Cricket 1887

124 CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. MAY 12,1887. CR ICKETERS’ ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES. ANNUAL MEETING. The tenth annual meeting of the Cricketers’ Association of the United States was held at the rooms of the Association in the Penn Club Building, No. 720, Locust Street, Phila­ delphia, on Friday, April 16, 1887, at 8 p.m. The Clubs present were represented as follows: Belmont—Messrs. John P. Green, M. C. Work and Charles Green. Germantown—Messrs. F. M. Bissell and W. Brockie, jun. Haverford College—Mr. Henry W. Stokes. Merion—Messrs. E. S. Sayres and W. R. Philler. Oxford—Mr. Alfred Broadhead. Philadelphia—Mr. Gustavus Remak, jun. Pittsburg—Mr. J, E. Schwartz. Seabright—Messrs. Herman Clarke and R. MacGregor. St. George’s—Mr. J. Henry Smith. Staten Island—Mr. Cyril Wilson. Young America—Mr. Norton Downs. The following Clubs, members of the Asso­ ciation, were not represented:—Baltimore, Chester, Delaware, Longwood. A quorum being present, the meeting was called to order by Mr. F. M. Bissell, the President, with Mr. W. R. Philler as Secre­ tary. The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. The Report of the Treasurer, showing receipts of £141.82 and expenditures of $137.72, with a balance of $4.10, was read and accepted and ordered to be filed. The Report of the Executive was then read by the Secretary as follows : April 15,1887. To t h e C r ic k e t e r s ’ A sso c ia tio n of th e U n it e d S ta te s : Your Executive Committee respectfully re­ ports as follows: The central point of attraction during the season of 1886, as in that of 1885, was the tour of the English Gentlemen. The party was organised by Mr. Edward J. Sanders, of Devonshire, who managed so successfully the similar undertaking on the previous year. The team included four of those who came in 1885, viz., W. E. Roller, A. R. Cobb, J. A. Turner, and T. R. Hine-Haycock, with seven others who made, during this trip, their first acquaintance with American cricket grounds, viz., K. J. Key and E. H. Buckland, of Oxford University; H. W. Bainbridge, of Cambridge University; C. E. Cottrell, of Middlesex; Rev. A. T. Fortescue and F. T. Welman, of Somersetshire; and H. Rotherham, of War­ wickshire. Previous to its arrival, this team was regarded by our cricketers as less strong in all departments than that of 1885, but the results showed that paper estimates cannot always be considered reliable—of the eight matches played, seven were won by the Englishmen, in each case by a decided majority, and one was drawn in their favour. The record is as follows : S ept. 1, 2, v. Staten Islan d C lub and G round. E n glish G entlem en w on b y an in nings and 49 runs. Sept. 7, 8, v. O ntario. E n glish G entlem en w on by 8 w ickets. Sept. 11,13,14, v. M ontreal. E nglish G entlem en w on b y an innings and 117 runs. S ept. 17,18, v. N ew E ngland. D raw n. S ept 20, 2 ', 22, v. B a ltim ore C lub and G round. E n glish G entlem en w on by an in nings and 58 runs. S ept. 23, 24, 25, v. A ll P hiladelphia. E nglish G en­ tlem en w on by an in nings and 16 runs. Sept. 27, 28, v. All N ew Y ork . E n glish G entlem en w on by 9 w ickets. O ct. 1, 2, 4, v. A ll P hiladelphia. E n glish G entle­ m en w on b y 6 w ickets. Although these results are sufficiently one­ sided to warrant some feeling of discourage­ ment and perhaps fear that our cricketers had not improved upon their form of 1885, those who studied carefully the play of our men in this series of matches, were satisfied that while our bowling and fielding were as good as in the previous year (although when com­ pared with the English standard not up to what we had thought), our batting had taken a decided step forward. There was no marked evidence of “ dry rot,” and the men played with a confidence and aggressiveness that was noticeable. A careful review of all the matches played during the tour will, we think, confirm this judgment. From a social, as well as a cricket point of view, the visit of these gentlemen was most enjoyable, and the cordial and hearty manner which characterised their acceptance of the courtesies and hospitality shown them, added to the pleasure of entertaining them. The reminiscence of this visit is, however, saddened by the thought that one of them only reached home to die—Arthur R. Cobb, a member of both teams, the embodiment of manly vigor and possessor of the most attractive qualities, was attacked by illness during the return voj'age, and died at his home on November 6 , after a brave, but un­ availing struggle, to retain his hold upon a life which promised so much. The visit of a team of Gentlemen from the West Indies to this country in August and September was very enjoyable. Although the team was not successful, the members of it played good cricket, and proved that they were hard workers and thorough cricketers. After playing six games in Canada, of which they won four, lost one, and drew one, they journeyed to the States. Their first match was with the Merion, which they lost by ten wickets, and in a return match, which was played immediately after the principal match, they were successful by four runs and four wickets. The Belmont match they lost by an innings and 32 runs. The Germantown match they lost by an innings and 88 runs, Germantown piling up 310 runs against them. The Young America match was drawn much in favour of Young America, that club having an innings and 20 runs to the good at the finish, with only three wickets of West Indians to fall in their second innings. They then played Staten Island, and lost by eight wickets. The annual match against Canada was played at Seabright, New Jersey, on the grounds of the new Seabright Lawn Tennis and Cricket Club, on August 13 and 14, Canada winning by 97 runs, this being their third consecutive victory. The Canadian team was a very strong one, while the committee had great difficulty in securing even those members of the United States team who finally played, although every effort was made, and all of the leading players were invited. There seems to be a disposition on the part of the players to shirk this contest, which is not fair to the cricketing public at large, and particularly unfair to the Committee. It is perfectly possible to defeat Canada, but not without the assistance of more of our good players, and it is hoped that they will gener­ ally respond favourably to the invitation of the Committee to play on the team during the coming season. The Halifax Cup contests in Philadelphia were confined to fewer clubs during the past season. The Cup was won by the German­ town Cricket Club, that club having won all of its matches, and the batting cup was won by George S. Patterson, of the Germantown Cricket Club, with the average of 62.83 runs for seven innings, and the bowling cup by W. J. Duhring, with the average of 5.39 for eight innings and 616 balls bowled. The centuries of the season, as reported by The American Cricketer , were as follows :— R . D . B row n, fo r G erm antow n v. M erion (2nd X I’s), 148. G . S. P atterson, fo r G erm antow n v. M erion, 118. B u tler, fo r Staten Island v. R iverside, 112*. B u tler, fo r Staten Islan d v. Canadian I Z., 111. K . J. K ey, fo r E n glish G entlem en v. P hiladelphia, 109. G. S. Patterson, for Germantown v. Young America, 107. Tyers, for Players v. Gentlemen, 106. G. S. Patterson, for Germantown v. Belmont, 100* Cyril Wilson, for Staten Island v. Newark, 100. A. S.Valentine, for Germantownv. Belmont (Junior XI’s.), 100 . * Not out. Some of the matches are not first-class, but the centuries made are included in the report as of general interest. Much pleasure was caused by the announce­ ment in June last that Captain Addison, of the Royal Artillery, stationed at Halifax, would bring a team of British Army and Navy Officers to the United States to play a series of matches. Unfortunately, the officers were ordered to different posts, and the trip was abandoned, much to the regret of all, and particularly of those who remembered a similar team which played here in the tourna­ ment a few years since. The Seabright Lawn Tennis and Cricket Club, having made application in the proper form, was lately admitted to membership in the Association. As will be seen by the report of the Treasurer, there is a balance in his hands of $4.10. Appended hereto are the usual tables show­ ing the club totals and averages, and the results of matches played between clubs in the Association. F. M. B is s e l l , W illia m R. P h il l e r , President. Secretary. On motion the report was accepted and ordered to be filed. The following report of the publication committee of The American Cricketer was then made as follows : P h il a d e l p h ia , April 15, 1887. To the Cricketers’ Association of the United States. The Publication Committee of The Ameri­ can Cricketer respectfully submits its report of the condition of the paper at the close of the fiscal year : April 1,1886, to April 1,1887. R e c e ip t s . From balance carried forward from 1886 .............................................. $21 27 ,, subscriptions......................... 957 00 „ advertising ......................... 250 00 ,, sundries.................................... 4 50 $1,232 77 E x p e n d it u r e . Paid expenditure of paper, printing, postage, &c.—No. 271 to No. 292 —23 numbers ........................$1,205 16 Balance on hand ........................ $27 61 A.J. D . D ix o n , Treasurer. On motion the report was accepted and ordered to be filed. CLUB TOTALS AND AVERAGES. O p p o n e n t s . -o "5 ^ I & 2 s CO o # 3 Sc.2 to C l u b s . 3 o r-H© ■8.2 g * 0 S-i > <u '3 o •-2 <x> <5,3 o .2 c3 i & p <3 Q) i , « ►£ o a >> c3 E h £ a E-t Es <3 P-H ft B a ltim ore............ 735 87 8.44 551 61 9.03 6 B elm ont ............ 1227 68 13.94 1113 89 12.50 8 Chester ............ 82 17 4.82 90 10 9.00 1 D e la w a r e ............ — — ------- — — ------ — G erm antow n ... 1672 101 16.55 819 102 8.02 9 H averford Coll. 157 10 15.70 359 9 17.66 1 L on gw ood ............ 144 20 7.02 100 20 5 00 1 M erion ............ 1032 92 11.21 3363 114 11.96 9 O xford ............ 555 66 8.40 740 73 10.13 6 P hiladelphia ... 494 49 10.08 870 59 14.74 5 P itts ’ urgh 148 20 7.40 151 12 12 58 1 Staten Island ... 452 40 11.30 676 62 10.90 5 St. G eorge’s ... 64 10 6.40 83 10 8.30 1 Y ou n g A m erica 1029 90 11.43 1078 69 15.62 7 Discussion was then had by Messrs. Brockie, Bissell, Green, Wilson, and Philler upon the question of what means to adopt to prevent the playing of First XI. men upon Second X I.’s of clubs. On motion of Mr. Green, seconded by Mr. Schwartz, it was resolved that it is the sense