KINGS OF CRICKET.

Otago Witness, Issue 2014, 29 September 1892, Page 30

KINGS OF CRICKET.

REMINISCENCES AND ANECDOTES, WITH HINTS ON THE GAME. By Richard Daft, Member of the All; England Eleven, ex-Captain of Notts County', Captain of the Anglo.American Team 1879, &c., &o.

The Rights of Reproduction abb Strictm

Reserved.

ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF CRICKET GENERALLY DURING THE LAST FIFTY YEARS.

Dr W. G. Grace is one of the few players I have seen who has hit the happy medium between the school of .George Parr and that of the lively run-getters. His style is more commanding aad upright than Parr's was, and his play is of a safer kind than Caesar's. I have made these few latter remarks in order to read a little lecture to my young friends. Be careful which kind or play of the thres I have mentioned Jyou cultivate. You, Jmy friend, of 6ft and weighing heavy in proportion, might possibly develop into a W. W. Read, but you will never make a Hayward or a Caffyn. Nor shall you whose height is but sft 6in or 7in evei , become either a Gunn or a Grace.

Remember there always have been good players of all kinds and all sizes. If you excel in one particular kind of play, I strongly advise you to cultivate it, always provided that it is within the rules of correct cricket. Shrewsbury, when at the beginning of his career, no doubt admired W. G. Grace, but he was far too wise to try to imitate him. *Dr Grace no doubt, admired the graceful Tom Hayward, but he did not select him as his own model.

By way of a change I will give an illustration of what I mean by relating the following amusing anecdote.' In a small village in Nottinghamshire there resided, 50 years ago, two small holders of laud whose fields adjoined. One was a little hottempered man, known as an excellent rider across country and first-rate boxer. The othor was a big, clumsy, goodttempered fellow, who, besides tilling his land.aU the week often officiated on a Sunday, in the pulpit of the Dissenting chapel of his own, and sometimes of the neighbouring villages. The little man's fowls were a terrible source of annoyance to the big local preacher, for .almost every day they got into ttis' garden and did a deal of damage, and whenever he remonstrated with their} owner, ho received nothing bub angry words and threats of corporal punishment. At last the big man could stand it no longer, and challenged tho little one to fight. The " boxer" joyfully took up the gauntlet thrown down, and a day was fixed for tho encounter. As, of course, it would have been unseemly for a local preacher to appear' as a principal in tho ring, the big man, jn order' to .become qualified for the contest, took' himself off what is called the "plan" at his, -chapel, which was, I presume, the list of preachers ip, which his name figured. Great exoitemeqt was evinced in the

village as the day fixed for, the fight drew near, and when the, day,. arrived there was a large number of spectator's at the ring side which was pitched in a meadow, f The combatants ' having stripped themselves to the waist, stood "up ■for battle. The littl« man by his, superior science "danced round the big one, popped iji blow after blow on his face, and getting away nearly every time without a return. The tall ivan by- trying also to be scientific was ineffective in all his efforts, and appeared to bo getting all the worst of if. Things were at ."this pass when one of his supporterß roared out, "Jphpjiy, go at him as if ye were filling a muck 'car f" This advice was more pertinent than elegant, but it had its effect on the.big man, who at once went for his,, small antagonist, hitting him all over bis body with sifph tremendous force that he very quickly turned what looked once like a defeat into a glorious victory. This storyiUusSrajses what I say about big and little men at'enokeji. The big man can score from balls which the little man must be content to play. In the article on myself which appeared in " Fores' Sporting Notes" this year, the writer says that he, when a youth, used to try to imitate .myself in otfe particular stroke in which I excelled, but not succeeding, he gave it up, and very wisely" too. The same writer most truly observetralso that such an innings as one of Dr Graco'B' best can only be played by a man of herculean build. Here is wisdom. Young players make a note' of it. The hard hitters are always welcomed by the spectators who frequent our cricket grounds, and I must say I enjoy seeing a hard hitter myself. Mr C. I. Thornton and George Griffith, of Surrey, were the tjWo greatest hitters I over saw. They are powerfully built men, Griffith being tremendously strong in the shoulders. Both these players possessed great strength, and they had the happy knack of putting it forth at the right time.

Strength without skill in a batsman is of little use, and we often see some of the strongest men who, being "fast in their shoulders," are not able to hit hard by any means. A fairly tall man has the" advantage' over small men in many points at cricket ; but let not the small, nay, the very small, man be downhearted. Look at such bats as Humphrey and Tiny Wells — abouH the smallest cricketers I ever remember, and yet" they were able by playing "high" to put down rising balls which I have seen big men hit .on tho fingers with. Then as to little bowlers, look at Wisdeu, one of the best of his day, 'and Jemmy Dean, a fine straight little bowler with a beautiful length and nice delivery, and a fine long stop, and now we have little Briggs of Lancashire, and Baggulsy of Notts. These were all very small men, and yefc they have held their own in

all departments of the game amongst) the giants of their time. Tiny Wells; I may here mention, always after taking Mb guard, held his bat over his shoulder.

Two things have changed for the better indeed in our great national game during the last 50 years. First of all, the dress worn in the cricket field. That monstrosity, the tall hat, had disappeared before my time, I am glad to say ; but round pot hats were general at that period. I played in one nearly always myself for several years after I began to play in first-class matches ; but this was not for long, and I soon took to the cap which is at present worn. " Billycock" hats were, however, worn by many players long after' I discarded them. George Parr, I believe, never left them off, and Hayward, Carpenter, and others wore them till a comparatively recent date.

At the time I was writing this chapter I received from my friend, Mr T. Padwick, of Redhill, Surrey, a great number of valuable old prints, engravings, and photographs, many of which are reproduced in these articles. On looking at these the reader will see at a glance how the costumes of cricketers have altered from time to time from that worn by Pilch, Box, and Mynn down to our own day. Iv Mr Padwick's collection is a beautiful water-coloured portrait of the great Alfred Mynn, from a sketch taken by his fellow player and friend Felix, in 1848. I must confess that when I saw the portrait I was quite startled for the moment, it was so natural and lifelike. I have seen many portraits of Mynn in my life, but I have seen none so good as this one. In looking at it, it seems hard to me to believe that he. whom it represents has been nearly 30 years in his grave.

The portrait was taken a few years before I knew the famous Kentish player, but not many, for I knew him for some time before I played in first-class cricket, and received many kindnesses from him — kindnesses I am proud to remember and glad to acknowledge. The great cricketer did not live to see me through a great part of my career, though he did live to see me attain many successes in the cricket field, and paid me many kind compliments on my play. The reader will, I trust, pardon this digression, but the portrait I have spoken of was the cause of it, which recalled so many pleasant memories. I will conclude with a line from " Bell's Life " : "Lightly rest the turf upon thoe, kind and manly Alfred Mjnn ! " Coloured shirts were very common at the early part of my time. I have several photographs of myself, in which I figure in a striped shirt. JmteA Shaw also appears in an old photograph jn a checked shirt of large pattern and dark hue. Black and white striped shirts were at one time I remember nearly' always worn by our two great Notts bowlers — J. C. Shaw and Fred Motley. These coloured shirts, after quite 'disappearing, have again I sea come into use ; but I must confess I do not like them. A man on the cricket field, in my opinon, looks best in plain white. The neatest of coloured shirts I recollect were our old All England ones, which wero white with a small red spot or sometimes white with a narrow rod stripe. Speaking of tall hats, I see there is one match of importance where George Parr is put down as being out " hat fell on wicket."

The thing that has improved most of lato years connected with cricket has decidedly been the wicket. I was speaking to Dr Grace on this matter not long ago and he declared that it was a wonder to him now on looking . back ■that we (himself included) obtained the runs we had on some of the wickets we had to' play and' against such fast bowling. The rough wickets, however, did a good deal to sharpen the wits of a batsman, and often made him able to play balls which kicked with a success which' he never wouldhave acquitedif the wickets had been more perfect. The wickets on some 'of our chief grounds for years after my appearance were anything but billiard tables, and in some of our AU England matcheß they were simply, frightful. On , these occasions there was no necessity for the bowler to put any break on the ball. The wicket did all that without any assistance from him. I have in my possession an old print— from a sketch by Leech, I believe it is— which shows a cricketer on his way home from a matoh having a black eye, damaged leg and arm, &c. He is stopped and accosted by a friend as follows : — Friend : " Good match, old fellow ? " Cricketer: "Oh, yes, awfully jolly J' Friend : " What did you do ?" Cricketer: " I had a hover of Jackson. The first ball hit me on the arm; the second bad me on the knee ; the third in my eye ; and the fourth bowled me out ! "

(To It continued.)