July, 1868. The Wykehamist No. 17. Winchester Cricket
Defeated
The Wykehamist
The Wykehamist’ s Archive
July, 1868. The Wykehamist No. 17. Winchester Cricket
‘ and not disgraced!’ has been the burden sung of every Eton match, save one, for the last nine years; and taking the matches severally, it is possible we have a right to say that it is no disgrace to be beaten any particular year. But hollow defeat, as it has generally been, year after year, and that not always at the hands of very strong Elevens( for we must remember that during these years Eton has won but few matches against Harrow) cannot fail to bring disgrace upon the school that suffers it. It is useless to talk of luck; we may have had bad luck at times, as in the matches of 1862 and 1865, but luck has not lost us all these games. No, there can be no doubt that, from some cause or other, avoidable or unavoidable, Winchester cricket has declined, while the numbers of the School have steadily increased. It is not only in the matches with Eton that we see this; look at the University Elevens. No Wykehamist has played for either Oxford or Cambridge for the last two or three years. There can be no doubt of the fact, and we must look it plainly in the face that now Winchester does not produce as good cricketers as other large schools. It was not always thus; the times have been when Winchester has met Eton, and Harrow too, and gained her share of glory. The times have been when men, who learnt their cricket within the walls of Meads, have been the foremost in the ranks of the University Elevens. Those times are gone indeed, but they may be recalled once more, and the name of Winchester may regain its high place in the cricketing world, the brighter from the temporary gloom which has over-shadowed it. To achieve this should be, and doubtless is, the wish of every true Wykehamist, but we must act as well as wish; if wishing could have won the match against Eton, there is little doubt we should have been the victors. There is enough enthusiasm in Winchester;— for weeks before the match it is the subject of much conversation. We cannot set down our failure to want of enthusiasm. There is, however, in the school at large a want of energy— of an unselfish and patriotic energy that foresees and provides for everything— that is ever willing to give up its own wishes for the public good. It is not that the Captain of cricket does not work his hardest to select and train his Eleven, but the whole School does not really co-operate with him. Take for example the particular instance of cricket-fagging; the great object of which, few will deny, is to improve the cricket of the School, not to indulge the laziness of Prefects. Now, is this object furthered by Prefects, who have no notion of cricket themselves, having Juniors to stop balls for them? You cannot call it fielding, for such Prefects are not likely to teach the Juniors to field. Having no interest in cricket themselves, and simply wishing for amusement, they think it hard to compel the younger boys to do more than run listlessly after the balls, doing no good to themselves or others. Such a system as this only sickens Juniors of cricket, and does not teach them to field. Let them have a small amount of fagging, but during that time let them be made to run and field with all the strength and skill they possess, and then perhaps we shall not see so many catches dropped by the Eleven. It is chiefly in the training of the younger part of the School that we fail; no doubt this has been owing to our want of ground, but the difficulty is, at all events, now done away with for ever. If proper arrangements are made, and sufficient liberty given to Juniors, no school in England will, when our proposed ground is completed, have better opportunities of training, not only its Eleven, but also the younger part of the School. If possible, there should also be a professional for Juniors, who could watch them and put them in the right way of playing, and give them some idea of style when they are small, so that they may not be quite uneducated when they come to the top and are tried for the Eleven. Of course, at Winchester, we sadly feel the want of such men as Ponsonby and Grimston at Harrow, Mitchell and Dupius at Eton; but for the present we must do as best we can without them, hoping some day we may have the like assistance. But, in the meanwhile, let us do our best, and with renewed energy, now that our great difficulty in the way of want of ground is removed, prepare ourselves once more for the struggle, and wipe off the stains of so many defeats, by as many glorious victories. May Lord’ s ground, which has witnessed so many of our former triumphs, be the scene of future victories! But we must not expect to obtain this by sitting idle; every one in the School can help, and should help— non-cricketers, as well as cricketers; let them do so, and let Old Wykehamists no longer have cause to gnash their teeth as they think that the old School they loved so well has become degenerate.