by A. W. Pullin
The best cover-point Tom ever saw was Mr George Strachan, who used to play for Surrey. "You know," said he, " a good big 'un is always better than a good little 'un. Now Mr Strachan could stride nearly as far as ten men and a boy, and I have seen him do some brilliant feats of fielding which would have been impossible to a man of less stature. I found no more willing man in the field than George Dlyett. He would go anywhere or do anything he was asked, and he generally had a joke to enliven us under all circumstances. Eph. Lockwood did the quickest thing in the way of a run out I ever saw. It was against Notts at Sheffield. Alf. Shaw was batting to Eph.'s bowling, and returned the ball terribly hard along the ground. Ephraim got his right hand to it and found it stuck, and throwing it back over Shaw's head, Alf., who had stepped too far out of his crease and could not get back, was run out, Ephraim upsetting his middle stump.
"Oh yes, it is quite true that I once made our fellows laugh when W. G. Grace had made over 300 against us by a remark about having Grace before meat, Grace after meat, and Grace all day. The champion narrates that on that occasion some of our fellows showed a reluctance to bowl after four or five futile trials, and that I said, 'Give me the ball and I'll finish his innings,' and at once sent him three atrocious wides! I daresay 'W. G.' is right—except in the matter of the three atrocities, which I should say is wide of the mark. Anyhow, 'W. G.' cannot get over the fact that I made my only century in first-class cricket off Glo'ster bowling. That -was at Clifton."
It has often been insinuated that the county players of Emmett's day were not exactly as strict on the point of temperance as could be desired. Tom has a strong feeling on the injustice of this insinuation. "I never saw," he says, "one of our fellows come on to the field unfit for play, or not in a condition to do himself justice. When I was appointed captain I appeared before the County Committee and was spoken to about card-playing, ifcc. I told the Committee that, so far as I was concerned, when I had to make a long railway journey I was glad to have a hand at cards,—it was a pleasant way of relieving the tedium of the journey. But I said I would do my best to prevent the men staying up late at nights for the purpose of card-playing, and I did so. I have heard it remarked that I was given to over-indulgence myself. That is absolutely untrue. I could not have played first-class cricket for over twenty years without taking great care of myself."
It only remains to add that Emmett had his benefit in 1887. It realised about ^620. He was engaged at Bradford when he finished with the county, and on March 20, 1889, he took up an appointment as coach at Rugby School. In 1898 he transferred his services to the Leicester County Club.
120
ALFRED SHAW.
AN anonymous historian of Notts cricket, writing in the year 1865, described Alfred Shaw as "a slow, sure, excellent cricketer, giving promise of future greatness." Shaw was then twentythree years of age. To-day he is fifty-eight; and looking back on a career that is closed, one is able to see that the "promise of future greatness" prophesied thirty-five years ago has been abundantly fulfilled. Shaw's most capable contemporary, lUchard Daft, speaks of him to this day as "the Emperor of Bowlers." It is an imperialistic title, but one that few, if any, will question.
Alf. Shaw, to adopt the familiar form in which the cricketing public were accustomed to speak of their favourite, was born on August 29, 1842, at Burton Joyce, a village about five miles from Nottingham. His long cricket career has left him in the enjoyment of excellent health. He has still direct connections with cricket, for he officiates as one of the county umpires, and has charge of the big athletic manufacturers' business known throughout the world as that of Shaw it Shrewsbury, in Queen's Square, Nottingham.
Shaw's bowling was a natural gift, perfected by painstaking study and practice. His initiation into the art of bowling is tersely described by himself in the sentence, "I learnt to bowl on the road at Burton Joyce." When fifteen years of age the men of the district found that he had "learnt to bowl" so well that they sought his assistance in their local engagements. His first essay in serious cricket was made at Grantham, under the following rather singular circumstances :—
"I had an elder brother named Arthur, who was engaged as a professional cricketer at Grantham. He was laid up with an attack of rheumatism, and I went over to see him, with no idea of playing cricket myself or taking to cricket as a means of livelihood. While at Grantham a gentleman asked me to bowl to him at the nets. I did so, and he soon said, 'Why, you can bowl better than your brother Arthur.' As Arthur did not get better that season, I acted as his deputy. The following year my brother went to Glasgow, and I took his post at Grantham. I should then be about twenty years of age.
"I was thought to be doing so well at Grantham that at the end of the season, September 28 and 29, 1863, I was engaged to play with the Colts at Trent Bridge against the County Eleven. The latter were dismissed in their first innings for 41 runs, and I got 5 of their wickets, among them being C. F. Daft, B. Daft, and J. Jackson. In 1864 Oscroft and I were sent to Lord's to play with the Colts of England, when I did well with both bat and ball. On June 13, 1864, I played in my first county match, Notts v. Kent, at Trent Bridge. My chance came in Kent's second innings, when I captured 6 wickets."
It will thus be seen that the fraternal visit to Grantham, which had nothing to do with cricket, was directly the means of enabling Alfred Shaw to lay the foundation of a career that was to make him famous throughout the world.
In the same year that Shaw had his introduction to firstclass cricket, he played for Notts against Surrey at Kennington Oval. His bowling, like that of his colleagues, was not a success, for H. H. Stephenson and Tom Lockyer each made 100, and the Surrey total was 468. Shaw, however, made amends with the bat, for in the Notts first innings he was top scorer with 64. He attributes his non-success with the ball on that occasion to being troubled with a bad knee. His score with the bat suggests that he might have become famous as a batsman also, and on this point Shaw says:—
"I usually could get a fair number of runs, but I used to save myself for bowling. I knew very well a man cannot do the two things equally well; one or the other must suffer. I therefore made bowling my study, and allowed batting to take its chance. I thought bowling would be most useful to me as a professional cricketer, and, looking back now, I do not think my judgment was at fault. When runs were required I endeavoured to get them; if not, I tried to get out. Morley and I often used to get out on purpose, without anybody knowing it. Of course, we did not hit our wickets down—that is a silly game. But men can get out without the public knowing it, and I don't think the public ought to know it."
With the view of showing, as far as figures can show, how great a bowler Shaw was, the following particulars of his work during the 'Seventies may be appropriately introduced here:—
When asked to explain the method by which he obtained such consistent succei-s, Shaw modestly remarked :—
"I don't know how I can explain it. I was always active, and, if I could help it, I never bowled two balls alike. Then I always bowled for my men in the field. I used, too, to try to find a batsman's weak point, and then keep him there— 'stick him up,' as the saying goes.
"I was thought to be very good at a dropping ball, which always appeared to be going farther than it really was. The batsman would have a smack at it, and very often he would miss it altogether or send it into a fielder's hands. I could bowl that ball without any apparent change in the delivery. I really used to bowl faster than people thought I did, and I could make the ball break both ways, but not much. In my earlier days I used to lie in bed studying how to get batsmen out, and that was how I came to be able to break both ways, to cultivate the ' dropping ball,' and so on.
"In my opinion, length and variation of pace constitute the secret of successful bowling. The principle is to keep a batsman playing back and forward. He should never be allowed to play back the whole of an over; he should be made to play forward before the over is done. To make a man play to the pitch of the ball is the
art of good bowling. As to a bowler's endurance, in my case I had an easy roundarm action, and could keep on bowling for hours. I don't know whether it is worth mentioning in this connection, but I may say I was not a smoker. If I try a cigar now it is only in order not to appear unsociable, and I shall consume half a box of matches in keeping it alight
"It has been said that I used to practise through the winters, but that is an error. For several years I never bowled a ball from the time I left off cricket at the close of the season until the Colts' match the following year. Shrewsbury, Gunn, Attewell, Mr Dixon, and others used in more recent years to practise at the beginning of March in a large room we had at Beeston. I found the winter's idleness made no difference to my bowling. As soon as the stiffness wore off I used to bowl as well as ever. Some people need a lot of practice and others very little, especially if they keep themselves in condition."
The man in the ring, who sees cricket through the doublemagnifying lens of the local enthusiast, is fond of narrating wonderful feats which Alf. Shaw used to perform with his accuracy of pitch. There is a tradition in Nottingham that he could pitch on a threepenny-bit, or something smaller—say a pin's point. The writer once got into serious trouble in a hotel in Nottingham for venturing to hint that it possibly might not be the fact that Shaw once broke five saucers out of six when they were placed on the wicket for him to pitch on. The indignation which the mild display of scepticism aroused unnerved him for the rest of the evening. But what says Alf. Shaw himself respecting the extravagant claims of his admirers 1—
"That's all nonsense. I never pitched on a saucer in my life, and never attempted to do so. There are lots of these stories about, but they are not true. What is the fact is that I rarely or never made a mistake as to the way in which I wanted to pitch a ball. Then, when the wicket was good, I used to try to make a spot on the wicket in order to pitch upon it and make the ball turn. When a wicket is very hard you have to try things of that sort. But I never smashed any crockery. I also never tried to pitch on a coin, either a dollar or a groat. Possibly I might have been able to hit a saucer or a sixpence, but it must be sufficient to say that I never attempted to do so."
There is one thing, however, on which Alf. Shaw's admirers are accurate—he never bowled a wide ball.
"Did I ever bowl a wide? Never; never in all my career. Or a no-ball 1 I don't remember that I ever did, though once at Canterbury in a North v. South match, when Mr Thornton ran up the crease I pitched the ball over his head, trying to hit the wicket, and that went for a no-ball. There was one match, too, in which an umpire, whom I will not make known to fame, wanted to no-ball me for knocking the wicket down in the delivery. I and my colleagues objected, so the alleged no-ball was withdrawn."
Alf. Shaw is one of the select circle of bowlers who have taken 10 wickets in one innings. He did this at Lord's for the M.C.C. against the North of England in 1874. Another performance is unique.
"Did you ever hear," says he, "of a bowler being in for the hat trick five times in one match and succeeding twice? I had that experience in a county match at Nottingham. On five occasions in the match I got 2 wickets with successive balls, and on two I got the third wicket and the new hat."
Before leaving the subject of bowling, Shaw's opinion on modern bowling should be given.
"I think," he says, "length bowling now is not near so good as it was. I had not seen much first-class cricket for some time until I went out umpiring, and then I certainly thought the bowling was not so good. Men do not pay sufficient attention to length. Most of them seem to take a long run and bowl the ball as fast as they can. There seems to me to be little science in those tactica Then some bowlers spoil their bowling by trying to break from leg. If a man gives a batsman a certain 4 in each over he will never be a good bowler. One hears occasionally of swerving balls, but the swerve depends very much on the air. It is a very good ball if you can bowl it, but it is a great deal more talked about than seen."
Alf. Shaw made his first appearance in Gentlemen v. Players' matches in 1865. The event is specially noteworthy from the select company in which he found himself. W. G. Grace, Mr C. F. Buller, Mr I. D. Walker, Harry Jupp, and Tom Humphrey all made their debut as English Gentlemen or Players in the same match. As has been well said, "Never before or since has such a galaxy of talent appeared for the first time in any great match." Shaw scored innings of 18 and 8, and took 6 wickets. His last appearance in these matches was at Lord's in July 1880.
Alfred Shaw has been six times to Australia. His first visit was with James Lillywhite's team in 1876. That was the team that had an exciting experience in crossing a flooded gorge in New Zealand on the way to Christchurch, as detailed by the late George Ulyett. Shaw confirms the incident of Tom Armitage carrying a lady through the flooded stream on his back. A Christchurch artist who was one of the members of the coaching party painted what Shaw says is an accurate picture of the incident, and supplied a copy to each of the cricketers who cared to have one at a cost of 30a Shaw still retains his copy.
It was during this tour that the precursor of the great England v. Australia matches was seen. On January 16 and 17, 1877, New South Wales met Lillywhite's team on even terms, and would have been badly beaten had time permitted. Shaw in this match took 8 wickets for 54 runs. It was on this tour, too, that the first Australian victory over an England team on even terms was registered, Australia winning at Melbourne on March 17, 1877, by 45 runs. Further, in this match C. Bannerman scored the first century made by an Australian batsman against an English team. He scored 165, and then retired hurt. Shaw says that early in his innings Bannerman "should have been out to one of my slow ones, but he was missed by Armitage."
In 1881-82 Shaw captained a team that went out under the management of Shaw, Shrewsbury, and Lillywhite, and repeated the undertaking in 1884-85. During this 1884-85 trip an incident occurred that brought into strong relief the real character of Australian "amateurism." Shaw says that before a match could be arranged between his team and Murdoch's Third Team, which had been in England the previous summer, the Australians, though playing at home, insisted upon receiving the same payment for their "amateur" services as that given to the English professionals. The result was, that in order to secure a match the South Australian Cricket Association paid Murdoch's team ^450, this being the same sum that was paid to Shaw's team, though the latter were several thousand miles away from home. The incident has not been forgotten by English professional cricketers to this day, and no one can wonder that they feel keenly the treatment which compels them to come out of the professionals' gate, while the well-paid Australian amateurs emerge in style from the Gentlemen's pavilion.
In 1886 the three players named took out another team, Shrewsbury then being the captain, and the side was considered the strongest that had been sent out to Australia up to that time. The fifth trip was in 1887-88, and proved disastrous to Shaw and Shrewsbury. It clashed with the visit of Mr G. F. Vernon's team, which went out at the invitation of the Melbourne C.C. As might have been expected, the result of the clashing was the financial wrecking of both enterprises. What says Alf. Shaw 1—
"It cost the Melbourne Club about ^4000. Shrewsbury and I dropped about ^2700, and we had every penny of it to pay between us. In our previous trips we had made in all about ^1500, but it will be seen we lost all that and a good round sum to the top of it."
Shaw's last visit to the land of the golden fleece was in the capacity of manager of Lord Sheffield's team in 1890-91.
"That was very successful," says Shaw. "Lord Sheffield did not, however, make a profit out of it, nor did he organise the trip for that purpose. He did it all out of pure love for cricket Before coming away he left ^150 for a shield to be played for annually by the three colonies.
"Speaking now from experience, which I think it will be admitted is extensive, I consider that all these English visits to Australia should be arranged and financed by the English authorities, who ought to place a thoroughly qualified manager
in charge of each tour—a man to whom both the players and the public at home could look with confidence. It may not be known, but it is the fact, that Lillywhite, Shrewsbury, and myself several times said we should have been very glad to have given way to the M.C.C. if they could have undertaken the responsibility of sending out the teams, but they would not, or at anyrate did not, take the projects up. We would have done anything the M.C.C. wished, and always were prepared to do so."
Alf. Shaw spent fifteen years in the service of that great and respected patron of cricket, Lord Sheffield. The engagement terminated two years ago, when Shaw came back to Nottingham to umpire and take charge along with Shrewsbury of the business which they established in 1880.
"I was engaged by Lord Sheffield," says he, "in 1883. The conditions of my engagement were, that I was to have leave to play for my county as long as they wanted me. Then when they left me out I was eligible by residence to play for Sussex, which, as every one knows, I did in 1894. My connection with Notts really lasted from 1864 to 1887. I would have played longer, but they wanted some young blood, and I had to drop out. There is no doubt I should have been useful to Notts pretty nearly up to now had my services been required.
"Lord Sheffield did not want me to play with Sussex, and I did not play for about eight years. My duties were to coach young native Sussex players, and look after his lordship's cricket arrangements at Sheffield Park. He was a real good sportsman, and a grand old English gentleman. His lordship strongly objected to the importation of young players, and no importation into Sussex cricket has taken place with his sanction. Had he favoured such a policy I could soon have got together a first-class team.
"Among the players I discovered and trained were the two Quaifes, now of Warwickshire, whom I found at Newhaven, near Brighton. Generally speaking, I must say the South Coast is not a good district for producing young players. Climatic influences are against them. They have not the dash and vigour which the residents of less relaxing parts of England possess. I used to get languid myself, but the young players whom I coached were tired out even before I was.