"Well," said Z, "cricket has never interested me. But then my range is very
narrow."
"And mine's even narrower," sighed X.
"If it weren't for QUAIFE," said Q, "I should be in despair and play
nothing but a quiet game of quoits now and again."
"H may have that long string," said W, "but he breaks down badly here and
there. Where's his six-foot-six left-handed bowler and bat? He hasn't got
one. I have, though, in WOOLLEY. And where's his master of the game,
practical and theoretical, in a harlequin cap? The wisest captain any
county ever had and the most enthusiastic and stimulating? In short, where
is H's P.F. WARNER, whom we're all so sorry to lose, but who had such a
glorious farewell performance? Where? Ha!"
"I claim a share in the Middlesex captain," said P proudly. "For is he not
a Plum? I hate to see him go, but I shall not be fruitless; look how PEACH
is coming along."
"And who owns the All-English Captain, I should like to know?" said the
deep voice of D. "Not to mention a DENTON and a DURSTON and a DOLPHIN and a
DIPPER. It is something to own a DEAN; it is more to possess a DUCAT."
"Isn't life going to be very dull for all of you till next May?" I asked.
"Oh, no," said A, who hitherto had not spoken. "We're going to follow the
English team's doings in Australia. And won't it be A1 when they bring back
the Ashes?"
"Absolutely," I agreed.