Cricket 1884

u CRICKET; A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. f e b . 28, ibm . IMPORTANT NOTICE. T h e P h o p r ii'to e s oi C r ic k e t have found it absolutely necessary in order to meet the increasing requirements of the Paper to engage larger premises. They have therefore taken 41, St. Andrew’s Hill, Doctor’s Commons, E.C., where they intend to erect new machinery to enable them to satisfy the increasing demand for the Paper. T h e next No. to be Published on THURSDAY, MABCH 27, will be issued from the New Offices. Correspondents and the Trade are requested to Note the Address, 4 1 , S T . A N D R EW 'S H I L L , DO C TO R 'S COMMONS, LO N D O N , E .C . N O T I C E S . rtN °, 5 2 , to be Published on MARCH 1 8 8 3—4 laSt W IN T E R NUMBER of The W EEKLY SUMMER ISSUES will commence on APRIL. 17, and ter­ minate on SEPT. 25. Vol. H . of C ricket is now ready. It contains P ortraits and B iographies of Twenty - One cele­ brated Cricketers, together with the most reliable Australian News, P avilion G ossip , Special Articles by Author of “ C ricket F ie l d ,” and the Best Writers on Cricket. To be had of the Manager of C ricket , price 7s. 6 d. C ricket can be had at W. H. Smith and Son’s Book Stalls, and of all Newsagents. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. C ricket will beforwarded by first post after publica­ tion to any address in Great Britain , for twelve months , on receipt o f a Postal Order fo r 6 *. or 5s. fo r Weekly Summer Numbers , commencing April 17. Post Office Orders and Cheques can be made payable to W. R. W r ig h t , at the head office , and crossed “ Londonand County , H olbom .” C ricket is registered for transmission abroad and can be sent post free , at the regular newspaper rates ofvostage to any part of the world. The one remaining issuefo r the Winter is Thursday, inarch 27. A limited number of high-class Advertisements will be taken on terms to be obtained of the Manager. For ordinary Advertisements, the charge will be 3/- per inch narrow column. The next number of Cricket w ill be published on March 27, 1884. C n c i u t : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1884. ••McP7IYIM0NvG^$IP^ The abstract and brief chronicle of the time.— Hamlet. A n o t h e r fortnight and the Fourth Australian team will be busily en­ gaged in the last preparations in an­ ticipation of their departure for Eng­ land. A letter just received from the excellent cricketer and good fellow who will act as manager of the tour, informs me that they are due to leave Adelaide, in the P. and 0. steamer “ Sutlej,” on March 13th, and from another source I learn that their passages have been taken in that vessel. All being well they will ar­ rive in England on or about the first of May, so that they will, in all pro­ bability, have ten days clear to get their land legs before starting on their first match in England, against Lord Sheffield’s Eleven, at Sheffield Park, on May 12. A ccordin g to my informant, the team would not be completed until the end of January, but it is reason­ able to suppose that all the eleven who made such a brilliant show in the match against the combined team, to wit, W. L. Murdoch, A. C. Bannerman, P. S. M‘Donnell, W. Midwinter, J. M. Blackham, G. E. Palmer, H. P. Boyle, G. J. Bonnor, W. H. Cooper, G. Giffen, and G. Alexander will accompany the party. The manager expresses great doubts as to Spofforth’s presence in the team, but is in hopes that Evans will be induced at last to make the voyage to England. With the latter’s bowl­ ing and that of W. H. Cooper, who has always been fairly successful against English players in Australia and is considered to be one of the best fast wicket bowlers in the colonies, in addition to that of the members who have already figured in England, he is of opinion that the attack of the team will be as strong as ever. P ull particulars of the huge score made by the team in their opening match will be found in another part of the paper, and by this time they have no doubt almost completed their preliminary tour in the colonies. Matches at Newcastle and Tamworth at least were down for last month, and fixtures against fifteen of New South Wales, and a combined eleven were to follow at Sydney. Yesterday they ought to have completed Bris­ bane, the second of two matches ar­ ranged in Queensland, and if the published programme were adhered to there would remain only the closing matches against fifteens of Victoria and South Australia, at Melbourne and Adelaide respectively. Their big score against the combined team will increase the public interest on this side in the forthcoming tour, and in proof that there is likely to be quite as much excitement in the doings of the Fourth Australian Team as in any of its predecessors, I may state that I learn on the best authority that en­ quiries have already been received by the executive of the Oval with regard to the allotment of seats for the re­ presentative matches to be played there. S ir W illiam H art D yke is the new president of the Kent County Club. A better selection it would have been impossible to make. The new president, who is an old Har­ rovian, played some years ago for M.C.C. and I Zingari, and has been very prominently and actively identi­ fied with the game for a long time. H e was in 1876 on the committees of both the Marylebone and Prince’s Clubs, and was elected to fill the high office of president of M.C.C. in 1880. Harrovians will knowhim best,though, as a racquet player, and it is a ques­ tion whether there has -ever been his superior at this game. In 1859, ’60, and ’61 he was the Oxford champion, and in 1882 he beat Frank Erwood, then the best professional player, in a home and home match, for £50, each time the best of seven games. “ I n the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” I think the new Baron-Poet Tennyson, might have quite as ap­ propriately finished the sentence with “ thoughts of cricket.” For some weeks past some of the more enthu­ siastic cricketers have been practising on cocoa-nut matting in the neigh­ bourhood of Broad Street, and Saturday last, I believe, was to in­ augurate a course of early cricket on the ground of the Esher Club. I see it also stated that Mr. W. G. Grace has been at work for some little time, so that some players, at least, will not be able to plead a lack of condition or want of practice when the season opens in May. E v e r y o n e will be glad to learn that George Jones, the Surrey profes­ sional, has now thoroughly recovered his health, and will take his place again next season in the County Eleven. Surrey cricketers who re­ member his admirable bowling against the Austrahan team in 1882, when he clean bowled Murdoch each time, can onlyhope that he will be able to show up as well when the colonials visit the Oval on May 19th next. His appearance in the team, in anything like his form of 1882, will consider­ Next Issue of CRICKET will be published Thursday, March 27.