The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 1914. A CRICKET CENTENARY

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2184, 24 June 1914, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 1914. A CRICKET CENTENARY

The celebration of the centenary of Lord's, tho famous cricket ground on which so many great' roatrhes have been lost ji iid won, is a matter of much iateresfc to Britishers in all parts of the world, from many points of view 1814 was a winrisrful year, and so it somes afeo'at that tho year 1-914 is rich in cdntenariea. These include several critical events in tho Napoleonic wots, s-wcti as t)io surrender of Paris to the Allies and the abdication, of Bonaparte. It is the centenary of the writing of The Mar Spanykd Banner; of the birth of iM<ni.Rv, tSto famous historian, who was the author of Tile Em of the Duh.b liepuhtk, a-fitl B,un. : i-;r, (Jolt, of revolver fame, was aiso born in 1814, On July one hwndrcd ' years ago, StfiPHBNSON's locomotive .made its first- run, carrying a, load' of thirty kms v and the same year witnessed the printing of thu London Times by steam for the first time. The year 1814 was also iimd<! fa'wtis by the signing of the Treaty of Ohoi.it so that, Britain and the (Jniteef States are now csnn'.-icniorathig the Hundred Years Peace. The setting apart of Lord's pound for cricket may seem to some people an insignihoant matter when placed alongside the above "ib;. ni epoch-making events in tho jvorlcTe nia't-ofjj but it is

well to bo reminded occasion.,'.illy that war, and industry, science and fitorftturc,' do not monopolise tints 'whole life ol man. All work and no play would mftkc a dull and lopsided. nation, and whether battles have been won on tho recreation ■ grounds of our schools or not, it is quite certain that out-door sports hare done agreat ctesi-i to maintain the physical iituess of the British race. No sporthas done more to make Britishers alert in muicl and strong in body than the national game of wicket. No one is likely to question this. It is, therefore, quite unnecessary to wake asiy •apdogv for fittingly commemorating such m interesting event in the world of sport as the centenary of so famous a battlefield as the present Lord's ground. The celeb'ratioa is to take the form of a wocic of special matches, and His Majesty the Kisg is to honour the occasion by his presence. Though Lord's is now a hundred years old, and a century seems a long span to most of us, yet the game of crickcrt is of mush greater autiqiuty than any special cricket ground. Ko'ono oan say when it eamo ittto existence, Probably it was not invented by anyone, Like the British Constitution, it sitnply grew and developed, and was gradually modified ami improved as it passed down from one generation to another until it reached its present form. l'h& game has fen tracetr back to our Saxon forefather's who are said to have played with a- bent wooden bat, and it is mentioned in the records of the days of Edward I. Allusions are also mr.de to cricket in the literature of tills seventeenth century. One writer gives it rather a bad name by connecting it with Sabbath desecration, "JutMsfc-oiie," he says, "was formerly a Very prophano town, inasirm.ch that before 1640 I have stun raorriee dancing, cudgel playing, stool-ball, crickets, and many other sports openly am! publicity oh tie Loiib's Day,"' Another old publication early in the ■eighteenth century announces that a match "will bo plaid between eleven gejitlemeji of the west part of Kent and those ®f Chatham' for alev-cfi guineas a man." These, records show that the old-time cricketers were no better than they ought to have been, but im> doubt they worthily upheld felio fee traditions of the game which have come down to the present day. Jt still maintains its position as one of the principal national oat-door sports of the British people, and it has become firmly established in the oversea dominions, thoagh it is played in Canada it dees'not seem to < njoy the same amount of popularity there as baseball; but jt has become the chief summer pastime of South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand,' where the average, schoolhoy is more familiar with the names of great batsmen and bowlers than with those great events of history of which ihe_ centenaries are being observed during the present year. Schoolboys may add to the Wiei'riv merit of the World by their "howlers" when struggling with examination papers in, history, geography, er literature, and they may rot even ■Ire able to recite the Ten Commandments without/a ?iii?; Imt most of then! will know something rsbout the brilliant d.ieds en the cricket field pf players like Gihck, TUnjitsinhji. ; i'uv, .1 ESSOP,,, ,IV,'iltS-ER,' '"'TlW'Sll'nt!j • Hill, Trott,' khd Nonr.E. ' This type of hero-worship is a good tiling, for no form of sport does more for the all-roiittd&vefe.proeil.'t of the players thai! cfi-eket.. A young fellow. who wants to ,bfi a first-class cricketer rattgt lead a steady arr.fl wholesome life. He has to learn to discipline himself, so that lie may ba sound in mind and body. He has to Learn to keep cool at critical moments, to practise self-repression, and to place the interests of the team before personal considerations. A cricketer who plays the game in a.ficordance with its best traditions has to undergo a training that should make him a better man and A belter citisscn than he otherwise would have been,