers and to g iv e version s o f the in terview s w h ich— to put it m ild ly— did not correspond w ith the recollection s of those in terview ed . S e v e ra l o f these h a ve in ­ d ig n a n tly repud iated the op in ion s ascribed to them . T h e r e has been talk of riots, o f b o y co ttin g , and of va riou s other m an ifestation s o f im becile resent­ ment. I shou ld su g g e s t the sw ea rin g -in o f stalw art sp ecial constab les, and the p ro v ision to each con ­ stab le o f a su itab le im plem ent som e th in g like a scu ll, and som e th in g like a b a k e r ’s peel, and som e­ th in g like a sh o vel, bu t not quite a n y one of the th ree. In tended use— sp a n k in g pu rpo ses. Sp an k ee s— a n yon e a ttem p tin g riot or un seem liness.