Cricket 1914

5 o THE WORLD OF CRICKET. M a r c h , 1914. O n th e whole, th is N ew Zealand to u r w as a success. T h e to u rists w on a cap ita l v icto ry o ver Queensland a fter a hard fight, and show ed u p w ell in a draw n gam e a t A d elaid e. T h e y w ere not seen to ad van tage again st e ith er N ew S outh W ales or V icto ria, it is true ; b u t th e y fe lt con fid en t th a t th e y w ould h ave done far b etter could th e y h a v e m et those states again after a longer experience o f th e glazed sh irt-fron t ty p e of w ick et. Perhaps yes, p erh ap s no. T h eir captain , D an iel R eese, show ed in the last big m a tch w h a t a rea lly fine batsm an he is, and Sneddon, of A u ck la n d , won high praise b y con sisten tly good form . H em us w as disappoin tin g, and P a trick , who had been unw ell ju st before th e te am sailed, even more so ; b u t Sandm an h it w ith p lu ck and resolution, and Robinson and H ickm ott, tw o more of th e you n ger men on the side, did enough to su ggest much bigger th in gs in the future. T h er e seems to be v e ry little in th e story th a t C. J. N ew b erry, the S ou th A frican p layer, is lik e ly to come over and q u alify for H am pshire. W e h ave it on good au th o rity th a t he spoke to M ead ab ou t it, and M ead said he w ould “ m ention it to Mr. T en n yso n ,” who, on its being m en­ tioned, said he w ould “ m ention it to the C om m ittee.” N ow N ew b erry sa ys he is n o t com ing. School Cricket. T he first th in g necessary for you youn gsters is to be equipped rig h t for the gam e. If you h ave a b a t th a t is unsuited to y o u r stren gth and does n o t drive as w ell as those o f other b o ys, then yo u w ill n o t m ake the progress th a t you ou gh t to do. T here are w ell-balanced b ats and badly-balan ced b a ts, and m ore of th e la tter than o f the form er. N ow am on gst the advertisers in m y p ap er are the v e ry best-kn ow n nam es in the crick et world, and I am selectin g from th em a very choice lo t o f bats, am ongst w h ich you w ill n o t find a badly-balan ced bat, and th ey w ill all be m ade o f the true w illow— m a n y are m ade ou t o f the w ron g kind o f w illow , and you b o y s w ill be sufferers if you get hold of th is typ e o f bat. Y o u r m aster or yo u r fath er who selects the b a t w ill p a y no m ore and no less than he has done before. T he m anufacturer alone gets the profit, and T h e W orld o f C r ic k e t o r m yself g e t nothing beyond th e satisfaction th a t those w h o purch ase from our sto ck w ill be more th an satisfied, and I hope you w ill a va il y o u r­ selves o f the p ro tection offered to you . I am also gettin g a b e tter ball m ade for yo u— it is ab so lu tely w rong th a t inferior articles should be tu rn ed o u t for you ; the b a ll th a t nine o u t of ten o f yo u h ave been u sin g has too large a centre piece, w ith th e result th a t it is m u ch harder th an it ou gh t to be, and bats are broken w hen it is n ot rea lly the b a t’s fau lt. Y o u r fingers, too, are h u rt in fielding and ca tc h ­ in g more than is necessary, and when th e bowler h its you, it is more h u rtfu l th an it w ould h a v e been had the ball been properly m ade of th e best m aterial. It w ill cost a little more than the old ty p e of b a ll, b u t I can ’t th in k a n y m aster or p aren t will grum ble a t th at. The profits are n o t ours, and a n y of m y advertisers who care a b o u t it can procure the ball on the usual trad e term s from the m anufacturers. A F IN E C LU B RECORD . H. J. Paris has now completed 21 years w ith the L. and N .W .R . C.C.’s first X I, and during the last 15 years he has totalled for the club 7,150 runs (average 33 40,highest score 122*), and has taken 678 wickets at 7 28 each. In 1911 an operation to his knee kept him out of the field for the greater part of the season, and it was feared he might not be able to play again ; but he made a capital recovery, and will no doubt be going strongly once more this year. Great Bowlers, B y A . C. M a c L a r e n . O n e of th e grandest bowlers again st whom it w as m y good fortun e to p la y w as C. T . B . Turner. H e w as all life as he w alked b ack , when, w ith a sudden sw ing round, he w ould come trip p ing up to the w ick et in the m ost cheery and a t the same tim e graceful m anner im aginable. H is action w as perfect, likew ise his len gth , and he p u t his h eart and soul into every b a ll he bow led. T u rn er had a fascin a­ tion for me th a t no other bow ler possessed. I n ever could tak e m y eyes off him when p la yin g or w atch in g him from the pavilion. There are v ery few balls th a t h ave rem ained in m y m em ory which to ok m y w ick et, b u t one of the v e ry few it is n ot easy to forget. I can rem em ber tw o th a t Charlie T urn er k ep t for me when I had got fa irly going again st him . Once a t O ld T rafford when in th e sixties for the N orth v. A ustralia he sent me b a ck w ith a trimm er, ju st p itch in g outside off stum p and w hipping b a c k on to the leg stick like greased lightning. H e served m e a v ery sim ilar b all in a T est m atch a t M elbourne, and I said to him during th e interval, “ Charlie, yo u old rogue, th a t’s the same b all as ” ------ “ I bow led you o u t w ith a t M an chester,” he added— and I kn ew then th a t he had th ou gh t som ethin g of it to h ave remembered it. H e show ed m e how he m anaged to get this e x tra b it of spin on to b eat th e straigh t bat. H e used to keep his nails on the first and second' fingers fairly long to dig them deep in to the seam of the ball. H e w as also an artist a t “ k id d in g ” ; the unsuspecting batsm an imagined th a t he had go t his measure, and w as unprepared for the th un derb olt th a t never m issed th e sticks — there w as no experiencing a frigh t and finding th e ball m issing the leg stum p. W hen one could tak e th e e x tra precaution of h aving the leg there to th a t b all ju s t outside the stum ps in future, Charlie to o k good care there “ w arn t gw ine ” to be an y future so far as th e batsm an w as con­ cerned. I t was a m atter of the greatest surprise to me when he w as left o u t in the final T est th a t decided the rubber a t Melbourne in ’95. H e w as too m agn etic to be left o u t on th a t occasion, fit and w ell as he was. W e m ight ju st h ave le ft those ashes instead of bringing th em back. B ill H ow ell, anoth er A ustralian , used to bow l a rath er sim ilar b all to th a t of Turner, o n ly differing in th e further indulgence of spinning the ball, and he used to h ave a fondness for erring ju s t on the sh ort side, like A lbert R elf. He w as v e ry accurate, and one w as alw ays on th e “ q u i v iv e ” for the extra spinner, unlike one’s a ttitu d e tow ards Turner. Some of H ow ell’s best perform ances w ere accom ­ plished on the tru est w ic k e ts; such bowlers ta k e a lo t o f finding. D uring his last v isit here he suffered v e r y m uch from rheum atism— w h y was n ot the bee stin g th en a fashionable cure as to .d ay , for B ill kn ew som ething of bees ? G ive H ughie T rum ble his w icket, a stick y one fo r choice, and he never disappointed his side. H e was o u t and ou t the cleverest bow ler a t gettin g his opponents lbw under these conditions. H e would com e running u p to the w ick et w ith his head bent w ell to the left as if he w ere try in g to screw th e v ery cover off the ball, o n ly to bow l • one to com e straigh t through. H e w as seldom more th an an in ch outside th e off stum p, unlike the m a jo rity of bow lers, who th in k th a t an exaggerated spin is more difficult, which on ly gives the b atsm an the a d v a n ta g e of being able to use his legs. T rum ble never allow ed one to uee his legs— he w as too straight, and, like J a c k H eam e, ju st m ade the ball do enough to b e a t the b at and n ot miss the w icket. Those who w itnessed him bow lin g to th a t great a rtist, the M ah araja R an jitsin h ji, in the second innings of th e M anchester T est when th e y won b y 5, realised T rum b le’s greatness, for on th at occasion at least fou r appeals were m ade for lbw before he w as a ctu a lly ou t lbw in an innings th a t did n ot reach double figures. H e bow led