Cricket 1914

A u g u s t i , 1914. THE WORLD OF CRICKET. 403 Lord’s Sixty Years Ago. B y A n “ O l d B o y .” L ooking across L o rd ’s Ground during the progress of the C en ten ary M atch— M .C.C. South A frican Team v. The R est— one found recollections dating back m any years thronging into on e’s m ind. Am ong them is th a t of the figure of Mr. D ark, short and som ewhat heavily built, passing w ith slow steps so as not to incomm ode the parrot perched on his shoulder, to inspect some superficial excavations in the neighbourhood of the present scoring-board and Press gallery. W e, as m ight be expected of in quisitive schoolboys, followed a t a respectful distance, to find th at some foot and a h alf below ground thin boards were laid, som e of w hich were becom ing rotten. How far this prim itive schem e of drainage extended under the undisturbed turf there w as no m eans of discovering ; b u t possibly someone still able to tak e an interest in cricket m ay know more on this point. The parrot-loving proprietor of the ground had a fondness for fishing, and could get from various members of the M.C.C. th e privilege of access to specially preserved waters. He once in vited a friend of m ine to go fishing w ith him ; th ey saw m any m onster carp, b u t caught none ; and when expenses cam e to be shared, Mr. D ark ’s com putation of keepers’ tips was found to be on so lordly a scale th at m y friend considered the sport altogether too dear for him . and never accepted another in vita­ tion. I chanced to read the other d ay th at the first wearers of leg- guards were looked upon much as Jonas H anw ay w as when first he p u t up his um brella ; consequently th ey took to wearing th e guards u n d er their trousers. Quite true ! A notable instance of this w as afforded b y Mr. Scale, who had a large school a t Tw ickenham (where the Police O rphanage now is), and used to take part w ith his boys in their m atches a t L o rd ’s on Satu rd ay afternoons. He w as a man w ith big limbs, and his colum nar legs capped b y a protector which m ight be likened either to a preposterously large pancake or to a small a rch ery target made him a noticeable figure a t the w icket. S atu rd ay m atches a t L o rd ’s were greatly appreciated b y schools and the b etter class'clu bs. It was not so difficult to get m atches finished in a couple of days as is the case now, so each week-end during the season, after the T h ursday-F riday m atch, we had our turn, some four or five games going on at the same tim e. It m ust be remembered, too, th at the ground w as then sm aller th an it is to-day. An ou t fieldsman m ight in these circum stances find him self a trifle nearer to a free- h ittin g batsm an in another game than was really safe ; but the need for looking all w ays a t once thus created w as a t least calcu lated to sharpen cricketing w its. A little later, we boys, long before the period of W . G. and his brothers, had our “ Three Graces ” ; b u t th ey were D icky D a ft, H ayw ard, and Carpenter. I rem ember seeing D a ft in a m atch a t L o rd ’s receive a horrible crack from a bum ping ball— a blow so severe th at he becam e rigid w ith the pain. Old Tom L o ckyer, who w as behind the stumps, had him in hand almost as he fell and w ith those queer old n ubbly hands of his— nearly every join t out of shape— adm inistered vigorous massage, which b rou gh t D aft round, to face the bow ler, bu t not to p lay him. The second ball delivered set our hero free to w alk unsteadily to the pavilion. H avin g w ritten the w ell-known initials of W . G. the tem pta­ tion to recount a personal experience of the Champion is irresistible. A t a provincial m atch in which he w as playing a local band had been provided ; the bandm aster, lacking in experience as to crick et m atches, thought th at for fear of disturbing the play the music should be restricted to the intervals "between the fall of a w icket and the next m an going in. B u t this arrangem ent had not lasted long when W . G. came across and addressed him to this effect : “ L ook here, you know, i t ’s quite bad enough to be out for a duck w ithout your starting to p lay ‘ Oh, w h at a surprise ! ’ and if one of us should make a big score there's no need to p u t on the * Conquering H ero,’ for the people round th e ground know all about it from the scoring-board. So "be a good fellow and ju st go on as though you were a t a flower show— first you play, then you rest, and then you p lay again, and so on. Y ou don’t m ind, do you ? ” I cannot profess to rem ember the top-h at tim e ; but I do recollect when tight-fitting flannel E ton jackets were quite the fashion, and I can recall gazing up a t th at m ighty m an, Alfred M ynn, in his broad-brimm ed straw . I can also remember the m ovem ent which resulted in the form ation of the United Eleven, and the extraordin ary pattern of their shirts, w hich were ornamented w ith different coloured spots, each the size of a cricket ball or nearly so. B u t eccen tricity of cricketing dress w as then reckoned adm is­ sible, and had its use in aiding the identifying of the various players. ----- +----- Overseas Cricket Chat. C A N A D A . V ictoria easily b eat the Garrison on Ju ly 4, m aking 227 (Alexis M artin 78, L . S. V . Y o rk 43, J. W . D . Y o rk 38) and disposing of their opponents for 52. H . A. Goward did the h a t trick for the winners, clean bow ling batsm en w ith the second, third, and fourth balls of his first over. He took 6 for 9 in all. Garrison m ade 69 for 6 in their second innings. U n iversity School (104— Hudson 28) b eat C ivil Service (35 and 80 for 3— W . Speak 39), Hudson takin g 5 for 21 in Civil Service’s first. Albion (141— E . .P. W ard 48) defeated O ak B a y (99— H . A . Y eom an 371. Incogniti scratched to Cowichan. Toronto h ave ju st com pleted a successful tour in W estern Ontario (writes our Toronto correspondent). L . M. R athbun, the club's fast bow ler, distinguished him self as a batsm an, m aking over 50 in each of the four games played— v. H am ilton, G alt, London A sylum , and Guelph— besides doing good w ork w ith the ball. The tw o leading clubs of the Toronto League, Toronto and Rosedale, m et on Ju ly 11, when Rosedale, hitherto undefeated, were beaten b y an innings and 33 runs, although Toron to’s score was the v ery m oderate one of 144. This season there is keen com petition in the Toronto Church and M ercantile League, and the standard of play among the clubs engaged has undergone m arked im provem ent. This is largely due to an influx of new players from the old country. C algary and M acLeod m et a t C algary on Ju ly 11, and the visitors were able to declare a t 204 for 4, W . Mole m aking n o * . Calgary replied w ith 107 for 6— L o vell 41. The M acLeod fielding w as excellent, b u t th at of C algary very so-so. IN D IA . M. M aybury, captain of the St. Joseph’s College (Bangalore) team , m ade 101* for St. Joseph’s v. R oyal Horse A rtillery on Ju ly 4, the School declaring a t 193 for 5. P E R U . The belated score of a L im a club m atch (Duncan F o x & Co. v. R est of the Club, played on A pril 18) has reached us. Duncan F o x & Co. scored 92, A. G. Laurie takin g 5 for 18, and the rest 96 (M. L . M ulanovich 32, H . C. Ferguson 30*). For Duncan F o x & Co. R . G. Brown took 7 for 35. There is plen ty of en­ thusiasm for cricket, one gathers, in the B ritish Colony a t Lim a. U N IT E D S T A T E S . Philadelphia (with " its b attin g clothcs on ” — P h ila d e lp h ia R ecord) scored 307 (P. N . L e R o y 98, M. D uncan 71) v. Frankford on Ju ly 11. Frankford had m ade 92 for 3 a t call of tim e. The game was to be continued on the M onday. Merion (J. H . Gordon 52, John E van s 36) pu t up 183 v. G erm antown), who had only scored 63 for 6 a t the end of the day. This also was to be con­ tinued. For Bon A ir v. Merion B in a Philadelphia Cup gam e C. G. C ox scored 103*, his side w inning b y 176 for 3 to 59. G erm an­ town C. (176 for 9— J. M. Shoem aker 39, C. V . Thackara 33) beat Merion C. (103— S. G. T h ayer 36, J. N . Ew in g 25*). ---— 4------ S t . L u k e ’s (Woodside) beat Old Westminster Citizens (8 6 for 8 to 38) on Saturday, F. J. Rayner, who had to retire hurt, being top scorer with 20, and Hutchings taking 7 for 12. S u t t o n ’ s victory over M.C.C. (a strong side, including Board, Alfred Newman, Mignon, R. C. Burton, and W. F. L. Oliver) was a capital performance. It was due mainly to the fine all-round play of M. F. S . Jewell, who took 7 for 36 and then scored 131. The totals were : M.C.C., 91 ; Sutton 292. Twelve a side played.