OUR POLO VISITORS
BY LORD WODEF1OUSE.
THE visits of the American Army team and the Maharajah of Jodhpur's team to this country have added great interest to this year's polo. In previous years we have had occasional visits from one team from abroad, but never before have we been visited by two teams from countries which are so far apart. The American Army team have come over at our invitation to play against a selected British Army side. They have brought over twenty-five of the best ponies in the American Army, one of the conditions of the matches being that ponies must be owned by serving soldiers in each country, and none can be ,borrowed from civilians or anyone outside the Army.. They have brought six players with them from whom they can select their side—Major L. A. Beard, handicap 7 ; Captain P. P. Rodes, handicap 6 ; Captain C. H. Gerhardt, handicap 4 ; Lieut. J. A. Smith, handicap 4 ; Lieut. E. McGinley, handicap 5 ; and Major A. IL Wilson, handicap 5. These players have all been practising together in America throughout last autumn and winter, and by now have had plenty of time to get together and become a thoroughly well trained team. They arrived in this country two months ago, and have been playing at Aldershot in slow games and gradually getting their ponies acclimatized. Ponies coming to this country from America usually take at least two months and sometimes three before they become really acclimatized, and the same thing happens with ponies arriving in the United States from this country. It is very natural. Climatic conditions are entirely different, added to• which ponies take some time to recover from the sea voyage.
The American team came up to London from Aldershot in the last week in May, and have started to play a series of trial matches against the various teams which are . playing in the London tournaments. They have made a very favourable impression on all who have seen them play. In their captain, Major Beard, they have a back of great experience, a fine hitter on both sides of his pony and a tactician of no mean order. He is ably supported at No. 3 by Captain Rodes, who is the hardest hitter on the side and rides with great dash and deter- mination. Major Wilson, who is playing No. 1 at the time of writing, is a light-weight No. 1 mounted on some very fast ponies and extremely dangerous if he gets away with the ball. Both Captain Gerhardt and Lieut. McGinley have been tried at No. 2. The former is a light-weight, quick, and accurate in front of goal. The latter is a stronger player, and hits forward shots almost as far on the near side of his pony as he does on the off side. We shall see in a few days which of these two players Major Beard will select.
The British Army side has already been selected and consists of Captain R. L. McCreery, No. 1 ; Mr. W. S. MeCreery, No. 2 ; Captain J. Dening, No. 3 ; and Major V. Lockett, back ; their two spare men being Captain de Wend Fenton and Captain D. Boles. The McCreery brothers have been playing polo since they were boys. They are very well mounted, go very hard, and are most accurate strikers in front of goal. They should attain the highest honours at polo in a few years' time. They have an excellent understanding of each other's play, and will prove a thorn in the flesh to any back division opposed to them. Those who remember the brothers Rivy and Francis Grenfell before the War will recall a great similarity in their play to that of the `McCreery brothers. Captain J. Dening, on his recent form in India alone, was assured of a place in the side, and he has maintained the same high standard of play since his arrival in this country in April. He is well mounted and hits a very long ball. He forms an excellent pivot for the side. Major Lockett, who has been chosen as captain of the side, has shown excellent form at Tidworth. Since his arrival in London he has unfortunately been under doctor's orders and unable to play in several trial matches. It is to be hoped that he will soon be able to return to the game, as his experience in many international matches will be of the greatest assistance to his side. The selection committee, under the able chairmanship of Colonel-Commandant A. E. W. Harman, are to be congratulated on the result of their labours. They have picked a really good side, and by selecting that side early have given the men plenty of time to get together. The side has played several trial matches in London, with Captain Boles substituted for Major Lockett, and have rendered a very good account of themselves, beating teams with a much higher handicap than their own and winning in most decisive fashion.
The matches will be played on June 20th and 24th, and in the case of each side winning a match a final match will be played on June 27th. Hurlingham Club, where the matches will be played, are providing plenty of .accommodation for the public, and in my opinion we shall see some very close matches and a very high standard of play.
The Jodhpur team, who are also in this country, are really as great an attraction to the polo-loving public as either the English or American Amy team. They went down to Minehead after they arrived in this country and played several practice matches, with the result that the Minehead Polo Club found itself coining money as it had never done before. People poured in from all over the country to see this Indian team play, and I believe Lam right in saying that on one day alone 5,000 paid for admission to the Minehead Polo Ground. Since the arrival of the Jodhpur team in London the polo public has flocked to see them, and I must say I have - never seen any team who have given me greater pleasure to watch. They have brought over five players, Capt. A. H. Williams, handicap 8 ; Capt. Rajah Hanut Singh, handicap 7; Thakur Prithi Singh, handicap 7 ; Thakur Ram Singh, handicap 7 ; and Thakur Dalpat Singh, handicap 7. They have been playing together in India for the last year and are considered the best team in that country. They have brought with them a stud of between sixty and seventy of the best ponies in India, collected with great care by the Maharajah of Jodhpur during the last three years and augmented by picked ponies from the stud of the Maharajah of Patiala. I have seen many studs of polo ponies, including those of the American International sides and the Argentine Polo Federation side, but I have never seen any to compare with that of the Jodhpur side. The ponies are all perfectly trained ; they have pluck and handiness and speed, and most of them are the nearest approach to the perfect pony that any man could find. The majority of them are high-class Walcr ponies, selected with great care on their arrival in India from Australia, and trained in the Maharajah's stables. A certain number are Indian country brcds ; there are a few English thoroughbreds, and one or two Argentines.
The players themselves are all beautiful strikers. In Capt.Williams, who is military adviser to the Maharajah of Jodhpur and who is captain of the team, they have without any doubt the best English No. 2 playing polo at present. He is also a first-class captain who when things are going against his side is able to pull them together, inspire them with confidence and win a match off his own bat. Their team work is far superior to that of any other team in this country, and should be an object lesson to all polo players. All the players are first-class horsemen and have a wonderful variety of shots. They have adapted themselves very quickly to our grounds and appear to play equally well whether the grounds are soft from rain or hard and bumpy. They rarely miss a chance of scoring if the ball is anywhere within shooting distance, and if they maintain their present form they stand a very good chance of annexing most of our open cups.
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