Cricket 1914

F e b r u a r y , 1914. THE WORLD OF CRICKET. 35 School Cricket. B y A . C. M a c L a r e n . I do n o t purpose giv in g an article of in struction this month. I kn ow the d ifficu lty a b o y has in givin g his m ind to crick et while th e footb all season is still a t its height. So th e first of m y in stru ctive articles, which w ill th ereafter appear e v e ry w eek, w ill com e o u t in A p ril when w e start our summ er num bers. Then I shall deal in tu rn w ith each b a ttin g stroke, and each w ill be illu strated b y a num ber o f photos, depicting the successive phases of the stroke. T his m ethod of illu stration has n ever before been em ployed, although, of course, in stan taneous p h otos o f p layers h a ve been taken b y th e aid o f electricity. These w ere good ; m ine are going to be b etter. I hope and believe th a t th ey w ill p ro ve of great in terest, n o t on ly to boys, b u t to m an y older players. O f one th in g I am certain : the b o y who studies them togeth er w ith m y articles can n ot fail to advan ce his p la y. I stron gly advise m y b o y readers to ta k e in T he W orld of C r ic k e t regu larly, and to save th eir num bers for binding. W hen m y articles are com pleted, those who h a ve follow ed this ad vice w ill h a v e an u p -to-date book of cricket in struc­ tion, fu lly illu strated b y an expen sive process n ever before em ployed for this purpose, or, indeed, for a n y crick et article or book. Tw en ty years ago I w rote a little book called “ C ricket for B eginn ers.” I t w as so w ell received th a t it w en t through several edi­ tions, and w hen la te ly I w anted a co p y for m y own boys I was qu ite u nable to g e t one. Y o u m a y fairly ta k e it th a t I kn ow th e gam e a t least as w ell now as I did then, and I am h opin g th a t these special articles of m ine w ill m eet w ith an e q u ally cordial reception. L E C T U R E S O N C R IC K E T . Mr. A . C. M acLaren, E d ito r of T h e W orld o f C r ic k e t , has a few v a ca n t dates for illu strated lectures on the game to p rivate schools. W ill an y H eadm aster interested k in d ly comm unicate w ith him a t th e office of the paper, 61, T em ple Chambers, T em p le A ven ue, E .C . ? TH E TREATM EN T O F GROUNDS. Many club secretaries have difficulties from time to time with regard to the treatment of their grounds— difficulties which the advice of an expert would in many cases dispose of readily. To meet these, the Editor of T h e W o r ld o f C r ic k e t has made arrangements with an expert to answer in these columns (without any charge made to the questioner) queries dealing with the proper management of turf. Questions should be concisely given, and local conditions of soil and aspect briefly described. One such question has come to hand already, and is here answered. F. C.— Basic slag is a good manure for heavy ground, but it has the disadvantage of encouraging clover. If you wish to use it, however, do so next winter at four ounces to each square yard. S o u th Australia (so one learns through Reuter’s Special Service) defeated Victoria in the final match for the Sheffield Shield by 86 runs. New South Wales had already won the shield, with three victories and one narrow defeat. The win at Adelaide gave South Australia second place (won 2, lost 2), with Victoria (won r, lost 3) bringing up the rear. Clement Hill, with 105 and 60, was top scorer in each innings for the winners, whose totals were 274 and 349. Baring made 71 in Victoria’s first (2T3) and R yder 105 in their second (324). John Crawford took rr wickets for 145 runs in the match. T h e W est Indian Tournament, in which Barbados, British Guiana, and Trinidad used to take part each season, has lapsed for the present— a great pity, as unless it is soon renewed the standard of cricket in the West Indies is bound to deteriorate. O w in g to the fact that time at Fremantle was too short, the Rev. E. F. W addy’s N.S.W . team did not play the proposed one-day match with Western Australia, though a team had been chosen to oppose them. The extension of the tour to India had also to be given up, as only eight members of the team could obtain a sufficient extension of leave for it. M r. R. G. H ickmott ( N e w Z e a la n d ) . S c h o f i e l d H a i g h i n t h e C r i c k e t F i e l d . T h e following- figures relating to H a ig h ’s first-class career have been compiled by Mr. R. O. Edwards. H a igh ’s Batting Averages in All First-class Matches. Season M. Inns. N.O. R. A. H.S. 1895 .............................. 2 4 o 79 IQ -75 36 1896 ..................- ........ 15 23 5 165 32*- 1896 .............................. 27 37 10 324 12-00 34 * 1898 .............................. 31 39 6 522 15.81 85 1899 .............................. 31 44 6 793 20.86 71 1900 .............................. 33 42 1 76° 18.53 73 1901 .............................. 22 27 4 607 26.39 159 1902 .............................. 34 43 7 753 20.91 85 1903 .............................. 33 42 5 558 15.08 44 1904 .............................. 34 45 5 1055 26.37 138 1905 .............................. 37 50 3 882 18.76 78 1906 .............................. 36 50 7 679- 15-79 75 * 1907 .............................. 25 32 5 426 1 5-77 40 1908 .............................. 28 29 5 322 13 41 51 1909 .............................. 33 4 ' 392 1 5-65 46 1910 .............................. 32 48 9 869 22.28 07 1911 .............................. 31 48 11 906 24.48 h i ig i2 .............................. 36 44 10 642 18.88 62 1 9 1 3 .............................. 24 33 1 710 22.18 92 T otal in En gland... 544 721 116 11 ,444 18.91 159 I n S outh A f r ic a :— 1898-9 ......................... 5 7 I 55 9-!6 25 I90516 ............................. 12 IQ 2 212 12.47 6l Com plete T o ta l ... 561 747 ! I 9 I I » 7 11 . 18.64 *59 F or Y orksh ire (first-class matches only) H aigh has played in 513 gam es, 687 in nin gs, n o not outs, for 10,991 runs average 19.040. He appeared four tim es for E n glan d v. A ustralia, seven tim es for En glan d v. South A frica, ten tim es for Players v. Gentlem en, and six tim es for North v. South.