Cricket 1914

J u n e 20, 19 14 . THE WORLD OF CRICKET. 255 ftbc Morlfc of Cricket. E d i t o r : Mr. A. C. M a c L a r e n . A s s is t a n t E d i t o r a n d M a n a g e r : Mr. J. N. P e n t e lo w . • 1 , TEMPLE CHAMBERS, TEMPLE AVENUE, EMBANKMENT, LONDON, E.G. 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 Pavilion Gossip. Not mine to sing the praises Of “ gutties ” dear to golfers— The ball that cuts the daisies A theme diviner offers : Away with fives and tennis! When “ Play ! ” the umpires call, The ball we bow to then is The good red ball. C harles P lairre . T h e weaknesss of the Lancashire attack was made manifest a t Lord’s this week, and no mistake. It made me fairly groan at times, and my heart went out to the skipper who had to handle such stuff. ■H a d the batting of Tarrant and Hearne been more enter­ prising after each had collected his century, we should all have enjoyed ourselves better. Hearne made two or three lovely carpet drives through the covers, and Tarrant an occasional square cut in his own style th at sent the ball flying to the rails. L a te r on, especially after the tea interval, they settled down to a humdrum sort of game, as if they were playing in Australia, where matches are fought to a finish. There was a sameness about the shots th at got monotonous. Even little Miss Warner, who Was sitting on m y knee, and who is the keenest of all little spectators, admitted she had seen enough of them. P o s s ib l y the absence of life in the visitors’ attack swamped my powers of appreciation, but others like myself appeared to get somewhat bored in the latter stages of the first d a y’s play, and longed for a change of batsmen. I do not wish to criticise big scores adversely, and very much credit is due to both Tarrant and young Hearne for their very sound and painstaking crick e t; but great players such as these two men undoubtedly are will not take offence when one tells them th at one has seen them flog better bowling to all parts of the field, and th at on this occasion the attempt was never made against bowling that would not, on th at wicket, get a decent school eleven out for less than 300. T h e Middlesex skipper ran into me somewhere about 4.15 o’clock, w ith his pads on, and, pointing to them with an amused expression on his face, remarked that he had had them on since 12.30. “ Change the order, Plum, and take them off,” was m y advice, and he did so. C u r io u sly enough Mrs. Warner had previously advised him to do this ; but when the wicket fell at 6.23 he refused to let anyone but himself go in to be shot at. Had the skipper gone in first, it was no more than even money he would not have got a century. M id d l e s e x are on their mettle this season, and at th e moment are good favourites for the championship, and no doubt this fact was at the bottom of the ultra­ careful play of their two crack professionals on Monday. T ar r a n t had the remotest chance of being run out by the visiting skipper, who fields as well as ever. He had scored 30 when the ball was thrown at the bowler’s wicket with lightning speed ; the w icket was touched ever so slightly, but the bail did not fall. Had it done, the batsman was out b y a full three yards. W h it e , who umpired in the game, and is a very shrewd judge— for Richards and himself were looked upon for years as our best two umpires— remarked to the Lancashire captain that he had seen all the sides this year, but he really thought his was the w o rs t; and, so far as the bowling goes, I quite agree with him. Y o u cannot win matches w ithout bowlers, and there are scant possibilities about the Lancashire attack at the moment. Dean, of course, is horribly missed, and Huddleston, who has done such good work for his side, is not so young as he was. Heap bowls well one day, and badly the next. Whitehead labours somewhat when he is brought up for a second go ; he is scarcely so strong as some. Y oun g Bullough m ay train on, for he has a nice sort of action, and, like other left-handers, will probably be a good one on a difficult wicket. J am es T y l d e s l e y is the boy who is wanted at the moment, but most unfortunately he was allowed to accept an engagement away from headquarters. I can’t help thinking, though, that Mr. Rhodes would gladly let him play for the county if he was approached. The Lancashire Committee should get to work here at once. H. G. G a r n e t t has shown us a glimpse of what he used to do w ith the bat, after a series of tantalising failures. As a wicket-keeper he has improved out of all knowledge, as we discovered when he captained the Argentine X I. against M.C.C. T h e side chosen to represent England against the M.C.C. South African Team at Lord’s n ext Monday is : C. B. Fry, A . P. Day, F. T. Mann, S. G. Smith, Geary, Gunn (G.), Humphreys, Hirst, Hitch, Smith (E. J.) (or Dolphin), and Tarrant. Reserve (batsman), Parsons. M a n y of us are sorry th at a place has not been found for Jaques, the Hants amateur, in the match against the South A frican M .C.C. X I. F . R. Foster, I presume, cannot play, for it is unreasonable to think he has not been invited, since he is bowling w ith plenty of devil, and the Lord’s wicket must suit him admirably— far more so than those perfect Birmingham wickets. The same remark applies to Jaques and to Southampton. T h er e is a feeling th at the three selectors have not seen enough of the players this season to form an accurate estimate of their capabilities. C. B. Fry, who can play as well as ever, must find himself handicapped ; also H. K . Foster, in this respect. I t is expected th at a large gathering will be the order of the day during the match between the Old Etonians and Old Harrovians. F. S. Jackson, B. J .T . Bosanquet, P. R. Johnson, and others, have been practising most assiduously at the nets, but the Editor is somewhat worried over a fortnight’s enforced idleness (through a wrenched knee) which, after he had got fighting fit, has sent the scales up again with a bound.