Cricket 1883

438 CEICKET; A WEEKLY EECOED OE THE GAME. Nov. 29 , i88§. Sixteenth Year of Publication. T h e l O O T l i A L I . A N N U A L F or 18 8 3. E d ited b y C. W. ALCOCK, Hon See* Football Association. The only Official Organ of the Game PUBLISHED BY THE CRICKET PRESS. I T , P a t e r n o s t e r S q u a r e , LONDON, E.C. C r ic k e t can be had at W . H. Smith and Son’s Book Stalls, and of all Newsagents. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. C r ic k e t will beforwarded by first post after publication to any address in Great Britain, for twelve months , on receipt of a Postal Order for 6s. or 1«. 8 d. for six Winter Numbers (with last issue). Post Office Orders and Cheques can be made payable to W . R. W r ig h t , at the head office , and crossed “London and County , Holborn .” C ric k e t is registered for transmission abroad and can be sent postfree, at the regular newspaper rates o f \postage to an y part of the world. One Copy of Vol. I. is still to be had bound, price 7a. 6<f. It contains Portraits and Biographies of all the members of the Australian Team of 1882, “ Cricketers ofmy Time," by J ohn N yr e n , and a number ofinterest­ ing arttales by the best writars on the Game. The remaining issuesfor the Winter are Thursday Deo. 27. Thursday, Feb, 28, „ Jan- 31. ,, jviar. 28. A limited number of high-clasa Advertisements 'will be taken on terms to be obtained of tbe Manager. For ordinary Advertisements, the charge will be 3/- per inch narrow column, The next number of Cricket w ill be published on December 27 . © v t c t t t t : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1883. The abstract and brief ohroniole of the time.— Hamlet. Th e Australian season was just com­ mencing at the time the telegram with the intimation that another team would visit England left the colonies. The ground of the Melbourne Club, at whose invitation the Hon. I y o Bligh’s team went to Australia, was opened on Sept. 2 4 ; but some of the keener spirits had been already hard at work for some time previously, among them our old friends .Bonnor, the giant, and Percy McDonnell. According to the Australasian, these two big hitters, with Kelly, Dickson, and Bruce, whose names at least are known on this side, had been busily engaged at practice long before on a piece of cocoa- nut matting laid down on the hard ground in Richmond Paddock. The forthcoming visit of the Austra­ lian players is likely to prove a fruitful subject for conversation among cricketers for some little time. It is amusing even now to find how thoroughly well posted every one is in the composition of the team and yet how materially the dif­ ferent lists vary. Whoever comes it is the general hope of those who remem­ ber the visit of the second party of Aus­ tralian cricketers, that the manager of that tour will represent the interests of the Colonials next summer. The mem­ bers of Mr. Bligh’s team were highly gratified at the pleasurable nature of their relations with Mr. G. Alexander, who managed affairs on behalf of the Mel­ bourne Club. All were deeply impressed with the deep interest he took in every­ thing that could conduce to their enjoy­ ment. It is satisfactory, too, to find that the Melbourne Club did not allow his managerial ability and sterling business qualifications to pass unrewarded, and a sum of £200 was unanimously voted, F e l i x , in the Australasian, says that: He thoroughly [deserved the handsome bonus which the outgoing committee recom­ mended, for throughout his wanderings with the Hon. Ivo Bligh’s team he undoubtedly proved that he was the rightman in the right place, and I know that every member of the English team had a good word to say for him. H a r r o v ia n s , both past and present, will be glad to hear that Mr. Percy M. Thornton, the Hon. Sec. of the Middle­ sex County Cricket Club, whose ‘ ‘ Foreign Secretaries of the Nineteenth Century” proved so successful, in engaged on a history of his old School. He is desirous of collecting information con­ cerning Harrow cricket from the earliest records to the year 1838, when all the archives are said to have perished in the fire which destroyed the Head Master’s House. Any communication addressed to Mr. P. M. Thornton at-the United University Club, Suffolk Street, W ., will be thankfully received. A p a r a g r a p h has appeared in some of the sporting papers to the effect that Lord Harris intends to take an amateur eleven to Canada next season. Such an announcement is calculated to mislead the cricketers of the Dominion, and I am requested to state that it was made with­ out authority. As a matter of lact no English team will visit Canada under Lord Harris' command as reported. I fancy" that English players will have had quite enough of cricket, what with the Australians and our own fixtures, before the season here is concluded, to satisfy them for the year; T h e Committee of the Marylebone Club are naturally so desirous of en­ couraging full discussion on the draft code of rules introduced last season for the consideration of the cricket public that the opinions of capable and practical critics are sure to be heartily welcomed. For this reason the Editor of C r ic k e t has found space for the comments of “ Felix,” in the Australasian newspaper, one of the best, if not the very best, sporting papers in the Colonies. As I believe I am right in identifying “ Felix ” as T. Horan, the well-known Victorian player, who was a member of the first and third Australian Teams which visited this country, his remarks are at least entitled to great respect, and I commend them to the notice of M.C.C. “ C r ic k e t e r s throughout Australia,” writes ‘‘ Censor,” in the Sydney Mail, ‘ ‘ will be glad to learn that Mr. D. W . Gregory, who so worthily Captained the first Australian Eleven in their memorable tour, has been promoted to one of the highest positions in the Civil Service of New South Wales. He is now Inspector of Audit of that Colony.” I am sure that every Englishman who remembers the Captain— “ and a right good Captain, too ”— of the Australian Team of 1878, will echo “ Censor’s” congratulations,and wish him good luck in his new office. I see that the employees connected with the Audit Department entertained the new Inspector at a picnic on September 22, as a mark of their appreciation of his promotion. I h a v e to thank the proprietors of Boyle and Scott’s Australian Guide for their courtesy in forwarding me an early copy of their interesting annual. The inter-change of visits between the players of the Old Country and her Australian Colonies has made a study of the cricket of the New World a necessityfor English writers, and to them as well as to the public for whom they cater, Boyle and Scott's Guide will be of great use as well as interest. Among the chief contents of a well printed volume of over 200 pages are: Hints on Batting by W . L . Mur­ doch, Cricket in Sydney by “ Censor” of the Sydney Mail, Hints to Junior Bowlers by H. F. Boyle, and a readable article on the Belative Merits of English and Australian Cricket. A m o n g the new players who are likely to be included in the Australian team to visit us next summer, one of the most promising, at least in the opinion of many of the best judges of the Hon. Ivo Bligh’s party, is William Bruce, of Yic-