Cricket 1914

J a n u a r y , 1914. THE WORLD OF CRICKET. 3 Gbe Morlt) of Cricket. E d it o r : Mr. A. C. M a c L a r e n . A s s is t a n t E d i t o r a n d M a n a g e r : M r. J. N. P e n t e lo w . 61, TEMPLE CHAMBERS, TEMPLE AVENUE, ENBANKMENT, 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 rates : 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, with a weekly issue from the middle of April to September. T h e n e x t is s u e w il l b e o u t b y F e b r u a r y 28. Pavilion Gossip. Willow and cane, nothing but that—- O, but it’s glorious, swinging the bat ! Leather and thread there you have all— O, but it’s glorious, gripping the b all! E. V. L u c as . T h e r e is a certain place needless to m ention b y name which is said to be p aved w ith good intentions. W e h a v e added a pavin g-stone. W e announced the first issue o f T h e W o r l d o f C r i c k e t for early in January. It is o n ly now ready, w hen the m onth has n ea rly run its course. C an ’t be helped, how ever. Apologies to all the disappointed. A n d this prom ise— we w ill be up to tim e in future. A n im agin ative n ovelist m ight m ake good p la y w ith the in ciden ts o f th e M .C.C. T eam ’s S outh A frican tour. Things h a v e happened from the v e ry outset. M an y people th ou gh t th irteen an inadequate, if n ot an u n lu cky, number for a crick et to u r o f this m agnitude. A n d no sooner had the team reached Cape T ow n th an D ouglas Robinson fell ill. H e has come hom e since, has been operated upon for appendicitis, and is progressing favou rab ly. H ow tim e flies ! I t seems b u t a w eek or tw o ago since th e team sailed. S m ith — called T iger in B irm ingham— w as p rom p tly despatched b y th e M .C.C. to reinforce the depleted team . H eam e fell ill o f influenza. H obbs, B ooth, and S tru dw ick went m otoring, w ere in vo lved in an accident w h ich resulted in their being im prisoned under an overturned car, and came o u t of it p ra ctica lly scathless— qu ite so, it was supposed a t the tim e, th ou gh afterw ards th e discovery w as made th a t the Y orksh irem an had sustained some in ternal injury, happily n o t serious. T h e n — th e strik e ! T hanks to the iron hand o f Louis Botha, th a t was crushed qu ick ly. B u t it w ould h a v e been in no w a y surprising had it in vo lved S outh A frica in civil war. T here was, moreover, the dread danger o f a black uprising. These possibilities seem to h ave been averted, happily ; b u t th e im agin ative— and im agin ary— novelist needs n o t to allow him self to be tied down b y bare facts. H e m igh t h ave p ictured John H obbs— under the dis­ guise o f Jam es Cobb, say, for p ro p riety’s sake— as perform ­ ing deeds o f derringdo again st a horde of blacks, in spite o f a broken arm sustained in the m otor smash. H e m ight have show n us H. W . T . Sholto cool and collected in the face of danger a t the hands of a horde o f infuriated m iners. A lw ays is cool and collected, th a t one ! R u dgw ick pre­ ven tin g a dyn am ite explosion— W ilfrid W ays rescuing b e a u ty in distress— oh, there are sim p ly no end of possible situations ; and the cricket public w ould surely appreciate them . T he suggestion is offered free. W e have n ot tim e — to say n othing of other things— to w rite the novel. I t is qu ite on the cards th a t th e team w ill go through th e tour unbeaten, though there are y e t tw o more tests to come, and you n g South A frica, beginning to find its feet, m a y spring a surprise in one of them . U p to d ate every m atch excep t one— the th ird test— has eith er been won in an innings or drawn, and no draw has been unfavourable to the tourists. W h a t a p ity it is S outh A frica failed to win th a t third t e s t ! A record perform ance was needed for victo ry ; bu t T ay lo r and Zulch gave the side so grand a sta rt in the last innings th a t an yth in g seemed possible. A fterw ards B lan c- kenberg and Ward made a m ost gallan t e ffo r t;'b u t th a t w as in the nature of a forlorn hope, o f course. T he failure o f Nourse, H ands, and H artigan had rendered the situation desperate. N o u r s e m u st be nearing the end of his test m atch career ; b u t H ands and H artigan ou gh t to m ake a lo t of runs in these games y e t. And B lan cken berg should go far, both as bow ler and batsm an. T h e final m atch, a t P o rt E lizab eth , is scarcely likely, in the circum stances, to reward th e E astern P rovin ce authorities for their p lu ck in tak in g it over when the Cape T ow n fo lk refused to a ccep t the responsibility. B u t should S ou th A frica w in a t D urban in the fou rth game it m ay p a y its w ay. H o b b s and B arnes h a v e done so m uch th a t there is danger o f th eir com rades failing to receive the credit due to them . D ouglas, Mead, W oolley, Hearne, Rhodes, Stru dw ick, and R elf h a ve all done good work ; in fact, no m em ber o f th e team can be w ritten down a failure. S o m e people are inclined to m ake too m uch o f B arn es’ te st m atch record. O thers are belittlin g it unduly. No rea lly useful comparison betw een th e batsm en o f one generation and another can be made, and to ta lk o f the present S ou th A frican team as if it were made up of green­ horns and duffers is absurd. D o u b t l e s s B arnes is th e greatest bow ler of the d ay. I t does n o t follow th a t he is th e greatest o f a n y day. There w ere L ohm ann and Spofforth, and Turner, you know , and B riggs, and Palm er, and A lfred Shaw . A n y one of th e six nam ed m ight h a ve done a t the to p of his form w h a t B arnes has la te ly done. So m ight T om R ichardson, Lockw ood, H u gh T rum ble (only L o n g H u gh did n ’t like th e m atting, one remembers), or G eorge Giffen. T r u m b l e ’s w as the test m atch record which B arnes has beaten. T h e V icto rian ’s 141 w ick ets were all taken again st E n glan d. In his one m atch v. S ou th A frica his figures were o for 127. In nineteen m atches v. A u stralia B arnes has taken 106 w ickets for 2288 runs, and in six v. S outh A frica 69 for 674. T h e other men who h ave taken 100 or more in tests are fo r A u stralia Giffen, Turner, and Noble, and for England Lohm ann, Peel, B riggs, Rhodes, and B lyth e. A ll three A ustralian s had 100 or more in m atches v. England, though seven of N o b le’s ta lly o f 121 were tak en against S outh