Cricket 1891

46 CRICKET s A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME; MAEOH 26, 1891. WARWICKSHIRE COUNTY CLUB. The annual general meeting was held at the Colonnade Hotel, Birmingham, on March 14, Lord Willoughby de Broke presiding. The report stated that the season of 1890, from a cricket standpoint, was scarcely so successful as its predecessors, though the programme, it must be admitted, was more ambitious. Of seven matches with first-class counties two were won and five lost, while of the eight with second-class shires only one was won, three lost, and four drawn. The weather, except on two occasions, was most unpropitious. Arrangements have been made to meet Yorkshire, Kent, Lancashire, Essex, Leicestershire, and Cheshire in 1891, also Durham and Sixteen of Leamington, while a strong local team called the Birmingham Club will play on the county ground on Saturdays. The balance sheet showed gate receipts £946 2s. 5d., and match expenses £1,124 9s. lid ., apart from £200 paid to the Australians. There is a deficit of £147 19s. on income account 1889, and £150 7s. 2d. for 1890. Mr. G. H. Cartland alluded at some length to the fiasco attending the meeting of the Cricket Council last December, and remarked with satisfaction that Somersetshire had got a well-earned rise in the cricket world. A wooden wicket had been laid down at Birming­ ham, whereon players would be able to get into form for the coming season. There would be only one match with Lancashire this year, as they had failed to obtain with that county at Birmingham as well as Old Trafford, but a great success was anticipated for the match North v. South. Mr. Ansell quoted some interesting figures from previous county seasons, as showing that Warwickshire was running several of the first-class counties closely. Taking 1888-89-90, Yorkshire played 42 first-class matches, and won 14; Gloucestershire 42, and won 13; Warwickshire played 14, and won 4, If they trebled the Warwickshire matches it would give Warwickshire 42 played, won 12. Middle­ sex in the same period played 35 matches and won 8. At that rate, if they had played 42, they would have won 9, against 12 by Warwickshire. Sussex played 36 first-class matches in the same period and won 3. So that if they took consistent form as shown over a long period, and not the luck of one year, Warwickshire was on the heels of York­ shire and Gloucestershire, and ahead of Middlesex and Sussex. The report was adopted. The following were re-elected for 1891:— Lord Willoughby de Broke (president), Mr. Ansell (hon. sec.), and Mr. Buchanan (hon. treasurer). It was suggested by the Rev. T. G. Clarke to arrange a County match for the Prince of Wales’s visit to Birmingham. CEICKET IN NEW YORK. THE METROPOLITAN LEAGUE. The annual meeting of the Metropolitan District League was held March 2, 1891, at the Astor House. In the absence of President W. S. Rainsford, James D. Boyd occupied the chair. The delegates present were: Jerome Flannery, J. L. Reed and Herbert E . Jackson, of the Cosmopolitan Club; M. R. Cobb, D. A. Munro and B. C.Bloxson, Manhattan; Edwin Snelgrove, H. Helms and E. C. Mitchell, Kings County; James D. Boyd, C. G. Turner and C. H. Ellis, New Jersey A. C .; J. Officer, H. A. Holmes and J. May, Bedford; E. A. Smith, W. I. Rendle and F. J. Davidson, New York; Valentine Bliss, J. Riding and F. Wilde, Paterson; S. A. Noon, E. Hassell and G. Sachs, Fort Hamilton; A. Brotherhood, F. S. Green and John Duncan, Brooklyn. A long discussion took place on the motion to limit the membership of the league to ten clubs, the views of the delegates appearing to be pretty evenly divided on the question. The opinion expressed, howeyer, that if any club were left out it would injure the game, carried the meeting, and the motion was lost. New applications were then considered, being taken in order of the priority of dates, and the Harlem Club, Berkeley Athletic Club, Amateur League Club and Staten Island Club were all elected. R . St. G. Walker, R. Macgregor and D. Hay appeared to represent the Staten Island Club, and W . H. Rutly and C. S. Carnahan to represent the Berkeley A.C. The election of officers was then pro­ ceeded with. Rev.W. S. Rainsford, Cosmopoli­ tan Club, and James D. Boyd, New Jersey Ath­ letic Club, were unanimously elected president and vice-president, respectively. M.R.Cobb, of the Manhattan Club, was unanimously elected secretary, and Clifford G. Turner, of the New Jersey Athletic Club, was reappointed trea­ surer. The executive committee chosen was as follows ; Jerome Flannery, Cosmopolitan ; M. R. Cobb, Manhattan ; E. C. Mitchell, Kings County ; C. G. Turner, New Jersey A .C .; H. A. Holmes, Bedford; E. A. Smith, NewYork; Valentine Bliss, Paterson; S. A. Noon, Fort Hamilton; John Duncan, Brooklyn; W. H. Rutty, Berkeley A .C .; R. Macgregor, Staten Island. The Amateur League and Harlem Clubs will appoint their delegates later. The question then arose how to arrange a schedule with the large number of clubs, ar d the opinion prevailed that a division should take place, and it was left to the Executive Committee to make the division. A letter was read from the Rev. W . S. Rainsford, offering a silver cup for the best batting average in the league series, and one from James D. Boyd, offering a similar cup to the bowler. The Executive Committee met March 6, when the principal business was the division of the League into sections, so that the schedule of championship games might be arranged with the greatest advantage to all. Several methods were suggested. The Brooklyn Club representative proposed that the League remain as one body, and each club play only one match in the series. The representative of the Paterson Club pro­ posed that the clubs be divided into two sections. The Manhattan representative proposed that the League be divided into three sections. A long discussion took place on the various propositions, and a vote was taken, with the result that the Paterson Club’s pro­ position was carried. The clubs were then divided as follow: Section I—Staten Island, New Jersey Athletic, Kings County, Fort Hamilton, Paterson, Amateur League. Sec­ tion II—Manhattan, Berkeley, Athletic, New York, Cosmopolitan, Brooklyn, Bedford. This division gave general satisfaction, and the fact that the Manhattan and Staten Island Clubs, which are supposed to be the two strongest clubs in the League, were allotted to different sections, was particularly pleasing. On account of the lateness of the hour the drawing up of a schedule was postponed to the next meeting. A challenge from the Rcsedale Club, of Toronto, for a two days’ match, to be played in New York on June 30 and July 1, was accepted. A number of changes in the bye-laws were made. The most important was in the rule provid­ ing for the winning of the championship, which is now on the baseball plan of per­ centage, discarding drawn and tied matches. Two^prominentVictorian batsmen—J.Harry and Edwards—have been scoring heavily for their respective Clubs, East Melbourne and Melbourne. Harry scored 113 (not out) v. Fitzroy, and Edwards 128 v. Alexandria, both on January 24th. Mr. W. H. G ren fell (of “ Grenfell’s Harriers ” fame), who coached the Oxford crew for the boat race, was at one time in the Har­ row Eleven. Among other exploits, Mr. Grenfell has acted as a war correspondent in the Soudan. CR ICKE TER S -B est G oods City Agents — bear this M a r k . —Advt. P arton & L e ster , 94, Q ueen St., C h eapsid e . GLOUCESTERSHIRE COUNTY CLUB. F ixtu res for 1891. March 30, 31 —County Ground, Bristol, v. Colts May 14, 15, 16—County Ground, Bristol, v. Americans May 18,19,20-C ounty Ground, Bristol, v. Kent June 4, 5, 6—Oval, v. Surrey June 8, 9,10—Brighton, v. Sussex June 18,19,20—Lord’s, v. Middlesex June 25, 26,27—County Ground, Bristol, v. York­ shire July 13,14,15-C ounty Ground, Bristol, v. Lan­ cashire July 20, 21, 22—Taunton, v. Somersetshire July 23,24, 25—Manchester, v. Lancashire July 27, 28, 29—Sheffield, v. Yorkshire July 30, 81, Aug. 1—Nottingham, v. Nottingham­ shire Aug. 3, 4, 5—Canterbury v. Kent Aug. 6, 7,8—Clifton College, v. Sussex Aug. 10,11,12—Gloucester, v. Surrey Aug. 17,18,19—Cheltenham College, v. Somerset­ shire Aug. 20, 21,22—Cheltenham College, v. Middlesex Aug. 24, 25, 26—Clifton College, v. Nottingham­ shire CRICKET CHIRPS. W e understand that Mr. F. R, Spofforth has recently4taken up his residence in London. O f the forty-six matches played between New South Wales and Victoria, each Colony has won 23. T he Clapton C.C. held its first concert on Wednesday, the 18th inst, at the Champion Hotel, Aldersgate Street. Two prominent English cricketers—Mr. C. I. Thornton and Pilling—were present at the Inter-Colonial match at Sydney. I n a club match in Australia recently, one of the umpires gave the following remarkable decision: “ No ball and wide—over! ” T he Victorian Cricket Association has pre­ sented Mr. F. H. Walters with a bat, in recog­ nition of his innings of 106 v. New South Wales. D u rin g the past football season, D r. W . G. Grace has acted as Referee in most of the matches played by the Gloucestershire team (Association). A t Adelaide (South Australia) on January 24th, Grange v. Croydon C.C. totalled 286 for three wickets—W. C. Hopkins scoring 141 and Hopkins 81. T he visit of an Australian Team to this country in 1892 is already being discussed. It is hoped that both Giffen and Moses will be persuaded to come. I n the return Inter-Colonial match at Sydney at the end of January, F . H. Walters for V ic­ toria scored 106, and H. Moses for New South Wales 147—both being almost faultless inn­ ings. T h e “ United All England Eleven ” will play two matches in Ireland this year—v. Dublin University at Dublin on June 18,19, and 20th, and v. the North of Ireland at Belfast on July 9,10, and 11th. A special general meeting of members of the Marylebone Club will be held at Lord’ s on April 6th, when the proposals of the Man­ chester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway will be discussed. I n the match North v. South, to be played at Birmingham on June 29th, 30th, and July 1st, it is stated that Messrs. W . G. Grace and W* W. Read will take part, and that Mr. A. N. Hornby will captain the Northern team. S ince 1883, eixteen games have been played between the two crack South Australian Clubs, Norwood and Hindmarsh, Norwood having won 12 and lost 3. In 1886 the match was drawn, the Norwoods making 433 for 4 wickets. In these sixteen matches Norwood has scored 3,101 runs for 123 wickets, and Hindmarsh 2,152 for 155 wickets. The last encounter, on Jan 24th, proved of a most exciting character A. H. (52) and F. Jarvis (40) playing so wel, together that Hindmarsh only lost by 18 runsl NEXT ISSUE, APRIL 1C.