CRICKET ON THE VELDT

Hokitika Guardian, 27 October 1923, Page 4

CRICKET ON THE VELDT

l Leonard ITeiuing in "Daily .Mail.’'.) Living alone in the backv■•.•bit - •'■ ixfy miles from any town, and a two hours' drive to the nearest "dorp" iviiiag'l it lias not always been easy to get a game that J love better than any other —cricket. But I have rarely mi—cd a -. i m-» one makes light of distances in 8: nth Africa—ami 1 have own travelled a thousand miles to see a test mat eh. Among my natives was a you lit whose real name was Xnlatanc, but niwm called ileudr.ks for short. I do:: I'd to teach him to bow!. He was of medium height—v. iry—full of energy t.v keen. .My wicker was a paraffin tin on a box. M v "pitch,” a bit-of an ■ 1.1 road. J explained things to him no wed him where to pitch a good length 1 id: - how in ilolirc-r it—and f iiroini- - i him threepence every .time lie hit the tin when I was batting. A broad grin, showing two rows of perfect white teeth, spread across his face. This was t lore interesting than herding calves at "s per month.

In stride cricket Hendrik' would of-| casiunally he no-balled for throv. ing : I i but I said nothing—all 1 wanted was a - 1 good length ball, and this he gave me.': Tf it was a throw occasionally it was tn- I ' ly what his ancestors had done with to- S I contits perhaps. And so, in the middle j of a hundred miles of veldt, the only | two beings to bo soon at odd hours were j myself, at a parrilin tin, and fiend:iks ; bowling at it j He got three and nineponce off me , the iirst. week. One thing I noticed I was that if over I was away from the farm for half n day or so the paraffin ! tin was a different shape from what il j luul been when I left. But I said noth-; ing—I liked his keenness, and re was certainly giving me tip-top practice. He learnt to vary his pace—learnt breaks: and the “pitch”! Sometimes the ball, came shoulder high. sometimes shot past my foot—-one had to keep cue's eyes open—expect anything. Tiiat threepence a wicket was a great idea—it made us both trv very hard. i

By cart and by ear I would have to travel from IGC to 200 miles for a match but the. game is worth it ; and if, perchance, I knocked up a sroro I knew that it was as much due to Hendriks r.r anything.