CRICKET MEMORIES I have often been asked how the Kearsney cricket of to-day compares with that of earlier years. This is a very difficuit question to answer. The olden days are always the best, in everything! To-day we meet the first teams of the major schools,and we play against men's clubs with players of provincial or even national standard. Long ago we met only the second teams of the bigger schools, but we played (with a little help from the Staff) against men's North Coast teams at a time when there was an abundance of high class cricketers there. To-day we play on turf; in those days on matting only. When we compare our present numbers with the 75 of 1930—and many of them very small boys—there certainly should be no question about the relative strength of the teams. We had only one pitch, and two nets. And yet, some times I wonder! My principal impression of those days is that for variety of stroke play, and certainly for speed of scoring, the players were in advance of our present ones. Scores of over 200 were routine, and sometimes we exceeded 300. Centuries were common. Against this, the tight bowling of to-day, and the vagaries of turf wickets, prevent our boys from indulging too freely. When I first came,the cricket, uncoached, was weak,and the school had few boys to choose from. I well remember that the team hinged very considerably upon Crofton Hopkins. Score books revealed a succession of large scores from his bat, and the majority of wickets came from his guileful fingers. But he had left when I arrived. Naturally one tends to remember more graphically one's earlier days at a school, and perhaps one's own part in the sport. I can't forget, for instance, with what trepidation I made my first appearance with a cricket bat in 1927, and with what relief I was able to indulge in a partnership of 120 with Von Keyserlingk, whose son is at Kearsney to-day. That broke the ice for me, and gave some justification to my efforts to coach for I coached the whole school then, with invaluable help from Mr. Medworth. I think that one reason why the quality of the cricket became pretty good was that Mr. Medworth and I were young and fit enough to be coaching at the nets fivoer six days a week, and in a small school that meant that every boy received a lot of attention. That is why the"prep"schools of to-day can turn out so many excellent young batsmen. At the larger schools, the juniors must play second fiddle, and as Kearsney has no"feeder" prep school, we do not get the chance to create cricketers to the same extent as we used. Thinking back on my first year, when I was finding my feet, one or two memories emerge. 'We had a fine opening pair in Jack Hulett and Dono Coventry, both of whose sons are now at Kearsney. Jack was a stylist who never failed, match after match(and who,two years later, put on 130 unfinished for the opening partnership with Hargreaves, still, I think, an opening record) and Dono was rugged and nearly as reliable. In addition the former was an excellent wicketkeeper, and the latter the opening fast bowler with a sharp off turn. We had one dramatic match against Stanger. Hulett and I had managed to have an un broken partnership of ISO and left Stanger 175 to get in two hours. With such determination did they bat that with 20 minutes left, only three wickets had falien. Then Hargreaves, with tantalising leg-spinners, took five wickets for no runs, and we won a nail-biting match with one minute to spare. One of the real characters of those days was Dick Addison of Darnall. He was a reai Falstaff of a man. His trousers always ended below the bulge of his stomach and no-one knew how he kept them up. Addison was a tremendous hitter, a very cunning spin bowler, and a great personality. One of his large innings was terminated by Mr. Medworth, who took a one-handed catch on the boundary and fell backwards down a thirty foot bank, being severely shocked, but still clutching the ball! Dick was given"out". He died many years ago, I believe. ' " 230
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