Cricket 1895

M at 16, 1895. CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. 137 This performance must nearly approach a record. After their departure, the next two bats put on 94 and 69 and the unlucky Rangers must have wondered when, if ever, the supply of big scorers would be finished. B e f o r e the effect of the last English trip to Australia wears off, and the tour becomes ancient history, it may be of interest to give a summary of the financial results of the principal matches played by Mr. Stoddart’s team:— South Australia £730 Victoria 1,040 New South Wales .. 2,400 First Test Match .. .. 2,834 Second Test Match .. 2,870 Third Test Match .. 1,100 Fourth Test Match 1,160 Fifth Test Match .. .. 4,003 Total “ F e l i x ,” in the Australasian, computes that the receipts of the other fixtures would be enough to make £18,000 in round numbers, so that by allowing £11,000 for expenses of all kinds you have a balance of £7,000. All of which goes to show that, properly conducted and with a certain amount of luck, these cricket tours in Australia are not a bad investment. In this case, too, it is eminently satisfactory to find that the profits go to the Melbourne Club C.C. and the New SouthWales Cricket Associa­ tion, which means that they will go to­ wards the development of the game in Australasia generally. At the tea following the match between Kensington Park and Bickley Park at Kensington Park on Saturday, a hand­ some silver tea-service was presented to Owen d’Oyly Brooks, in recognition of the excellent work he had done during the past eleven years as hon. sec. of the K.P.C.C. The presentation, made by Dr. H. W. Kiallmark on behalf of the subscribers, was gracefully acknowledged by O.O.B. in some very touching words. Cricket, perhaps, more than any other paper, has reason to speak with authority on the care the late Hon. Sec. showed in the administration of the K.P.C.C. Nor bas anyone more cause to speak gratefully of his readiness at all times, than the writer of “ Pavilion Gossip.” S om e time ago I referred incidentally to a huge photograph which had been taken on the occasion of the final test match at Melbourne, in which Mr. Stod­ dart’s Team gained such a brilliant victory. The picture is so fine and large, that there seems to be a considerable difference of opinion with regard to its exact dimensions. I mention this more m sorrow than in anger, but all the same, while oneAustralian paper gives its 1ength at 16feet4inches, and anotherworks it out at 11 feet 4 inches, after all it is only a trifling matter of five feet. Still, even with the smaller estimate and a width of 3 feet 4 inches, the picture should pretty well cover of itself the wall of an ordinary ro im. But, joking apart, I can readily u" lerstand that the photograph, which is in five sections, and is the work of the New South Wales Government Depart­ ment, is quite a work of art. It can be had, so it is said, for four pounds. E n g l is h cricket readers will share with Australia the regret that two famous players have, during the winter, dropped out of first-class cricket in Australia. Aleck Bannerman, though his methods were not of the kind to suit the tastes of the Er glish public, was at his best a fine specimen of the stonewalling bat, and did splendid service for all the earlier Australian teams in England. For six­ teen years, too, to his credit it must be remembered he was a leading figure in Australian cricket. T he retirement of J. M. Blackham will, it is not too much to say, cause almost, if not quite, as much regret over here as in Australia. His matchless form as a wicket keeper will always be one of the brightest memories of the earlier Australian tours in England. But besides that his wonderful pluck and nerve at a crisis when runs were wanted, his rough and ready style, as well as the business like way in which he set to work without respect to bowler or bowlers, combined to make him especially popular with all classes of the British public. Fortunate as Australian cricket is in having had such a capable under-study at the wicket as A. H. Jarvis, none the less, the loss of such a personality as J. McCarthy Blackham, leaves a blank in the records of cricket which takes some time to replace. A M e l b o u r n e paper, I notice, has been correcting a statement that Richardson, the Surrey bowler, was engaged to an Armidale heiress. The correction was perhaps quite as well made, for Richard­ son, who has a nice little wife, is the picture of health, and the author of any such canards would have a bad time of it if he came within striking distance of “ our Tom.” Equal reliance is no doubt to be pi -iced on the announcement that Brockwell, who was the victim of one quite uncalled-for insinuation with re­ gard to Iredale and Surrey cricket, paid marked attention to a fair Jewess whose sister is the wife of a famous Surrey cricketer. P o p e ’ s lines The judge to dance his brother Sergeant’s Call, The Senators at Cricket urge the ball, suggest that nearly three centuries ago the Bench and the Bar used not to take their work too seriously. History is therefore only repeating itself in the interest which a big cricket match excites to day, even permeating the misty atmosphere of the Law Courts or even to the extent of arousing the most staid and decorous of Her Majesty’s judges. The thought occurs forcibly to one in reading the speech of Judge A. Beckett in proposing the toast of Mr. Stoddart’s team at the end of the dinner of the Melbourne C.C. To illustrate how intense was the interest taken in the final test match, the judge stated that in his own court bulletins as to its progress were handed up to him on the bench on slips of paper, purporting to contain references to legal points touching the case then proceeding, and he knew the same thing was done in the Banco Court. A T a s m a n ia n writer in commenting on the speech, says : Who shall say that in the near future some glorious Australian victory, the Bishop of Melbourne will not, in full canonicals, duly announce “ The anthem for the morning’s service is taken from the last lay of the day :— Ye sons o f A u stralia, you rtriu m p b srev iew in g, A lou d ju b ila te triu m p h an tly raise, For our fellows have given those Britons a “ doing,” And therefore we sing this glad anthem of praise. Coming from where it did there would have been something more appropriate in suggestion of the Bishop of Tasmania, who is none other than H. H. Mont­ gomery of Harrow and Cambridge, a keen player in his day, not so long ago rector of St. Mark’s, Kennington, and author of Surrey Cricket and Cricketers, rather than of the Bishop of Melbourne. Talking of cricket parsons recalls the story of course of the curate, who in a moment of abstraction startled his congregation with the announcement of here endeth the second innings. A chestnut! Well perhaps you are right. T h e r e is only one Brown in cricket, and his forenames are John Thomas. In his case, the axiom that “ a prophet has not honour in his own country,” evidently does not apply. At any rate, J.T. of that ilk, was the recipient of a very pleasant little presentation at Halifax, in his native county, on Saturday. The presentation took the shape of a gold chronograph with albert chain, valued at £35, and a gold badge representing the life member­ ship of the Halifax Club. In honouring Brown, Halifax was only making a fitting recognition of the way in which he had upheld the reputation of Yorkshire cricket with Mr. Stoddart’s team in Australia. “ M is f o r t u n e s come not as single spies but in battalions ” with a vengeance to Walter Heame. Only two years ago he strained his leg so badly that he had to be absent perforce from county cricket for a great part of the season. On Satur­ day last he had the ill-luck to break down in very much the same way. Anyhow, the accident, everyone will regret to hear, seems to have been so serious that it is said he will not be fit to play for another month. C o n s id e r in g that as far as one knows at the outside, hardly more than a dozen batsmen have been able to claim two innings of a hundred in any sort of match, a record of this kind deserves all the prominence of an odd par in “ Pavilion Gossip.” The latest instance has been furnished by a Cambridge Fresh­ man, A. G. Richardson, who hails from Canterbury. For Corpus against Em ­ manuel, he scored in the match played at