Cricket 1913

2 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J an . 18, 1913. d istan ce of tim e Mr. Som erset canno t rem em ber 1 w ith c e rta in ty w h eth er he to ta lled 305 or 405), j and h e to o k 50 w ic k e ts at a trifle o v er 9 ea ch— : b ow lin g 30 w ides, b y th e w a y. “ B ow ls fa st and : fa irly s t r a ig h t ; v e r y m u ch im p ro ved in b a ttin g ; : p la y s w ith good defence and h its freely ; a first-rate field ” — so runs h is ch ara cter for th a t year. “ D o y o u m ind tellin g m e th e d a te o f y o u r birth, Mr. Som erset ? ” I asked him . “ N o t a b it ! S ep tem b er 20, 18 5 5 .” I d on ’t b e liev e a n y m an liv in g wou ld ta k e the sp eaker for fifty-seven . H e w on th e Am a teu r H e a v y ­ w eigh t B o x in g Cham p ionsh ip th ir ty years ago ; he looks fit to ta k e on m ost men of his w eigh t above, sa y , th irty -fiv e ev en now. “ Can y o u te ll m e ,a n y th in g of y o u r contempor­ aries at W ellin g ton ? ” “ I cou ld te ll y o u a lot, of course. B u t I think o n ly one of them ev e r p la y ed first-class cricke t— H . A . H am ilton , who go t h is b lu e a t Cambridge. O f th e others, T a lb o t and S ta ffo rd were afterw ard s in th e R o y a l Engineers, and used to score h ea v ily fo r th e club. N ixo n I m et th e oth er d a y ; he is a M ajor-G eneral now . W . G. M ichell h ad a house at R u g b y fo r y ea rs. I sent m y son to b e under him t h e r e ; I a lw a y s en tertain ed a h igh regard for M ichell, and h a d m ade up m y m ind th a t if ever I h ad a son he shou ld go to R u g b y and to M ichell’s h ou se.” “ W h a t c rick e t did you p la y imm ed iately after le a v in g school ? ” “ None a t a l l ! I w en t fo r a short tim e to an A rm y cramm er’s ; b u t th a t d idn ’t su it me, and so I w as sen t off to A u stra lia. I sp en t eight years th ere, up in th e bush, and n ever tou ch ed a bat. T h a t w ou ld be from eigh teen to tw e n ty -six or there­ abou ts. W . G . to ld me once th a t he scarcely knew ano th er in stan ce of a m an ’s g iv in g up th e game en tire ly at th a t age, and com ing b a c k to it to do w e ll.” “ A fte r y o u r retu rn ? ” “ I w as abroad th ree seasons in th e eighties. A good deal of m y cricket fo r a num ber of years w a s p la y ed for th e B ro adw a ter club, which was v e ry stron g abou t th a t tim e. W e p la y ed on B road ­ w a te r Common, n ear W o rth in g, and th e stronger the opposition th e b ette r w e liked it. Y e s, I d id a lot o f b ow lin g— round-arm ed, as y o u sa y , and p retty fast. I go t m y pace ch iefly from b o d y sw ing. I ’m a fraid I dam aged a good few fingers ; even now w icket-keepers o f those d a y s w ill hold up m isshapen d igits and sa y : ‘ Y o u r w o rk , S om e r s e t! ’ Horace M itchell used to bow l at th e oth er end as a rule. T h en F . H . G resson happened along ; and th a t was re a lly w h a t m ade me ta k e to w icket-keep in g. I h ad long-stopped a t school and h ad occasion ally gone behind th e stum p s la t e r ; b u t I h ad n ever reckoned m yself a w icket-keep er— and for th a t m a tter I don ’t now , though I ’m not so b ad at sh o rt­ stop. I b elieve th a t m an y w icket-keepers, espe­ c ia lly in club cricket, w ou ld b e of m u ch more use to their sides if th e y wou ld o n ly stan d fa rth er b a c k .” “ H ow did Mr. G resson’s ad ven t send y o u behind th e stumps ? ” “ W ell, y o u see, Gresson was a jo lly good left- hand bow ler, and as cap ta in I could not d ecen tly a void pu ttin g him on first at one end. A n d he and M 'tchell v e ry seldom needed changing. So I h ad to find another jo b .” “ W h a t was y o u r h ighest score ? ” “ I once m ade 196 not ou t for L ittleh am p to n v . Chichester Garrison. Th e la st 100 w ere m ade of 123 pu t on for th e ten th w icket, m y partner being one Cockerell, a tradesm an in th e tow n . H e was no d u ffe r ; he h it a six, I remember ; b u t I don ’t th in k a n y one an ticip a ted h is— or m y— sta y in g so lon g.” “ W as it for B roadw a ter th a t you p la y ed w ith a b roken thum b ? ” “ No. T h a t w as for L ittleh am p to n again st th e H an ts Ro vers. I d idn ’t know it w as b roken ; I on ly th o u gh t it p r e tty b a d ly damaged, and I g a v e it a fo rtn ig h t’s rest. B u t th e L ittleh am p to n W eek came on, and I felt obliged to tu rn ou t. It did not rea lly pain me v e ry much— I th in k I am less sen sitive to ph ysical pain than most m en— un til, a fter I had made 50 and hit one b all ou t o f the ground, th e y p u t on a fast bow ler, and he g a v e me an aw fu l w h a ck on it. B y Jove, though , it did hu rt th en ! A fte r th e gam e I w en t to a doctor, and told him I thou gh t it was broken. ‘ Nonsense ! ’ he said. ‘ Y o u sim p ly cou ldn ’t h a v e held th e b a t if it had b een .’ ‘ W e ll,’ I replied, ‘ if you listen w hen I pull it— so— y o u ’ll hear th e bones g ra te to g e th e r.’ It was b roken , and I had to h a v e it pu t in splin ts, and p la y ed no more th a t season.” “ Can y o u recall you r innings o f a hundred odd for th e M .C.C. again st the W est Indian s in 1900 ? ” “ I should th in k I can ! W oods, th e b la ck bow ler from T rin idad , w as on w h en I w en t in. T h e first tw o balls I had from him pitched on th e w icke t, b roke aw ay, and h it m y legs. W oods w as fast, bu t, to speak in all ch arity , he was sca rcely a ‘ head ’ bow ler. H is w as a g ift, not an art. It occurred . to me th a t this sort of th in g was v e r y su itab le for ■h ittin g, and I h iked b all a fte r ball to square-leg for four. T h e re ’s som ething in know ing a good th in g i when one sees it. I rem ember Con stan tin e’s innings in th a t m atch , too. A b ig powerful fellow , and a