Cricket 1894

16 CKICKET : A WEEKLY EECORD OE THE GAME. JAN. 25, 1893 RETURN OF THE AUSTRALIAN ELEVEN. The following comments by “ Felix,” the cricket critic of the Australasian newspaper, are worthy of perusal. So many statements have appeared from the various parties interested, that it is a pleasant relief to find one writer regarding the whole matter from ihe standpoint of common sense. The case is admirably summed up in the closing sentence. “ As to any serious dissension, that is all bosh.” The*e words were contained ia a letter written to me by a gentleman who travelled with the Australian team in Eng­ land throughout their tour and stoppei in the same hotel with them. I am glad to be able to state that members of the team have tince Iheir r turn confirmed the statement made by m y correspondent. If anything serious had occurred surely the home papers would have made some reference to it, but so far as I perused those papers I failed to find a line reflecting upon any man in the team, except th it George Giffen was mentioned as having been apparently purposely lethargic in the field on one occasion. If all the small faults of a man are to be selected, put in a heap, and pelted at him, who is there that will (sea p j? Is any cricketer so perfect that he can cast a stone, and none can be cist at him ? Verily there is and he lives in Sydney. The cherub wanted to show that he is a cherub and that all the rest are vile. It is well known that in previous Austra­ lian teams rumpuses occurred, and a c’ ord'ng to all accounts they were in soma instances of a character much worse than a ij thing that has taken plaoe during the present tour. For inst ince, th fiih t in the railway carriage on the wav to Brighton, when tbe seat was covered with g re, and one member of the team, to use his own words, had his “ boio ” nearly broken. “ Boko,” 1 understand, is South Australian for “ nose ” Th t rather bad affair was scarcely mentioned; yet now we have a threat to pull a nose in a tent at Scarboro’ made mountains o f. If that threat to pull a nose had not been made, the whole thing would undoubtedly have bean a suc- ces . Nay, even Turner might have been satisfied, instead of being filled with a burn­ ing desire to “ make it h o t” for some of them. See what it is to threaten to pull a nose. It at once fills Turner with a burning d sire to make it hot for somebody. Then that other terrible, awful e v e n t- using bad language at Cambridge. Strange to say, I have heard University men them­ selves use bad language in England and in Australia, and they still live. I have heard members of English teams in Australia— nay, in England itself—usa bad language, and never knew them to be pilloried for it or set down as men who had destroyed the reputation of English cricket for years. I am very glad to read that Coningham and Walter Giffen were teetotallers from first to last. If it h id not been for . Turner’ s burning desire to make it hot for somebody, we might never have obtained this mo>t int renting piece of information from the Queenslander. I hope it wasn’t because of this most estimable qualification that he and Walter were so often omitted from the team. I suppose it was by reason of their imbibi'ion of cold water and microbic aerated waters that they were not fil ed with the burning desire to make it hot for somebody. Yet stay. Conin^ham, according to report, fte’.s in­ clined to make it hot for Blackham, because the latter told the Queenslander not to send down that fist ball. Turner can bowl a fast ball, too, quite as fast as Coningham, yet I cannot find that Blackham ordered Turner to desist from sending down a fast one. I hear that financially tbe (our h s been a com­ parative failure; that is to say, instead of making £400 or £500 a man, the biggest cheque, which, of course, goes to the most careful and economical man, d esnot amount to more than £190. Still it is satisfactory, especially th^se timea, to get £190, with a voyage round the world to boot. Some un­ pleasantness exists b ^tween the manager and members of the team, and the former is the possessor of the vouchers, while the latter are the custodians of the books in which the amounts of the vouchers ars recorded. We are all curious to see what rrport the manag-r w 1 make to the council. The minager is V ico r Cohea, an l i r, is quite clear from r cent expre-sions that h l is not afraid to u-e emphatic language. I am rather inclined to the view that he will say much the same as Turner has said, and that luaier w ill bear testimony to what Mr. Cohen will say. But let the dim future unfold the fearful narrative. Ditto to Mr. Turner, ditto to Mr. Cohen. But what will the rest say ? W batw illJarvissay,the man who, according to English sporting papers, kept wicket in a manner that reflected credit upon him almost every time he had a show in the team. Amidst all the mud-throwing started by Turner and kept up ever since, it is eminently pleasing to find that such a distinguished club as our own M.C.C. is willing to meet and greet and most cordially welcome home tbe p'ayers who hive b:en bmded together so many months. The president of the j M.C.C welcomed them back, and memb.rs j of his club and of other clubs attended and j actually shook hands with the players. Fancy shaking hands with a man who once j threatened to pull another man’s n ose! j No wonder the cherub feels hurt and is going into hysterics. A ll the men look well except Bruee, who got some water in his ear at Honolulu, and suffered a good d°ai of pain in consequence. In South Australia a hearty welcome has been extended to George Giffen and his comrades, and in true Australian spirit the reports c’rculated about them will not be cast against them until those who made the statements substantiate them. No one ever before heard of a man attacking his comrades absent thousands of miles from him, and every cricketer and Australian possessed of a sense cf fair play has but one opinion of the player who made the charges wnile there was no one present to reply. 1 dar? say the j Australasian Cricket Council will hold its pro­ posed investigation. I suggeit to that bodv j to read carefully wha1^ the English papers have said about this terr.ble business, and not to 1forget, above all things, the very gross charge of threatening to pull a nose. Didn’t the old Latinist tell us that a monn- |tain was once in labour and brought forth a mouse? RICHARD DAFT, I L IT E CAPTAIN NOTTS COUNTY ELEVEN Begs to state that his only Nottingham address s the ALL-ENGLAND CRICKET AND BRITISH SPORTS WAREHOUSE, Carr i ngton St reet Bri dge, N O T T IN G H AM . Established U pw a rd s of 100 YEARS. AQUILA GLAPSHAW & SALMON’S IMPROVED « RESILIENT ” SPRING-HANDLE BAT. I S U S E D B Y C R I C K E T E R S A L L O V E l l T H E W O R L D - TO BE HAD OF ALL ATHLETIC DEALERS, OR DIRECT FROM THE MANUFACTURERS, 5, CAYTON STREET, CITY ROAD, LONDON, E.C. Thousands of Bats Warranted Well-Seasoned Always in Stock. ILLUSTRATED PRICE LIST UPON APPLICATION. N.B - N O CONNECTION W ITH ANY OTHER HOUSE. Frinted for the Proprietor by W right & Co., 41, St. Andrew’s Hill, Dcctorb’ Commons, London, E.C., January 25th, 1891