Cricket 1888

TONE 7, 1888. CKICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. 185 the Hollanders played twenty-two and were beaten. Since then they have made great strides, and now always prefer to play on even terms, even though they are hopelessly over­ matched. Two years ago Mr. W . Rashleigh conducted a team over, but the party onlymade a sho’ t stay; and last August the Newton Blues, a well-known Devonshire team, played a series of five matches. The Newton Blues, who I hear have a similar programme for this summer, are to be followed by more English visitors, so with all this practice a great im­ provement should manifest itself in Dutch cricket. At present, being self-taught, it is in their batting that they show the greatest weak­ ness, and in bowling their greatest strength. Thedifficultiesthe Dutch M.C.C. has to contend with are manifold. The want of professional instruction, the difficulty in obtaining grounds, the lack of patronage, and consequently of funds, are drawbacks that must hamper the progress of the game. The only club which possessed a resident professional last year was the chief Haarlem Club, and they owe this privilege to the generosity of Baron Puyll, the most active patron of the game in the country. Then there arises often a difficulty about the ground. At the Hague, which is the chief cricketing centre, the clubs use the large open space in the Bosch, called the Matieveld. Unfortunately the War Office have a prior claim to the use of this ground, and may at any moment disperse cricketers with an armed force. But to obtain the sanction of the Minister of War is not sufficient. The Ministers of Agriculture and Education, as well as the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, must also be humbly approached before the Campus Martius may be made a playground for civilians. These are only some of the difficulties the Dutch have to contend with in their pursuit of the game, and in the face of such obstacles, it is surprising they should have succeeded in placing the game on suoh a footing as it holds in the country at present. T he following realistic account of the flight of a lost ball has the impress of truth so firmly stamped on it that it will, I feel sure, carry conviction to the most sceptical of C ric k e t readers. The “ leathern truant,” too, sounds well. I recommend the term most respectfully to the cricket scribes who are anxious to vary the phraseology. A few nights ago some of the members of the Braintree Crioket Club were at practice on their ground in Mr. Perry’s field, in Bradford Street, when Mr. Fred Livermore struck a ball with unusual force, and very high; so high, indeed, that no one knew exactly where it went or where it came down, but that it did come down somewhere no one of course entertained any doubt. They searched the field and they searched the hedges, but they searched in vain; the lane leading up to the Castle was explored again and again with no better results. Leave of access was obtained to Mr. Fuge’s garden, but here disappointmentagain awaited the tired “ fielders.” The field is partly surrounded by some very tall elms, and many a glance was directed amongst the still almost leafless boughs to see if the missing ball had lodged amongst the branches, but it was not to be found. Ultimately, however, an old crow’s nest was seen in one of the aforesaid elms, and upon one of the party ascending the tree, there, sure enough, the leathern truant was found, to the no small astonishment of all present. T he instances of two scores of a hundred in a match by the same batsman are, as most C r ic k e t readers are well aware, of the rarest. The cases I can myself recall during a now somewhat lengthy connec­ tion with the game could be counted on my fingers. I do not remember in my experience a more remarkable achieve­ ment in this particular line than that recorded at Oundle School last week. In a match at Oundle on May ‘28 and 29 between the School House and Laxton House, E. A. A. Beresford, playing for the former, scored 102 out of 162 in the first, and 307 out of 484 in the second innings. This feat was the more noteworthy as in each case he was not out. I should think that this performance is quite unique. I see that the School House eleven included H . Sutthery, a brother, I presume, of the well-known Cambridge cricketer, A. M. Sutthery, whom Oundle School can claim to have grounded in the rudiment of cricket. O u e good friends the cricketers of Canada are looking forward with unmixed satisfaction to the visit of the Gentlemen of Ireland this fall. From information I have received from the other side there seems everyreason to believe that the Irish team will be a representative one. Mr. J W. Hynes, the captain of the Trinity College Crioket Club in Dublin, who has been and is the moving spirit in the tour, is, it is said, to have the assistance of a member of each of the University, Lein­ ster, and Phcenix Clubs in carrying out the preliminary arrangements. The following have, my informant states, promised definitely to join the team: 1). Cronin, J. P. Maxwell, E. Fitzgerald, J . P. Fitzgerald, T. Tobin, j . H. Nunn, J. W. Hynes, D. Gillman, F. W . Brown­ ing and F. Kennedy. Messrs. D. N. Trotter, W. I). Hamilton, the well-known Irish lawn tennis player, and J. M. Meldon, have not yet finally decided, though Captain J. Dunn, of the 8th Begiment, who scored so heavily in Ireland in 1886, is almost certain, it is said, to go. M r . L in d s e y , who m anaged the G entle­ m en o f Canada on the occasion o f their visit to England last year, has already m ade the follow ing fixtures in Canada, to w h ich m ay be added m atches at Peter­ borough and Orillia. Aug. 13 and 14.—Gentlemen of Ireland v. Halifax, at Halifax. Aug. 17 and 18.—Gentlemen of Ireland v. Maritime Provinces, St. John’s. From here they go to Boston to play Long- wood Club. Aug. 24 and 25.—Gentlemen of Ireland v. Ottawa and District, at Ottawa. Aug. 27, 28, and 29.—Gentlemen of Ireland v. Canada, at Toronto. Aug, 81 and Sept. 1.—Gentlemen of Ireland V. Toronto Club, at Toronto. Sept. 3 and 4.—Gentlemen of Ireland v. Hamilton and District, at Hamilton. Montreal, it is added, unfortunately cannot arrange a fixture ow ing to the present state o f the ground. A fter the com pletion o f their Canadian programm e the Irish ­ m en w ill go on to the States, and take part in som e m atches in Philadelphia and N ew Y ork before leaving the latter port on their hom ew ard journey. T h e reproduction in C ricket of April 19 from the Sydney Mail of an account of the first Intercolonial match between Victoria and New South Wales, has brought me a courteous communication from Mr. P. Kington Blair Oliphant, one of the twenty-two who figured in that historic contest. Mr. Oliphant, who would like, he adds, to have seen the score attached to the account, writes as follows:— Yonr correspondent has misspelt my name, which was Kington, not Kingston, and he seems to have had curious ideas as to the ad­ vantage to be gained by putting in the adver­ saries first. I was under the impression that Captain Ward, of the Sydney Mint, had captained the New South Wales team, but as your correspondent does not mention his name, I presume my memory has failed me on this point. Anyhow, it is curious to notice the commencement of Australian cricket 32 years ago, when many of the players fieHed without shoes and stockings, ana to remember that in the next generation the Colonists can hold their own with the Mother Country. T he Parsee Cricketers, who are to make their first appearance in public to-day on the Essex County Cricket Ground at Leyton, have been hard at work during the week practising on the ground of the Chiswick Park Club. Mr. Pavri, the fast bowler, owing to an injury to his hand, it is hardly expected will be able to take part in the opening match. The best all­ round player of the party, Mr. N. C. Bapasola, too, was unable, owing to the death of his mother, to leave Bombay with the rest ; and as he will not be here for a week or two, the team will have to play their first two or three matches without him. Of the many notable performances by bowlers which it has been my good fortune to chronicle for the benefit of C r ic k e t readers, I can remember few better than that recorded to Mr. C. Morgan on Saturday last at Streatham. Playing for Streatham against Buckhurst Hill, he bowled throughout the first innings of the latter without a run being scored off him- His analysis read—10 overs (10 maidens), no runs, and four wickets. Of the four batsmen he dis­ missed three were clean bowled, the other caught and bowled. T h e r e are many C r ic k e t readers who will be pleased, like myself, to get news of Mr. C. A. Absolom, the Old Cantab who did such good service for Kent for several summers. Mr. Absolom, who, with the exception of a flying visit to England about the time of the Secretaries’ meeting at Lord’s at the end of 1886, has been abroad for many years, was playing for Staten Island, the premier club of New York, in that city against the Young Americans of Philadelphia, on the 22nd of last month. He was, too, the top scorer on the side, and was the only bats­ man to get double figures (12 and 15 not out) in each innings. He commenced the bowling for Staten Island with Grundy— I presume the professional who played for Warwickshire last year, but did not get a wicket, delivering 42 balls for 14 runs. Staten Island, who only made 36 and 38, were beaten by an innings and 72 runs.