Cricket 1914

M a r c h , 1914. THE WORLD OF CRICKET. 49 Photograph by A . Cecil Coyne, Durban. TH E VICTORIOUS N A TA L TEAM . Standing — Jos. Steel (Umpire), J. W. Easterbrook, D. K . Pearse, J. Davison (reserve), E. Arbuthnot, H. W. Chapman, J. H. Eaton (Umpire). Sittine — L. R. Tuckett, A. D. Nourse, Mr. H. L. Crockett (Hon. Sec. and Treasurer, N.C.A.), H. W. Taylor (Captain), Mr. R. L. Goulding (Chairman, N.C.A.), C. P. Carter, J. L. Cox. On Ground — D. J. Nichol, Dan Taylor. "his scores being in order of m agnitude 100. 100, 93, 91, 87, 83 n ot o u t, 70, 42 n ot ou t, 42, 40, 29, 16, 14, and 8. In the fou rteen innings in which these runs were m ade the grand to ta l from th e b a t w as 2424. T a y lo r’s share of these w as th us more th an a third, and while he scored 824 in 12 com pleted innings, average 68-66, his com rades made in all 1600 for 113 w ickets, average a trifle o ver 14. John D ouglas did n ot exaggerate m atters m uch w hen he gave it as his opinion he was one of the first three of the w orld’s batsm en. H e has had to carry his side eve ry tim e, and b a ttin g is alw ays more difficult in these conditions. T he M .C.C. side has come through the to u r w ith flying colours, losing on ly one m atch, and th a t n ot a T est. The form of H obbs w ith th e b a t and B arn es w ith th e b all has been great ; and, th ou gh others h ave done well, these tw o have overshadow ed them . John D ouglas, a fter a season of v ery sm all success in En gland, scored h eavily, if he did tak e his tim e abou t it as a rule, and proved th a t he has lost none of his defence. T enn yson did not like the m atting w ickets, and R elf n either m ade as m an y runs nor took as m a n y w ickets as m ight reasonably have been expected, bu t he has had a v e ry strenuous life on th e field and has often been a t it during th e w in ter months. W o o l l e y is another man to whom , it would appear, South A frican conditions do n ot greatly appeal. F ailure w as seldom his portion ; b u t in 23 innings he on ly reached 50 three tim es, and his bow ling was b u t occasionally successful, 6 for 41 s. N a ta l a t M aritzburg, and 4 for 34 and 4 for 45 in tw o m atches v. T ran svaal being his best figures. R hodes had a measure of success as a bowler, and m ade a good m an y runs ; b u t his m anner of m aking them did n ot enthuse spectators generally. P layers like M. C. B ird, L . H . T enn yson, and W oolley do n ot pu ll ou t their best when their opponents never can get th em ou t of a brisk canter. Rhodes is sublim ely indifferent to such surroundings and keeps graftin g along. T he m an w h o attach es over-great im portance to his ow n in d ivid u al innings loses a considerable p art of his valu e to his side. T here are tim es w hen G et run s or g e t ou t should be eve ry batsm an ’s m otto. N ever m ind a b o u t th e figures in the averages a t th e end ! If a cap tain is w o rth y of his place, he know s ; and as far as the public are concerned o n ly those members of it who tak e all th eir cricket on p ap er worship th e big average bu ilt up labori­ ou sly b y th e risk-nothingarian. T o o m an y batsm en are afflicted w ith th a t terrible scourge I m u stn ’t-get-out-at-an y- costitis, and th e y are all relations of P oor Gates. T he sigh t to -d ay of a clipping from the Sportsman brou gh t th e nam e of an old O v al favou rite to m ind— - Maurice R ead to w it, who was m arried in F eb ru ary to Mrs. T . B urke, th e proprietress of th e T ichborne A rm s, near A lresford. Con gratulations to him ! H e is still, as he has been for n early tw e n ty years (ever since his too early retirem ent from cou n ty cricket) coach a t Tichborne P ark, and Sir Joseph and L a d y T ich born e were present a t his wedding. H e r e is a descriptive phrase from a N ew Zealand paper, one of those things th a t m igh t have been changed w ith out ab atem en t of elegance : “ Robinson h it M ’G irr o u t of the ground w ith th e easy sw ing of a roadm an heavin g d irt.” T he R obinson referred to is C. W . Robinson, the you n g W ellin gton p layer, who perform ed v e ry creditably in the N ew Zealand te am ’s chief m atches in A ustralia. The fast p itches a t S yd n ey and Melbourne suited his bow ling b etter th an some of th e grounds in his n ative cou n try ; and more th an one A ustralian critic th ou gh t th a t a fine fast bow ler m ight be m ade of him under A ustralian con­ ditions and w ith the increased chances he w ould have were he p la yin g for N ew S outh W ales or V ictoria.