Cricket 1914

A p r il , I9 14 . THE WORLD OF CRICKET. 67 Zhe W o r to of Cricket. E d it o r : M r. A. C. M a c L a r e n . A s s is t a n t E d it o r a n d M a n a g e r : M r. J. N. P e n t e l o w . 61, TEMPLE CHAMBERS, TEMPLE AVENUE, EMBANKMENT, LONDON, E.C. Correspondence should be addressed to the E d ito r; sub­ scriptions, advertisements, and all communications on business matters to the Manager. Subscription ra te s: Inland, six shillings and sixpence per annum ; Overseas, seven shillings and sixpence. Thirty issues will be published during the year— one in each of the winter months, the first weekly issue appearing in May. T h e n e x t is s u e w il l b e o u t b y M a y 2nd. Pavilion Gossip. T h e w inds and th e rains o f the w inter are done, And lo ! in the sky the beneficent sun. The pitch is close-shaven and firm for our tread, There’s a thrush on the bough and a lark overhead. So, cricketers all, Hark, hark to the call!— And on with your flannels and into the field, The leather to grasp, and the willow to wield. E. V. L u cas. T h e r e w as a statem en t in a recent issue of the Times which I th in k calls for some comm ent b y me. T h a t p aper’s correspondent w rote re Lan cash ire cricket th a t “ Mr. A . C. M acLaren wishes to retu rn to the team .” bats from among m any hundreds of good ones. H ere is a firm which, h avin g bu ilt up a good nam e, strives to keep it b y m aintaining their high standard of excellence, selecting w illow of the right ty p e and m akin g it into bats of the right sort. A big nam e is all v e ry w ell ; b u t som etim es a big nam e is m erely traded upon in stead of being lived up to. G rad idge’s live up to theirs. F o r th e first tim e, too, I had a look in a t S tu a rt Sur- ridge’s. H ere again all I saw ga ve me pleasure. R aw m aterial of the best, w orkm en skilfu l and com petent, and the finished article first-class. I can specially recomm end a new w icket-keeping glo ve this firm h a ve brou gh t out. I t w ould h ave been much fairer to me had th is been p u t otherw ise. I am on ly returning to the Lan cashire team a t th e urgen t solicitation of some of th e m embers of th a t team and of th e co u n ty club. T o oblige others and not for m y ow n pleasure, I h a ve gone in to th e hard training necessary for a m an w ho is to do him self ju stice in three- d a y m atches. I don’t m ean th a t it is n ot going to give me pleasure to ta k e the field again w ith old and tried com rades, or th a t I shall be indifferent to a n y success th a t I can help th e team to ach ieve ; b u t I h ave had sufficient in vitation s to p la y first-class cricket ap art entirely from a n y L a n ca ­ shire m atches to o ccu p y more tim e than I am likely to be able to spare th is summer. O f late years the shape of the b a t has been altered very considerably and, in m y opinion, n ot to the a d van tage of the cricketer. M anufacturers, how ever, assure m e th a t it is the cricketer who has caused th e alteration. T oo much is taken off the b ack of the b a t a t the sides, th e wood being brou gh t to a p eak in the centre. Thus, unless the ball is h it plum b in the m iddle of th e bat, it doesn’t go as it should do. I much prefer the round backed b a t w ith th icker sides, w ith the wood fairly even up the bat, a miss- h it on a stick y w icket carries the heads of the in-field from this ty p e of b a t a t tim es, b u t never from th e present shaped one w ith thin edges and overshaved sides. Mine are being made on th e old lines still and a lw ay s w ill be so. I h a v e spoken before of the in ad visab ility of parents purchasing b ats for boys on th eir own jud gm en t. T h ey usually choose them too h eavy. A case in poin t occurs to me. One of th e m asters a t an E astbo u rn e school brought ou t for m y inspection a b a t which a b o y had brought b ack w ith him the summ er before. H is m other had sent him to a certain shop w ith a letter requesting th a t he should be supplied w ith the v e ry best. T h e result was a b a t w eighing ab ou t 2 lbs. 10 ozs., and of such w retched balance th a t a B onnor could not h ave used it. A v i s i t to our office w ill be a p ractical insurance against a n yth in g of this sort. A v i s i t to our offices w ill rep ay anyone who is buyin g a b a t or bats ju st now. W e h ave a splendid lot here, all th e m anufactu re of advertisers in th is paper, and all sp ecially selected b y m yself. W e h a ve nothing b u t good b ats on show, a t various prices, of course. O n one occasion, when coaching a t Harrow , I found a b o y late for his strokes. I to ok up his b at. It had belonged to his fath er before him , and a ctu a lly dated b a ck beyond m y birth ! T he b o y w as on ly too pleased to exchange th e old w arrior for a new bat. T h e ancient w eapon was of the fine colour of taw n y port. I th ou gh t it m ight be serviceable on a stick y w icket, and a f t e r a stoppage due to rain in a Lan cashire v. Y o rksh ire m atch to ok it in w ith me— - to m ake a cen tury, and p u t back poor Jack B row n a t point five yard s deeper. I w a n t m y readers to understand th a t we are m aking no profit on the sale of these bats. Some m ay ask : W here do w e com e in, then ? our rep ly being : W e show our advertisers th at, ap art from sales resulting from the appearance of their advertisem ents in the paper, we can do business for th em direct and on term s th a t th ey can h a rd ly fail to p erceive as good. A n d we please our readers. A n yw ay , we ough t to please them , for w e give th em a chance to b u y— n ot a t a fan cy price, b u t a t the list figure— a b a t certified good b y an expert. School­ m asters on ly w ill be allow ed discount. T o anyone as keen on the gam e as I h ave been all m y life a v isit to a first-rate m anufactu rer’s place is a real pleasure ; and I spent a most enjoyable afternoon a week or tw o ago down a t W oolw ich, where I w en t all over G rad idge’s factory, and picked ou t a num ber of th e best B r o w n said he never saw me h it so hard, and w henever I p layed again st Y o rksh ire afterw ards asked me whether I had b rou gh t th e m ahogany b at. T o m y intense grief Prince R an jitsin h ji broke it up during a practice a t th e nets a t O ld Trafford; it was qu ite beyond repair, or I would h ave had it pieced togeth er again. GEORGE AVERY & SON, Q & 11, Charles Street. SOUTHBOROUQH, TUNBRIDGE W ELLS, KENT. ESTABLISHED 1861. G. AVERY & SON during the past 53 years of their manufacture have rarely known a trial order fail to elicit continued patronage, all their Balls being warranted thoroughly reliable, and bearing the reputation of affording the maximum amount of pleasure to be derived from the game. Price List on Application.