Cricket 1914

M a y 2, 1914. THE WORLD OF CRICKET. 9 1 £ b e XTCIIorlfc of Cricket. E d it o r : M r. A. C. M a c L a r e n . A s s is t a n t E d it o r a n d M a n a g e r : M r. J. N . P e n t e l o w . 61, TEMPLE CHAMBERS, TEMPLE AVENUE, EMBANKMENT LONDON, E.C. Correspondence should be addressed to the E d ito r; sub­ scriptions, advertisements, and all communications on business matters to the Manager. Subscription rates : Inland, nine shillings per annum ; Overseas ten shillings. In order to give our Overseas Subscribers the same chance as others to come in at the old rates, we are extending the time limit for subscription at those rates to May 31st. This applies to all. The old rates were 6/6 and 7/6. Pavilion Gossip. With changes and with chances The innings come and go, Alternating advances Of ecstasy and woe ; For now ’tis all condoling, And now— for who can tell ? A gentleman’s a-bowling— It yet may all be well. E. E. B o w en . J. N . C r a w f o r d has accep ted an engagem ent as coach to the O tago C rick et A ssociation . O tago w ill profit largely. The old R ep ton ian w ill be a b ig asset to the p ro vin ce’s team , and one understands th a t h e did good w ork in the coaching line a t Adelaide. B u t w h a t of S outh A u stralia ? T h e y had hoped to keep Craw ford for y ears to come. H e has been th e m ain stay of their a tta ck . In fact, w ith W h itty aw ay, th e South Australian bow lin g of late has been C raw ford and others, with the emphasis v e ry m uch on th e Craw ford. I n all, he p la yed in 13 Sheffield Shield m atches, tak in g in these gam es 80 w ick ets for 1754 runs, average 21-9. T he other bow lers on th e side in th e same m atches took among th em 134 for 4646 runs, average 34-6. P e r h a p s , how ever, it is scarcely fair to com pare C raw ford’s figures w ith those of the rest combined, as the rest necessarily include mere change bow lers of no preten ­ sions to first-class form . A com parison w ith W h itty cann ot be grum bled at, th ou gh ; and W h itty , p layin g in ten of the same 13 m atches, to o k 42 w ickets a t betw een 28 and 29 runs each. C r a w f o r d is one of the b ig gest h itters I ever saw , and, of course, his valu e to th e side as a batsm an w as little less than as a bow ler. In the 13 m atches referred to he totalled S42 runs w ith an average of 36 per innings, his scores in ­ cluding 126, 91, 79 n ot out, 75, 73 n ot out, and 69. G. A. F a u l k n e r , who has been p u ttin g in regular practice m the shed a t T ren t B ridge, has la te ly taken to glasses. W ith their aid he finds th e b all ju st as easily as he did when a t th e to p of his form in A u stralia and in En gland. A t the outset h e n atu rally regards them , great as is th eir help, as a bit of a nuisance ; b u t th a t w ill w ear off w ith tim e, and one feels confident th a t th e public w ill see this brillian t player assert him self in som e of our first-class m atches in the near future. I t is no wonder th a t he lost confidence in him self a t the last, while we Were all w ondering w h at w as the m atter w ith him , and he knew ju st as little as w e did. L a st season, a t Old Buckenham , he p layed for Mr. L ion el R obin son ’s X I an innings of 50 th at, w ith th e single excep tion of T aylo r, no p la yer in South A frica could h a ve approached. One is inclined to th in k th a t the fa c t of his n o t being the great success an ticip ated in En glan d in 1912 had more to do w ith the Sou th A frica au th orities’ decision to do w ith o u t his services during the M .C.C. to u r la te ly ended th an the fact th a t he was residing in England. B ut a great p layer— such as A u b rey F au lk n er u nd ou btedly is— -a man who has learned the gam e inside ou t— m ay alw ays be counted upon to com e b a ck to his own, provided he retains his health. T a l k i n g of F aulkner, I m a y m ention th a t another South A frican — S yd n ey Pegler, to w it— w ill be seen frequ en tly in first-class cricket this season. H e is now a m em ber of the M .C.C. and is sure to p l a y in a num ber of th eir best m atches. T h e th an k s of crick et lovers are due to Mr. Lionel Robinson, who lets P egler off for all his first-class cricket. P e g l e r m ight w ell earn high honours as a batsm an, if he chose, th ou gh it w ould p ro b a b ly be a t th e expense of his bow ling. He is th orou gh ly sound in his m ethods, and th a t is th e first essential in b a ttin g . B u t th e m an who m akes big scores seldom retains th e vim necessary for continued success as a bow ler ; the double ta sk is too big a drain upon th e v ita l energy of all b u t one in a thousand or so. A l r e a d y a num ber of cricketers who recognise when th ey are on a good th in g h a ve visited our offices and taken their choice am ong b ats selected b y m yself and w arranted sound and first-class. W e are exp ectin g more, and would urge upon those who h a ve a v isit in m ind n ot to delay it. W e shall n ot run short of stock, for we can draw upon a dozen of th e best m anufacturers in th e cou n try, b u t a fte r all there is no tim e like n o w . ✓ ------------- - T h is y e ar there w ill be no m atches a t P oon a betw een th e P residen cy and th e Parsis, or the P resid en cy and H indus ; b u t n ex t year th e fu ll qu ad rangular con test w ill be p layed there, and in futu re P oon a and B om b ay w ill L ave th is in altern ate years. T h e 1914 qu ad ran gu lar con test a t B om b ay has been fixed for Septem ber 7th to 17th, th e m atches being as under :— Sept. 7, 8, and 9.— P arsis v. Mahommedans. Sept. 10, 11, and 12.— P residen cy v. H indus. Sept. 15, 16, and 17.— W inners of first m atch v. winners of second m atch. Mr. A . J. G a s t o n lectured last week in the new church hall a t Preston, B righton , on th e early d a y s of cricket in Sussex, one of th e cradles of the gam e, and on local h isto ry other th an of a cricket kind. B u t if he said, as he is reported to h a ve said, th a t John L illy w h ite introduced round-arm b ow l­ ing, he m u st h ave h ad a curious slip of m em ory. D oubtless he said (or meant) W illiam L illyw h ite, though even in th is am ended form the assertion w ould be open to argum ent. A n o t a b l e addition to th e num ber of English cricketers who h a v e em igrated to C an ada— (among them are S. P. Meston, who has p layed for b o th E ssex and G lou cestersh ire; Littlew ood, who appeared for Lan cash ire a few tim e s ; P . P. B arn ett, th e third of the trio of G loucestershire brothers ; and W . L. Price, of Som erset)— was m ade when W . B . Burns, the dashing W orcestershire batsm an, w en t overseas.