GREAT CATCHES.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 18 September 1926, Page 13

GREAT CATCHES.

BIG EFFORTS IN TEST CRICKET

The last great act of - “W.G.” in a test match was a catch (■writes J- A. 11. Catton, in .an English paper). There he stood at point, with his girth rivalling that if Sir John Falstaff. Young Clem Hill and the inimitable Trumpetwere batting. Stanley Jackson and Wilfred Rhodes were bowling, if I remember rightly. Clem'Hill was well set, and he made a hard cut. But it was .a catch to Grace, and he took it, as if he had been the same age as trie batsman’s and bowler’s instead of fifty-one within a month or so.

I have emphasised this question of years and of girth because the chance was so near to the ground. The “old man” scooped the ball up ‘ with his right hand. He made one run in the next innings—but that catch was the last act of the. Leviathan in a test.

I shall never forget it, because I had been thinking that Grace was too much of a veteran and too ponderous to takepoint against Australia. All this happened at Nottingham, in 1899; but in the next test of that year, ■at Lord’s, Clem Hill, when 135, was brillianly reaught in the country by Charles Fry , That was the only ball that Hill put up, and it was not “up” so much, being rather a “skimmer’ ’of the swallow type. Again Hill was disappointed, and that with 135 to his credit. Jack Worrall declared that Hill was so disgusted with himself that when lie entered the_ dressing room he flung his bat down and said: “Never again will I lift a ball.”

Of course, he never kept that vow, but the chances that Hill gave were very few, and a long time between them.,

Looking up the score of the Leeds test match —again in 1899—the reader will see: “Worrall, caught -sub., bowled Y'oung, 16.” I often think , that “caught sub.” is an injustice, to the fielder. Why not give the man’s name with a star—indicating that he was a substitute?

John Tyldesley was the substitute. He was fielding for Briggs, who had been stricken with a seizure. Worrall drove very high. If I remember, the Australians tried to put up a barrier against Tyldesley, or anyone else, being appointed as a reserve fielder. The reserve must be. the twelfth man.

That catch by the Worsley Wonder probably .cut shot a promising career, for in the first venture Worrall had made a dazzling 76 out of 95, under conditions that necessitated the use of ‘.‘the long handle.” Writing of Clem Hill, who is in England once again, I am reminded of probably'the most dramatic catch that lie ever made —certainly iu a test encounter.

Those who saw Australia’s victory by three runs at Manchester, in 1902, will never forget how that result was probably precipitated by the renowned South Australian At .a time .when there wore two wickets to fall' anil 15 runs needed for victory, “Dick” Lilley was in. The Warwickshire marv. full of mettle, was when he lashed out at Hugh Trumble. mhen he lashed out at Hugh Trumble, and hif the ball in the. direction of the pavilion. This, too, was a skimming drive, and it. looked a certain boundary stroke.

Clem 11111 was on the rails and ran hard, no doubt with the idea of saving the four. He annihilated space f6r about 24 yards, threw out a hand, and the. ball stuck in it.

The next day one of the cricket writers described his feat as a ‘-‘sinful ’ ’ catch. From an English loyalist’s point of view perhaps the adjective was justified; but tlvo painful part of the match was that the Old Country lost their, chance when Darling was missed at, long-on by a player who had no experience, in. the deepfield, and: that Australia won by a miracle. Never was there, a more theatrical object lesson of the value of trying for a, chance that represented 100 to 1 against the fielder. Finally there springs to mind: the catch that Arthur Jones, the Notts captain, made at Birmingham in 1909, when, he stood close in at short-leg to Noble, batting against George Hirst. Jones took the ball, hit with some venom, with one hand, and so disposed of such a dangerous batsman as the Australian captain. That catch probably contributed as much to England’s ten wickets win.'.as any one act in the course of the whole match.