 | Messrs Bat and Ball |  |
33
HEYDAY
I lift my cap to Veteran Time,
Who let me live throughout the years
When lordly batsmen cut and drove,
Surrounded by a ring of cheers!
My youth was mellowed in the sun
Of giants never equalled since,
As Clement Hill, the classic Gunn,
The Cambridge-Sussex-Indian Prince.
Who let me live throughout the years
When lordly batsmen cut and drove,
Surrounded by a ring of cheers!
My youth was mellowed in the sun
Of giants never equalled since,
As Clement Hill, the classic Gunn,
The Cambridge-Sussex-Indian Prince.
How often, when the last became
A ruthless tyrant, and controlled,
At heavy cost, whatever ball
The flabbergasted bowler bowled,
I felt my cricket-driven blood
Make legs and arms and shoulders tense,
Excited by the hammering thud
Of leather on the boundary fence!
A ruthless tyrant, and controlled,
At heavy cost, whatever ball
The flabbergasted bowler bowled,
I felt my cricket-driven blood
Make legs and arms and shoulders tense,
Excited by the hammering thud
Of leather on the boundary fence!
Imperial cricket lived with us
When Ranjitsinhji, swift and slim,
Defended England at the crease
And Victor Trumper countered him.
Their single hope, their single quest,
Was room in Cricket's Book of Gold,
And he that saw their brilliant best
Is finely paid for being old.
When Ranjitsinhji, swift and slim,
Defended England at the crease
And Victor Trumper countered him.
Their single hope, their single quest,
Was room in Cricket's Book of Gold,
And he that saw their brilliant best
Is finely paid for being old.
34
I touch my cap to Veteran Time,
Who gave me those electric years
When glittering demi-gods provoked
Volleys of superhuman cheers.
'Twas then I mellowed in the sun
Of batsmen never equalled since:
The Southland Pride, the Greatest Gunn,
The Cambridge-Sussex-Indian Prince!
Who gave me those electric years
When glittering demi-gods provoked
Volleys of superhuman cheers.
'Twas then I mellowed in the sun
Of batsmen never equalled since:
The Southland Pride, the Greatest Gunn,
The Cambridge-Sussex-Indian Prince!
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