Cricket 1883

444 CRICKET; A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME n o v . 29, iss3. £5,000, should more than pay the expenses of thetrip. Thenwhat becomes of the profit on some 23 matches more, including five against York­ shire, two against Notts, against Gloucester­ shire, Middlesex, M.C.C. and Ground, &c. ? Though they might not have got such a large percentage as the first Australian Eleven, yet if you compare the two programmes you will see that the last team played nothing but good eleven a-side matches. You further say, “ It was in Australia that the Australians, in a few matches with the Hon. Ivo Bligh’s team, cleared as much aa they had during the whole of their tour through England.” On inquiry I find the amount received from this source was about £2,500, or divided amongst 14, say about £180 per man, which makes, ac­ cording to their own admission, £450 per man —not a bad sum for an amateur cricketer to make in six months. One other point I should like to touch upon. You state that the Australians only received 50 per cent, of the gates at home, whereas English Elevens coming here get from 85 to 90 per cent, of the grounds and a good percentage of the stands. But it must be borne in mind, firstly, that the teams from Engl'nd (with the exception of Lord Harris’s and the Hon. Ivo Bligh’s) have been either got out by speculators here, or were English profes­ sionals on their own account, in either case with the avowed object of making as much money as possible. Secondly, the number of matches to be played in Australia is only about half of what can be played in England, and as the only matches that really pay are those played in Mel­ bourne and Sydney, if the clubs in those places asked 50 per cent, we should never have English teams at all, as they could not pay expenses. Let the Australian Elevens make as much money as they can, but not come whining to the public about their not making enough. The matter is purely one of business, and if they can­ not make satisfactory arrangements to them­ selves, why, nobody wants them to go home. I am, &a., Melbourne, Sept.,7. X. Y. Z, Sir,—In your issue of the 15th inst. appears a letter signed “ X .Y .Z.” doubting the accuracy of figures published in the Australasian of Septem­ ber 1 , in connection with the visit of the late Australian Eleven in>England. Now, Sir, if “ X.Y.Z.” will send his card to your office (the same to be endorsed by you), I will give him the opportunity of looking over the books of the team, on the understanding that he will withdraw his insinuations in your next issue, providing he finds them in keeping with the figures already published by you. Enclosed please find the card of a member of the team. I am, &c., Sept. 19. A. B. C. Sir,—Having availed myself of the offer made, by “ A.B.C.” to look through the books of the late Australian Eleven, I have much pleasure in stating that I am quite satisfied that the figures published in your issue of the 1 st inst., as to the profit of their English tour, are correct. I am, &c., (X. Y. Z.) A. P. R obin son . Melbourne, Sept. 26. RULE X. To t h e E d it o r o f “ C r ic k e t .” S ir , —There is a good deal of discussion going on among cricketers just now about the dubious delivery of certain cricketers. One bowler’s action in particular, has given rise, not only to considerable argument, but in some places to disturbances. Unfortunately, he is not by himself in this matter of throwing. There are other players all over the eountry who are imitating his system, and unless the evil is promptly suppressed the present manli­ ness of our national game will soon become a thing of the past. The only way of checking the evil is by in­ serting the amendment of Lord Harris to Rule 10 , but would it not be much better if the amendment read as follows—“ The ball must be fairly bowled, not thrown or jerked, and if the umpire at the end opposite the bowler be of opinion that the delivery is not absolutely fair, he must call ‘ No Ball.’ ” The wisdom of the above will at once be seen, for the umpire standing opposite the bowler has a much better opportunity of judging the actions of the bowler than his partner at the other end. If bowlers really want any help, I would suggest that Rule 22 read as follows— “ Or, if with any part of his person he stop the ball, which in the opinion of the umpire would have hit his wicket, whether it be pitchedin a straight line or not, 1 -b-w.” Also, I think it would be much better if in Rules 12, 13, 15, 16, and 46 the word “ must” was inserted instead of the word “ shall.” Rule 501 think should read — 11 The umpire must take especial care to call 1 No Ball ’ in­ stantly upon delivery, ‘ Wide Ball ’ as soon as it passes the striker.”—I am, &c., Calverton, Notts, J . S teven so n . Nov. 12. A F E W A U S T R A L I A N M EM S . THE AUSTRALIAN TEAM OF 1884. To t h e E d it o r o f “ C r ic k e t .” D e a r S i r , —Having seen an announcement in the papers that the Secretaries of the different Counties and Clubs will shortly have a meeting to arrange matches for the season of 1884, and that the Australians are again giving us another visit; I should like to suggest that at least three matches be arranged to be played against them by the full strength of England, say one each, at Lord’s, the Oval, and Old Trafford, and, previous to the matches taking place, let the English team be chosen, and play two or three trial matches against some eleven selected by the M.C.C. Committee. These would be interesting, and enable the players to get into form of playing together well, and no doubt win back the disgrace they brought upon us last year at the Oval.—Yours, &e., “ A n xio u s to W in .” Nottingham, November 21. [You will see three England matches will be played as you suggest.— E d .] SIDMOUTH CLUB. This prominent Devonshire Club again had a very successful season, not having lost a match, while those that were drawn were most of them greatly in favour of the Club. BATTING AVERAGES. Matches played, 12; won, 8 ; drawn, 4. Not Most in Inna. out. Runs, match. Avet Thornton, Rev. R. T........... 10 .. 2 .. 521.. 201 .. 65.1 Manson, E ............................... 3 .. 0 .. 94 .. 42 .. 31.1 Gutt<?rez, G. G....................... 5 .. 1 .. 118 .. 63 .. 29.2 Pattinson, H. A .................... 3 .. 1 .. 57 .. 31 .. 28‘1 Thornton, A. J ....................... 11 .. 1 .. 257 .. 62 .. 25.7 Thornton, W . A................... 9 .. 0 .. 207 .. 76 .. 23. Hiae-Haycock, T. R............. 7 .. 0 .. 150 .. 96 . 21.8 Copleston, Rev. J................ 4 .. 0 .. 86 .. 41 .. 21.2 Hine-Hayeock, R. W ........... 6 . . 2 . . 4 7 . . 17 . . lo i Quinton,!'. D........................ 6 .. 0 .. 77 .. 46 .. 12-5 Dawes, Longivorth E ........ 3 .. 1 .. 25 .. 25 .. 12.1 Godfrey, C. J. M ................... 4 .. 0 .. 84 .. 26 .. 8.S Many other members scored well for the Club, but did not play in more than two innings; their averages, therefore, are not given. Midwinter, it is said, has decided to throw in his lot with the East Melbourne Club, and the Jolimonters, as the members of that society are termed, are in consequence much elated. Percy Lewis, of Ballarat, a young bats­ man of great promise who played excellent cricket against Mr. Bligh’s team, has also joined East Melbourne. The first Inter-colonial match of the season between Victoria and New South Wales is fixed to commence on Boxing-day, on the Melbourne Ground. Mr. W. H. Cooper has again been selected to choose the Victorian teams. G. E. Palmer was elected to serve on the Committee of the South Melbourne Club. W. L. Murdoch is on the Committee and Selection Committee of the Cootamundra Club. It is said that there is every prospect of another “ Oval ” being secured to cricketers at Adelaide. The corporation have agreed to allow a portion of the South Park lands to bo devoted to this purpose, and parliamentary sanction is not likely to be withheld. H. F. Boyle ^ook an eleven to Dandemong Victoria, on Sept. 22, to play Sixteen of the District as an opening match. The scores were: Boyle’s Eleven, 98 and 15 (for two wickets); Dandemong, 69 and 54. G. Alexander made 53 of Boyle’s first score of 98. Boyle himself opened the season with a duck’s egg. In Dandemong’s first innings W . H. Cooper took ten wickets for 41 ; in the second, E. Tur­ ner 9 for 28 runs. The first draw for Messrs Boyle and Scott’s Cup took place in Melbourne on Sept. 25, and has resulted as follows :—Yarra Yarra v. Hot­ ham Union, Northern v. North Fitzroy, Star of Richmond v. West Sandridge, Victoria United v. Grosvenor, Emerald v. Parkville, South Mel­ bourne Brittania v. Queensberry, Capulets a bye. The Dandenong Club withdrew. H. H. Massie was recently appointed one o the auditors of the New South Wales Cricket Association. At the annual meeting of the Melbourne Club a bonus of £200 was voted to Mr. G. Alexander in recognition of the highly satisfactory manner in which he managed the arrangements of the tour of the Hon. Ivo Bligh’s Team. The first century of the Australian season was scored at Melbourne, on Oct. 6 , by J. Lowe, who made 107 not out for the Fitzroy Club against the Jubilee Sixteen. Mr. C. W. Beal, the Manager of the last A u s tra lia n Team, was recently re-elected Hon. g 6 c. of the Albert Club, Sydney. The annual report of the Melbourne Club shows that for 1882 and 1883 the sum of £2,600 lies at the credit of the club, and that the receipts exceed, those of previous years by more than £ 2 , 000 . This was principally ascribed to the visit of the Hon. Ivo Bligh’s Eleven. The Melbourne Club now numbers 1,500 members, and nearly 100 candidates await ad­ mission to membership. The veteran, Sam Cosstick, has been recently appointed caretaker of the West Maitland Cricket Ground, in New South Wales. Cosstick was born &t Croydon, in Surrey, on Jan. 1, 1836, but he has been mostly identified with Australian cricket, and as a bowler did excellent service for many years. N e x t Number of CRICKET will be published Thursday December 27*

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