Cricket 1914

J u n e 20, 1914. THE WORLD OF CRICKET. 259 “An Angel Unawares.” A S to r y of a F am o u s C ricketer. B y J a c k N orth , H e had landed at Southampton from a steamer of the Castle line on the F riday, and had gone straight from the docks to the station. * He had joined the queue in front of the ticket-window, fully intending to book to Waterloo ; but a sudden impulse seized him, and he stepped aside, obtained the services of a porter, placed all his luggage— except one portmanteau— in the cloak-room, and drove to an hotel. Somehow he shirked turning up in town yet. There were people there who would be glad to see him for his own sake, he knew. There were thousands of others who awaited his coming anxiously for his county’s sake. Bu t he did not feel that he wanted to see any of the former, or to be seen b y the latter, yet. There were reasons why this home-coming of his was not quite the joyful thing that it had sometimes been in antici­ pation. Sometimes— for there had been other times, days of dark despondency, when he had believed that he would never see England again. Saturday afternoon came, and still he was no nearer London ; a little farther away, indeed, for he had started out in the morning for an aimless walk, and now found him­ self in a village he had never seen before, some miles north­ west of the great seaport. He had eaten a frugal lunch at a real old-fashioned country inn. A scrap of conversation overheard in the bar-parlour had told him that there was a match th a t after­ noon which was regarded b y the village as of more than usual importance. He enquired of the stout host the way to the ground. The sight of the smooth, green turf ; of the little white pavilion, w ith a bright flag fluttering gently against a sky of cloudless blue ; of the flannelled figures of the players ; the smell of mown and trodden grass ; the merry crack of willow meeting leather, all did him good. This was his real home-coming, this first sight of an old country cricket ground, so different from the soil of adamantine hardness, the matting-covered pitches of Kimberley and the Rand. If ever there lived one who was a cricketer to the very heart of him, it was this man ! The match had not begun y e t ; but preliminary practice was going on at the nets, and, as his critical eye noted, some of the players shaped well. His fingers fairly itched to be touching bat-handle or seam of ball again. Perhaps his face told his longing. A short, thick-set, dark man in flannels and blazer strolled up to him and enquired courteously whether he would care for a knock. “ I should indeed. Thanks, very much.” “ I guessed you a cricketer. Y o u ’ve the stamp. This bat suit you ? ” " Capitally. But I’m afraid I ’m badly off form. I ’ve only just landed from a sea voyage.” “ Never mind about that. Have pads and gloves ? ” “ No, I won’t trouble, thanks.” He took his stand at the wicket, a well-poised, alert stand, as of a man who is accustomed to treat the bowling with no more respect than it deserves— perhaps with hardly as much sometimes. There was a slight peculiarity about his attitude that struck the man who had accosted him as somehow familiar. The sole of his left foot did not rest upon the turf ; only the heel did that, the foot being cocked up at an angle. Doubtless he was out of practice. Indeed, his timing was somewhat at fault. But that he was a really good bat no one who saw him doubted ; and there could be no question as to his hitting ability. The first ball sent down shaved his off-stump without disturbing the bail. The second was hit clean over the bowler’s head, far out of reach, to fall eighty yards away. The third was cut w ith such force th a t it came near making a hole in the net. The fourth was driven all along the carpet w ith any amount of powder behind it. It is true that the fifth shifted his middle peg ; but no one was inclined to discount his display because of that. And now the cheering of small boys announced the arrival of the visiting team. " Y o u ’re late, Crosby,” remarked the dark, thick-set man to their captain. “ Are we, Langton ? It isn’t altogether our fault. A t the last moment the doctor was called away to an urgent case, an’ there’s no chance at all of his getting here this afternoon. W e’ve come one short, for there wasn’t another man to be had. ” “ I say, th a t’s rough ! For you can hardly afford to do without the doctor.” " Not against you fellows, I ’m afraid. Our best bowler, an’ one of our best bats, especially a t a pinch. I suppose you can let us have a man to fill up ? ” “ I can do better than that for you. There’s a fellow here— a stranger to the place, but a cricketer all over— who I feel sure will p lay .” " Oh, w ith pleasure,” replied the stranger, when ap­ proached, " but I’ve no flannels w ith me, you know .” “ I think I can fit you out. Oh, no, not w ith any of my own— we’re not cast in the same mould. B ut there are things a t my place belonging to a younger brother of mine, who is about your build. Here, Wrenn, trot up to m y house, and ask Mrs. Langton to send down Mr. Frank’s flannels and leg-guards.” The boy addressed rushed off. The captain of the visiting side came up. “ Shall we toss, Langton ? ” he asked. " Heads ! Oh, yes, we’ll take first innings, thanks. I thought of putting you down No. 5, sir. How will that suit you ? ” “ Oh, quite well, thank you, though I ’m afraid it’s a higher place than I deserve on present form .” “ Do you mind giving the scorer your name ? ” The official mentioned was close a t hand w ith his book. He was of those who take genuine pride in their wprk, and he resented the smallest incompleteness on his score-sheet. The stranger turned to him, covering thus what would otherwise have been a quite perceptible hesitation. “ Mann,” he said. " M— a— n— n.” “ Initials, sir ? ” “ Oh, L. O .” The mistake that the man of the pencil made was a very natural one. The stranger’s name figured with one more initial than he had meant to give— “ O. L. O. Mann,” it read. The lad with Mr. Langton’s message made a quick journey ; but Mann had only just finished changing when the third w icket fell, with 25 scored, and it was his turn to go in. Langton, with medium-paced leg-breaks, and a long youth of eighteen, who bowled a fast ball that sometimes broke back in disconcerting fashion, had proved very difficult to play. Mann had a very narrow squeak of being bowled in his first over ; but at the end of it he had scored eleven off the long youth, and now faced Langton. He hit three fours off the leg-breaker ; and if that gentleman had been a less big-hearted man he m ight have begun to regret his invita­ tion. The other batsman succumbed to the fast bowler in the next over. Then Crosby came in, and the next forty minutes saw seventy runs added. B ut the visiting captain’s share of these was only 21, and it was he whose w icket fell next.