CRICKET.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 6 December 1924, Page 9

CRICKET.

FIXTURES FOR NEXT SATURDAY

Dec. ; 6^— Midlands v. Manaia, at Manaia; Eltham v. Excelsior, at Hawera; Stratford v. Patea, at •' Patea; Okaiawa a bye. WELLINGTON COLLEGE. . INCIDENTS ON SPORTS DAY. On Wellington College grounds last Monday one of the features of the Bporte which • took place between old and present boys was a series of cricket matches. There were five matches, the first, between the present College eleven and the First Old Boys’ eleven. The others were between the remaining pfeeCnt ' elevens and the Old Boys, mainly in. order of age, so that the olqe6t' f Old Boys were. playing in the main a very young team of boys. The latter acquitted themselves admirably, showing‘much capital form. The batting of some of the boys was extremely good,’ while their fielding was, as was to be expected, remarkably keen and good. They ecored a well-deserved win by- about 30 runs,, rattling up 210 to their opponents’ 177. A feature of interest worth notice is that two fathers had sons in the opposing team. A most extraordinary incident happened in this match concerning a father and his son. The former was batting to his son’s bowling and, failing to get on to one which he thought he could hit, skied it just above the bowler’s head. : It was not a hard catch, but for some reason the boy failed to take it. Then comes the extraordinary part of the happening, for as the ball fell from his hands it rebounded on to the wicket, and the batsman,- was given run. out. The form shown by some of the men who had long, given, up cricket and had not played for years was quite good. In one or two cases it drew very favourable comment, but the passing o*f the years was specially noticeable in the work of bowling and fielding. In those two departments of the game more activity and keenness are required; A very amusing incident concerns a cripket ball and the big drum of the very fine and capable brass band from H.M.S. Dunedin, now. in port, who .had kindly come up to the ground to give a nrogramme of selections. Just before, they began to play, and while the men were sitting in a shady corner, with the instruments on the ground, a batsman from a wicket some distance away got right, on to a half volley and lifted the ball high in the air. When it .was seen that its destination was the locality of the band the bandsmen dodged, but, the ball, seeing no doubt an. unique opportunity for distinction, landed fair, on to tfye parchment face of the drum. It is a tribute to the maker that the parchment stood the ■ strain, and . consequently no harm 'was done. The . incident catised huge amusement., and it was, in fact, the first sounded by the band during the afternoon. ’ . THE ASHES. '• -. RELICS . AND REMINDERS. To the middle-aged cricketer, still ardent for the best of all team games deaf to Englishmen, but finding its physical exactions more severe than he is apt to admit, there is something sadly suggestive in the famous “ashes.” Those storied relics of the incinerated > stumps that had done duty in a strenu- i ous match speak of an end to the active: clean, good end, but a pathef}ic.; r Enjoyment passes into memory. "'The ■’straight sixer hit over the boWler right out of the ground, the confident touch upon the ball seam ere it goes spinning on its .deadly mission, the hot• catch taken low at fine-slip, these are no more associated with shining., hopes; -they have memorial joy, sacred and precious, but grey and robbed of kindling, ardour. Hie jacet. Sic v transit gloria mundi. You may golf until the splendid day that you .drop lifeless on. the links in the sudden passing that a Scotsman covets, keeping on . tolerably pleasant terms with Colonel Bogey by going straight to the pin although your driving shorten. The bowling green will keep its • gentle welcome, for • your feet , until your last shot, a toucher, rolls easily into the ditch,, alive until the resurrection morn. By dint of courtcraft suited cunningly to, your gain of weight and loss of speed, you may long hold your own at tennis against the hot young bloods, defiant like Ajax to their lightning until Death, unchallengeable umpire, calls “game—set—match.” But cricket—it goes its way, for all: your love of it, long after tops and marbles, to be sure, and far in the wake of football and hockey, but nevertheless leaving you desolate while yet your fingers itch, for the binding of your favourite bat and the smooth handful of the ball. Even though you pass into the glorious company of the umpires, and do service still in loyalty to King Willow, yours is but the meagre satisfaction of those Who wait at table, not who gaily banquet. Eheu, fugaees 1 “Cricket implies’’—it is Ranjitsinhji, in - his Jubilee Book, who writes the dear, ‘dread truth, Ranji who himself could hot keep for ever his miraculously supple wrists and amazing alertness of eye—“ Cricket implies a certain amount of physical capacity, and cricket matches, are a pretty good test of physique. In order to make the . body fit to undergo a severe season’s work, men and boys alike must cultivate health and strength.” How surely even leading cricketers pass from the public’s idolatry is impressed by the portrait-gallery of that inestimable vade mecum for the young cricketer—not. a, face there seen now in any test match. ’ Lord Hawke, not long ago leading an eleven abroad, has come to the writing of his cricket reminiscences. Lord Harris, albeit he retains his enthusiasm, lids become known as the Michael of all the cricketing angels, a name suggestive of a very distant realm, though really no further, from Lord’s than is his beloved Kent. P. F.. Warner, a. household word yesterday as “W.G.” was the day before, slips away into silence at the coming of Hobbs, the outstanding personality in English cricket to-day; and Hobbs, not now quite the bat he was before his operation for appendicitis. .hears in his body an attestation to ,the ashes’ -word of dying fire. Across • the Tasman the word has echo. The giants pass from the crease to the grandstand. “Benefits” are the order for some representative Australians of yesteryear. One Gregory is sue. ceeded by. another, magnificent in the slips yet fielding beneath a sun that even Gllligan’s praise cannot cause to stand still. Mailey’s googlies lose their

terror. Everywhere, everywhere, the chastening admonition of the ashes. In a recent Cornhill the Rev. Dr. Lyttelton tells how he played not long ago his last innings; it was a serious experience for a batsman with a great reputation:

“While being engaged in giving addresses to Sunday school teachers in a remote Suffolk village I was persuaded, though sixty-four years of age, to join in a curious match of two / mixed elevens of boys and girls, pupils and teachers, in a meadow. I went in first and had to meet the deliveries of a tiny boy scout, aged twelve, who had never played cricket before. He bowled scoutwise, with his whole soul and body, but, hardly managed to get the big, heavy hall to roll the whole twentytwo yards. His first ball pitched halfway, and I made as if to drive it on the long-hop forwards. But it was a ‘hen-shooter,’ and its second bound was just under the bat. I retired for a ‘blob,’ and settled that it was time to ‘hang up the shovel and the hoe.’ But the scout, I am told, went home much elated.”

But the certainty of growing too old for cricket is not so lugubrious a fact after all. On occasion, even patriarchs of sixty-four may “come hack,” if not to first-class matches, at all events to some fun in contests of minor importance. The easy descent to Avernushas some resting-places. In the Daily Chronicle, James Agate muses of Great Yarmouth beach, where picnicking youth is apt to set the stumps up on the sand. Going there jaded and a. trifle blase, he found no delight in the’ seashore. “What a waste of land for building sites! Once, whilst I was sitting on a cheerless form on the front trying to discover what Ooboolulu Tea and Rubber Estates had done during the previous week, a cricket ball hit me full in the chest, and I heard a shrill voice crying ‘That’s four! The old bloke counts same as a boundary!’ I confess that I found myself thinking that there is a proper place for cricket, and that that place is not the seashore. . . And now I know that I am getting old. . . When I was at the age of the small boy who counts old gentlemen ag boundaries, it mattered enormously whether I made 20 runs on the sand or only 19. But it will matter what Ooboolulu does in the way of a rise onfall. Yes, I am Lest the reader be too greatly depressed, let me declare that most of the foregoing is a lie. It is untrue that I care anything at all about Ooboolulu share's. I haven’t got any, and they can go to £IOOO or drop to 9d for all I care. What Happened when the kid hit me was that I joined the gqme, bowled him and his side out, and scored 46 off my own bat, all run.” That’s worth while, isp’t it, even if the scope in cricket for' middle-aged men, let alone old gentlemen of sixtyfour, is strictly limited? And, as for the more serious play, what chance would the youngsters have if the old gentleman could still knock up centuries and do the hat trick in a cricketing crisis ?

Tk e ? e rnust be ashes, and their fertilisation helps the eternal renewal that is so wonderfully and wisely “careless of the single life.” Youth must he served, even by the middle-aged, whether champions or duffers, getting outside the boundary. With all re•spect to Dr. Lyttelton, the boy scout’s Nation counts for more,_than ,;his discomfiture over a “blob.”

So at it, ye hopes of the coming time. Block and drive, cut and glance, pull even, if you’ve a mind for what both “W.G.” and Ranji made part of their science. Master pitch and pace and break, and learn the secret of sending up the “wrong ’un.” Let Boxshall’s passing suggest, the joy of keeping wicket well, and fielding for New South Wales against the Englishmen impress the tremendous importance of smart fielding. And through all “play the game,” and keen fit in every meaning of that nutshell*phrase. There is a glad call for nerve and muscle, although better grounds mav save you from being bruised black and blue like the long-stop of an earlier day; when top-hats were in the laws of the game and “beaver” had not been invented as a jibe at whiskered seniors. So, into it, and good luck to you—double figures at least and no dropped catches when your hands should “give” and hold. *

ENGLAND v. NEW SOUTH WALES

SOME RECOLLECTIONS

(“Not Out” in Referee.) The distinction of having made the biggest total .stands to A. C. MacLaren’s team, having been beaten in the first match by 53. runs, replied to New South Wales opening of 432 with ( 60, MacLaren himself and Hayward putting on 314 for the first wicket. Five other totals exceeding 400 have been made by the Englishmen, Too'A H° n - Ivo Bligh’s team in JBB2 414, 461, 456, and 427. New South Wales, however, has eight such totals, with 415 and 574 in the one rnatch against Stoddart’s second team. It produced the world’s aggregate record for a first-class match, the English team making 387 and 363 with the gross aggregate, 1739. Other records at that time in the match were Bill Howell’s 95,. highest innings for a. man going m eleventh; two totals by one side exceeding 400; Sydney Gregory’s 171, the highest for New South*' Wales against England, and 574, the record for a colony against England. Bill Howell s hitting will never be forgotten. He went in last each innings, and scored 48 and 95 by such driving as crowds never see these times. The highest innings for England was Tom Hayward’s 174; for the State R. A Duff s 194 against Lord Hawke’s AngloNew Zealand team, and 186 not out by Sydney Gregory in 1912. Seventeen centuries have been made for New South \v ales, and 25 for visitors. MacLaren alone having made five. He was an absolute marvel on the Sydney Ground century after century coming from his vrr es^s ’ a § w ell as against A.S.u . And how he did punch the ball from mid-off to cover point! On© day out there we were all lost for words to expiess admiration of a MacLaren innVitPj. w^en J°hnny Briggs remarked, But you ought to see him at Old Trafford.” That observation took the cake. No man could havle outshone MacLaien at that time on his Sydney Ground batting. For majestic “stvle, power and brilliancy it was unbeatable \\ e are told hv critics in the Southl ern cities that the English batsmen are concentrating on digging themselves in, and then digging in some more. It is to be hoped they will not follow «nch tactics so closely as is suggested, because Australian wickets are made jto order for those not afraid to punch tball with a good old straight hat, i after the manner of MacLaren. Tyldes- | lev ; Johnny Brown, and other men of 1 r en V’« who trou nced our top-notch bowling so many times.

Young cricketers and readers generally know less about the genesis of International first-class cricket than young men of 20 or 30 years ago knew. It is, therefore, not untimely to observe. that New South Wales had the destination of being the first team to tackle an English team in this country with 11 men. This took place in Sydney in January, 1877. The reason was that the Fifteen of New South Wales, earlier in the season, had twice defeated Jim Lilywhite’s team. And they hungered for/a battle with sides even. The match was drawn, though Alfred Shaw, George Ulyett, Tom Emmett and Co. had the best of it. That bluff and hearty Yorkshiremen, George Ulyett, hit up 94; he was a puncher with the willow. Alfred Shaw, a bowler of extraordinary accuracy, sent down 97 overs (four halls to the over) for 54 runs and eight wickets. There are only three surviving members of the New South Wales eleven of the match. Charles Bannerman and T. W. Garrett are in Sydney, and sure to witness the coming match, while F. R. Spofforth is in England. Dave Gregory, who later captained the first Australian Eleven top-scored with 53 not out, and Charlie Bannerman made 32. Later in the season the first Test match took place in Melbourne, when Charlie B. plaved one of the finest innings ever seen, having to retire with his thumb badly injured after scoring 165. Australia won that match.

The first Test had its inspiration in the success of the New South Wales and Victorian Fifteens against Lillywhite’s Eleven, followed by this .ambitious. if unsuccessful, effort of ( New South Wales to repeat the feat on level terms. The history cricket since that day has been one long and uninterrupted story of great things, save for the war period.

At times Australian cricket has fallen away a trifle from the highest standard of other years; and at times the same may be said of English cricket. But each generation has produced its men of genius and renown, the game has been placed on a basis fitting to its International status and public interest has widened and deepened. The spirit of cricket has spread into other games, and into the people, who watch intently and applaud with hearty zest the many things that matter when the match is on. Cricket has become an Empirebuilder, one might say an Empire cementer —an institution that, in its own way, contributes to a hearty good feeling right through the Empire. The game and the men who play it are above suspicion, and as they advance in life fill places of high trust in the affairs of their countries. Thus we have seen modest cricketers —Sir George Reid and Sir Edmund Barton, to wit—who were ardent officials, becoming Prime Ministers of the Commonwealth ; and leading players—H. U. Massie and T. W. Garrett, to wit — filling other other distinguished positions in their country. We, see in England men who have played firstclass cricket helping as Empire-build-ers, among these being the Hon. Alfred Lyttelton, and our present Governor General, Lord Foster, as well as the' late Lord Hampdqn and Lord .Chelmsford, who were presidents of the M.C.C.

This old. game of ours is a. great thing. May the dav never dawn when England and Australia will not be able to meet in flannelled rivalry on the green fields of the northern and' southern worlds. TWO NOTABLE FEATS.

The first innings of the present match will be memorable for the wonderful stand made by Warren B.ardsley, whose reputation of a great, fighter against odds was further enhanced by his forceful, masterly innings. His confidence and unfaltering treatment of the bowling were sufficient to inspire the most pessimistic. He was still unconquered, with 142 runs opposite liis name, when stumps were drawn. Throughout he played soundly and confidently, and did not give a chance, although he had two fortunate escapes from, being run out.

Bartlsley received a splendid reception when he returned to the pavilion, the English players joining in the applause. He had given a classic and characteristic display, and was batting 228 minutes, and 10 fours were included in his runs, which were made all round the wicket. The innings av as all the more meritorious because he was suffering from a bruised thumb

Tate, the young English bowler, was also the recipient of hearty congratulations on his magnificent performance. Keeping a splendid length, the ball appeared to make pape from the pitch, and swing in from the leg in a disconcerting manner. Tried from the Rand wick end, he was not effective, out his success began when he howled L'om the Paddington end. To secure the wickets of Macartney Andrews, Kippax, Taylor, Gregory, and Oldfield for 68 runs was a remarkable effort on a wicket favourable to batsmen. The hall was also very slippery, and ns Douglas remarked afterwards: “Holding the hall was like holding a cake of soao.” Tate bowled 16 overs, and had Collins missed off his bowling.

THE ENGLISH ELEVEN. (Sydney Morning Herald.) Mr Gilligan and his merry men have already assured themselves of their welcome in Australia, and they will find New South Wales no whit behind the southern States in hospitable reception. Just as the sailors of the Royal Navy used to hold —and probably still do hold—life’s experience incomplete if they have not cast anchor in Sydney Harbour, so there is among international cricketers in the old home of cricket something still to live for until they have played on the Sydney Cricket Ground. The barracking of the Sydney crowd is world-famous—cricket worldfamous —and we would hasten to add, to newcomers among us in the English team, that the barracking is bv no means the evil and awesome ordeal that some have alleged it to be. Mr. Gilligan has already said that he likes the Australian barracking; it should be added that he has probably not yet really heard it. It is something that belongs especially to the Sydney crowd, a more, volatile crowd, by general agreement of visiting elevens, than Melhonrne’s or Adelaide’s. It is generous more often than hostile, though apt on on occasions to be merciless if taken in bad part ; it springs always from a shyewd and keen appreciation of every point in the play. English players have accepted tlie free criticism around the fence as a reflex in the local followers of cricket of the high calibre of the game in Australia, and especially Sydney, . clubs. Public enthusiasm in an English visit never wanes; and on each occasion it seems, if such he possible, a little more, pronounced than before. T+. reaches its height at the first test match, alwavs played ir this citv. We have already expressed the hone that the visitors this year will regain the laurels of the game for England. Those laurels lose some of their freshness when worn for too long on the same head : and nothing could’he better for game than, a strong revival in English prowess. As thatfine sportsman, Mr. Noble, has pointed out, the luck has, since the Avar, been on the

side of Australia. The war exacted no heavier toll in England than on cricket; for four years of a national struggle on the battlefield England knew no cricket; and, after the Armistice, Australia had an opportunity with her A.I.F. team to reconstruct a national eleven such as did not come England’s way. What the A.I.F. team did for Australian cricket is visible still to-day. Most of those who will meet Mr. Gilligan’s men in the struggles 5 for the “ashes” will still be the veterans of that wonderful eleven.

The hardly-won success against South Australia, and the recent defeat in Melbourne must not yet be taken as criterions of the Englishmen’s strength. They have been playing themselves into form on new grounds, in a new light, against teams which had already had good practice. To play through an Australian cricket tour—or an English tour, for the matter of that: —demands hardiness, and to overstrain players of a visiting team in the opening matches is the worst mistake of captaincy. Luck is ever an important factor, not only m one game, but in other matters, and Australians- 'will deplore, quite as much as any Englishman the mishaps which have befallen Woolley, Hearne, and Howell; Howell strained his leg in Western Australia; Woolley and Hearne each injured a knee in Melbourne. No team can do itself justice with this sort of bad luck, and the issue in the match against New South Wales, which begins to-day, is a very minor consideration beside the recovery of these three players for the test matches. Gregory and Ryder have also been incapacitaed; but such accidents among home players, though serious, are of less moment than casualties to a visiting team, where replacements are perhaps impossible. Sydney to-day will regret the absence on the field of Wbolley and Hearne — Hearne, like Gregory, is a household name in cricket—but will console itself with the sight of Tat e and Gilligan; of the genial, smiling Chapman; of Hobbs the master of English hatting; of Tyldesley, a figure built for the cricketloving crowd; of Douglas, one of the unforgettable s. Withi memory evergreen of its own Trumper and Duff, Sydney waits eagerly to see the HobbsSandham opening combination; it wants to see some of the new blood saving the game at a pinch; it wants .to laugh again at Douglas trying to hit Mailey. If a Bosanquet again were in the English ranks the delight would be .complete. There is no recommendation with any crowd like hard fighting and clean sport. \ Mr.. Gilligan and his fellows have shown in the finish of the Victorian match that they are true sportsmen; if they have the stamina for an uphill game their fame is assured. Everybody will regret profoundly the tricks which the weather has played with the early summer. We look to please an English team with our climate, as well as our play and our hospitality ; and it is a poor consolation to us, or to them, that the forecast for to-day promises something more like England’s weather than Sydney’s.

MODERN BOWLING. , ITS DEFICIENCIES AND REMEDIES. (By Dr. L. O. S. Poidevin in the Sydney Morning Herald.) There is no single aspect of the game of cricket more freely or more fully discussed to-day or so replete with special interest to the cricket community than the art of bowling. The searchlight of popular opinion has been sharply focussed upon the subject partly in the endeavour to illuminate the prospects of our test team in this connection fox* the contests with England, and partly to discover the truth or otherwise of the fairly general assumption that our present-day bowling is lacking in its former quality. It seems to be the generally-accepted belief that our international bowling equipment is not nearly .as formidable as it used to be. Whether this deficiency is real or only apparent time alone will tell. Possibly public opinion may be a little inclined to under-estimate our combined bowling sti’ength, and, also, its individual merits. Familiaity with our bowlers and_ their methods may lead us to view their attack from quite a different angle to that of the English cricketers. This is particularly 'likely to he so in the case of Arthur Mailey, for instance, whose methods and strategy are almost certain on that account to give very much more trouble relatively to English batting than to that of Australians. Even so, however, expert opinion would certainly be more satisfied if it could discern making their appearance on the cricket horizon a really fast bowler of quality, and a mediumpaced right-hander of the Noble, Trumble, or Howell type. Thus there has been for some time and there is now a wonderful opportunity for bowlers of these types to come right to the forefront of Australian erieket. But somehow or other the deficiency seems to exist right through the minor grades of our cricket. And why? It can hardly be mere coincidence. There must surely be some good reason It is, perhaps, the excessive cult of the “bosie” that has led to the neglect of other orthodox tpyes of bowling. This idea is so suggestive as to be worthv of more than passing notice. The “bosie” type of bowling of course, has been the latest development or the latest stage in the evolution of the art of bowling. The game of cricket is indebted to B. J. T. Bosanquet for this innovation, and there can be little doubt that it has far reaching effects upon the game. Bosanquet, as I knew him first, was just an ordinary nght-liand medium-paced bowler with a. new ball swerve and a little orthodox off-break as his sol© means of attack. He was not even a leg-break bowler. THE “BOSIE” IDEA. He got the idea of making the ball break” both ways with the same legbreak grip, from his habit of manipulating billiard balls up and down the table. He practised it next with a tennis ball m what is known as “little cricket” m the back yard, and, surprised with the results, it was not long before he tried it with the cricket ball. He soon picked up the leg-break but his early attempts to bowl the off-hreak with the ball and hand action, although only in social games, produced much merriment. He preserved, howeier, and at length was bold enough to try his new style in a first-class match. It met witli immediate success, and, though the uncertainty of his control earned- for him the title “the world’s best worst howler,” within a year or so his ability to howl the socalled “wrong ’un” (the hall that broke rom the oft when all appearances of rinaer and wrist action suggested that it sho'dd break from leg), won him a olace m, one of the strongest teams tort ever took the field for England v aii.sh Australia; indeed, it was his “f-enk” howling as it was then called hat gained a notable victory for England. THE CULT OF THE “.BOSIE.” H was not long, of course, before he ''"'J imitators, Reggie vScliwarz, his college chum at Oxford, was one of the earliest to learn how to howl the offhreak with the leg-break action, though previously he had no bowling preten-

‘dons Avhatever. Schwarz went to South Africa, and planted the “bosie” seeds in the cricket fields there. Immediately there Avas a “corop” of “bosie” bowlers in South African cricket —Faulkner, White, Volger, and others —and it v. as their success on tour in England diortly afterwards that actually South Africa in the international cricket map. Volger on that tour was one of the A r ery best “bosie” boAvlers I have seen. South African cricket, however, made the mistake, generally acknoAviedged there now, of over-cultivating the “bosi'e,” with the result that both their boAA-ling and batting process declined rather than advanced in the international sense.

Australian cricket, too, was quick to acquire the knack of howling the “bosie,” and its leading exponents soon ranked amongst the very best. Foremost amongst these was Dr. H. V. Horden. Avho took his place with great distinction in international cricket. Since that time the Ixnvling equipment of °nr best teams has never been considered complete without at leas one “bosie” expert on the side, and since the retirement of Dr. Hordern that position has invariably been filled, also with distinction, by Arthur Mailey. Thus it has come about that the bosie” type of bowling has become an indispensable in the complete team outfit, and every team now-a-days, grade team or junior team, veterans’ team, or school boy team, has one or more “bosie” bowlers in its ranks. It has undoubtedly been the vogue in recent times, and it is difficult, to escape the conclusion that it has been to a‘great extent over-cultivated to the neglect on the mote orthodox types. BOWLING FASHIONS. , As in other things, of course, there seem to be fashions in bowling. There have always been times, for instance, when this or that type of Ixnvling is more in vogue than another.- At one time, for example, it was leg-break bowling, as exploited by Len Braund; yesterday is was the “swerving” type, rendered conspicuous by the success of George Hirst, and his many followers, whilst lately it has been the “bosie” type, but whatever type it may be they are all futile unless built upon a foundation of “length.” The two predominant types in modern bowling, “siverve” and “bosie,” unfortunately have shown a- considerable disregard for “length,” the fundamental principle of good bonding has had much to do Avitli its decline. WHAT GOOD LENGTH MEANS. This term, “length,” as applied to bowling, is one that is very often misunderstood. By the good length ball is cot meant, as is often supposed, onf that always pitches a certain number of feet or yards in front of the wicket. Good length means much more than that. The good length hall, in fact, is one so pitched that any particular batsman cannot, by i■caching forward, make it into a half-volley, nor, by waiting back, make it short enough to hook or pull to leg. Such a bait very often has a way of leaving the batsman Tfi two minds, doubtful ojf Vv'hether he should go fonvard or play hack. Thus the actual point of contact of such a good length ball with the pitch depends on several things— on the batsman, the pace of the howler, and the pace of the pitch. On a slow Avicket, for instance the ball requires to be pitched nearer to the batsman'than on a fast wicket, and, similarly, too, as regards the bowler’s pace, in a general way the slower the ball traA r els through the air the nearer to the batsman must it Ditch to fulfil the requirements of good length. Batsmen, too, vary very much in their reach, so that xvhat is a good length ball to one is a lialf-volley to be hit for four by another. Spin‘and siverve and break and attempts to deceive in pace and flight and the various other wiles that go to make up the art of bowling, are each of them in their own way very important, but command success they must be based upon, good length. BASIC BOWLING VALUES.

The relative A r alue of these different phases of the boAvler’s art I Avould estimate as folloAVs: —Length 50 per cent.; natural ability (that natural peculiarity belonging to the action and delivery of soine—not all—boAvlers), 10 per cent.; acquirements, ' 30 per cent., i.e., spin 10 per cent.; flight (swerA r e, etc) 10 per cent., pace (and its variations) 10 per cent.; and application (the Avise use of three attributes already mentioned), 10 per cent. These A r alues need no elaboration. Any student of tlie game of cricket can easily reckon up the outstanding deficiencies of modern boAvling, especially when the test is applied to the minor grades of play. Further, I particularly emphasise this estimate of values, because there is a sort of notion current that good boAvlers are hcaA rensent, and only spring up periodically from nobody knoivs where. That I think, is an entirely wrong conception of things, and to some extent it lies at tlie root of our present-day paucity of good boAvling. In my humble opinion, tlie really good brnvler can be made—and made by the assiduous practice and intelligent application of the many known devices; and it is my belief that we have to-day amongst us plenty, of latent boAvling *talent that only needs for its development the backing of a knowledge and appreciation of the available devices and the individual ambition, energy, determination, and opportunity to put them into operation.