BATS THAT WIZARDS WIELDED

Evening Star, Issue 21623, 19 January 1934, Page 13

BATS THAT WIZARDS WIELDED

EDGAR MAY HE'S PRICELESS COLLECTION

The Stradivarius to Kreisler . . . ■ the sword to D’Artagnan . . . the ■ bat to Trumper. Each springs to life . in too hand oi the master. Dancing feet, wonderful wrists or delicately teiu- ' pered steel, and the dashing blade of a . Trumper ,or a Macartney nave made ‘hundreds of thousands rise in their Seats, wherever cricket .was played (writes J. G. Bridges, in the Melbourne ‘Argus’), Their genius remains a glorious memory on the fair fields oi Kent, where lovers of the game lazed in 1 the soft sunlight of springtime; on Lord’s or Trent Bridge; on the famous ovals of Sydney and Melbourne. Here the bats of the great masters made sweet music as they connected with the ball and sent it buzzing to . the pickets. There is romance in these bats. They ' have personality. Handle the bat used by Trumper, dead now nearly a score ■ of years, and into the mind leaps an ■ immediate picture ol a lithe athlete, a tiger ready to spring, well out of his crease, with bat posed aloft ready to ■ send the ball ’with satisfying thud to the pavilion fence. Handle the willow used bv the magnetic Macartney, and you are at once back at Nottingham gazing spellbound on a brilliant display of 345 runs made in 233 minutes —the highest score ever made by an Australian in England. . During the week 1 held the bat with which Trumper made his three last centuries in first-class cricket. Here is an historic blade. It was brought to Australia after the. triangular tournament in England in 1912 by E. R. Mayne, former international cricketer, hut Mavne found that it was too heavy for him. “It will do me,” said Trumper, who broke it in with 201 not out for New South AVales against South Australia, 138 against Victoria, and - 126 in his testimonial match. During that testimonial game Mayne expressed a wish to have the bat and said that he would present Trumper with another. During an interval, Claude flantock. the comedian, and Austin Diamond, the batsman, asked Mayne lor the bat. “No hope,” was the reply. “I wouldn’t take £IOO for it now.” AVhen Bantock explained that they ’ wanted to raffle it to swell the testimonial fund, Mayne agreed. But the authorities would not permit raffling, even : for Victor Trumper, and the hat re- • mains a cherished possession of Edgar t Mayne. THUMPER’S QUALITIES. Among the countless stories of Trumpftr’s sterling qualities as a man is that of an incident which occurred during his testimonial match. During the tea interval, which interrupted Trumper’s second innings, he was noticed handling a heavy, crude-looking bat “ with a back like a camel.” Clem Hill said: “ What have you got there, Vic?” “ Oh, it’s a bat I want to use.” The bat had been sent to him by a boy in the country with a request that Trumper should use it during the great mgteh; and Trumper, always doing kindly deeds without fuss, continued his innings with the crude niece of willow. Old-timers who played with him early in his career as well as those who enjoyed more of his company on the field still sigh jvhen they mention the name of Trumper. Jack Worrall tells many stories indicative of his warm-hearted qualities. That great hitter, Jack Lyons, when he heard of Trumper’a death, described him as “ the poet of cricket, the grandest fellow of all.” Giffen and Avarner always lauded this genius, whose magnificence as a batsman was equalled only by his modesty as a man. Yet he had one aversion—it was the boaster. This aspect of his character is preserved in an imperishable story. A young bowler about to meet Trumper in a club game had been savin ■ that he bad perfected a delivery that would get Trumper’s wicket. Un-

fortunately for the bowler the story was told to Trumper. M. A. Noble, tells that a number of people journeyed to the ground to see the bowler make good his boast, and excitement was intense as he took the ball. Trumper hit the first ball to the fence and the next four out of the ground; . From ten balls Trumper hit 50 runs in we and a-quarter minutes. The bat which Trumper used on that occasion is another of Mr Mayne’s souvenirs.

A RECORD INNINGS.

Macartney was tLj next Australian batsman to dazzle the world, and until his retirement a few years ago the very appearance of his name on the scoreboard on any English ground sent a buzz of excitement through the crowd. It was in 1921 that Macartney played his record innings at Nottingham. The bat, chosen by Mayne for Macartney;, is now in Mayne’s possession. An inspired innings had given Macartney a double century, and Mayne, believing that he then intended to throw away his wicket, grasped a glass of water and hurried out to “ the middle ” to advise Macartney to make an attempt on Armstrong’s record of 303 not out. “ That’s all very well,” said Macartney, “ but there are twenty-four more matches to play.” “ AVell, stay in your crease and hit 4’s,” said the tempter. Macartney yielded, and later he was again urged to stay until he had passed MacLaren’s 424, until then the record score in important cricket. Macartney agreed again, but at 345 was given out Ibw to a palpably wrong decision, which the wicketkeeper readily admitted. That cyclonic innings was scored in the following fashion: —4, 4, 11. 4,4, 4,1, 1, 4,2, 4,1, 2,4, 1,4, 1. 2,1, 2,4, 4. 4,1, 2.1, 4,2,. 1. 1, 1. 4,4, 4,1, 4, 1,3, 1,4, 4, 1. 4,1, 4,4, 1,1, 4. 2.6, 4. 4,1, 2, 4. 1,2, 4,2, 1,1, 4, 4,2, 1,4, 2,6, 2,1, 4, I, 3,1, 1, 1,4, 1,1, 2,2, 4. 4,1, 2,1, 6,1, 4, 2.1, 1,2. 1. 1,2. 4,4, 4,2, 4,6, 1, 2,4, 4,2, 1,4, 1, 1. 1. 4. 1,2, 2, 1,3, 2,2, 2,2. 1,1, 1,1, 1. 1,2, 4, 2. 1. 2.1, 1,2, 1,4, 2, 4. 4. 1, 1. On this bat are recorded his large scores of the season. 'On Macartney’s bat,' with which he made more than 2.000 runs in the 1912 tour, is recorded the century made in each innings of the match at Sussex. In appreciation of this feat " Ranji ” gave Macartney a gold cigarette case with a diamond pin and the two scores recorded on the lid of the "case. On the voyage home to Australia this gift was stolen. Mr Mayme’s collection includes other famous bats. There is the one used by A. E. Stoddart in making what was in his day the world’s record score. This was presented to Mayne by Benjamin AVarsop, famous as a bat maker. The bat used by Mayne in the record firstwicket partnership with Ponsford of 456 for Victoria against Queensland and one presented by Dr Grace to a Gloucestershire player for having made 100 arc in the collection, and with them the stumps used in the 100th test match between England and Australia at Nottingham in 1921. But most treasured of all his souvenirs is the bat used by Trumper in the testimonial match. “ Money cannot buy it.” says Mayne.