Official handbook of the Forfarshire Cricket Club

In the following year, Forfarshire were not without hope
of strengthening their ranks, and as it turned out, Mr. W. R.
Sharp made his ,first appearance, with his brother,
Mr. R. B. Sharp, along with Messrs J. E. and R. H. Guild,
Mr. R. Scroggie, Mr. D. R. Stewart, Mr. Dan Maclaren, Mr.
F. G. Stewart, and Mr. C. Galbraith, the Club came rapidly
to the front. Three Professionals had each a term with the
Club Keeping, Pullen and Todd-but it was left to Higgins
to thoroughly put the team in working order, and soon the
Forfarshire Club was holding its own with leading clubs in
Scotland. Some splendid players then began to appear in
the Club, all cricketers of undoubted ability—H. B. Gilroy
C. E. Gilroy, P. M. Shepherd, H. C. Bett, T. H. B. Rorie,
J. Welsh, J. N. Kyd, C. T. Godfrey, A. Heggie and others
—and the Forfarshire Club came to be looked upon as one
of Scotland's leading sides. In later years, when chain i
'
plon-
ship cricket was started and professionals introduced, cricket
by Forfarshire was undoubtedly at its height. Many well
known players gradually came to the Club's assistance, there
being a big influx of Public School Players, a few of the
better known being Fred Batchelor and Alex Lindsay, who
have both added many fine performances to the records of the
Club, J. E. McIntyre, G. K. Chalmers, W. S. Whyte, W. Stewart,
G. M. Cleghorn, Andrew Fraser—all players well known to the
public. Another great acquisition to the Club was the appear-
ance of that great cricketer, R. G. Tait. This player was
positively one of the most ' outstanding men in Scotland, and
took part in almost twenty representative games for his country.
He joined Forfarshire in 1909, and up to 1914 had scored
fourteen centuries for his club. His highest scores for Forfar-
shire were 1910, v. Stirling County, 178 not out, and 1911,
v. Clackmannan County, 178 not out, and twice he exceeded
the century against Grange. " R. G." was truly a born
cricketer, and his work on the field at cover point was a feature.
R. G. Tait like many others when the call came for King and
Country did his bit and bore the brunt, and has never again
been able to take an active part in cricket, to which he added
a peerless lustre. During the Great War, Forfarshire members
to the number. of over sixty joined up, and out of that number
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