WIZARDS OF CRICKET

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19678, 21 December 1933, Page 4

WIZARDS OF CRICKET

BATS THAT THEY HAVE WIELDED E. MAYNE’S PRICELESS COLLECTION The Stradivarius to Kreisler . . . the sword to D’Artagnan . . . the bat to Trumper. Each springs to life in the hand of the master. Dancing feet, wonderful wrists of delicately tempered steel, and the flashing blade of a Trumper or a Macartney have made hundreds of thousands rise in their seats wherever cricket was played. Their genius remains a glorious memory on the fair fields of Kent, where lovers of the game lazed in the soft sunlight of springtime; on lord's or Trent Bridge; on the famous ovals of Sydney and Melbourne. Here the bats of the great masters made sweet music as they connected with the ball and sent it buzzing to the pickets. There is romance in these bats. They have personality. Handle the bat used by Trumper, dead now nearly a score of years, and into the mind leaps an immediate picture of a lithe athlete, a tiger ready to spring, well out of his crease, with bat poised aloft ready to send the ball with satisfying thud to the pavilion fence. Handle the willow used by the magnetic Macartney, and you are at once back at Nottingham gazing speelbound on a brilliant display of 345 runs made in 233 minutes—the highest score ever made by an Australian in England. Recently I held the bat with which Trumper made his three last centuries in first-class cricket (writes J. G. Bridges in an Australian exchange). Here is an historic blade. It was brought to Australia after the triangular tournament In England in 1912 by E. R. Mayne, former International cricketer, but Mayne found that it was too heavy for him. “It will do me,” said Trumper, who broke it in with 201 not out for New South Wales against South Australia, 138 against Victoria, and 126 in his testimonial match. During that testimonial game Mayne expressed a wish to have the bat and said that he would present Trumper with another. During an interval. Claude Bantock, the comedian, and Austin Diamond, the batsman, asked Mayne for the bat. “No hope,” was the reply. “I wouldn't take £IOO for it now.” When Bantock explained that they wanted to raffle it to swell the testimonial fund, Mayne agreed. Bur the authorities would not permit raffling, even for Victor Trumper, and the bat remains a cherished possession of Edgar Mayne. Stories of Trumper. Among the countless stories of Trumper's sterling quantities as a man is that of an incident which occurred during his testimonial match. During the tea interval, which interrupted Trumper’s second innings, he was noticed handling a heavy, crude-looking bat “with a back like a camel.” Clem Hill said:—“What have you got there, Vic?” “Oh, it’s a bat I want to use.” The bat had been sent to him by a boy in the country with a request that Trumper should use it during the great match; and Trumper. always doing kindly deeds without fuss, continued his innings with the crude piece of willow. Old-timers who played with him early in his career as well as those who enjoyed more of his company on the field still sigh when the mention the name of Trumper. Jack Worrall tells many stories Indicative of his warmhearted qualities. That great hitter Jack Lyons, when he heard of Tramper’s death, described him as "the poet of cricket, the grandest fellow of all." Giffen and Warner always lauded this genius, whose magnificence as a batsman was equalled only by his modesty as a man. Yet he had one aversion—it was the boaster. This aspect of his character Is preserved in an imperishable story. A young bowler about to meet Trumper in a club game had been saying that he had perfected a delivery that would get Trumper's wicket. Unfortunately for the bowler the story was told to M. A. Noble tells that a number of people journeyed to the ground to see the bowler make good his boast, and excitement was Intense as he took the ball. Trumper hit the first ball to the fence, and the next four out of the ground. From 10 balls Trumper hit 50 runs in 51 minutes. The bat which Trumper, used on that occasion is another of Mr. Mayne's souvenirs. Dazzled the World. Macartney was the next Australian batsman to dazzle the world, and until his retirement a few years ago the very appearance of his name on the scoreboard on any English ground sent a buzz of excitement through the crowd. It was in 1921 that Macartney played his record innings at Nottingham. The bat, chosen by Mayne for Macartney, is now in Mayne’s possession. An inspired innings had given Macartney a double century, and Mayne, believing that he then intended to throw away his wicket, grasped a glass of water and hurried out to "the middle" to advise Macartney to make an attempt on Armstrong's record of 303 not out. “That's all very well,” said Macartney, "but there are 24 more matches to play." “Well, stay in your crease and hit 4’s,” said the tempter. Macartney yielded, and later he was again urged to stay until he had passed MacLaren's 424, until then the record score in important cricket. Macartney agreed again, but at 345 was given 1 b w to a palpably wrong decision, which the wicket-keeper readily admitted.

On this bat are recorded his large scores of the season. On Macartney's bat, with which he made more than 2.000 runs in the 1912 tour, is recorded the century made In each Innings of the match at Sussex. In appreciation of this feat "Ranji” gave Macartney a gold cigarette case with a diamond pin, and the two scores recorded on the lid of the case. On the voyage home to Australia this gift was stolen. Mr. Mayne’s collection includes other famous bats. There is the one used by A. E, Stoddart in making what was in his day the world’s record score. This was present to Mayne by Benjamin Warsop, famous as a batmaker. The bat used by Mayne in the record firstwicket partnership with Ponsford of 456 for Victoria against Queensland and one presented by Dr. Grace to a Gloucestershire player for having made 100 are In the collection, and with them the stumps used in the 100th Test match* between England and Australia at Nottingham in 1921. But most treasured of all his souvenirs is the bat used by Trumper in the testimonial match. “Money cannot, buy it,” says Mayne.