Cricket 1882

SEPT. 21,1832. CRICKET; A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME 290 - M c P 7 I Y I M 0 N v G 0 £ £ I P ^ They are the abstracts and brief chronicles of our time.— fTamlet. ________ ______ ______________________________________ O nly a few days more, and cricket—in England, at least—will be over for a few months. Fast shortening days and grounds plentifully Besprinkled with dew rob the game of much of its enjoyment. September cricket in the best of weather lacks most of the attractions it offers in June and July. This year, though, there has been such an additional amount of bustle and excite­ ment consequent on the heavy programme of the Australians that generally, I am in­ clined to think, cricketers will proceed to hybernate with less of regret than usual. The cricket season, like linked sweetness, has been long drawn out. It would be a poor attempt at pleasantry to ask Murdoch or any of his Australian comrades, the majority of them leg-weary or footsore, whether at this moment they are particularly fond of the game. T alk in g of the Australians, what a flutter there is among some of the leading spirits of the team with regard to their positions in the batting averages. There is little chancc that Murdoch will be wrested from the first place, but in all probability it will be a good race between Massie and Horan for the second berth. It would be more in the fitness of things if Horan, who is accounted the second best batsman in the Colonies, were to gain second honours. As Murdoch and Massie both hail from New South Wales, I should like to see Victoria have a fair chance of distinction. I h ave not seen it in print, but I am given to understand that in addition to a valuable trophy offered by Mr. Enoch Taylor, of the firm of Enoch Taylor and Co., o f Sydney andMelbourne, for the highest bat­ ting average in England, Mr. P. H. Dangar, one of the most munificent supporters of every kind of sport in the Colonies, has promised to give two prizes of the value of twenty-five guineas each for the best batting andbowling averages of the tour. Murdoch has the former well within his grasp, and unless my calculations are wide of the mark Boyle has an excellent look-in for the latter. Boyle has been in a very weak condition during the last fortnight, and this makes some of his recent performances the more noteworthy. Considering, too, that he is the oldest member of the team, he has good reason to be proud of his successes this summer. To quote from a play long out of date, “ Old soldiers, sweet­ heart, are the surest.” The old soldier would have been of some use tiiis season to more than one English eleven that I could name. T his time next week the Australian team will be busy enough with the preparations for then’ journey home. As stated in my original announcement, they leave Liverpool on Saturday week in the Alaska for New York, where they play the first of their two matches on the American continent. On October 11 and two following days they meet a picked American eleven at Phila­ delphia, and according to the Transatlantic papers, the authorities on the other side of “ the ditch” are already hard at work in deliberations on the constitution of their team. I may repeat the information I gave in my notes on August 31, that the Aus­ tralians are due to leave San Prancisco on the 21st of October and arrive at Sydney on November 16. Their opening match at home will be at Adelaide, in the first or second week of December, and, according to present arrangements, they will play the Hon. Ivo Bligh’s Eleven at Melbourne on January 1, Sydney on the 26th, and later on at Adelaide. It is possible that some additional fixtures will be made. I w as one of a select few who saw the first detachment of Mr. Bligh’s eleven off from Gravesend in the P. and 0. steamer Peshawnr on Thursday last. Among those present were Lord Darnley, Messrs. I. D. Walker, C. E. Green, C. W . Alcock, S. S. Schultz, H. Whitfeld, P. A. Mackinnon, and A. F. Robinson, who has been acting over here on behalf of the Melbourne Club, the promoters of the trip. T he travellers consisted of Mr. Bligh, Messrs. A. G. Steel, C. T . Studd, W. W. Bead, and E. F. S. Tylecote, with Barnes and Morley. Messrs. G. B. Studd and Vernon, who leave this morning overland with Mr. C. F. Leshe, Barlow, and Bates, were there, too, to see their companions safely off. At the very last moment cir­ cumstances transpired to prevent Mr. Morton P. Lucas from going, and so at present the team only consists of twelve. I have seen it announced that Mr. I. D. Walker will probably fill the vacancy, but I hear on the very best authority that there is no foundation for such a statement. As a matter of fact, I believe that the question of filling up the vacancy has been left to the Melbourne Club, and that the decision will rest with that body alone. I t may be of interest to some to know that the proprietors of the Sportsman have gone to the expense of despatching a special corre­ spondent with the team in the person of Mr. Martin Cobbett, who is well-known in con­ nection with sporting journalism. It is certain that in his hands we shall not have to ponder over such odd statements as that in which Mr. W . W . Bead is represented as a Lancashire cricketer. L ord H a r r is , if my information is correct, is not to winter in England. It is stated on good authority that he leaves London on tho 10th of next month in the Australia for Bombay. A f e w words by way of an appeal for an old and worthy professional. To-morrow and Saturday a match between Town and County of Nottingham will be played on the Trent Bridge Ground for the benefit o f George Butler. Cricketers are proverbially long lived, but there are few still alive who can point to an active record of over fifty years ago, as can Old Butler. According to “ Scores and Biographies ” he did not play at Lord’s until he was thirty-two years of age, when, with Felix, Box, Mynn, Dean, and Bedgate, he represented the fast against the slow bowlers. For many years he had the preparation of the wickets at Nottingham for county as well as other matches. He is at the present time suffering from severe illness, and any one desirous of contributing to the fund now being raised to provide him with the comforts necessary for his advanced age, will be sure of having their donations properly bestowed by communicating with Mr. F. G. Spybey, Long-row, Nottingham. I notice the name of my old friend, A. H. Stratford, whilom of Middlesex, as one of the International eleven to represent Canada against America next month. It may be interesting to the many cricketers who knew him over here to learn that he is now described as A. H. Stratford, of Winni­ peg. According to the Canadian Cricket Field there are two other Englishmen in the team—Messrs. A. Browning, an old Cantab who bears the distinction of having made 204, the largest score in Canada, and Mr. IH. T. Smith. The latter, according to the same paper, used to play for Sussex. The family of that name is so large that a dis­ tinguishing mark might be of advantage in tracing some of its members. W ho is going to succeed Capt. Holden as Hon. Sec. of the Notts County Club ? It is no longer a secret that the captain intends to vacate the position at the end of the financial season. Mr. B. G k e e n sends me the following in reference to the twenty runs made by Bon­ nor from one over of Mr. Lucas at Scar­ borough :— “ In your last issue, in speaking of Bonnor’s hitting, two sixes and two fours from one over of Mr. Lucas’s, it is stated that nothing to equal it has occurred in a first-class match. Allow me to call your at­ tention to the match played on June 1, 2, and 8, 1871, at Cambridge, between the University of Cambridge and Gentlemen of England. Mr. C. I. Thornton on that occa­ sion in one over of Mr. Buchanan’s hit the first ball for six (lost), the second and third each for four, and the last for six.” SpY B E l’s UE3I3'i'Ett OF NOTTINGHAM CRICKET.— Fullscores, analyses, averages, and other particulars. 6Jil., post Tree. Published by F. G. Spybey, 43, Long Row, Nottingham. London Agents, “ Cricket Press,” 17, Paternoster Square, B.C.— [icvr.J