SPORTING PIE. By F. B. Wilson. (Chapman and Hall. 15s.
net.)
It is to the amateur clubs that we look for the truest vin- dication of cricket as an exercise and as an art. Mr. Wilson, whose record in amateur games has been notable, has the advantage of being a practised journalist. The atmosphere of his book is always cheerful and sometimes hilarious. At Cambridge he gained half-blues in tennis and racquets and captained the Cambridge Eleven. Since then he has retained his love for cricket,. has played in many matches, and has reported, for the Daily Mirror and the Evening News, many of the principal fixtures of the past few years. He is thus full of anecdotes, good-humoured rather than witty, but of interest to cricketers. Here is an incident of a match in which he played against W. G. Grace. " I was given a bowl in that London County match, and I swear I had W.G. out leg-before. And I did shout 1 The Old Man hit across a slow one, but his good right leg was there and he scooped the ball away from the wicket with his foot. ' Out if I hadn't hit it,' he called out as he shambled up the wicket ; Out if I hadn't hit it.' The umpire's hand was three-quarter way up, but— `That was a hit, not a leg-bye 1' shouts the Old Man to the umpire ; • Signal a hit, not a leg-bye.' And a hit it jolly well was too. But how do you signal a hit ? "
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