A KING OF THE WILLOW.

Evening Star, Issue 22004, 13 April 1935, Page 14

A KING OF THE WILLOW.

SiONAt honour has been done to Jack Hobbs, the famous cricketer. He has been made a life member of the Surrey Club, under whose banner he has performed many notable feats. The first professional to be so honoui’ed, the distinction is all the more noteworthy from the fact that the only other life members are the X 1 rinco of "W ales, the Duke of York, and Mr R, C. Palairet. It is also an indication that the line dividing the and the amateur is not so rigid as it has been in the past. Hobbs has been so long in the cricket firmament that he came to be looked on almost as a fixed star, but in the last year or two he made statements that ho contemplated retirement from first-class cricket. He delayed his withdrawal for a season in the hope of being able to bring his record of centuries up to 200, but a few weeks' ago he informed the Surrey Club that he will not play for it again. He thus leaves with his tally of centuries at 197. Hobbs is jus.t on the wrong side of fifty, though ho does not show it in his cricket, for ho is still a batsman of marked ability. The desire to achieve the total of 200 centuries was a natural ambition, but he pursued it in no selfish way. Realising that youth must be served, he felt that he was keeping a young man out of the eleven, and he made few appearances last summer, and then only when there was a vacancy to fill. Hobbs can well afford to rest after toil, a word that aptly applies to first-class ciicket. Xn 1930 he beat W. G. Grace’s aggregate of 54,896 runs, and altogether ho has scored 66,221. Comparisons are constantly being made between “W.G.” and the Surrey stalwart, but it has to bo remembered that they belonged to different periods, when the conditions and methods of play were not the same. One of Hobbs’s most outstanding accomplishments is found in the fact that he has played in forty-one. test matches against the. Australians. In his hatting he lacked the electric qualities of Ranjitsinhji, Trumper, and Macartney, but he. was graceful in style,. forceful, and quick to score off the right ball. Imperturbable in vietory or defeat, he has been a tower of strength to Surrey in ' his lengthy career. His personal influence has helped greatly to maintain that good team work without which, no side can attain any high degree of. success. When Ranjitsinhji died it was said of the Indian Prince that he was generous in defeat, modest in (success, and genuinely enthusiastic regarding the achievements of either colleagues or opponents. These words exactly describe the characteristics of Jack Hobbs. ■'No man who ever took his stand at the wickets has played the game in a finer spirit than the Surrey champion. •In the bodyline _ controversy. it will have been noticed by those who followed it that he has been unreservedly opposed to tbis method of bowling. Many great batsmen have carried the Surrey colours—W. W. and Maurice Read, Haywood, Abel, and others —but Jack Hobbs .stands above them all in achievement. , His familiar figure will be missed by the thousands who are fortunate enough to witness the great tests between the English and Australian elevens, and the British selectors will not, find it easy to find an opening batsman oi his calibre. it has been suggested that Hobbs should be a member of .the English team that is expected to visit New Zealand next summer. • Cricket enthusiasts will hope that this idea will materialise. Byhou the Australian selectors dropped J. J. Lyons from tlie test teams he complained that he was still “ full of runs.’ 1 ’ There is every reason to believe that this remark applies to Hobbs to-day, and it would be 'refreshing to see ‘some of them produced on the wickets- of this dominion.