Lord Hawke

Lord Hawke has won the affection and regard of his professionals without for a moment losing his authority. An absolute master he has always used his power wisely. Once circumstances arose that called for swift and severe action. The case will be readily remembered and there is no need to mention names or go into details. Enough that Lord Hawke deemed it necessary to drop a great cricketer out of the eleven, and for the well-being of the side as a whole did not hesitate to do so. In every respect, both on and off the field, he has been the Yorkshire professionals" best friend. To him, I imagine, is due the wise provision that nowadays the great bulk of the money derived from benefit matches in Yorkshire is soundly invested so that the players concerned may have something substantial to fall back upon when their cricket days are over. During his captaincy the system of winter pay has been adopted, and he has devised his own plan of rewarding special excellence in batting, bowling, and fielding. On the question of investing the proceeds of benefit matches he felt strongly, as in more than one case he had seen large sums squandered within a year or two of a benefit being given. If necessary, I could write much about Lord Hawke"s doings at Eton and Cambridge, and his journeyings to various parts of the world where our national game is played. For the moment, however, I am only regarding him as the good genius of Yorkshire cricket. It so happened he was born-on the 16th of August, 1860-in Lincolnshire, but by family ties and all associations he is a Yorkshireman.