Lives in Cricket No 36 - WE Astill

176 A Radio Interview a cricket match only had to be arranged and the trouble was forgotten. In reference to the pleasant climate I would like to relate a very human story. I was out there with the late Roy Kilner of Yorkshire, a fine fellow who was always thinking of his wife and two small boys in Huddersfield. Early one Monday morning I was standing on the verandah of our hotel when Roy came along and, looking out at the sunshine, said in his Yorkshire dialect, ‘Grand morning, Bill, won’t the Missus be pleased with this for wash-day !’ On these tours there are some very pleasant sea trips, and it may interest some listeners to know that it takes eight days to get from Trinidad to Jamaica, a very welcome break from cricket. MORRIS: I suppose you played a good deal on matting wickets, didn’t you? ASTILL: Yes, chiefly in South Africa; but now most of the big grounds out there have changed, at great expense to turf, with the idea, I suppose, of being better able to challenge the other countries who play on turf. MORRIS: Well, which do you think’s the better for playing on? ASTILL: Matting, my reason being that conditions are equal for both sides. Surely you will admit that the more luck or chance is eliminated from [a] game of skill, the fairer the test. Spin bowling has a better chance on matting and scores are on average smaller. Play can be continued quicker after rain. I sometimes think that instead of South Africa changing from matting to turf it would have been better for the game if the remainder of the cricketing countries had gone over to matting. MORRIS: Yes. . . [sic in transcript] in case some listeners don’t know it, Ewart Astill’s a spin bowler and has taken over 2,300 wickets in first-class cricket, so you can see what he’s getting at. ASTILL: Yes, but I get some runs [too] – so it would cut both ways. MORRIS: Well, to continue running round the cricket world, how did you enjoy India with Mr Arthur Gilligan ? By the way, he was here last month and seemed to enjoy it – India, I mean, not broadcasting! ASTILL: Oh, that was a grand trip and the hospitality marvellous. We very rarely stayed at hotels, and the team was split up among civil servants etc. It was a great honour to professional cricket, in my opinion, when one or two of us stayed at Viceregal Lodge with Lord Irwin, and also at Government House, Bombay, with Sir Leslie Wilson. I shall never forget the game of billiards I had with Sir Leslie after dinner in Bombay. He was a great enthusiast. We had rather too much cricket on this trip, 36 matches in all I believe, with Sunday the big day. All kinds of teams were met, Hindus, Parsees, Mohammedans, India (all-Indians), India (mixed), Europeans only, The Army in India etc. Probably the most interesting trips were those to the native states of Patiala and Nawanagar, the chiefs of which were both famous cricketers. The Maharajah of Nawanagar was the late famous ‘Ranji’, and words of mine cannot describe his marvellous hospitality. State coaches from the station, torchlight processions for two miles to