Cricket 1888

D EC . 27, 1888. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 473 and then Kimberley and Cape Town will be revisited in turn, two matches at tlie latter bringing the tour to an end. As at present arranged the team are to leave the Cape about March 13, so that they should be home again early in the follow­ ing month. Through the liberal concession of the Cape Government, Major Warton and his comrades will travel by train at merely nominal rates, and on all sides there is the evidence of a hearty reception in store. The colours of the team are Surrey (chocolate), with Union Jack badge, and chocolate ribbon with yellow stripe. The following is the revised programme as given in the Sportsman of the 15th inst., the day after the team reached Cape Town. Dec. 2 2 1 , 22—at Cape Town.v. Eighteen Western Province District Dec. 27,28, 29—at Cape Town, v. South Africa reservation the following may be accepted as a rough sketch of the tour. After the conclusion of the second fixture at Cape Town, which is to begin to-day (Dec. 27) the order will be for Kimberley. This town, the centre of the Diamond Fields, is distant 647 miles from Cape Town, and the journey by the Western Bailway occupies thirty-two hours. The Diamond Mine at Kimberley is one of the show places of the world, and the members of the team will find plenty to interest them there. Moving on from Kim­ berley the next point will be Johannes­ berg, in the Transvaal, which is 298 miles away. The coach will have to be taken to complete this journey, and two days and a half or three days will be occupied over it. Some two or three years ago Johannesberg was a small place, with very few houses. Since, however, it THE ENGLISH CRICKETERS IN SOUTH AFRICA. T h r o u g h the courtesy of Messrs. Donald Currie and Co., we have been t able to prepare a sketch of South Africa, showing the various towns at which the English team under the captaincy of Mr. C. A. Smith are announced to play. Their arrival at the Cap6 on the 14th inst. was duly reported through Reuter’s agency, and as their first fixture was announced to begin on Thursday last, there was only a space of six days for them to get rid of the effects of the voyage, and have some practice. Some altera­ tions have been made in the programme as originally fixed, and the order of the towns at which the matches are to be decided in some cases changed. The revisions, though, do not affect the general route materially, and with the above has become famous as the centre of the gold fields it has spread in a wonder­ ful way, and at present there can not be less than twenty or thirty thousand inhabitants. Retracing their steps from Johannesberg to Kimberley, the travellers will from the latter town make their way to Port Elizabeth. This will necessitate another long journey of about five hundred miles by railway on the Western line as far as De Aar, the junction of the Western and Midland systems, and thence by the latter to the Seaport. Elizabeth or Algoa Bay, as it is called indiscriminately from the names of the town and roadstead, is one of the principal commercial ports in the Eastern province of the Cape Colony, and shares with Cape Town the larger portion of the traffic to the diamond fields and Western Districts of the Orange Free State. A branch of the Midland line, from Port Elizabeth, takes the team to Graaf Beinet, where they will j meet an eleven representing the Midland j District of Cape Colony. Turning sea­ ward again, Grahamstown will be visited, and then on to King Williamstown on a branch of the Eastern system of railways. Leaving King Williamstown, the route will be from London by sea to Natal, the most easterly of the English Colonies on the South African coast. The Natal Bailway goes from Durban through Pietermaritzburg, the next town at which the cricketers are down to perform, on to Ladysmith, a distance of 190miles. After three matches with Pietermaritzburg, where there are some good players, and one at Durban, the steamer is to be taken again to Port Elizabeth, where a return with Cape Colony will take place. According to the latest programme Oudtshoorn is the next place on the list, (>ory. I-Sum. LoluUn Jan. 1, 2 - at Johannesburg,v. Johannesburg Town Jan. 3, 4, 5—at Johannesburg, v. Combined Trans­ vaal Jan. 7, 8, 9—at Kimberley, v. Kimberley District Jan. 10,11—at Kimberley, v. Eclectic C.C. Jan. 14,15—at Port Elizabeth, v. Eastern Provmce District Jan. 17,18,19—at Port Elizabeth, v. Cape Colony Jan. 21, 22-a t Graaf Beinet, v. Midland District Jan. 24, 25, 26—at Graham’s Town, v. Graham’s Town and District Jan. 28, 29—at King William’s Town, v. Cape Mounted Rifles Jan. 30. 31—at King William’s Town, v. Frontier District Feb. 1, 2—at Maritzburg, v. Maritzburg District Feb. 4, 5, 6—at Maritzburg, v. Natal Feb. 7, 8, 9 - at Maritzburg, v. Natal Feb. 11,12, 13—at Durban, v. Durban District Feb. 18,19,20—at Port Elizabeth, v. Cape Colony (return) Feb. 22, 23—at Oudtshoorn, v. South Western District (22) Feb. 25, 26, 27—at Kimberley, v. Kimberley Dis­ trict (return) March 4, 5,6—at Cape Town, v. Western Province District 18 (return) March 7 8 9- a t Cape Town, v. South Africa NEXT ISSUE, JANUARY 24.