Cricket 1913

700 CR I CK E T : A WE E K L Y RECORD OF THE GAME. November 1 5 , 1913 . M r . S . M c M i c h a e l , an o ld com rad e o f L a v e r ’s, p a id a g lo w in g tribu te to h is p row ess and p erso n ­ a lity . H e had cap tain ed th e team fo r 17 y ea rs, fo llo w in g H . F . B o y le as fa r b a c k a s 1894. D u rin g that tim e E a st M e lb ou rn e h ad been eith er prem iers o r runners-up in the p enn an t com petition on fifteen occasion s. L a v e r had been the o u tsta n d in g figu re of a fine team . H e h ad totalled 9814 run s w ith an a v e ra g e o f 48.83. H e h ad m ade su ch scores a s 352 not out, 3 4 1, 258, 248 not ou t, 17 1, 166, 155, 149 not ou t, 140, h i n o to u t, 105, 103, 101, and 100 not ou t. H e had headed th e b a ttin g a v e ra g e s six tim es, and the b o w lin g six tim es, and had taken 5 19 w ickets at 14.3 ea ch . H e w a s also recogn ised a s the b est po in t in the w o rld . T h e n , too, in add ition to a ll th is, he had done g re a t deeds fo r V ic to ria and fo r A u s tra lia . H is w o rk as a le g is la to r had been enorm ou s and v a lu ­ ab le. A man e v e ry inch o f h im , and an honest g en tlem an . (C h e e rs.) H e had been jeered at b e­ cau se he claim ed to h a ve been the o rig in a to r o f the B o ard o f C o n tro l, and sev eral m em b ers had c o n ­ trad icted h im ; b u t the claim w a s true, and the m em bers w h o jeered o u g h t to ap o lo g ise . T h e m otion w a s carried b y a cclam ation , and I th in k few w ill s a y th at F ra n k L a v e r does not de­ serve all the p ra ise he h ad . B u t I w on d er w h eth er he has not som etim es w ish ed that he h ad refrained from o r ig in a tin g th e B o ard o f C o n tro l? F r a n k L a v e r h ad o n ly la tely returned from a trip to N ew G u in e a , w here he g o t to g eth er a team w h ich w a s beaten b y a side o f P ap u an s, coached b y a m issio n a ry . S o does cricke t circle the g lo b e, th o u g h th is is not the first in stan ce o f the g am e in N ew G u in e a . I th in k I can rem em ber that both J. S . W a tt, o f T a sm a n ia , and T r a c y A . M o resb y , o f N ew Z e alan d , p la y ed it there. T h e W e st A u stra lian s a y s th at T h e Australian C ricketer, edited b y John W o r r a ll, w ill sh o rtly see th e lig h t. G o o d lu ck to i t ! T h e fo rm er b ig h itter o f A u stra lian and V icto ria n team s is an old h and at p ress-w o rk , and k n ow s the g am e in side and ou t. M essrs. L o n gm a n s and C o . are p u b lish in g a vo lum e en titled “ L o v e T rium p h a n t and O th e r P o em s ,” b y th e H o n . R . G o rell B arn es, the O x fo rd b lu e o f 1907, w h o not lo n g a g o w a s respon sib le fo r a novel en titled “ A B o lt from the B lu e .” T h e Bardados C rick et A n n u a l for 1912-3 (19th issue) is ju st to h and , and w ill be noticed next m on th . P U B L IC S C H O O L C R I C K E T IN 1913. B y A. W. L a n e -J o y n t . On the whole, the summer of 1913 deserves to be remem­ bered for the very h igh qu ality of public school cricket generally. T here has been a perceptible ra isin g of the standard. Strong O ld B oys’ team s have been defeated in m any cases, and quite a number of schoolboy cricketers have appeared w ith success in county elevens. But there was only one D onald K n igh t. He stands out head and shoulders above the rest. He showed, while p lay­ in g for Surrey, what an accom plished batsm an he is, and his double century again st the O ld M alvernians, fine per­ form ance though it w as, was only one of m any such. In a short article such as this fu ll ju stice cannot be accorded to everybody. Om issions m ust not be regarded as invidious, therefore one can only mention a few of the lead ing players of the year. G. B. F. Rudd (Westm inster), who so distin gu ish ed him ­ self at L o rd ’s in the school m atches and later turned out for Leicestershire, is a fine forcin g batsm an w ith a g rea t variety of strokes, a useful bowler, and a very fair wicket-keeper. O. A. Reid, the R adley skipper, is another fine all-rounder; hard as he hits— and he hits very hard, indeed— he has a sound defence; his fast medium stuff is quite decent, and as a w icket-keeper he is inferior to none, except F. W. Musson (T onb ridge), another fine bat. T h e brothers Howell (Repton) did grea t th in gs. T h e elder brother, M iles, captained the side this year; the younger, John, succeeds him in 1914. T h e latter so pleased the critics at L o rd ’ s that they spoke of him as a likely E n glan d player in the future. In stand at w icket and shots he very much resem bles T om Hayward. G eo rge W ilson, the hero of the Eton v. Harrow match, is another fine bat; I believe he captains the side next year. F irst-rate left­ handers are C. P. Johnstone (R ugby), and G. P. T aylo r (Cheltenham ). T h e most stylish of the whole crowd are, I should say, M. B. Burrow s (Eton), and R. C. K eller (Radley). Both are m agnificent fields, too. Burrows played in the Surrey II. eleven in A u g u st; K eller would pro­ bably have had a trial for H am pshire in a leaner year. F or H ampshire H ogs and the T ro ja n s he made a lot of runs. Tw o really good all-rounders who figured in the D erbyshire side were N. M. Hughes-H allett (Haileybury) and G. L. Jackson (Harrow), the last-named an exceptionally fine field. G. W. E. Whitehead (Clifton) is rather an u g ly bat, but has made heaps of runs. Am o n g the bowlers J. Heathcote-Am ory, the E ton captain, stands out conspicuously; he won golden opinions at L o rd ’ s. A. E. R. G illigan (Dulwich) showed un well for the Y o u n g Am ateurs at the Oval, and F. R. C. Cobbold (Westm inster), who represented Suffolk with some success, is a really good slow bow ler, who can turn the ball both ways. G. de L. Hough, the W inchester captain, met with great su ccess, as did C. E. S. R ucker (Charterhouse) in the Schools’ matches. T he latter is capable of runs, too, on his day, w itness his adm irable century v. Westm inster, and another three-figure score for the F riars in A ugust. But the pick of the bunch is W. E. Hazelton (W ellingborough). O w in g to in ju ry he could not do his powers ju stice at Lords; but he bowled re­ m arkably well for B uckingham shire. He is also a good bat. Some of the best am ong the others, batsmen and bowlers, were F. L. Johnstone (Eton), J. K . M anger (captain of W ellington), who played regu larly for Dorset; E . T . B uller (Harrow), J. W. M cCulloch (W estm inster), P. W. G. Kann (Westm inster), J. L. B ryan (R ugby), K . White (W elling­ borough), N. M. C arstairs (H aileybury), R. D. B u sk (Marl­ borough), another D orset county man, H. I. A . V allance -(M arlborough), A. H. G illigan (Dulw ich), C. N . B. Hurt (M alvern), L. C. L e g g a tt (Eton), N. D . M acfadyen (Chelten­ ham), G. . H. Heslop (L an cin g), A. J. W. Pearson (St. P aul’ s), a most prom ising slow bowler, D . B. A itk en (Mill H ill), and D. Roberts (St. Bees).