Cricket 1882

SEPT. 7, 18S2. CEICKET; A WEEKLY EECOED OF THE GAME. 275 - > * P 7 r r a t i @ N > G 0 ^ i P ^ They are the abstracts and brief chronicles of our time.— Hamlet. G e n t l e r e a d e r ! It is one of the most p le a sin g fa n cie s o f the polite writer always t o a d d ress th o se whom he liv e s to p le a se as gentle o r k in d read ers. G e n t l e reader, then. Your pardon if I i pause before I inflict on you the yards—I was going to say miles— of correspondence which surround me on the subject of the recent match be­ tween England and Australia. It is the mission of C b i c k e t to rectify abuses as far as it can, to advocate judicious improve­ ments in the working o f the game, and to represent the general feeling of cricketers. But there is a limit. The tone of some of the letters that have been received anent last week’s Australian victory is as doubtful as their utility. To excuse is to accuse. To attribute the defeat o f our eleven to luck is neither sportsmanlike nor just. To belaud the winners at the expense o f our own players is as illiberal. The Australians pulled off the match by grand cricket, and they deserve all the credit due to a great victory. But next time fortune — not luck, mind you—may smile as it has now frowned. The turn of the wheel may bring England once more to the top. Many weeks ago I suggested that there should be tliree matches instead of one of the kind. The Australians themselves were anxious for three such trials. And now some of us are sorry that there is not a chance for our men to regain their laurels. M ebit should always be rewarded, and I am pleased, as far as in my poor self lies, to recognise the ring of the true critic. Among the rubbish which has been pub­ lished in a daily contemporary on the recent match, it is pleasant to turn to one writer evidently thoroughly acquainted with the subject, and possessed of the requisite acumen to analyse fairly the cause of England’s defeat. Make way for Mr. Archibald J. Rockstone, of Upton Manor, Essex (name and address in full, if you please). This is what he says about Spof- forth’s deadly bowling at the close:— With his long, puzzling run and lightning de­ livery rendered indiscernible by a background of moving heads, shifting white paper and cards, mixed up with wafted tobacco smoke, no wonder the batsmen were utterly unable to play his balls, and had to take their chance at a blind block or hit. I have no doubt that if each of the batsmen were asked they would say they could not see the delivery of at least three balls out of the “ demon’s ” overs. How much of hard work, pluck, and go does this bungling old country demolish every year by that effete humbug, “ Mr. Eedtape ? ” I suppose he must have his victims in cricket as well as in war and other national enterprises.—Yours, &c., A rchibald J. B ockstoxe . Upton Manor, Essex, Septemper 1. There is a Beaconsfieldian air about the peroration which is positively sublime. Is the Turnerellian wreath still unclaimed ? Turn we now to a frivolous correspondent. “ A Stygian ” expresses his surprise that no one has as yet discovered the real secret of the Australians’ successes. Is it only a curious coincidence, he asks, that Murdoch is so invariably fortunate in winning the toss ? The ease with which Hanlan pro­ pelled his boat was attributed to some un­ seen and magic appliance unknown to Englishmen. Has Murdoch, “ A Stygian ” pertinently inquires, a coin with two tails ? He says that the Australians always have their tails up. Is this humour ? T he later matches of the Australian pro­ gramme have, after some trouble, been satisfactorily re-arranged. They uare as under :— Sept. 7, 8, 9.—At Scarborough, v. I Zingari. Sept. 11, 12, 13.—At Leeds, v. Shaw’s Australian Eleven Sept. 14, 15, 16.—At Manchester, v. North of England. Sept. 18, 19, 20.—At Kennington Oval, v. Shaw’s Australian Eleven. Sept. 21, 22.—At Glasgow, v. West-of Scotland. Sept. 23, 25, 26.—At Harrogate, v. an Eleven of England. The team, as I was the first to announce some weeks ago, will leave England in the Guion liner Alaska for America. I under­ stand that in the forthcoming match at the Oval the wickets will be pitched across the ground for the first time, instead of, as has hitherto been the custom, opposite to the Pavilion. The experiment will be interesting for many reasons. In Australia, it is worthy of note, the practice of placing the wickets so that the bowler’s arm at one end is in front of the Pavilion is altogether dis­ couraged. A ttention has been so persistently called in C ricket to the imperfections ofthe present system of umpiring in county matches, that it is eminently satisfactory to find a general movement in favour of a revision of the arrangements for the supply of umpires. Before next season I believe the new scheme will be universally accepted. The wheel of reform in cricket moves slowly, I know, but this time I have great hopes. O ne comes upon English cricketers in all kinds of places. A recent issue of the American Cricketer gives intelligence of two players once actively identified with the Marylebone Club. Among the names of a Western eleven just setting out on a tour in Canada, are those of the Hon. W. N. Hood and Mr. A. H. Stratford, of the Wini- peg Club. I take it that the latter is the old Malvernian whose curly bowling was, for a short time, of some occasional use to Middlesex, and who was even more promin- nently known as a footballer in connection withtheWanderers Club. “ The two represen­ tatives from Manitoba) the .Cricketer says) materially add to the strength of the eleven, both of these gentlemen having made ex­ cellent records in the recent tour of the Winnipeg Club in Ontario.” For one, I hope their lines are cast in pleasant places. T he following remarks by one of the Australian eleven concerning Mr. Black­ man’s bowling are taken from a number of the Australasian newspaper to hand by the last mail from Melbourne. They are suffi­ ciently interesting from an English point of view to be reproduced : Blackman, who throws in an undisguised manner, was protested against by Murdoch when a few overs had been sent down, but the clergyman, who captained our opponents, said that Blackman’s delivery was perfectly fair and that he would not take him off. According to tli3 same writer, Murdoch, Bannerman, and Blackham are the Match Committee, on whom rests the selection of the Australian eleven for each game. This fact I stated at the time of their arrival. L ast week, in commenting on th e late “ Ben” Griffith’s four successive hits for six out of the Hastings ground, I asked whether that was the best record. A valued con­ tributor to C bicket points out a more noteworthy feat of old William Caldecourt in a match somewhere about th e year 1830. The indefatigable compiler of “ Scores and Biographies” mentions the occurrence, but does not give the exact game or even the ground. In a match at Watford, behind the Rose and Crown, Caldecourt hit six suc­ cessive balls he received all out of the ground for six. My informant gives the date as be­ tween the years 1828 and 1832, and believes that the match was Watford Club and Herts. Mr. William Ward, he adds, gave two guineas for the ball. Can any­ one give me the precise date a:id name of the match ? ^ ¥ } I E v g C 0 ^ E : B O 0 K ^ (Continued.) ELEVEN DAETS v. SKEGNESS (LINCOLN­ SHIRE). Played at Skegness on August 26, and resulted in a victory for the eleven Dafts by 72 runs. Score : S k egn ess . Martin, st H. B., b R. Fowler, b E. Daft .. 1 7 Jackson, b E. Doft .. .. 11 Mayes, cT . B., b E. Daft 18 Wharram, b R. D aft.. .. a Hammond, c R. A., b E. 5 Goodall, b E. Daft .. .. 0 Barratt, b H. B. Daft .. 13 Robinson, b H. B. Daft .. 4 Harbour, run out .. 8 E leven D afts . C. F. Daft, b Harbour .. 2 E. A. Daft, b Bland .. .. 1 C. F. Daft, jun., c RobinA. E. Daft, b Bland .. .. 0 son, b B land.................. 25 C. Daft, c Martin, b H. B. Daft, c Goodall, b Robinson.................. .. 5 Harbour.......................... 0 T. B. Daft, b Robinson .. < R. Daft, not out ...........103 J. H. Daft, absent .. .. 0 R. P. Daft, lb w, b Har­ bour.................................. 0 J. H. Daft, jun., c Whar- ram, b Bland.. .. .. 1