Cricket 1914

M a y 2, 1914. THE WORLD OF CRICKET. <)<) IM P O R T A N T N O T IC E . From this number the price of the W o r ld o f C r ic k e t is 3d., as was duly announced; but, in order to give our Overseas subscribers time to come in at the old rates, we will accept subscriptions from all a t those rates (6s. 6d. inland, 7s. 6d. overseas) up to May 31st. The Game and How to Play It. B y A. C. M a c L a r e n . Before starting on my course of instruction for young players > it is alike my duty and m y pleasure to offer cordial thanks to Jack Hobbs and other well-known players who are kindly helping me by allowing themselves to be photographed for my readers’ benefit b y Messrs. Cherry Kearton’s Aeroscope Cinema Camera; to Messrs. Cherry Kearton themselves, who were most obliging in making arrangements for the work ; to the Moto- graph Company, who allowed Hobbs »to be photographed ; and to the Central News Agency, who hold the sole photographic rights for the Oval, where the work was done. I am sure that all my readers will admit th at the accom­ panying photographs form a big advance on the ordinary instantaneous process. B y that you get only one picture of a stroke, which means that you really get only a fractional part of a stroke. Here we have a dozen pictures of a stroke’s various phases, showing it from beginning to end. S. J. Pegler, the famous South African bowler, came down to the O val on purpose to bowl to England's crack batsman, and Mr. Findlay had had a wicket specially prepared for the occasion. These facts are worth noting. I want m y readers to understand th at the pictures I am giving them are no mere back-garden makeshifts, but depict a great batsman playing a great bowler on a first-class wicket. To become a great batsman it is necessary to find out one’s natural strength, that is to say the strokes which appear the easiest to make most telling— those strokes are yours, and my advice to you is to cultivate them. We should play according to the way we are built, and above all else we must avoid becoming mechanical. It is easier to defend than to attack. First of all, then, learn defence. Re­ member that it is absolutely necessary to play correct cricket, and only when you have mastered the correct way of playing the stroke, whichever it may be, are you entitled to deviate, ever so little, from the orthodox path, for the purpose of making it a scoring stroke, in the event of its being a length ball. Schoolboys will find th at it pays best to play the length and score off the bad length balls ; by bad length balls I mean such as the long hop, the half volley and the full toss, and the many leg balls which come along with amazing regularity in this class of cricket. Many boys attempt to hit too hard. No ball should ever be hit with all one’s strength, for a minimum amount should be reserved for the purpose of timing the stroke. Sturdy boys should hit more than their weaker brethren. Correct hitting is not indulged in anything like enough at schools or even in first class cricket. The straighter the ball the easier to h i t ; but straight balls demand a straight bat, crooked balls a crooked bat, and great care must be exercised against going for a ball wide of the off stump. Batsmen on the small side will possibly find it easier to score behind the wicket, by means of cuts or leg strokes, just as those of strong build will score mostly in front of the wicket. Half the secret of successful batting Ues in the proper use of the feet. In all forward and driving strokes the left foot must be brought close to the ball, with the left shoulder kept well forward, and then the body is brought into the stroke, whilst the further you go through with your stroke the harder will the ball go off the bat. In back play the right foot must be brought back, but not away from the wicket. Elbows should not be close to the body ; the left elbow kept well aw ay from the body ensures a straight bat. In these action photos of Hobbs, No. 1 shows him ready as the bowler runs up to deliver, with the weight, as it should be, equally distributed between his legs— he can thus go back or forward, but if he had more weight on the right leg than on the left, he would almost always advance the left leg and thus favour his forward play, as do those who have no back play, and their name is Legion. Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5 the bat is being taken up and not until No. 6 does the period of uncertainty vanish as to what he will do with the ball. In this photo the left leg is just about to be brought to the off side with the left shoulder true for the drive. No. 7 shows the elbows well away as the wrists take the bat further back, whilst the left leg is just going to be put down. No. 8 shows the commencement of the downward swish of the bat, whilst the body is being brought well forward to command the ball. No. 9 shows the further bringing forward of the body, and No. 10 the actual striking of the ball, while in Nos. 11 and 12 we see the finish of the follow through. They can all be followed on the next two pages, where the description of each phase of the stroke is repeated. Now, my lads, you know all about the art of the cover drive, or you will do, if you read, mark, learn and inwardly digest these, the only animated photos that have ever appeared of one of the most soul-stirring batsman England has ever possessed. In future issues the whole repertoire of Hobbs’ strokes will appear, as well as bowlers delivering the ball, fieldsmen catching, picking up, etc. E A R L Y C R I C K E T IN S O U T H AFR I CA . T h e “ Illustrated S t a r ” of Johannesburg- has in a recent number the following- interesting; notes on early South A frican cricket: “ T here appears to be very little doubt that cricket was a more or less unknown gam e in this country up to at least 1845, but after this, that it was played here and there by E n glish officers and men, or by new comers, there is some reason to suppose. In 1851 at F ort B eaufort it was played, and alluded to under the title of the ‘ Game of C rick e ts.’ In 1850 the men of the 45th R egim ent, stationed at B loem ­ fontein, the headquarters of the O ran ge R iver Sovereignty officials, issued, with the perm ission of their Colonel, a challen ge to residents to p lay any eleven that m ight be put up by the latter. F in ally, in 1856, a cricket club was actu ally organised. A fter i860 a regu lar wave of interest in the gam e spread over the E astern Province, N atal, and the O ran ge Free State. A t a little place like R eddersburg it was referred to as a ‘ m an ia,’ and the same lan g u age was employed towards it by the P ress of Port Elizabeth. T here was a reaction, but the gam e grew steadily in popular acceptance, and in 1876 there was held at Port Elizabeth the first tournament, team s of that port try in g conclusions with visitors from Capetown, G raham stown, and K in g W illiamstown. It is a curious circum stance that up to 1884 the Cape Guide Books and D irectories have scarcely any mention of any snort except racing. T h at for 1884. issued at Capetown, refers to a cricket club at F raserburg, two at A liw al North, and another at T ark a, but does not include then in its list of institutions at Capetown, or indeed any other cen tres! F ive years later the A rg u s Annual of i 88 q , however, m akes amends with a special article on the g am e .” So the “ Illustrated S ta r.” But b y 1889 much had hap­ pened that is not even hinted at in these notes. In 1888-g the first E n glish T eam visited South A frica, and before that there had been four more tournam ents, follow ing on the one in 1875-6 above alluded to. T here is no room here for the detailed accounts of these contests; but a few notes w ill not be out of place. In 1875-6 K in g W illiam stown beat Port Elizabeth by 3 w ickets, G raham stown by 6 w ickets, and Capetown by 4 wickets. C ape T ow n beat Port E lizabeth by 3 w ickets, and Graham stown beat Port Elizabeth by 4^ runs. O w in g to the late arrival of the boat bearin g the Cape Town men they did not meet G raham stown; but an extra match, C ivilian s v. M ilitary, was played as a wind-up to the tourna­ ment. S corin g was very sm all in these matches. T h e only three-figure total in the tournam ent proper was K in g W illiam stown’s 102 for 4 v. G raham stown, though the C ivilian s made 133 v. the M ilitary; and the highest indi­ vidual score registered was W. H eu g h ’ s 37 for “ K in g ” v. Port Elizabeth. C ape T own did not send a team to the 1879-80 contest at K in g W illiam stown, Queenstown ap p earin g instead. The (Continued on page 102.)