232 IDLEHURST : 



five Brighton players, nominal members of the Arning- 

 ton club, who come out for a day in the country and 

 the good of their averages. The standard of play is 

 raised, of course ; but the system must injure local 

 cricket ; and surely the village grounds ought to be 

 the nurseries of county fame. The Vicar of Tyefold, 

 a neighbouring parish, does something in the right 

 direction with his Institute, but lacks the authority of 

 accomplishment. When I have seen him on warm 

 Wednesday afternoons wiping his glasses after being 

 bowled by three successive balls, or sending down 

 his highly popular lobs, I can only be sorry for a 

 lost opportunity. He tells me his matches are some- 

 times rather melancholy work. The boys are apt 

 to prolong the interval promenading with cigarettes, 

 or even visiting the Green Man ; they are on occasion 

 mutinous ; and are apt to regard the outing more than 

 the game. 



While Bob was with us, a match was arranged 

 between the Arnington second eleven and Buckfield 

 Down, a hamlet a few miles to the north ; and Bob 

 and I were included in the Arnington team. When 

 I last played at Buckfield, a good many years ago, 

 cricket there had a touch of originality. Two brothers, 

 whose daylight crafts of fettling and ratcatching 



