CRICKET—By a Cricketer’s Wife

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 520, 24 November 1928, Page 23

CRICKET— By a Cricketer’s Wife

mRS . JACK HOBBS TELLS HOW sH E CAME TO TAKE AN INTEREST IN GAME WHICH HAS brought fame to her husband BET me say at the outset that my love for cricket is a cultivated love. As a girl I was not Interested in the game, although I had some brothers who were keen enough about it. This is * e novel state of affairs among Eng- °° girls, for comparatively few of take much interest in the game. ' it was not until I became interested jack that 1 became very interested * cr jcket. That interact at first was Ot very keen, but my friendship with Mm naturally helped to increase the interest rapidly. Now 1 think 1 can safely that there are few keener enthusiasts among the women " England than I am. M 1 said at the outset, my love for cricket is a cultivated onl, and even after my marriage I for a time was culy mildly Interested in it. You see [or many years 1 had to look after [be interests of my young family, and they had to come first. I considered, and still consider, one's children much more important than cricket, much as I have learned to love the game; and while bringing up my family 1 naturally could not work up- the interest in cricket that I have since developed. All the same, you may be sure I was keenly interested in all that Jack did, and it was with pride that I saw the progress he was making in the game. As our family grew up X. gained more leisure time, and was able to see more cricket. The more I saw of it the more enthusiastic I became, and with our three boys also interested in it you may be sure ours is a cricket household. Jack himself was always very reticent about his doings, and seldom cares to talk shop, with the result that very often we had to depend upon the newspapers to find out what he had actually done. The boys, however, were always ready to talk cricket, with the result that there are always keen discussions about it now. The boys have all shown some ability at the game, but we have not encouraged them to take it up professionally. We realise that it is only the few who get to the top of

the tree, and that unless a man can get there, there is not much in it as h means of bringing up a family Ue cently, and of making provision for the day when his cricket will fall away. For some years now I have very seldom missed a match at the Oval, the home of the Surrey county team, and I have learnt the value of the game, not only as an exercise, and as a means of building up character, but also as a maker of lasting friendships I have, as you may imagine, a very wide circle of friends all over England, and some of the best and dearest of them are people I have met through attending cricket matches. At the Oval, of course, my circle of friends is particularly large, and there we meet and talk—and I must admit that sometimes we talk so much that wc miss much of the cricket. It is very seldom that I go to a county match away from the Oval, but on one of the occasions that I did so I was given the credit of bringing luck to Surrey. It was a game between Surrey and Kent at Blackhesth—“the graveyard of Surrey cricket." Surrey had never beaten Kent at this place, but on this occasion they gained a good victory. I had never seen a match at Blackheath before, and when it was over I was told that I was the mascot. I have made it a point never to miss a match there when Surrey Is one of the competing teams. But perhaps the most sensational match of all was Jack's first benefit played at the Oval. Surrey were left with the task of making 90 odd runs in 50 minutes, and J. N. Crawford and Jack hit off the runs with about 20 minutes to spare. It was most exciting cricket, and the batting aroused the greatest enthusiasm. I have been asked if I «ver got excited over Jack’s feats. I must admit that I do. But I am never apprehensive that he will fail. As you know, Jack has been extraordinarily consistent right throughout his career, and although at times he has had lean periods he has never had a real setback. When he goes in to bat I am always confident that he will

do what he sets out to do, and the thought of failure never enters my mind. He is very determined in regard to his cricket, and allows nothing to interfere with it. That is one of the great secrets of his success. But while I am never fearful that he will fail, some of his successes have provided me with very trying times. Take, for instance, the occasion when he broke Dr. W. G. Grace’s record of i 126 centuries. When it -was seen that he was likely to accomplish the feai everybody in England became tremeh dously excited, and the newspapers increased the excitement by the way they recorded Jack's every movement, making features of his doings and discussing the possibility of his succeeding in his next match. For me the position was exceedingly trying, for, apart from my anxiety to see him succeed, our home was inundated with inquiries from hour to hour and min ute to minute. Then came the match against Somerset at Taunton, when Jack not only equalled the record but broke it by getting a century in each innings. There was tremendous excitement, and the constant stream of inquiries, as you may imagine, was very trying to me. But I realised that all the interest was the outcome of the desire to see him succeed, and that everything was well meant. 1 was glad indeed when it was over, and I can assure you I was a very happy woman when Jack beat that long-standing record. But although the whole thing was j trying to me it was much more so to Jack. He was completely done up after it was all over, and quite incapable of playing any more cricket for a time. In the following match Surrey had to go to Cardiff to play Glamorganshire, but ne naa tc stanu out of the team. The Cardiff people naturally were disappointed, but it was an impossibility for him to play. I have seen some wonderful cricket matches, but the most wonderful was the test match at the Oval in 1926, when England regained the “ashes” from Australia. We were all so excited that at times we hardly knew what was happening. As the Australian wickets were falling in the second innings, and we saw victory coming for England after such a long period of waiting, we were beside ourselves with joy. Again I say it was wonderful. When the last Australian wicket fell and England had really won, we witnessed an amazing scene. The enthusiasm of the crowd was extraordinary, and they took no steps to conceal it. In the midst of it all an Australian lady came up, shook my hands and congratulated me. I thought it was a very delightful action on her part. Another great match was that at Adelaide in 1924-5, but that was not in England, and England was beaten, so that from the English point of view there could hardly be the same feeling of excitement. Australia won that match by 11 runs, but England was most unfortunate in having so many players disabled.