Cricket 1895

10 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J an . 31, 1895. How will ihe following umpiring story rank as a cricket cu'iosity ? But it will be best to state the case in the words of the victim himself:— AVe country players .‘have some funny ex- perunws with umpires. For instance, in a n iatil lnaA^Trumpire no-balled me because in ball I touched the wicket with off- But the m atter : 8id n et end hf-re, as the ball was pl-iyedv.and a riin attempted. However the ball Wits fielded, and thrown at the wicket at the bowler’s efid, knocking the middle stump clean out of the ground while the batsman was still some ten feet frOmhome. The same umpire refused to give the nwn out on the grounds that as soon as he had called no ball, the ball was dead. Anaels and ministers of Grace—with a big, big G—defend us ! T h r e e scores of over a hundred in the same innings only come once or twice, if at all, during the course of a season. Hence the performance of the South Adelaides against the Norwoods, at the commencement of last month, on the Oval at Adelaide, deserves special mention. Tbe record, too, is the more noteworthy from the fact that, outside the three hundreds, only seventy runs were scored from the bat. It is barely necessary to add that Reedmau whs one of tbe principal rungetters for the South Australian eleven wh ch beat, Stoddart’s team at Adelaide. H. Dyer was the highest scorer for South Australia against Victoria in the recent Inter-colonial at Adelaide. Here is the full score of the innings :— S outh A delaide . 5 M y old friend and comrade in arms, Mr. Sporting Notion's, of the Referee tells a good story in tbe Referee of Sunday week, of the late Bob Lipscomb, the sturdy cricketer whose fast bowling was of such service to Kent in the sixties, at a time when the fortunes of the county were at a comparatively low ebb, and before Lord Harris had appeared to instil new life into Kent cricket. C. Martin,c McKenzie, b Lyons .. . . . . 3 T. Bennett,st Chinner, b Lyons . . . . .. 3 J . Reedman, c McKen­ zie, b W ells .. ..112 H. Dyer, c McKenzie, b O ’Brien . .. ..184 E. Jones, c Bailey, b Lyons .......................3 W . Richards, c Blin­ man, b Green .. ..103 P. Laycock, b Green.. G. Parkin, c M cKen­ zie, b Green .. .. 18 D. M. Ballans.runout 20 J. Brunton. not o u t.. 15 G. Musgrove, b Green 3 B 1, 1b 12, n-b 3 .. 16 Total ..485 E v e n in far-away Burmah cricketers have been holding high revel over the visit of a touring party. The tourists in this case came from Ceylon, and accord­ ing to all accounts their stay in Burmah which extended over a fortnight, was marked by the heartiest hospitality on all hands. The importance of visits of this kind cannot be overrated, and if only as a matter of cricket history the record of the doings of the Ceylon team may fit­ tingly be given here :—At Mandalay— 1st match v. Upper Burmah on 17th and 18th December, 1894 ; Ceylon won by 93 runs. At Rangoon—2nd match v. Ran­ goon Gymkhana on 21st and 22nd Dec. 1894; Ceylon lost by an innings and 32 runs. At Rangoon—3rd match v. All Burma on 24th and 25th December, 1894 drawn in favour of Ceylon. At Ran goon—4th match v. Burmah Police on 26th December, 1894; Ceylon won by 138 runs. Tbe team consisted of C. Philcox, J. D. Martyn, A. A. Pillans, E. H Thomas, P. Gaisford, G. Johnstone, C. A J. Roberts, S’. Stephens, W. Courtenay R. Templar, A. Waldock, and E. Wal- dock. It fell upon a time, when old Tom Box was boss of the Sussex County Ground at Hove— Box’s Cricket Ground it was called—a local team “ bought a fox,” and the fox’s initials began with R. L. It happened thirty years ago two local elevens were to play on Box’s cricket ground. One eleven wa 3 , to be correct in numbers, only a ten, and couldn’t get the odd one to make up. Leaning against-the bar was a burly, jolly, farmery-looking person, smoking his pipe and chatting with John l.i lywhite. il Can’t you make up your side?” says Lilly- white, with a twinkle in his artful eyes. ‘ 11 dare say this gentleman here wouldn’t mind a game if you asked him.” The question was put to the stranger. The other side didn’t object to his coming in, and ho consented on soridition that he might bowl a bit. This gentleman didn’t care about batting, he ex­ plained, and took no ploas ire in cricket un- he could trundle a few overs. No one minded his trundling, at least not up to then, and he enlisted. He began bowling down hill, and a pretty messs he made of the opposition. Mr. Tonbridge (the name he gave) sent his first ball down at a speed that caused the long-stop to retire ten paces to the rear, and then proceeded to demolish the bats­ men. The wicket-keeper carefully dodged out of danger and unselfishly gave the long- stop every opportunity to distinguish himself. The batsmen hit where they thought the ball might be coming, and blindly trusted to Providence to direct the leather into the stumps. Old John Lillywhite sympathised with them as, more or less maimed, they filed and the scorers had a verjr easy job. except as regarded an occasional item of four byes, till, the innings over, Mr. Tonbridge took a turn at batting, and gave them plenty of work. A few days later Kent played Sussex, and in Mr. Tonbridge the unfortu­ nates recognised the great Mr. Bob Lipscomb, now gone to his long rest. _ A-TiroU 8 ANI)-AND-SIXTY-ONK runs for fifteen wickets is a record that would take some beating by the best. This was what East Melbourne did in two succes­ sive matches in the early part of last month. How was it done p Well, tbu^ly. Eight wickets for 524 against the Mel­ bourne Club and 537 for seven wickets against Melbourne—And there you are! A. E. Trott, a younger brother of Harry of that name, who shewed such fine all­ round cricket for Australia against Stoddart’s team in the third test match was one of the chief rungetters on the East Melbourne side with 75. T h o s e who knew Bob Lipscomb as I did, will be able to realise how thoroughly he must have appreciated the humour of the situation created by the ready witted John Lillvwhite, as described by Mr. Sporting Notion’s. A son of Bob’s, Prank to wit, now unless I am mistaken, located in Australia, played for Kent some ten years ago, and was very successful for a time, like his father, as a fast bowler. A n Australian paper is responsible for the statement that a syndicate of six “ rich influential gentlemen,” has been formed for the purpose of taking an eleven from South Australia to England next cricket­ ing season. Rumour does not bear the best of characters for accuracy. Such a report, I need hardly add, will have to be taken on this side, at all events, with more than one grain of salt. T h e brilliant all-round cricket of the younger Trott agiinst Mr. Stoddavt’s team in the third of the five test matches represents as good a performance as there is on record for a first appearance in such an important match. In the second innings of the English eleven he had a hand in the dismissal of every batsman but one, and eight of the ten were secured from his bowling at a cost of only forty-three runs. But, besides this, he carried out his b it each time for 32 and 78 respectively, which gives an aggregate of 110 for the match without heing out. This is how Lika Joko celebrated his achievement:— T he K anoaroo to M r . S tod dart . You didn’t expect it, my sonny ? Yet, truly, complain you must not; For you wanted “ a run ” for your money, And, complying, I gave you A. Trott. A new danger for umpires! Here is an experience which my good friend Robert Thoms, with all his varied reminiscences, I should fancy had hardly undergone. It all occurred in the run- getting match between North Melbourne v. University referred to sufra :— Foot was the umpire in question and this is how he describes the incident:—“ The fact is I had been smoking during the adjournment, and on resuming put my pipe in my pocket, thinking it was out. Soon I felt a stinging sensation in my wrist, which was close to myT pocket, and looking down I found I was on fire. Just as I was rubbing away to quench the fire, an appeal was made, and, unfor­ tunately, I did not see the stroke, my whole attention being devoted for the moment to the fire. I then, in accordance with the rule, appealed to the other umpire, Harry Martin, who gave the doctor (it w’as our old friend Doctor Barrett) out. M e t r o p o l it a n cricketerswill learnwith regret that C. Spencer West has thought it advisable to retire from the office of Hon. Sec. of the Forest Hill C.C., which he has filled witb suoh distinct credit for the last ten years. Still he retains his place on the committee, so that the Club, as well as the new Hon. Sec., J. G. Trotter, will have the benefit of his long experience. NEXT ISSUE FEBRUARY 28.