Cricket 1882

180 CRICKET; A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. JULY 27, 1882. C R I C K E T ! L A W N T E N N I S !! F O O T B A L L ! ! First Prize Medal at Melbourne Exhibition, 1880. JAMES LILLYWHITE, FROWD & CO., Manufacturers of all articles used in the above and other Athletic Sports. Speciality for the highest class Goods. Bats specially 6£ft.:oned for hot climates. Price Lists aud all parti­ culars may be had post free. Shippers supplied at wholesale prices. J. L., F. and Co. are the sole Manufacturers of Frowd’s new patent “ Special Driver ” Bat, which drives better, jars leas,and averages 1£ ounces lighter than any other Bat; universally allowed to be the greatest improvement made iu Bats since eaue handles were introduced. Publishers of JAMES LILLY- WHITE’S CRICKETER’S ANNUAL. Manufactory and Ware­ h o u s e -4and 6, Newington Causeway and 73 and 74, Borough Road, London. C R I C K E T . A W e e k l y R e c o r d o f t h e G a m e . THURSDAY, JULY 27, 1882. ‘ ‘ C rick et ” this week consists of sixteen pages ami a wrapper. This is the second enlargement since the institution of the paper. “ Ceiok.i-t ” can be had at W. H. Smith & Son’s Boole Stalii. The first and second numbers are ont of print. T H E A U S T R A L IA N C R IC K E T E R S . No. 13 of “ C k icket ,” to be published next Thurs­ day morning, will contain a portrait and biography of T. W. Garrett, the Australian cricketer. Each following number will contain a portrait and biography of a member of the Australian Team. • >¥ E ^ P g v 0F :^U B ^C I^ IP 5F J 0N < - “ Ciucket” is published at 17, Paternoster Square, London, E.G.. and will be forwarded to any ad­ dress inGreat Britain, for the Season of 11 weeks, including pi esent issue, for 2/4 in time for first post on Thursday Morning. It is requested that Postal Orders (not Stamps) be sent for Sub­ scriptions and Scores. Thzy can be made payable to W. R. Wribht, at the head office, and crossed London and County, Holborn. ‘ ‘ C ricket ” is registered f o r transmission abroad and can be sent, post free, at the regular newspaper rates o f postage to a n y p a rt of the world. Reading Cases for holding four numbers of “ C r ic k e t ” can now be had at the Office, price 2/-. TO ADVERTISERS. “ C r ic k e t ” jrresents an unequalled mediumfo r announcements in connection with the game, as the circulation is already in advance o f any newspaper o f the kind. The scores o f most o f the nrincipal Clubs will appear exclusively in its columns, and there is a'ready a large number o f subscribers, including most o f the lea ling players of the day. “ C r ic k e t ” will be filed too for reference in the Pavilions of all the principal Clubs, and it will thus appeal directly to every class o f cricketer. A limited number of high-class Advertisements will be taken on terms to be obtained o f the Manager. For ordinary Advertisements the charge will be 31- an inch narrow column. COUNTY QUALIFICATION. I t is not easy to understand how there can be any possible difficulty in interpreting the rules which define the qualifications for a county player. The code now in force was the natural outcome of a general protest against an evident abandonment of all the proprieties of cricket. The provision that j a player could represent more than one county during the same season was enough; to warrant a forcible demonstration. As a matter of fact, though, ten years ago there was no written law to define what really constituted a county player, and everyone did much what was right in his own mind. Notoriousinstances there were like Souther- ton of professionals representing in one season the county of their adoption as well as of their birth, and we have, in our mind’s eye, an amateur of eminence who even went so far as to help three different shires during one year. The code of rules drawn up in the Pavilion at Kennington Oval on June 9, 1873, materially cleared the atmo­ sphere of county cricket. It is not only impossible for either an amateur or pro­ fessional to represent more than one county during a season, but the laws clearly lay down the qualifications necessary to give a place in a county eleven. Birth is, as it should be always, a credential, but in the case where a cricketer can claim one county by birth, another by residence, it is necessary that he should at the commence­ ment of the season elect for which he will play, and play for it only that year. So far the law is very explicit, but the rule which regulates the limits of residence is hardly as clear, at least in the final portion. “ A cricketer,” it reads, “ shall be qualified to play for any county in which he is residing, andlias resided for the previous two years; or a cricketer may elect to play for the county in which his family home is, so long as it remains open to him as an occasional resi­ dence.” The rule presupposes two widely different contingencies, and the meaning of those who framed it is evident. Then- aim was to provide on the one hand the necessity of a bonafide residence of two years ; on the other to thoroughly encourage county cricket, by allowing the admission of amateurs, under a third qualification,distinct from either birth or residence. The intention of this family home provision was obvious, and cer­ tain representative cases when the laws were approved were cited where cricketers, though thoroughly identified with a county under this clause, might yet be unable to take part in first-class cricket, either by virtue of birth or actual residence. The second part of the rule has already given rise to a difference of opinion, and the wording is decidedly open to misconstruction. Reading it strictly, there is the provision of a qualification entirely distinct from the other two in no way governed by anything that precedes. A case was adduced last year of an amateur whose father had just been appointed to a benefice in a Southern shire. The contention was that, under the circum­ stances, as this was his family home he was entitled to play, no matter that it had only been so for a few months. The strict reading of the rule, as well as the intentions |of its original supporters, would favour the Jidea that the only aim was to provide: against the illicit introduction of players into a county by means not strictly legiti­ mate. In the case named, it was a perfectly bcna fide claim of a family home, but by a small majority the Committee of the Marylebone Club, the high court of appeal, adjudged on what they considered to be the spirit of the law, and then- .ruling was that the probationary term of two years was as necessary to the family home as to the purely residential qualification. Though we disagree ourselves with the verdict of the judges on this point, it must be admitted that there was no precedent, and the de­ cision was given by a thoroughly responsible body without bias or interest. We are not aware whether any other appeal of the kind has ever been made, but it must not be forgotten that the Committee of the Mary­ lebone Club is the appointed tribunal for the settlement of any doubtful points. Only recently a letter has appeared in a daily contemporary asserting positively that a fast bowler in a northern eleven has no right to play for the county he represents. It is asserted that he returns to his native place to hybernate after the summer’s engagement is over. What are the correct facts of the ease we do not know, but it may be pointed out that the rule provides that a player must have for the last two years had a bona fide and a continuous residence to ensure his qualification. A glance at the rule would apparently make such an explanation superfluous, but we know from actual experience what a hazy idea prevails on this unfortunate subject in many quarters. If there should be any doubt, the Committee of the Marylebone Club are the proper persons to approve or reject an appeal. Moreover it is necessary for the well-being of the game that the laws should be properly and fully carried out. R o y a l M ilit a r y A cadem y v. 6 2 n d R e g im e n t.— Played at Woolwich on Saturday. Academy 2 6 3 (Capt. Hardy, not out, 1 19 ); 62nd Regiment, 139. C ricket at C am bridge . —Some heavy scoring has been recorded in connection with Long Vacation cricket during the past week. On Thursday, Fri­ day, and Saturday, St. John’s and Corpus Long Vacation Clubs m et; Corpus won by seven wickets, scoring 205 and 63 for three wickets against 127 and 140. For the winners, Mr. W. W. Hough, the well-known athlete, made 102 without a chance. On Friday and Saturday Trinity College L.V.C. played Mr. Richardson’s Eleven. Though the former in their first innings scored 357 (G. E. Studd, 289) they were all dismissed for 84 in the second, and Mr. Richardson’s Eleven, who made 236 and 189, won, rather unexpectedly, by 13 runs. On Saturday the University L.Y.O. played Rickling Green. Ridding Green totalled 222 (Rev. H. Wood, 60), and Univer­ sity 164 for five wickets (E. O. Powell, 53). On Monday and Tuesday the Trinity L.V.C. met the Revellers and won by an innings and 153 runs. Trinity 368 (J. E.. K. Studd 110). Revellers, 111 and 104, T he C anadian C r ic k e t F ie l d . — A weekly Record and Review of Canadian Cricket. Published every Wednesday during season except May and September, when there will be only two issues. Advertisements and Subscriptions will be received at the office of “ C rickst ,” the London Agenoy.— : A dvt.