Cricket 1883

CRICKET; A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 25 - > # P 7 I Y m i 0 N v G 0 g g I P :} ^ The abstract and brief chronicle of the time.— Hamlet. “ T he revered aslies of English cricket ” are by this time 011 their way to England—-that is, unless something has occurred to alter the date advertised for the departure of at least one portion of the English eleven. According to the announcements which have appeared, the professional members at least were to leave Australia yesterday on their way home. It is strange that no accounts of their doings in the colonies have been received since their match against United Australia at Melbourne on February 16. Their programme included among other fixtures, return matches with New South Wales and Victoria, but no news of any 1ind has so far as I know, reached Eng­ land of these or other engagements sub­ sequent to February 20. That they should have won the rubber against Murdoch’s eleven will be intensely gratifying to English cricketers every­ where. Both on and off the cricket field theyhave thoroughlyupheld the reputation of English sport, and their return with th e ,“ ashes” ought to ensure them an enthusiastic welcome. T he Laws of cricket are at last under revision. A Sub-Committee appointed by the Marylebone Club has been for some weeks engaged over the by-no­ means easy task of elucidating the laws so as to make them fairly explanatory of the game. The incoherence of the existing code has been certainly a reflec­ tion on the legislative body, and the revision might well have been undertaken years ago. As it is, the work of the committee has been confined more to rearrangement and technical additions than to any alteration in the game itself. The new code prepared by the sub- commitee will have to be submitted to the general meeting of the Mitrylebone club in May, and from the care with which it has been discussed there is every reason to believe that it will, as it should, form a complete treatise on the conduct of the game. I have some reason to believe that the laws specially relating to bets ■will be expunged altogether. It is difficult to understand why they have been allowed to remain for so long a blot on the entire code. T alking of powerful hitting, which has found such a prominent place at different times in these stray notes, I am reminded of a feat of Mr. C. I. Thornton, which I do not ever remember to have seen in print until a recent issue of Harrow Notes. A few years ago the big hitter being at ■narrow, was invited to take part in a sixth form game. The OH Etonian, whose grand drive over the Pavilion, at Lord’s, in the Eton and Harrow match of 1866 had not yet been forgotten, went first to the wicket, and, before he left, had hit the ball six times over the elms, and twice far above the topmost bough of the highest tree. When the first wicket fell, the telegraph showed the following :— 129 1 112 This may be fairly called tall hitting. T he sentiments expressed by Mr. H . G. Turner in proposing the health of the English team at the complimentary banquet in Melbourne on Jan. 4, will be read with interest on this side. There is a genuine ring about them which sounds pleasant to English ears. Certainly no one can charge%he Australians with want of gratitude for the lessons they received in the past from the cricketers of the o'd country. Mr. Turner said :— That any gathering such as the present in the Australian colonies was always ready to give anenthusiastic welcome to English visitors—no matter whether they came, likeAnthony Trollope, to pick flaws in the national character, or, like Archibald Forbes, to stir their military ardour. This was ayoung community, and had its aesthetic teeth yet to cut. It had not had time to ac­ climatise its moneyed and leisure class. The people worked very hard at subduing the wilder­ ness, and as a counterpoise to their toils, they turned to sports of various kinds with great heartiness. In cricket particularly they took great delight, and they were ready to receive with open arms the representatives of the game in England, the land that taught them all they knew about cricket. Australians were young and “ cocky.” It was very gratifying to them to read in the Argus about “ marvellou: catches,” “ perfection of wicket-keeping,” “ cata­ pult bowling,” and “ iron endurance,” but they were apt to forget that they inherited these characteristics from men who, before Melbourne was ever heard of, had made an universal re­ putation in cricket at Lord’s. England was the birthplace of cricket. Eton and Harrow had proved to be admirable nurseries, and the game had been admirably ripened at Oxford and Cam­ bridge. Mr. Murdoch would be especially aware of the fact as regarded the latter place. That English people loved cricket was proved by their sending first-class teams to Australia, and by their reception of the Australian teams sent to the old country. He, as well as everyone else, wished them all the success they deserved, and hoped they would receive a genuine colonial welcome wherever they went in Australia. M ost English cricketers will remember that one portion of the complaint made by the Australian team in respect of their certainly rather brusque reception at Nottingham, in the first match of last season, was that no hotel accommodation had been secured for them by the local authorities.- To judge from the records of the recent meeting of the New South Wales Association, these little civilities are not always strictly attended to even in the Colonies. A t that meeting, E. Hiddlestone stated that when he arrived in Melbourne as one of the New South Wales representatives at the late international match, he and D. Gregory were shown into a room at the Oriental Hotel, about 10ft, by 8ft., with a kitchen chimney going through it. The atmosphere was at fever heat, and failing to find more suitable accommodation at the Oriental Hotel they went across the street to Trump’s Hotel, where they found comfortable rooms. This is all very sad. The captain of the first Australian eleven reduced to the indignity of a room disfigured by a kitchen chimney. It’s really too awfnl. W hat a mine of wealth cricket is in the Colonies! A valued correspondent has kiudly sent me the balance sheet of the recent Inter-Colonial match between Victoria and New South AVales. The figures are by no means uninteresting reading. The receipts were— Ground £922 4s. 0d., s'ands £236 12s. 6d. From this had to be deducted £84 Os. 6d., pay sheet for five days, and as the aggregate expenses were estimated at £277, there was a clear profit of £800 on the match. N ew S ou th W a le s , a Colony rich in such bowlers as Evans, Spoffortli, and Garrett, appears to have given birth to another trundle: who is likely soon to come to the forefront of Australian cricket. For a youngster making his first appearance in a big match, Cleeve’s play in the recent Inter-Colonial between Victoria and New South Wales, seems in­ deed to have been something much out of the common. “ I must not forget,” writes an Australian critic, “ to give credit to young Cleeve for his really magnificent bowling in the second innings. In this, his first Inter­ colonial match, he, though only a mere lad, bowled with a judgment and nerve not excelled even by the experienced ‘ Demon,’ and it is evident that in Cleeve New South Wales has a bowler who, if he sticks to the game, will be a mainstay for his colony for years to come. Garrett, Scott, Allan, Midwinter, Evans, Spof­ fortli, and Bruce all bowled well, but to my mind Cleeve was by far the best of the lot.” No small praise, is it ? The public will be justified in expecting great things from this colonial prodigy. A c o r r e s p o n d e n t whose notion of humour seems to be a little ponderous, sends me what he is pleased to term the biggest cricket break on record. The performance of one B. P. Dickson in a second eleven match between Melbourne and East Melbourne on January 6, certainly deserves a very prominent place among the curiosities of the year. T in Melbourne Leader describes his innings as