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| Sunday,13 November 2005 |
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Helmet used by fielders more in early days by A. C. De Silva The helmet, it seems, had been used by the fielders in cricket matches just as much as the batsmen. So, the use of the helmet is something that is nothing new to the game of cricket. It is on record that the helmet was very much in vogue in the early days and in 1899 in India in game played between two military sides, the fielders wore their helmets to protect them against the sun rather than as a protection from being hit by the ball. One man rushed to catch a skier but lost track of it; the ball then plummeted down and lodged on the spike of his helmet. In Ceylon, as the country was then known, in 1898, in a match between the Combined Royal Artillery and a Royal Engineers XI, another fielder misjudged a skier and the ball crashed through his pith helmet. In both these instances the batsman given out because neither helmet had been used deliberately. To be dismissed is a disaster for every batsman. Even is he has already scored a century, there will always be commentators and spectators more than willing to say that he should never have get himself out like that. Any dismissal through a defensive stroke is humiliating, no matter what the circumstances, for it is a concession of victory to the bowler and the opposition. To counteract the public shaming of a dismissal, many batsmen have contributed to the evolution of a set of popular phrases for explaining away their failures at the crease. As yet the wisdom of this collection has not been published, but each year it grows ever larger through oral transmission alone. Popular themes include diabolical umpiring, rotten pitch, misplaced sightscreen, dazzled by boy with mirror, verbal intimidation by wicketkeeper, and many many more. Surprisingly, though, some batsmen do have genuine reasons to feel aggrieved. Shirt caught him During a match at Attleborough, Norfolk, a batsman shaped up to slash a ball through the slips. Second slip took evasive action and turned his back but the ball struck him at the back of his neck and dropped down inside his shirt. First slip retrieved the ball and was duly credited with the catch! Equally unfortunate was the batsman who was dismissed off the bowling of H. Leahy in a match against the London Club Maurice C.C. He hit a lofted drive in the direction of long-off. The fielder, running in, misjudged the ball which hit him on the head and rebounded 15 yards to the bowler who completed a fine caught and bowled chance. Strange inducement To hit one's own wicket is an exceptionally disastrous way to be dismissed, as well as being a gift to the bowler who never intended such an outcome. However, there must have been something about Tich Freeman's bowling which actually induced batsmen to hit their wicket. In 1921 in the match at Lord's between Middlesex and Kent, three of the first four in the Middlesex first innings were out 'hit wicket bowled Freeman'. What was more Patsy Hendren, the Middlesex No. 4 and Freeman's third victim, had also been out hit wicket in the away match at Canterbury three weeks earlier. Since, at Lord's he was dismissed during the first over he faced from Freeman. Hendren had therefore been induced to hit his wicket twice within the space of six deliveries. The gods were assuredly with R. N. Burchnall in the Harrow Vs Winchester match of 1965. He was struck on the head by a bouncer which knocked his cap off his head onto the wicket where it hung without dislodging a bail. Burchnall went on to make 141. Dick Horsfall of Essex was also fortunate to evade dismissal in a 1957 match with Glamorgan. He was hopelessly stranded when a fielder threw down the wicket at his end. But the observant umpire had seen the bails removed by a gust of wind a split second earlier, and quite correctly signalled not out. M. P. Donnelly of Warwickshire had the distinction of being bowled by a ball which broke his wicket from the rear. In the match against Middlesex at Lord's in 1948 a ball from Jack Young hit Donnelly on the foot, bounced over his head, landed behind the wicket and spun back and removed the bails. Retired dead "Retired hurt" is a frequent occurrence and of course as an uncompleted innings. This was some consolation to Danish all-rounder Erik Madsen during a Forty Club match at Odense in 1976. The umpire, who also happened to be a doctor, had already given Madsen out caught behind when he noticed that the batsman was suffering some physical agony. Diagonoising that his arm had been broken well above the glove, the umpire reversed his decision and Madsen retired hurt. The decision to retire is usually a batsman's own. Although the seasons are often bizzare. Scorebooks in existence record. J. Williams of the Dorset Rangers as having 'retired hot' during a match at Carcavelos in Portugal in 1981, and J. Southerton of Surrey as 'retired thinking he was caught' in a match against M. C. C. and Ground at the Oval in 1870. Southerton had skied the ball and set off immediately for the pavilion, partly in disgust at his poor shot and partly because he thought he was certain to be caught; when the chance was missed, he refused to return-but in any case it is more than likely that he would have been run out. Perhaps the most tragic retirement story, if it happened, is of the batsman who faced a tearaway fast bowler on a fiery pitch. The ball flew off shoulder of the bat, struck the batsman on fearful crack on the temple and was caught by the wicket-keeper. His appeal was upheld but the batsman lay dead in his crease. After he had been carried off and the game abandoned, someone in the pavilion mentioned that the doctor had reported death as instantaneous. This sparked off an immediate cricketing debate. The batsman had obviously been dead before the catch was taken. Could he therefore be dismissed after his demise? The majority view was that the scorebook should be revised to read 'retired dead'. H. J. Heygate had not into his stride before he was given out in a match between Somerset and Sussex in 1919. Sussex lost their ninth second innings wicket with the score level but Heygate, their No.11, was sitting in the pavilion in his civvies. Crippled with lumbago he had earlier decided not to bat, but was sportingly invited by the Somerset secretary to go in to try for the winning run. He was helped on with his pads and after taking off his waistcoat and watch chain, he proceeded slowly to the wicket. By the time he arrived, well over two minutes had elapsed. A Somerset fielder appealed and the umpire was forced to refuse Heygate his innings and send him painfully back to the pavilion. The match was declared a tie. Out twice to same ball If there is a greater humiliation than being so obviously dismissed that no-one even bothers to appeal, it is being out twice to the same ball. This happened to Gilbert Parkhouse in England's first innings Vs New Zealand at Wellington on the 1950-51 tour. Facing Tom Burtt, he was given out lbw but as the ball then trickled onto the stumps and dislodged a bail the umpires instructed the scorers to record the dismissal as 'bowled'. Andy Ducat was also doubly out in the Headingley Test of 1921 against Australia, his only Test appearance. A ball from fast bowler Ted McDonald broke his bat and a splinter fell on his wicket; at the same moment Jack Gregory took the catch at slip. The official verdict was caught Gregory bowled McDonald'. Another batsman with little to complain about was H. Charlwood in a match for United South of England Vs United North of England at the Oval in 1870. He played a ball into the air and set off for a run. Reprieved the fielder drooped the chance so he turned for a second run. Reprieved, the fielder seized the ball, threw it and Charlwood was easily run out at the wicket-keeper's end. At the same time the other umpire was signalling one short. Charlwood had failed to make his ground at either end. Signed own doom Not all batsman dismissed in usual ways can claim misfortune, and some indeed bring disaster upon themselves. In a regimental match at Simla in 1901 Capt. Onslow had made 23 when he was beaten by three consecutive deliveries. This blow to his confidence and, more importantly, his pride led to a suitable expletive; at the same time the good captain stamped his foot. Unfortunately for him it was the only one behind the crease at the time, and as his foot left ground the fast-thinking keeper, M. O. Tandy, whipped off the bails for an impressive stumping. Sarcasm was Peter George's downfall in a match between South Woodford Second XI and Walthamstow Second XI in the mid-1960s. He was hit on the pads by three successive deliveries and each time loud optimistic appeal were turned down by the umpire. When a fourth and even a winder ball hit him on the pads, Peter George got in first with his own sarcastic appeal. Up went the umpire's finger and the shame-faced batsman had to go. Six words cost Barnsley's Ken Leather his wicket in a Yorkshire League match against Rotherham in 1980. When his partner's drive appeared to be going over deep mid-off's head, he shouted: "Come on, Martin, it's safe." For this he was given out obstructing the field, the umpire judging that his shout had distracted the potential catcher. |
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