Cricket 1882

14 CRICKET; A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. MAY 17, 1882. C R ICK E T & F O O T B A L L CH A L L E N G E CUPS. E nglishmen are by nature so strongly addicted to athletic pursuits of all kinds, that in games like cricket and football they find sufficient interest and amusement to engross their spare time, without any additional inducement in the way of prizes. It is only of late years that amateurs have in many cases added the occupation of what is known as “ pot hunting” to that of athletics; and, happily for the welfare of sport in general, this mania has not gone much beyond running and rowing. Val­ uable prizes are offered for competition at lawn tennis, but as yet the professional amateur is not to be met with in this branch of sport. The desire to carry off these lasting proofs of athletic superi­ ority is a very natural one, and we cannot blame those who are actuated by it. It is rather on the abuses to which it gives rise that we would anim­ advert. The reforms that have taken place in the athletic world in the last two years prove how much unscrupulous runners have taken advantage of the somewhat loose manner in which things were managed, making profit out of what was merely intended to be the recognition of merit. It was found that good runners could only be induced to come to athletic meetings by the offer of valuable prizes, and so large sums were expended at pro­ vincial meetings; and this had the desired effect of attracting first-class runners, many of whom are only too ready to sacrifice the love of sport to simple greed, while, at the..same time, it made it worth the while of the professional runner to at­ tempt mb rosa to enter the lists against the amateur. The reoent legislation of the Amateur Athletic A s­ sociation has put an end to all this; and, in for­ bidding certain forms of prizes and limiting the value of all, the members of that body have shown how they appreciate the mischief done to sport by everything which encoiuages pot-hunting. At the first glance it is not very easy to see why the managers of athletic meetings should b3 so anxious to expend their funds on valuable cup3 to be carried off by strangers. Those, however, who are at all behind the scenes in these matters know, in the first place, that the success of a meeting is measured not so much by the quality of the sport shown, as by the amount of money received for admission at the gate ; and in the second place, that, unless some well-known stars in the running world are among the competitors, the spectators will not flock to the ground as freely as the mana­ gers could wish. In fact, the largeness of the re­ ceipts depends on the amount of the expenditure. This fact has gradually become apparent to mana­ gers of cricket and football clubs, and by the esta­ blishment of challenge cups they have discovered a means of attracting to their grounds not only good clubs, but also great crowds of spectators, each of Whom pays a shilling or sixpence for admission. It would be unjust, as well as untrue, to say that all the challenge cup competitions which now take place annually were started with this object. The Association Cup football matches have done an immense deal of good to the game, by encouraging young clubs and extending the influence of the Association ; while the proceeds of the matches do much to enable that body to carry out its useful work. The Hospitals’ Challenge Cup causes a great ileal of friendly and healthy rivalry between the various institutions whose teams compete for i t ; and though, as tlioso who have watched the matches must admit, it does not do much for the improve­ ment of Rugby football, there is no reason why the strongest hospital during the season should not have something more than mere honour and glory to mark its success. There are plenty of similarcom- petitions with which no fault can be found,the object of which is the encouragement of genuine sport, and which have nothing of the gate-money specu­ lation about them. In London—where football flourished while as yet the game was hardly spoken of in the north of England—hundreds of football matches take place every Saturday during the winter, in which the players have no inducement beyond the pleasure of the game. Very few clubs even possess an inclosed ground, and gate money is only charged as an ex- reption. The rivalry that exists between the various teams lends quite sufficient interest to the match; aud, where nothing is at stake, disputes are almost unknown, and the presence of umpires, who have only made their appearance on the foot­ hill field within the last few year3, is almost un­ necessary. In the north of England, as well as in a few other districts, notably in South Wales, the game is often played in a very different spirit, and at times the anxiety to win leads to much uu- pleasantness. Both the Bugby Union and the Football Association have had recently to make laws, which, as far as London players are concerned, were quite needless. The existence of deliberate unfair play had to be recognised, while playing for money has been prohibited by the latter body. If such things occur in friendly games, it may be imagined how likely they are to be encouraged in matches where prizes are offered to the winners, as in the case of the challenge cup competitions which are now so common in the north. Some of the dis­ closures made during the past season, as well as the disputes that have occurred over matches, show to wiiat extent clubs will go to get together a strong team. Several complaints have been made by Scotch clubs that their leading players have been induced to cross the border and accept situations in England, that they might be qualified to play for north-of-England clubs. The excitement over some matches has been astonishing, and the betting—that greatest curse to all forms of athletics—high in proportion. Under such circumstances the game becomes very different from what it was a few years ago, aud from what it ought to be. Bough and unfair play must come in, and disputes, in which there are plenty of interested spectators always ready to take part, are sure to be of frequent occur­ rence. The club3, it is true, become rich ; but it is sometimes hinted that a good deal of this wealth finds its way into the pockets of the players under the head of expenses. There is no doubt the game as played in the north, is a profitable one ; and to what an extent it is so may be gathered from the fact that we know of one leading club that has been invited to play a match next season against a York­ shire team, the latter offering to pay the expenses of the visitors’ journey to the north, and provide a dinner after the match, in return for which the Yorkshiremen will play them on their ground in London, and not even expect a dinner 1 It must be clear to most people that these com­ petitions do little actual good to sport, while their ill effeots are apparent. They are so successful, however, from a pecuniary point of view, that they are increasing in number rapidly, while in the cricket world similar incitements are becoming common, As yet, neither the Football Association nor the Bugby Union have reoognised their evil consequences, though they have been obliged to legislate for the abuses they do so much to encour­ age. There are, indeed, plenty of supporters, both of cricket and football, who countenance such con­ tests, and who never consider the mischief they may do. It is not long since it was proposed to establish a challenge cup to be played for at cricket among the counties—a suggestion which few of our leading cricketers viewed with any favour. The Surrey County Club offer a cup to be competed for among the clubs in the county; but, as yet, little of the good effects that were expected from the competition have been shown, as it rewards com­ bined strength rather than individual merit, and the much-wanted good bowler has not yet been un­ earthed. That much money has been made by holding competitions for charity cups must be ad­ mitted, and in these cases the end may justify the means: still, there can be no doubt that where prizes are offered, either in cricket or football, the spirit in which the games should be played is changed; and, therefore, every effort should be made by those who have influence or authority to discourage such competitions.— Field. AM ONG ST T H E PU B L IC SCHOOLS. P ublic S chool cricket has played such an impor­ tant part in the history of the game, especially during the last few years, that no record of the season would be considered complete without a special article on the subject. Time was when the professionals of England were so much superior to the amateurs that the annual match between Geijtlemen and Players was the easiest possible thing for the latter, even when they were handi­ capped, as was often the case, to give away con­ siderable odds in point of numbers. But the whirligig of time has indeed brought its revenges. The last decade has wrought an extraordinary change in the positions of the two great divisions into which cricketers are divided. Nothing in this revolution is more noteworthy than the popularity into which amateur cricket has grown of late. The successes of the Gentlemen began no doubt with the appeapance of that bright particular star Mr. W . G. Grace, and it would be unjust to deny that the defeats of the Professionals year after year have been in a great measure due to the strength of his arm and the cunning of his hand. A glance at the history of these matches though will show that by far the bulk of the work for the Gentlemen has been done by those who have learned their cricket at the Public Schools. That they have great advantages is beyond dispute, and every season sees the addi­ tion of new taxes in the shape of increased and improved tuition at the Public Schools for those who show the slightest proficiency in the game. Last year the average of Public School cricket was hardly on the whole quite so good as during the two or three summers immediately preceding, at least there was no phenomenon all-round cricketer like A. G. Steel, no exceptional batsman like C, F. H. Leslie. This season began badly with continuous rain, which interfered very materially with the practice ; but the last week has made amends for the early disappointment, and the different captains have been able to get well on with the task of select­ ing the most promising young players to fill up the gaps caused by last year’s retirements. Considerable difficulty has been experienced in procuring official information with regard to the Eton prospects, but at least we know that five of the eleven of 1881 are remaining. These are H. \V. Bainbridge (captain), W . F. Cave, R. J. Lucas, J. Hargreaves, A. C. Richards, and Hon. C. M. K. Hugessen. Bainbridge, Lucas, and Richards all did excellent service with the bat against Harrow last year, and Richards, after Paravicini, was the best bowler in the team. All these are sure to be useful this season, but the captain will have to look out well for bowling, in which the Etonians have been sadly deficient of late, still we learn from the very best authority that the prospects for the year are encouraging. Marlborough is only one degree more favoured than its great rival Rugby. Besides F. E. Bowe, the captain, there remain none l>ut K. R. Marley and E. H. Buckland. There are four or five new players of promise, but the weather, as at Rugby, has been unfavourable for the inspection of the younger players. In Marley (fast) and Buckland (slow), the eleven will have two tried bowlers to start with, so that in this department at least they are likely to be well represented. Brampton, who so long acted as coach, has given place to Potter, lately identified with Surrey, and a better man for the post it could not be possible to find. The Cheltenham match is down for July 12 and 13, at Cheltenham, that with Rugby on July 26 at Lord’s. The Harrovians have only three members of the victorious eleven of last year left, to w it: Hon. E. W. Ward (captain), D. G. Spiro, andB. Moncrieffe. Ward, who was the wicket-keeper at Lord’s, is a moderate bat. Spiro can bowl a little, and is a very fair bat on hard wickets, hitting well on the off side. Moncrieffe bowled well against Eton in the last match, but is only a moderate bat. Among the most likely new players for this summer are H. T. Hewett, a hard-hitting left-handed bat and a fair