Cricket 1914

F e b r u a r y , 1914. THE WORLD OF CRICKET. 29 one of th e gran dest specim ens of honest grit. H e had w onderful comm and of th e ball, considering his pace. B u t he did n ot possess flight, which B arnes has. R ich ard ­ son hamm ered aw ay, fairly w orryin g his men o u t w ith his perfect len gth and great pace. H e alw ays seemed to be sayin g : “ D o n ’t exp ect m e to slack off— no, n o t for a ball, for I go on all d a y ! ” D ear old T om ! /W e w ere all fond of the good fellow , big of h eart as of body. I am n o t too rea d y to h a il a p la yer as g r e a t ; b u t W alter B rearley, w hen p la yin g regu larly, w as one of the few bow lers whom I should p u t u nh esitatin gly in th e “ great ” class. Here you h ad p erfect length again, and a rare fizz off the pitch, too. E x c e p t on v e r y rare occasions, he was alw ays turning th e ball, and used to sw ing aw ay w ith his arm ju st enough to cause th e highest in the land to m ake m istakes L ike R ichardson, h e could keep it up all day. H e never spared him self, either. T h ro u gh th e season when Lancas- shire gained th e cham pionship w ith o u t losing a m atch, it m ight alm ost be said th a t he k e p t one end going un­ changed. H e w as brim ful of confidence and he justified to others his belief in him self. G ive B rearlev a w ick et w ith a to u ch of fire in it, and he was a m an and a h alf to his side ! E rn est Jones, th e A ustralian , had pace and length, like R ichardson, b u t like him lacked flight. H e k e p t up his pace w ell, esp ecially on th eir fast w ickets in A ustralia. A v ery pow erfu l fellow , he w as a fine fast bow ler ; b u t he was n ot as successful again st batsm en of the higher class as either R ichard son or B rearley, th ou gh he could polish off the ra n k and file as q u ick ly as anyone. C otter h ad th e m ost b eau tifu l sw ing of a n y fa st bow ler I ever saw . H e w as a hum an cata p u lt.. N o one ever bow led faster th an he did in his first few overs. H e was likely to get an yon e o u t on a n y w icket, for he nipped off th e p itch v e ry q u ick ly, and sw ung aw ay m ost dan ger­ ously, in sp ite of his pace. B u t he had n ot th e comm and of the b a ll th a t th e others I h ave m entioned had. W hen his b est b all cam e along, it w as as difficult as an y fast bow lers ; b u t he w as less level in excellence th an som e of his rivals. Mold m u st n o t be overlooked. H e had grea t comm and of the b all. H e cam e off th e p itch like lightning. H e sent down a t tim es a snorter th a t whipped b a ck from th e off to the leg stum p. I t w as to th is b all his opponents to o k e x c e p tio n ; b u t I am qu ite certain of this— if M old ever threw , h e th rew w ith o u t in ten t or know ledge th a t he was doing so. In try in g to get th a t extra b it of w ork on th e ball, it is v ery easy to drop th e elbow u nw ittin gly. Mold was a really good bow ler. H e h ad one d e fe c t: H e liked to see his catches held, and fieldsm en’s blunders u pset him more than th ey do th e m an whose ca p a city to ta k e such things sm iling is a grea t asset to him self and his side. Second to none ranks F . R . Spofforth. I n ever m et him in his prim e. H e w as w ell over fo rty when I p la yed w ith him a t Scarborough ; b u t he was in m y opinion even th en the best bow ler in th e gam e. A n d w e had all th e cracks up there. Spofforth w as a real head bow ler. A favou rite device of his w as to leave unguarded openings for th e b a ts­ m an’s p et strokes, and then to bow l him a b all w h ich looked em inently su itable for b ein g h it th rough one of them— b u t w asn’t ; because th e D em on knew how .to deceive as w ell as ever did B re t H a rte ’s H eathen Chinee 1 I should be sorry to try to nam e Spofforth’s superior. W . M. B rad ley, of K en t, w as a great trier. B u t his action was again st him . I t lacked the ease and naturalness w h ich tend to a longish life for a fast bowler. N e x t m on th I hope to w rite som ething abou t th e m edium pace and slow bow lers— su ch as Peel (greatest left-hander of m y day), B riggs, Jack H earne, C. T . B . Turner, Noble, H ugh T rum ble, and others. OUR NEXT ISSUE W ILL BE DATED MARCH 2 1 . Some Personal Notes by the Editor. I n rep ly to numerous enquiries concerning m y p la yin g for Lancashire this com ing season, I m a y sa y th a t I mean to tu rn ou t. Friends who saw m y p la y last year for Mr. Lionel R obin son ’s Elevens a t O ld B uckenh am— where his country-house cricket is certain ly of a v ery high class— suggested th a t I ou gh t to h a v e been m akin g runs for m y co u n ty ; and after I had m et some of m y old Lancashire com rades again, I w as induced to offer m y services for th e com ing season. I shall n o t be able to p la y in all the earlier m atches ; b u t if m y form , when I do appear, is considered good enough, it is more than lik ely th a t J u ly and A u g u st w ill find me a regular m ember of the team . M uch as I should have liked to rep ly d irect to all those friends, old and new, who h ave so kin d ly sent me letters of con gratu lation on the first num ber o f T h e W o r l d o f C r i c k e t , and good wishes for its futu re success, I h a ve found m yself quite unable to do so. B u t I know th a t th ey w ill see this, and I tru st th ey w ill all accep t m y h eartiest thanks. I m ean to do m y u tm o st for m y readers’ interests in eve ry w a y ; and I th in k it m y d u ty to w arn the p la yers am ong th em th a t I h ave la te ly seen a q u a n tity of b a ts designed for sale during the com ing season th a t o u gh t n ever to be p u t upon the m arket. I t is th e first tim e in m y life th a t I h a ve seen such stu ff used. B u t there is a lo t o f it a b o u t now ; I h a ve detected it in three different places. A n exp ert is needed to te ll th e difference in the case o f a new b a t ; b u t the e xp e rt w ill n ot be necessary after th e b a t has h ad a few hard kn ocks ! T hese w ill tell their ow n ta le . I t is to the open b a rk w illow th a t I refer. L a te ly I had a v e ry in teresting con versation w ith one of the oldest (and largest) bu yers o f w illow ; and he explain ed the m atter to me. T h e dem and for white b ats has outstripped, it w ould appear, th e su p p ly o f true w illow , and in order to keep u p profits some m anufacturers are b u yin g th is u tte rly u n fit op en -bark stuff, w h ich th ey get a t less th an one-third th e price o f the true w illow . T h is means th a t 25s. (and in some cases more) is ch arged for fake bats. N o other description fits these w retch ed thin gs. N one o f th em w ill be seen in ou r office, I n eed h a rd ly say. Schoolm asters and others who purchase on a large scale are w arned to exercise grea t care in th eir selections th is y ear. I am w illin g to p u t m y kn ow led ge a t th eir disposal. T h e open -bark bats, I m a y add, n o t o n ly do n o t d rive as b a ts m ade of the true w illow do, b u t th e y are also v e ry b rittle. M y th an k s are due to the R e v . E. L. B row ne, H eadm aster o f S t. A n d rew ’s School, E astbourne, who k in d ly arranged six lectures for me a fortn igh t ago, a t the lead in g p rep aratory schools a t th a t seaside resort. I was delighted to find the b o y s as keen and enthusiastic as ever b o ys were ab ou t th e gam e. A m ost accep table in vitatio n to s ta y a w eek a t S t. A n d rew ’s gave me e ve ry o p p o rtu n ity o f realising th is. Am o n g the schools I lectured to w as th a t of Mr. E rn est Sm ith , th e w ell-know n Y o rksh ire p la ye r ; and a t an o th er school— the R e v . H . B row n e’s— I found another old friend in Mr. J. B . Challen, o f Som erset, who was, as ever, full o f anecdotes concerning the gam e. M y th an k s are also offered to the R ev. Mr. W akefield, the R e v . Mr. Gow ring, and Mr. Thorn ton , for givin g me the o p p o rtu n ity of lecturing to th eir boys. I cam e a w a y feeling ten years you n ger for those few d a y s sp en t am ong the rising generation.