SF Barnes

[SJS]

Clem Hill provides great comments to the photographs taken by Beldham and he also gives a sketch describing each bowler. It makes for fascinating reading. In speed he talks of Cotter being the fastest of all bowlers playing in the world then EXCEPT Kotze of South Africa, whom he considers the fastest.

I will try and summarise his description of the great bowlers

 

[The Sean]

I was chatting to a bloke the other day who played against Holding in a match in England at a League level or summat.

He fancied himself as a decent player, and was for the standard he played at.

Anyway, the other team has this West Indian playing for them, but this bloke doesn't know who he is.

He comes in at number 3. Looks around the field and sees the keeper is a loooong way back. Thinks this bloke is kidding himself as he pushes off the fence.

First ball - didn't see it - caught the shoulder of the bat, goes through slips for four.

"Hey man, you'll be able to tell your grandkids you hit Michael Holding for four".

Gulp.

Second ball - missed his head by a whisker.

"Just try to stay alive man".

Third ball - middle stump cartwheeled.

Relief.

That's brilliant mate.

 

[SJS]

Richardson :

• In his prime a pre-eminent fast bowler, great pace with a prodigious break-back from off.
• Of all the great fast bowlers he could maintain his speed consistently not just throughout a day but match after match and throughout a season.
• Astonishingly remarkable stamina.
• Deadly off-break - very abrupt and startling.
• He could make the ball break on 'billiard' tops where even spinners wouldn't move it a hair's breadth.
• Little attempt at pace variation or deceptive flight.
• Uneringly accurate, bowled to hit the stumps, never bumped the ball down short !

 

[SJS]

Albert Cotter :

• Probably bowls a faster ball than any living cricketer with the exception of JJ Kotze
• Short, compact, very supple
• Long and free swinging action provides all the pace
• Long final stride, combined to his modest height means ball is delivered from low height making the trajectory very low. Thus his shorter deliveries at that pace do not rise enough for batsmen to take advantage.
• Generally bowls very fast and very straight. Once in a while will bring an odd ball in sharply.

 

[bagapath]

i cant tell you how much i loved these old pictures. thanks SJS and Goughy and other contributors in this thread. amazing stuff!

 

[aussie]

Even if I were a wicketkeeper, which I am not, and brave, which I am not, I wouldn't be standing up to the stumps to a bowler whose action looked anything like this.

Haa, well i'm sure on the video series "Cricket the great-bowlers". Historian David Firth (spell check) does actually say, that he bowled so fast, the amatuer South Africans slips men dropped him a few times & he would get seriously pissed.

Their reaction was he should probably come a field in the slips to his own bowling, hahaha..

 

[SJS]

Coming to keepers standing up to fast bowlers, one must keep in mind that in the early days, the wickets were pretty bad and the ball was more likely to keep low than bounce awkwardly. Keepers felt they had a better chance standing at a distance where they could collect the ball at a decent height rather than have the ball hit the ground in front of them.

Even standing right up to the stumps, which many keepers were known for, was less of a worry at least as far as awkward bounce was concerned though opinion was still divided on whether it was better to stand a bit back and make sure one collected everything safely including nicks or be flamboyant but increase the chance of missing the thicker edges.

 

[zaremba]

Any other photos in the closet? SJS, Goughy, anyone?

 

[fredfertang]

Don't worry Mr Z there are 464 photographs in the book SJS is getting these from so he's only put up a fraction so far

I have to say SJS is a generous and selfless man - unless he has a very smart piece of scanning equipment he's putting a lot of strain on the spine of a valuable old book just to keep us entertained

 

[zaremba]

What book is it?

 

[fredfertang]

"Great Bowlers and Fielders - their methods at a glance" by George Beldam and CB Fry

The iconic photograph of Trumper jumping out to drive comes from the companion volume on batsmen

 

[zaremba]

And what's the companion book called?

And how hard is it to come by copies?

 

[fredfertang]

Coincidentally "Great Batsmen - their methods at a glance"

They are quite common though costly - for some reason the batsmen volume seems to be cheaper but you'll still have to pay £200-£250 each if you went to a dealer

I have heard a rumour that Roger Heavens is going to produce some facsimilies - mind you if that's true my guess is they'll still cost £100 or more each - by Edwardian standards they are very well produced

 

[Goughy]

They are quite common though costly - for some reason the batsmen volume seems to be cheaper but you'll still have to pay £200-£250 each if you went to a dealer

Yeah, it depends on condition. A very quick search finds 1st ed available in 'poor' condition for well under 100 GBP

 

[bagapath]

all too expensive for people like us still dealing in rupees

 

[Indipper]

Brilliant thread. Any Korty pictures mayhaps?

 

[fredfertang]

Brilliant thread. Any Korty pictures mayhaps?

I have read there are no action photographs of Kortright and indeed in his later years Beldam himself expressed the view there were none - that being said Kortright's biographer says this is him in action in 1895 (when he would have been 24) - I have no knowledge of the provenance of the image but am inclined to hope it isn't Korty as if it is then the position of the keeper strongly suggests to me that this bowler is the not the fastest bowler who ever lived at an age when he should be at his peak - that said you can't, as I am sure will be pointed out, make a judgment on the strngth of one photo - after all he may simply be giving a beneficiary four of the mark

Oh and lastly while I am generally about as skilful with a camera in my hand as I am with a cricket bat this particular image is piss poor to begin with

 

[zaremba]

Yeah, it depends on condition. A very quick search finds 1st ed available in 'poor' condition for well under 100 GBP

Just found and bought an "Acceptable" condition copy of the Bowlers & Fielders book for £20

 

[G.I.Joe]

On the subject of cricket images, this has got to be the worst effort by a reputed publication ever:

From the September 2006 issue of the Cricinfo magazine:

 

[SJS]

Don't worry Mr Z there are 464 photographs in the book SJS is getting these from so he's only put up a fraction so far

I have to say SJS is a generous and selfless man - unless he has a very smart piece of scanning equipment he's putting a lot of strain on the spine of a valuable old book just to keep us entertained

Yes. It is an expensive book. I bought mine, in decent condition for 500 USD. And yes it does put a strain on the book since I have a flat bed scanner. I thought long and hard about it and then told myself whats the point in having these pictures if I cant share some of the joy I felt when I first opened the pages of the book with other cricket lovers.

Some of the prices mentioned here are a steal. Be the first to take it. Trust me its worth every penny though for me the batsmen's book was a greater pleasure. You have to look at the action photos of Trumper, WG etc and at least those who come here and talk rot about how those fellows being like club cricketers will be put to shame