Cricket 1892

s e p t:, i , 1892 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OP readers who had any acquaintance with the members of the team which represented the Gentlemen of Canada here some years ago, to know that W . A. Henry, one of the gentle tappers of that combination, was the principal scorer for Halifax in the recent tournament. The Ottawa eleven included Lord Kilcoursie. A corresp on d en t w rites: D ear S ib ,—W hy do some folks rave and scream That Surrey’s clearly no first-class team, And shed their precious ink so ? If they note how a certain inscription runs, On the testimonial to Nottingham’s sons, They’ll see that Notts don’t think so ! C rick et readers generally will be in thorough accord with the recommendation which the Notts Committee have decided to make to the Marylebone Club to amend the existing law with regard to the time at which a captain may close his innings. The rule recently passed giving such privilege has undoubtedly worked well, and done much to increase the interest in the game by reducing the chances of drawn matches. At the same time there does not seem to be any reason why the power should not be extended so as to allow a captain to terminate his innings on the second as well as on the third day, if he should feel so disposed. After all, the application of the closure is a matter of judgment, and any­ thing which tends to improve the possibilities of the definite settlement of a match with, of course, fair safeguards should receive hearty support. T h e Committee of the Notts County Club have done a wise as well as a graceful thing, in deciding to give Arthur Shrewsbury a benefit next year. In old times it was the oustom to withhold this recognition until a player had passed, or was passing out of active cricket. The policy of later days has been in a more sensible direction, to enable a professional player to receive the reward of good service, at a time when he is still well before the public, and his doings are more than a mere memory. Arthur Shrews­ bury is, of course, now in his very prime, and his appeal will have greater effect with the full force of a reputation as the first batsman of the day to strengthen it. Such an arrangement is, at least, to the advantage of those in whose interest benefit matches are arranged. 18G9— 1892. [H Taunton on August 26th Messrs. H. T. Hewett and L. C. H. Palairet scored 316 runs for the first wicket for Somerset v. Yorkshire, breaking the record of 283 runs for the first wicket pre­ viously established by Messrs. W. G. Grace and B. B. Cooper in 1869.] Since ’sixty-nine, when Dr. Grace With B. B. Cooper went a-hitting, The batting scions of our race Have played with patience unremitting; Yet seasons twenty-three dissolved, Ere yet the record knew a rival, Finds Grace still mid the great evolved, A fittest of the fit survival. Dear Doctor Grace, the heart it cheers To watch the game as you pursue it, A r keenly as in bygone years That cradled Palairet and Hewett; Their infant backs grew broad and strong The while we chronicled your winnings, We ask you, sir, to join our song And wish them both as long an innings. P aris . T h e Dutch Cricketers, whose arrival in England I noticed last week, have given by no means a bad account of themselves against the strong teams they have had to meet in Yorkshire during the last ten days. In bowl­ ing as well as in batting, a reliable corres­ pondent writes me, they are quite up to the standard of our best town clubs. The weak spot has been the fielding. In this there has been room for improvement, but here con­ siderable allowance ought fairly to be made. The arrangement of the field ha3 had to be materially altered from that which prevails on Dutch wickets, where hill and dale are matters for serious calculation. Still Mr. J. B. Hatt, of Scarborough, at whose instigation the Dutch Crioket Union determined on the tour, and to whose good offices the team are much indebted, is on the whole well pleased with the result of their visit. In any case from a purelyeducational point of view it cannot fail to be of use in improving tho general tone of cricket in Holland. A n yon e wanting to have a life-like repre­ sentation of the Middlesex Captain in the war paint of cricket life can hardly do better than invest the modest shilling required to secure possession of Baily —the real old Baily of the green oover — for September. “ Webbie” forms the frontispiece for this month’s number, and the value of the por­ trait, too, will be considerably enhanced no doubt for many C rick e t readers by the accompanying autograph, as well as by the readable aud not too exhaustive biographical sketch. R ichardson, the young cricketer who has come to the front this season as a fast bowler, it will be of interest to the followers of Surrey cricket to know, is a native of the County, as I pointed out some three months ago. Though born at Byfleet, Mitcham can fairly claim the credit of his education, as he has lived the best part of his life and learnod his cricket there. He was twenty-two years of age in July last. C. L. M organ (Streatham Club) THE GAME, 405 R ichardson (Surrey) My statement in last week’s “ Gossip ” that J.Le Fleming, who has been playing such good cricket for Kent in recent matches, was not “ the hurdler,” seems to have conveyed an impression it certainly was never meant to convey. At all events, as it has evoked a protest from an old cricketer and club mate of my own ever so many years ago I feel bound to express my regrets. Le Fleming, though not the present hurdler, by which I mean the President of the C.U.A.C., is his elder brother, and himself represented Cam­ bridge over hurdles two or three years. That he is, too, still capable of holding his own with the best of them was shown by the way in which he romped home in the Corinthian and Barbarian Sports in the spring. I was misin­ formed, however, when I said that he was a master at Tonbridge School. He is engaged with his father, coaching pupils for army and University exams. D e ta ils of George Brann’ s double century at Brighton reached me at such a late hour on Wednesday night, just as the paper was going to press, that I had not sufficient time to give his performance the prominence it so richly merits. Brann is the only batsman bar one who has achieved the distinction in first-olass matches in modern days. The one barred is of course The Master. W.G. has himself three times got a hundred twice in the same match. If only as a reminder it will be well to give them another record here. 1868—Canterbury, South of Thames v. North of Thames.................... 130 ... 102.* 1887—Canterbury, Gloucestershire v. Kent, ....................................101 ... 103.* 1888-Cheltenham, Gloucestershire v. Yorkshire................................ 148 ... 153. Brann’s scores forSussex v. Kent last week were 105 and 101. It may be as well to recal that Lambert scored 107 and not out 157, at Lord’s, in July, 1617, in the match between Epsom and Sussex with Osbaldeston and Lambert. This is, as far as one knows, the only other instance of the kind in what can be called a first-class match. T h e news of Viscount Oxenbridge’s acces­ sion to office as Master of the Horse under Mr. Gladstone’s Government cannot fail to