Cricket 1914

The Worcestershire Skipper. T hus one is apt to think of Henry Knollys Foster, the eldest of the brilliant brotherhood which so lately lost its brightest ornament in R. E. Other men have captained the county team, of course— R. E. himself, G. H. Simpson-Hayward, W . H. Taylor, the present leader, and far back in second-class days E . P. Jobson. Bu t H. K . has led Worcestershire in far more matches than all these together. He began as long ago as 1894, while still a t Oxford, so that in all he had close upon twenty seasons of leadership. It has never been a sinecure. Some teams are said to captain themselves. One doubts whether this is even true in anything but a very limited sense. The strongest team will not keep up a consistently high standard under an indifferent leader ; the weakest can be lifted b y a man who really has the gift of captaincy. Worcestershire has certainly never been the kind of side to captain itself. The Worcestershire batting has almost always lacked the element of reliability. The Worcester­ shire bowling has almost always needed handling. Pos­ sibly some men m ight have got more out of both than H. K . Foster did ; but most certainly no man could have tried harder, and no man could have set his side a better ex­ ample of unselfishness and courage. Many a time has he stood in the breach when the game was going against his men ; one recalls especially an innings of 70 odd against Yorkshire on the third afternoon of a match that could not be won, but m ight be saved— and was saved, thanks to him. Though they have been known to lapse into stodginess, the Worcestershire batsmen generally have been of the brilliant rather then the solid type. Arnold could play the steady game at times, but one remembers many an innings in which he lost his w icket in trying to make too early shots which m ight have been safe enough once he was well set. That accomplished player, Fred Bowley, one of the men who have received but scant justice at the hands of selectors of representative teams, is by nature rather a hitter than a defensive batsman. R. E. and W . L. were very sound ; but neither of them could be considered as belonging to the class of batsmen who can play the rock and wear down the bowling for others. Burns, Simpson- Hayward, Lowe, and Geoffrey Foster may all be numbered among the distinctly aggressive players. Wheldon and Pearson have at times played defensive innings of merit, but neither of these could be classed as an essentially defensive batsman. The game that Vine plays for Sussex, John Douglas for Essex, Cecil Wood for Leicestershire, William Quaife for Warwickshire, has never had until lately an exponent of more than second-rate calibre in the Worcestershire ranks. This year, A. T. Cliff has played it w ith some advantage to his side. Bu t a Vine or a Quaife appearing regularly for the county during the'llast fifteen Photo by] [ Messrs. E. Hawkins & Co., Brighton. M r . H. K. F o s t e r .