CRICKET

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXX, Issue 12263, 26 May 1934, Page 9

CRICKET

left-handeu .cricketers

SOME REMARKABLE FACTS

It is extremely, odd that England cricketers apparently havec, not. yet awakened to the speciaj skill of lefthanders. in-the .game. ;Dr Leonard Williams, -writing in .the:,.. ‘‘Empire Review,” says that-, , left-handcdness is surprisingly- prevalent., gome authorities [estimate it.-to apply to 4 per cent of the population. It certainly has •, drawbacks, -he adds,;- ajefthanded,.batsman,-, for, instance,; is an unmitigated nuisance, and the peculiarity is, said, to have- cost more than one man his. • (blue. ’’

the opinion of- most Englishman about , 1 eftf-handeduess-.- and no more mischievous belief ..could ho imagined. As ,a ; fact 1 , left-handors arc the shock troops of, the cricket field, and this is proved hy the prowess of those who hat,, or-bowl,-round the other. way. It), is - necessary only to select a ,loft-handed; team in order to appreciate its, tremendous - strength: Chapman, • Lyon, Woolley.- Mead, Leyland, Nichols, Paynt'cr, G. Brown (wicket-keeper), Verity, James Langridge, Olark. That is a team selected from 4 per cent of England’s, population, . and. it constitutes almost; a match for the best team the .other 96 per cent might muster. Consider that f fact for a moment. Only four persons in every hundred are lefthanders, and yet. by-that :very small group is produced cricketing talent almost, equal to the production of 96 in every 100 of right-handers. , ; Yorkshire possesses an abundance of left-handers, and Surrey and Middlesex have .scarcely produced ope in the last 50 years. Frank Tarrant was an Australian, and a great- left-hand-er, and since he, retired those. conn-* ties have been without one—to theii disadvantage. On the other ■ hand, from Tom Emmet, down through Peate, Peel, Hirst, Rhodes, etc,, Yorkshire has maintained the lefthanded .strain until the present day of Verity and Leyland, perhaps two of the best all rounders of the, [lot. Chiefly owing to the deed’s of Ihoso great cricketers the county has held the championship almost every year since its inception. -

Hr Leonard Williams indicates a probable explanation. . After saying that on the whole all-that is possible to say about left-handedness is that, like red hair, it is a peculiarity which is of no consequence,” he. proceeds:— “It certainly has .its countervailing advantages, one of which is that it is easier for a sinistral to become something very nearly akin to ambidextrous than for a dextral. To take another instance, from the cricket field,, it is by no means seldom that a left-handed player-can throw in equally well with either hand, a fact which has been .disastrous (to many a batsman while endeavouring to steal a, run because the balil has gone to the fielder’s left hand.” ,

Apparently it did not occur to Dr Williams that if a man. could-.use either hand he could use both together with a nimbleness .and dexterity far exceeding those at the disposal of an ordinarily, equipped- man. The late Victor Trumper couid wield his bat with extraordinary address, but he was ambidextrous, .although he did; not possess the faculty to the return the ball with either band. His brother, Sydney Trumper,, a great cricketer too, is a left-handed player. Warren Bardsley is a left-hander, but his brother is, a- right-hander, an excellent player also, although wielding his bat from the other side of his body.

Examples are so plentiful that it may almost be said to be ,a rule that 1 where a player, is. a real, cricketer—that is, can,use both arms together—his brother, if he has one, plays from the opposite. -side*, to that favoured by himself- Bradman, I believe, is an exception to the, rule, although he could not be, the genius he is if ho were not blessed with .two hands equally able and willing.; Warwick Armstrong, Vernon Hansford, Charley Macartney, Clem- Hill, Joe Darling, and Charley .and- Bob. McLeod were all instances ,of the kind. It is remarkable that the. ( McLeods were the • only pair of brothers who both - attained to Test honours, one being a, .right-hander and the other a left-hander.-

■‘A MATTED FOR, LAUGHTER-”

The frequency with which several of the more prominent Indian criclcers played for differently-named elevens against. Hie M,C.<X,.. team captained by D l . B. Jarddne has puzzled many readers of. the cabled, message's giving results of the. M..0.C. team’s tour. ISo it is interesting . to notice that the' selection of t Indian elevens to meet jardine’s team, bas been the subject of strong .criticism in Calcutta; because of the fact that the ' teams have beep practically the same for every town., The v , man,” for example, remarked, at. the. end of January that the M.O-Q. play-., ers surely would, like to look a . new‘face or. tivo in ?PP OS W% teams,' for a change, and,;that, th e situation was more than a little ulous. “Some of India’s cricketers,,:; it continued; “have already . 20 innings against,Jjardine’s . v sul£. Hovv does this stimulate ’Indiap. cricket, as'distinct from . cricket ?Few., .Indians get;, a: look .in. ; 0. K- Nayudu is not chiefly, to blame, hor thpj rest of the.‘ faithful,,..ibut' those whft.press tlheih into service, because they, are merely the fashion. the same Indians travelling round India with,.the M.C.Q. is a matter, for laughter,”

PLOW GRIMMETT CAME TQ BE A GOOGLY BOWLER.

DISCRIMIN ATI ON OF SCHOOL TEACHER,

Just over 29 years ago a Wellington newspaper noticed a. fine bowling performance by a small boy in a cricket match. Within the past few days the New Zealand papers havo had occasion, to notice that the same howler took 10 wickets for 80 runs in fhe two innings of Worcestershire against- the Australian team. On March IS, 1905, the Wellington

Post.” had this paragraph: “A fine bowling performance was made by Grimmett, of Wellington, in a school match between Wellington and ; Wairarapa. • which was concluded this morning. He took 14 wickots at ,the cost of six runs. In tho.first innings he took,.six wickets for five runs ,and in. the second innings- eight wickets for one run Wellington won tho match by an innings and 126 runs.” . Clarence Grimmett bowled slow leg breaks in that match, nrtid he has bowled them in every cricket, season since. But, like many other small hoy, he had thought that ibis mission in cricket was to he that of a fast bowler. He has told the story of how he came to change his ambition. He had been reasonably successful as a fast bowler iln school matches, but at- a- school practice, one day he revealed that he could spin the ball. The master in charge of the practice had asked him to take another turn with the hall. “Feeling a little weary, or perhaps in a mischievous spirit,” says Grimmett. “1 ran to the wicket nind howled a leg-break, which completely boat the batsman. My master called me to him and asked if [ had tried to do this. On my explaining to him that I could break a ball whenever I liked, • but was afraid to do it iln a match, he straight away forbade me ever to howl fast again

BOYISH PERVERSENESS. ‘Some little time after this,” continues Grimmett, “I played in a school match with this same teacher as umpire. After umpiring while my side batted he was forced to leave to meet one of his brothers arriving hy steamer. Immediately he was out of sight the boy. in me asserted himself, and I commenced to hurl them in as fa.st as possible. Whether by good luck or good management I am not- able to say, but I finished with an analysis of seven wickets for three runs! They foil like ninepins and 1 distinctly remember one unhappy boy who, thinking a ball would ‘kick,’ tempted to duck, with the result that he collapsed after receiving the Lalii on his head, and was counted out. My appeal for legbefore was upheld; so it is not alway advisable to to use your bead! The outcome of this effort was that I was selected to represent Wellington schools against the Wairarapa schools. As luck would have it, the same master would umpire, and under his eye I was forced to bowl legbreaks. The match proved to me the value of this kind of -bowling.” Grimmett was born in Dunedin, on December 25, 1892, but he started to play- cricket as a small boy inWellington. His parents lived by the Basin Reserve, and in a neighbouring family were brothers who ■were leg-hreak bowlers, and from whom-Grimmett learned to bowl legbreaks on the Basin Reserve. After the match with-the Wairarapa schools Grimmett began to study tho art of spinning the ball, and learned, to bowl the ball that goes straight through with -over-spin, instead of breaking. He gave up cricket for two seasons after he left school, but thojn; ihe. joiSnecl a Y.JVI. C.A. team in a competition for boys. Then he went into the Wellington East team jn district crickqt. It was while he was with Wellington East that he learned to bowl tho googly—the ball which is bowled with aJ leg-break action but which breaks from the off-

IN REPRESENTATIVE GAMES.

At the age of 18 Grimmett played for a Wellington B representative team agaifast Marlborough, ■ at Blenheim, took three wickets for 38 runs and five for 20. But-not .until two years later did! he gain full representative honours for Wellington. He was selected to. play against Auckland. In Auckland’s first intiing's' he had 68 runs hit off him and did not take a. wicket, but in the second innings he took four for 48. Playing against Marlborough again, in the following month, he took six for 40 and two for 2S. Yet there- was practically nothing ih. Grimmett’s bowling analyses as a Wellington - representative to indicate that he would be one of tne greatest slow bowlers known to cricket. When he pdayed for Wellington against the South • Melbourne Club team - which toured New Zealand in the 1912TL3 season he-was-more successful as .a batsman than- as a bowler... The ono wicket he took in a Plunket, Shield . match against Auckland in January, .1913, cost .05 runs,.but in his.two.innings he made runs with the bat. Against Canterbury, in a Plunket Shield match at Lancaster, Park a year later, he took two wickets for 73 runs and three- for 55-;- Canterbury vvqn that match by 245 runs. Against Otago,, Dane jin later in the same month, he took three for 54 and -one for 17. and against Southland, at Invercargill.- four for -26 n)nd. none, for 18. Just .before that tour 0 f the Wellington team he'had taken only one 'for 26 and one for 44, against Auck-

land, at Wellington, and just after the southern tour he was hit for 155 runs while he- was taking five wickets in itwo innings against Hawke’s Bay, at- Napier.. . . . • ' How,.little his performances in New Zealand mounted - as credentials in;, cricket when Grimmett. went to Australia:, at,the ago of 20, is evident from • the fact that he had to start -in third-grade /cricket in Sydney. He took 13 wickets for 65 runs and scored 57 and. 61, iln liis , first match and so won promotion, but was kept in second grade until near the end of the season,-.

The main events in Grimmett’s subsequent cricket in Sydney, Melborne, mud Adelaide, and in. Jiis progress to fame in international cricket, are familiar enough not to need recounting now. Blit it- certainly is interesting to reflect, that hut lor a imp of mischief and the discrimination of a- school teacher Clarence Grimmett would probably have become merely an obscure fast bowler instead of one of the greatest slow bowlers in, cricket'. LEG -SIDE FIELDSMEN. Speaking at the annual meeting of the Yorkshire County Cricket CSub, a few weeks ago, - Sir Stanley jackson, tho famous old Test player, and former captain of England, who was Governor of Bengal from 1927-32, said that when ho returned to England from India lie was interested to see how close fieldsmen went in on the leg-lside. “Ilnd I been the batsman,” he said. “I would not have stood, for it. A batsman has the right to ho free from interference, and if his attention is diverted by a, fieid'sman he has a right to complain and ask for the fieldsmen to he sent farther away. In our day a fieldsman was often sent 1 to stand farther away.”

CASH VALUE OF CONSTANTINE.

Some adverse criticism of a proposal that the Lancashire Cricket League and tho Nelson Cricket Club should give a benefit to L. N. Constantine, the famous West Indies played who is Nelson’s professional, caused interesting statements to bo made at the annual meeting of the Nelson Club a few weeks ago. It was remarked that 1 the Risht-on Club's representative on the league had already given an effective reply when he said that during the five years before Constantino visited Bishton tho receipts at matches with Nelson totalled £SO. In the five years since Constantino had been -associated with Ntelson the matches played by Nelson on tho R.isht-on ground realised £540. In 1928, when Nelson visited Rishton, it took £l5O, and for. tho remaining part of tho season Eisliton’s games realised only. £96. In the five years Constantine had been with Nelson when that club had fulfilled fixtures from its ground other clubs had taken £9379, and the . average was £144 a match, this figure including wet and had days. During these years the Nelson Club had drawn £6577, these figures showing clea-riy how other clubs had bencfitted by Nelson’s enterprise. The league had sanctioned £250 from the clubs as a benefit to Constantine, and Nelson would 1 supplement this with another £250. It was added that Constantine, before he entered into a further contract with Nelson, had had two substantial offers to go to other dubs, one being bigger than Nelson could meet. That was the reason why the Lancashire Club and the Nelson Club had decided to givo Constantine a benefit.

WOMEN’S CRICKET TOUR, The invitation of the Australian Women’s Cricket- Council to the ■English Women’s Cricket Association to send a team to t.o-ur Australia has been accepted, and the team wiil leave in November. A member of the association said to a “Daily Mail” reporter: “Every player will have to pay her own fare, and this will limit the choice. “Members lof affiliated clubs--there are 75 in the country—are being asked to submit candidates. Probably 16 women will go.”

GOOGLY MENACE. “PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1.” LOND,ON, May 11. “The Times” cricket writer, refering to the "Menace of Grimmett,” describes him as Public Enemy No. 1 of Cambridge. He bowled with in/firiite variety. Ponsford was. within 29 of the ground record, which was made by Duleepsinhji ip 1927. He batter for 6-p Fours, without the semblance, of a mistake. “He played enough good strokes to last a normal batsmen a lifetime,” adds the writer.

The “Daily Mail” says: '‘Grimmett 1 clearly demonstrated, that he remains for too clever for most batsr men. He exhibited a change of pace and variation .'of flight and encouraged his victims by giving away a few runs, thus luring them to a sense of false security.”

. NOTES AND NEWS. The Australian fielding at Piecester;was fair. Bradman energetic, and was safe, with the ,exf ception of YPn©,, difficult .catch- which he dropped.. The cold weather mitigated. , against .brilliant,. fielding, Fleetwqqd-Sipitli, and O’Reilly wisely preferred to,. sa,yc their, .ihaind?, instead of stopping hot returns. Bai*- : nett) had a good match, taking the

difficult bowling splendidly, and making very quick, but unsuccessful stumping movements. In addition, Barnett batted exceptionally .well, and was untroubled by the importance of the occasion of his first match. His nonchalance and carefree batting, . without indiscreet slogging, impressed the critics. =* , # =* The Australians’; form at Leicester was very satisfactory. The success of Kippax, McCabe, .and O’Reilly, ancl in a, lesser degree, FleetvvoodSmith, -strengthens the combination generally, , and furnished , AYoodfult with more confidence regarding his reserves. .It. is. not likely that Fleet-. wood-Smith will depose Grimmett in Test matches, hut probably he will take Grimmett’s place in less important matches- allowing Grimmett to rest- O’Reilly its now a Test certainty, a. dry wicket and suitable conditions prevailing.