Cricket 1914

No. 3, V o l. I. SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 1914. P r ic e 2 d. Mr. L. H. W. Troughton. T h e subject of our sketch this month has been the recognised skipper of K en t 2nd X I for the last few seasons, although he has played for the 1st X I, and played well into the bargain on more than one occasion. Our readers must not overlook the all-important fact th a t when a strong side like Kent finds a vacancy on odd occasions for a young player, the latter may find himself taking his turn at the crease when all the runs necessary to secure a victory are already on the board, with the result th at the true cricketer, such as the new Kent skipper undoubtedly is, plays jolly and gets out. Because he has done nothing that stands out as really a big achievement, it does not follow th a t the old Dulwich boy cannot do it. For the first time he will find himself frequently in th a t position when every run th at he makes is really wanted, and my readers will find him doing things th a t some m ay have thought beyond him. As a boy at Dulwich he gave much promise b y scoring 49 v. Brighton College and 40 in both innings v. Shrewsbury School. Against Essex for Kent 1st X I he scored in his first match 46 and against Worcester­ shire 48. For H. D. G. Leveson-Gower’s team against Cambridge University he scored 85, and on another occasion he played a capital innings of 34 out of 106 for Kent against Lord Londesborough’s England X I on a difficult w icket— proof positive th a t he can hold his own in the highest class. He has a nice easy style, playing always orthodox cricket and scoring all round the w icket; add to this the perfect cricket temperament and you have a cricketer th at any side would be glad to possess. A magnificent golfer, he only took up that game when he bad thoroughly learnt his cricket lessons, and the only suspicion of golf in his cricket is the possible overdoing of playing within his strength, for he does not often gather himself up in a hurry and throw himself at that off ball as some of us do, preferring, as he does, to treat that ball in a more decorous fashion, playing it so easily that one might be pardoned for m istaking it for laziness. The writer had the pleasure of playing with him during the M.C.C. tour in the Argentine, and on a side that included some well-known players the K en t player was out and aw ay the most consistent scorer on the by no means perfect wickets and in the b y no means ideal climatic conditions for cricket. A t poker he is an adept, and at the risk of spoiling his chances in future it behoves me to inform m y readers he is one of the most harmless looking individuals, blessed w ith the inestimable gift, for poker, of being able to distort his face into that of an imbecile, a t the same time nodding his old pate as if he hadn’t slept for a week, and when the whole table has yelled at him to “ W ake up T rout ” he invariably does so to raise them half-a-crown and to take their money. He rejoiced in the name of “ Comatoso ” throughout the tour— our Spanish consisting of adding “ o ” to most words such as, “ Thomasso, fetcho drinko.” M r . L. H. W. T r o u g h t o n .