Cricket 1888

60 CRICKET* A WEEKLY EECORD OF TflE GAME. A £ IilL 12, 1888. least inducements to those whose lives are cast in the pleasant society at IJorris Hill. T he cry is still they come. Yet another match during the last few days, as the following announcement will show :— W ilso n — S m it h . —At Horbling, on the 4th inst., Charles Plumpton Wilson (son of the Rev. P. S. Wilson, Vicar) to Elizabeth Sills, daughter of Captain Smith. It is hardly necessary for me to remind C r ic k e t readers that Mr. Wilson is the old Marlburian who did good service for Cambridge in 1880 and 1881. He got his colours, too, in the Rugby team of his University, and, in fact, gained a double first in football, subsequently taking a prominent position at the Association game. For a short time he was one of the best half-backs in the country, and in this position represented England against both Scotland and Wales. Mr. Plumpton Wilson has for some years been, and is still, unless I am mistaken, a master at Elstree School, one of the powerful combination of athletes whom the worthy principal has collected to teach the young idea how to shoot—the cricket ball. T h e Committee of the Marylebone Club have given notice that at a Special General Meeting to be held at Lord’s, on May 2, at 5.30 p.m., they will recom­ mend the following alterations in the Laws of Cricket. Law X I I I .—The ball shall be bowled in overs of “ five ” balls from each wicket alternately. When five balls have been bowled, &c. Law X IV .—The bowler may change ends as often as he pleases, but shall not bowl two overs in succession in the same innings. Law L IV , (New Law).—On the last day of a match either side may at any time declare their innings closed. O n e D ay M a t c h e s . Law I I I .—Either side may at any time declare their innings closed. tolx may interest those who are so anxious alter the Laws of Cricket to know that the game is not regarded as perfect at the other end of the world. But while gal­ lons of ink have been slung, and much time wasted over, as it proved, a useless discussion, in the case to which I am now referring the matter was dealt with in the most summary fashion. The one-time barbarian Samoans, according to the Adelaide Observer , settled the difficulty in one act. The solution, though, had rather curious results, as the following extract will show. The game was introduced into the island about three years ago by the officers of II.M .S. “ Diamond,” and the sporting Samoans at once saw there was much room for improve­ ment. The ordinary rules were not to their liking at all, so they arranged matches with 200 a side. The contests lasted for weeks. All work was neglected to watch the progress of 200 men going in to tot up big scores, with another 200 in the field. Any tendency to monotony was relieved by battles which led to the revival of heathen customs, and so the matches went on from early morning to dewy eve, in the midst of the most intense excite­ ment. At last things became so bad, and as all other interests were neglected for cricket, the Government had to step in and legislate and put down the game. Men who played were expelled from Church, and this with various measures has subdued the enthusiasm of the Samoan Blackhams, SpofForths, and Boyles. The Bev. J. King, who has recently paid a visit to Samoa, related the circum­ stances (says the Daily Telegraph) at a late meeting of the London Missionary Society. M r . C. W . L. B u l p e t t ’ s performance at Newmarket the other day of walking, running, and riding a mile under sixteen and a half minutes, has been one of the principal subjects of conversation in athletic circles during the past week. Considering that Mr. Bulpett broke down some time ago, and was very lame at the finish, his feat, as the genial “Rapier’’writes in the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic Keivs of Saturday last, was smarter than appeared on the face of it. He decided to walk first, then to run, and to finish with the ride, and he had the advantage of time to the extent of half a minute when his task was completed. Mr. Bulpett, I need hardly say, is an old Rug. His athletic performances at School, and subsequently at Oxford, are well known, but hardly come within the scope of this paper. As a cricketer, though, he has, in addition, a very fair record. Some years since, if I remember rightly, he assisted Middlesex at Lord’s, being tried for his fast bowling. CRICKET CHIRPS. M r. F. G ale is writing County Cricket for the forthcoming edition of the Badminton Series. T h e .33olian Club has just come of age. I n a match at Hobart last Dec., between the City and Granville Juniors, J. Chapman made a hit for nine. I n a match in January between North Franklin and Geeveston Clubs in Tasmania, four innings realised 66 runs. North Franklin scored 27 and 13, Geeveston 21 and 5 (two extras). M r . E. L um b , the Yorkshire amateur, has been in Australia this winter. He has assisted the Melbourne Club during his stay in that city. I n three matches on successive days (Dec. 26, 27 and 28) on the Clare Oval at Adelaide, 1,438 runs were scored. In these three days J. Tardif, of Clare Club, scored two innings of over a hundred. O n Dec. 27, R. Stephens carried his bat through the innings at Clare (S•A.),for Adelaide against a local team. He scored 220 out of 309. T h e takings at the Inter-Colonial match between Victoria and New South Wales were over £1,200. A t one of the Sydney theatres a wheeze at the time of the Inter-Colonial was : McShane ought to have been McShamed of himself for missing Moses. S h r e w s b u r y , in the match against Twenty- two of Bourke, at Bourke, on Jan. 20, 21, and 23, was bowled in each innings. He only scored one and four. J. E dw ards scored 254 (not out) for the Bendigo United at Sandhurst, on Jan. 21. J ohnny M ullag h , the crack player of the Aboriginal team whioh visited England in 1868, played in a match between the Horsham and Harrow Clubs in Victoria, on Jan. 7. J. W . T ru m b l e , of the Australian team of 1886, has left Melbourne. He has gone into practice as a solicitor at Nihill. J. S l ig h t , of the Australian team of 1880, playing for South Melbourne on Jan. 14, failed to get double figures, the first time, it is said, in four years. E. P oole Y has been appointed ground- keeper and bowler to the Strawberry H ill Club. V ict o ria P ark AssociATioN.—The draw for the first ties in this Challenge Cup Competition took place in the Driffield Road School Rooms, Roman Road, on March 7, with following result:—Jubilee v. Jamaica, Clarence Grove v. Comus, Shoreditch Tabernacle v. Reliance, Lonmer v. St. Anthony’s, Warner v. Oval, Cotton Street United v. Archibald, Lang- bourne v. Beaumont, Navarino v. Ethel, Gardner Gun v. Bow Alberts, St. Mary and St. Michael v. Palestine Place. The ties must be played off on or before May 19. M a jo r W a r d il l , the Secretary of the Mel­ bourne Club, and Manager of the Fifth Aus­ tralian team in England, was chief scorer (35 and 5 not out) for the Artillery against the Infantry at Melbourne on Jan. 81. I n a match between the Combined English Teams and All Australia at Sydney, Lohmann took 9 wickets for 52 runs. I n the same match no less than twenty-four wickets fell to catches. Of the Englishmen, only two were clean bowled in the first innings, and four in the second. Of the Australians McDonnell alone was bowled in the first innings, while in the second only three were so disposed of. O n February 11, at Adelaide, for Coromandel Valley against Mount Barker, T. James took four wickets with successive balls. H. C. M oses , the crack Australian bat, is just thirty. I n the match between Lillywhite’s team and Australia at Sydney, Shrewsbury was given out twice, and Briggs once, for playing the ball with the pads !! I n a match last month at Warrnambool, between Warrnambool and Camperdown, F. E. Allan, of the First Australian team, bowled seven wickets and got one lbw—eight wickets for 19 runs. P la yin g on the Adelaide Oval on Feb. 11, for the Norwood Club against Hindmarsh,G.Giffen got all the wickets which fell to the bowler. Two batsmen were run out, and he got the other eight. One of the two run out, more­ over, he let off from an easy return. A. W oodcock , of Leicestershire, has been engaged as professional to Haverford College, Pennsylvania. W illia m B r it t e n , of Leicestershire, has secured an engagement with the Trinity College School, Port Hope, Canada, for May and June. T h e Committee of the Toronto Club of Canada have engaged Charles Leigh, late of the Birmingham Small Heath Langley C.C., Bir­ mingham, as professional for the summer of 1838. T h e April quarterly number of “ Fore’s Sporting Notes and Sketches” contains an amusing cricket sketch, “ Too near Notting­ ham.” F o ljam be — W a rre . —Feb. 21, at Eton Col­ lege Chapel, George Savile, son of F. J. S. Foljambe, Esq., of Osberton, Notts, to Dora Margaret, daughter of the Rev. E. Warre, D.D., Head Master of Eton and Honorary Chaplain to the Queen. T he “ Austral,” with Mr. Vernon’s team on board, reached Aden safely at 6 p.m. on Mon­ day last. G. G iff e n and C. Godfrey were presented with testimonials, the former a handsome trophy, the latter with a silver epergne, in recognition of their brilliant batting perform­ ance for South Australia against Mr. Vernon’s team. L ord H a rris presided at the annual dinner of Mr. J. W . Hobbs’ Club at Croydon on Satur­ day last. U PPINGH AM ROVERS. F ix tu re s f o r 1888. Aug. 6, 7—at Bradford, v. Bradford. Aug. 8, 9—at Huddersfield, v. Huddersfield C.&ft. Aug. 10,11—at Old Trafford, v. Manchester C. & G . Aug. 13,14—at Southam pton, v. Hampshire. Aug. 15,16— at Portsmouth,v.United ServiceC.&GK Aug. 17,18-at Eastbourne, v. Eastbourne.