ONE MAN ONE VALUE.
(A CRICKET REFLECTION.) There is something quite remarkable in the influence which, in a team of talented cricketers, the presence of a single individual may have upon the fortunes of a series of matches. Numerically he is but an eleventh part of the whole side ; but actually, as has been proved over and over again, he represents' something far above his mere fractional value. As a batsman or a bowler he is probably superior to his colieages, yet not to such an extent as to lead the critic to suppose that his loss would be irreparable. And yet it is a little singular to observe the melancholy gap which his absence creates. The present season has witnessed the return of Lohmann to the ranks of the Surrey Eleven. Up to date, although he has been unquestionably useful, aud although there seems to be little likelihood of his being dropped from the ranks of the county which will presumably be again champion, he has scarcely assumed the unique position which he once held. One can remember the time when he was the great piice de resistance of the Oval contingent. From his departure it took Surrey at least a season to recover. In 1693 the side seemed at sixes and sevens, and we are inclined to think that much of their depression was due to Lohmann’s absence.
The greatest instance in all the history of cricket of one man standing in the breach and restoring the fortunes of the fight is Dr. W. G. Grace. When he first appeared upon the scene the gentlemen of England never presumed to have the least chance in their annual battles with the professionals. After his rise to greatness, for many summers the professionals lost match after match. Quite apart from his own unique performances he inspired confidence into his fellow-amateurs : Mr Hornby. Mr Yardley, Mr G. F. Grace, aud Mr Cutaway all got runs, and Mr Appleby and Mr Buchanan took many wickets. So that an extremely powerful side arose, centred about the champion, and won for ten or fifteen years, so long as he was in his zenith—if there be any zenith of a fame so durable as Dr. Grace's. If we trace still further the history of the Gentlemen and Players’ matches, we might almost add additional evidence to our case by pointing out that it was the advent of Shrewsbury which eventually made the difference. He found the professional batting of the seventies in a tolerably poor way. A complete inability to play the leg-breaks of Mr A. G. Steel was especially noticeable ; there were hitters like Ulyett and Selby, but the stars of Daft and Lockwood were on the wane. With Shrewsbury began a new era, during which professional cricket reasserted its old superiority. His loss to Nottingham meant far more ; his absence meant an altered order and consequent contusion. With U niversity teams the case is the same. The value of Mr S. M. J. Woods to Cambridge was felt immediately he went up. Directly he joined the eleven things began to go well at Lord s : without him the team appeared invertebrate and lifeless. Mr C. T. Studd held at onetime a similar eminence on the Lght Blue side, aud Mr F. S. Jackson in the last year of his captaincy. If in University cricket the phenomenon be less noticeable, it is because it is more natural ; there is always an untried element in these elevens, and the aid of some players of proved skill and experience cannot fail of its good effect. In county elevens, where there is bound to be a fairly widespread amount of experience, you would scarcely expect to find one-man teams as often as you do. Ytt an observer may discriminate fairly accurately between elevens of solid aud equally distributed merit and elevens wherein one Triton disports himself among minnows. Gloucestershire, needless to say, is the great case in point. But this summer we have seen it urged against Lancashire that they depend too much upon the defence of Albert Ward, and this despite Mr Maclaren’s runs against Somersetshire the other day. Sussex now place their complete reliance upon Piince Ranjitsiuhji; and when he fails the rest fail contendedly. We would not, however, have it thought that the star of the side must necessarily himself be everywhere successful. That is not precisely part of the programme. The main factor in his worth is his presence and the direct encouragement which this gives to his colleagues. A star has a moral value to the side, beyond his own personal achievements. He stands a living instance of glorious possibilities which he has himself demonstrated over and over again. He has shown that such and such bowling can be made to look amazingly simple ; he has proved that such atjd such batsmen way be readily bowled out. Hence you no sooner find a famous player constituting himself the mainstay of bis side than you discover otner useful and successful cricketers accomplishing feats which the presiding genius of the eleven has rendered possible. Doctor Grace seemed to create batsmen in the old Gloucestershire team. Mr Townsend and Mr Moberley might never have been heard of but for the champion. As it was, they did performances of startling merit on their own account when the Gloucestershire captain himself failed ; Lohmann made bowlers for Surrey ; Beaumont and Bowley aud Lockwood were invaluable men, tiundling from the opposite wicket to Lohmann himself. Energy and enthusiasm are notoriously infectious; but it would seem as though genius itself were capable at times of transmitting sparks of its divine fire to others.
The typical eleven of solid talent is Yorkshire. You may take away any single man there without incapacitating the side. Peel is their most valuable man, perhaps ; but Wainwright and Hirst can be relied upon to be dangerous bowlers, and the batting is good all through. Remove Richardson from Surrey, Mr Sloddart from Middlesex, Prince Ranjitsiuhji from Sussex, Dr. Grace from Gloucestershire, and Ward from Lancashire, and the whole issue of the County Championship would be changed. Possibly this consideration may throw some light upon that misused phrase, ‘ the glorious uncertainty of the game.'
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Graphic, Volume XV, Issue XX, 16 November 1895, Page 617
Word Count
1,037ONE MAN ONE VALUE. New Zealand Graphic, Volume XV, Issue XX, 16 November 1895, Page 617
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