Cricket 1882

a u g u s t 24,1882. CKICKET; A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 245 They are the abstracts and brief chronicles of our time.— Camlet. I t is satisfactory to find that C r ic k e t lias its well-wishers all over the globe. A friend of mine has sent me a commendatory notice from the Melbourne Sportsman, which has the additional merit of being altogether unsolicited. “ The journal in question,” says “ Bails ” in the Sportsman, “ is nicely got up, and contains a great deal of interesting matter." Thanks, Mr. “ Bails.” I make my best bow. W ars and rumours of wars. What a pity it is that the Australians cannot recon­ cile themselves to the decisions of the umpires. Hardly a match but one or other of the team has a complaint to make. And some of them in reality are so ridiculous, as was that of Horan’s when he was caught by Peate at the Oval in the recent Players’ match. Achilles sulking in his tent is not a pleasing picture, and this constant protest against the umpire’s decision is really a little monotonous. W h il e on the subject of the Australians, the statistics of the four leading batsmen of the team may be of interest. Murdoch and Massie have alone, up to the present time, made over a thousand runs. Murdoch has an aggregate of 1,370 for 40, Massie of 1,033 for 41 completed innings. Horan has played in thirty innings for 950, and Ban­ nerman in 40 for 914 runs. The match with Somersetshire finished at Taunton on Tuesday was the twenty-eighth on their programme. Of those they have won 18, drawn seven, and lost three. T he World, I am told, recently published a piece of exclusive intelligence, that Maurice Read had given Barnes ten pounds out of the handsome collection made for him at the Oval in the Players’ match. The story reads nicely, and would be of interest if true, but there is not the slightest foundation for such a statement. It is surprising how philanthropic some people are with the money of others, and in this case they would have voted a good deal of Bead’s little haul away. I take it that the money was given for Read, not so much that he had made a hundred runs, but because he gained the pre-eminent distinction of the highest score against the Australian team, and quite as much because he was a Surrey man. It strikes me that if anyone was entitled to a share of the 40 odd pounds of which Read was the recipient, it was Bonnor. He deserved a big slice. T his is the contribution of a facetious correspondent anent the same matter. I give it verbatim. “ A Read-e r writes: Read’s hat (£41 10s.) was a handy cap and Read-y money, to him especially, as he was run out.” I have more than once protested that this is not the column for frivolities. T he very strong expression of opinion at the Oval on Monday shows really how neces­ sary it is that the questionable style of de­ livery now generally practised, chieflyfrom the impunity the throwing order of bowlers enjoys, should be really and firmly taken in hand. I am not defending the ebullition effecting Crossland’s action produced on the Surrey ground, but at the same time it may do good if it helps to force on the authori­ ties the urgency of satisfying the public mind with regard to the very obvious and frequent infringement of the laws defining bowling. Differences of opinion exist among the best judges as to whether certain bowlers have a fair delivery or not, and it is not my intention to argue whether certain men, known in the slang of the cricket field as “ chuckers,” throw or not. My contention is only that there are many players, amateurs as well as professional, who are notoriously under suspicion, and in the interests of the public, and for the general satisfaction, it is well worthy of the consideration of the Marylebone Club whether some definite action should not be taken to prove the fair­ ness or unfairness of that class of bowlers of which Crossland is the type. It is really useless to urge that the umpires are the proper judges. In the first place, there are few of them competent to decide such a poin t; in the second, the man who would have the courage of his opinions to no-ball anyone, in my opinion has not existed since John Lillywhite. I t is difficult of course to check public opinion, and it is rather a fine point as to whether the persons whose applause is so coveted by sensitive cricketers have not an equal right of expressing disapproval as well as approval. The scene at the close of the innings was much to be reprobated, but if I remember aright very much worse things have been done at such fashion­ able gatherings as Eton and Harrow. But what does the correspondent who rushes into print in yesterday’s Sportsman overtlie signature of “ Castor” mean ? I fear he does not contribute to the general enlightenment. In fact he seems to be a little mixed. , This is what he says :— Although I have been a spectator of «everal of the matches that have taken place at the Oval, I cannot call to mind scarcely one match in which, when the Surrey team was getting the worst of the game, this disgusting ebullition of feeling on the part of the Surrey partisans materially interfered with the comfort of the on-lookers. I h a v e to thank a long list of correspon­ dents for their suggestions with regard to the composition of the eleven to represent England against Australia at the Oval on Monday, but were I to publish all the six­ teen pages to which C ricket is limited would not contain other matter. The fol­ lowing ten have,Ibelieve, all accepted:—Hoi A. Lyttelton, Messrs. W. G. Grace, A. I Lucas, A. G. Steel, with Peate, Ulyetj Barlow, Barnes, and Read, but the elevent place has yet to be filled. Play will con mence at 12 o’clock on the first day, at 11.9 on the second and third days, and stumj; will be drawn each night atO. Thoms hs been chosen by the Surrey Committee one of the umpires. I am asked to stat that a new entrance gate for the specif benefit of the holders of covered seats w: be opened directly at the back of that stan I h av e also to thank the Assistant- Secretai of the Derbyshire Club for the following In C ricket of Thursday you mention a bf being sent 46 yards. Last year at Derby, in t match “ Uppingham Rovers v. Gentlemen of Dert shire,” Mr. Rotherham bowled D. Docker the fii ball, and the bail was sent flying 62 yards. 1 was bowling with the wind, and probably thl helped him a bit. This is about the best record, I shou think, Another letter from “ One wl Played,” this time on the subject of t] scoring by Messrs. O. B. Martyn and 1 W. Dale for the Incogniti against Exmout to which I referred last week. Perhaps you will allow me to correct a few i accuracies in your paragraph of Thursday, and a< a few additional details. The match was playi on August 6 and 7, not August 9 and 10, and t. feat was performed on the first day. Eig wickets had fallen for 200 runs when Dale joini Martyn, and before they were parted they hi added 206 runs in as nsar as could be timed hour and twenty minutes. Martyn only gave o! chance in his 137 after he had completed 1 century, and he was finally well caught from of good drive in front of the pavilion. Dale had thi made 75, and almost immediately after I had gol in the last man time was called. The next moi ing he increased his score to 99, and in runni what.would have been his hundredth run, I —r he—was run out; he therefore carried out his 1 for 99, I have ne\er seen cleaner or better- 1 iir hitting than Martyn’s. The bowling from whr the runs were made was principally profession and quite up to the average, but the wicket fast and true. ---------- M y attention has been called to soi rapid scoring for Somersetshire in the mat against Marylebone Club and Ground i cently played at Taunton. In the fi; innings 160 runs were scored in 52 minute of which Mr. W . H. Fowler had made 1( Bonnor’s 66 in 48 minutes at Portsmouth not a bad performance, also well worthy mention. On Saturday, for the Uppinghn Rovers against Lewes Priory, Mr. S. Schultz went in first and carried out his I for 173 out of a total of 290. As a contrast hear that eleven of the SheffieldDaily Telegra newspaper, in a match against Bakewell August 12, were dismissed for two rui one leg-bye and one bye. I am told tl the ball only hit the bat four times duri the innings. T he Uppingham Rovers have a record which any club might well be proud. T1 have not been beaten during their last th; tours, and their last defeat was at Mi Chester in 1879. Prodigious 1