The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-03-30

Der of Tit Bits contains the following,
which Will be of interest TO lovers OF
the sport in Honolulu:
AT WHAT AGE IS \ CRICK-ETER
AT HIS BEST?
According to Lord Harris, 20 years
is about the duration Of an average
'-first-ciass" cricketer's life. This
probably may be, true Of some OF the
giants of cricket, but for the majority
10 years would be a more accurate
estimate. the 10 years being from 10 to
"a years of age.
But cricket being a game demand
ing such varieties Of attributes ply
steal and moral, IL must always be a
complex point TO decide at what age
a cTicketer should, in the ordinary
course OF things, be at his absolute
best: for although the youthful crick
eter gains as regards suppleness or
limb. activity of body and quickness
in eye. his youth tells against him
when maturity Of strength, staying
power experience. and absence of ner-
vOusness are considered.
There are, too. so many temptations
chiefly of a social nature-which be
set the lion" of the cricket field, that.
according TO his greatness and popu-
Iarity. so are the chances if his SIAM
ina and nerve being impaired in
creased.
But the best method of all of de
termining the point as to the time OF
life at which a cricketer is at his best
is by examining the records of some
of our greatest cTicketers.
OF course. DIR. w. G.. Grace must be
mentioned first We find that this gen
ius of the cricket field scored 2 .739 runs
in frst-class cricket in 1871, and that
his average in that year was rs. This
was his best year. for he scored more
runs and had higher average than in
any other year of his marvellous ca
reer He also took IS wickets at the
cost Of rs runs apiece. His age was
then %.
There seems. then. to be something
which Driori leads one to think that
when man is 90 his cricket must be
the very best. if ''the Master" after
nearly 80 years crick citing should
have been at the zenith of his powers
at this time. And certainly. when we
look infinitely into other cricketers'
records. the oath year appears to be
one of the best. if not the best, in
cricketer's life.
Prince Ranjitsinhii is now at this
age. and he practically heads the bat
ting averages of the world. and has
achieved the rare feat of scoring over
1000 runs by the first week in August.
A. G.. MacLaTen was % when, last
year. he worried the Somerset bOwlers
TO the tune OF 424. establishing a
worlds record for first-class cricket.
Mr. A +. Stoddart was % when he
scored 4S5. the highest score that mort
al cricketer has ever made. Mr.. L. c.
II Palafret was within a few months
OF his 23d birthday when. with Mr.
II. #. Hewett. he helped to make BAG
for the first wicket-a first-clasS rec
ord. his partner. however. being IS at
the time
Referring to big scores in connection
with age. IL may be mentioned that no
one over thirty has succeeded in max
ing 400 in any match. though j. :.
Carrick was within three months Of
completing his thirtieth year when he
made 419 (at that time a recOrd) for
West Scotland V. PriOry Park. w. y.
Roe was only twenty when he made
AS. which was record for four years.
Besides. with the exception of DIR.
w. c. Grace's 3O1 just made against
Sussex. no one save Mr.. w. w. Read
has ever made over 500 after reaching
the age OF thirty. Also. of the first ten
batsmen who headed the averages last
year only three CIV. c.. Grace, Abel and
WardD were more than twenty-five
years old. Therefore. il may roughly
be said that a batsman is at his best
at twenty-three. or. 10 put il more
roughly. between twenty and twenty
five.
As regards bowling. the age of TWEEN
ty-three furnishes one remarkable in
stance. for Lohmann. in 1888. was that
age when he took over 200 wickets Al
a cost of less than 10 runs each. But
as a rule bowler takes longer TO ma
ture than does a batsman.
There are notable exceptions in the
cases of Messrs. 4. G.. Steel and c. T.
Studd. who performed their most phe-
nomenaI feats when between the ages
of twenty and twenty-three. As would
be expected. the fast bOwlers do not
stay so long as the slow trundlers
]. w. Sharpe and Bowley. of Surrey
both very fast bowlers. were only
great successes in their cricketing
youth. Bowley being practically drop
ned after reaching thirty; while
Sharpe's really great season was 1890.
when there's the fateful year AGAIN. he
was twenty-three-
Martin Mcintyre was most deadly
from 1872 TO 1874. that is. between the
ages of twenty-fOur and twenty-seven
while Messrs. :. NJ. J. Woods and c. J.
Kortrfght bowIed best at the ages OF
TWENTY-FIVE and twenty-three respec-
lively. So much for fast bowlers. for
Richardson is only twenty-siX and
Mold just thirty-ore-the oldest of our
speed" men
Slow bowling however. seems to
take less out of a man. for James
SouthertOn and Alfred Shaw--wo of
the most accurate and effective slow
bowIers that ever lived-were both
really great after forty had been reach
ed. the latter re-appearing after his
fiftfeth birthday. and bowling with