Cricket 1895

4 5 8 CR ICKET : A W E E K L Y RECORD OP THE GAME. Nov. 28, 1895. the fund must be sent to the hon. sec., M r. C. E . W albourn, 44, Cranmere R oad, C roydon, b y S.tturday next. I f the am ount of the fund perm its, it is p ro­ posed to have him taugh t a trade in order tlia th em a y earn a livelihood for him self and fam ily. The Comm itU e of the Surrey Cuuuty C.C. have already, I understand, n u d e him a w eekly grant. The official intim ation o f the visit of the ninth Australian team to E ngland has ariived at last. The mail which reached L on d on on M onday brough t with it a letter from M r. Joh n Portus, the hon. sec. of the Australian Cricket C ouncil, to M r. C. W . A lcock, duly authorising him to arrange a programm e as indicated. The C ouncil, at their last m eeting (on O ctober 9), I may add, de­ cided to have the control of the team w hile absent from Australia, as w ell to approve the conditio: s n w hich the team is sent. A nother m eeting of the C ouncil is to be held in M elbourne on the 27th of n ext m onth to appoint a m anager and elect a Selection C omm ittee to choose the team. A s far as I understand, the programm e w ill, in all likelihood, consist o f about, th irty -fou r fixtures w ith, perhaps, thiee matches w ith E nglan d, matches w ith W arw ickshire, Gloucestershire, M .C .C . and G round, Y orkshire, L ane lshiro, Surrey, O x ford U niversity, Y orkshire, Cam bridge University, South o f England, the Players, K ent, N orth o f E nglan d, D erbyshire, Leicestershire, Y orkshire, Sussex, E ngland, Somersetshire, M iddle­ sex, Essex, Kent, N otts, an E nglish eleven at Scarborough, an E nglish eleven at H astings. I f the team visits America, which is very likely, it w ill probably play tw o matches at Philadelphia, and one each at N ew Y ork , B oston, T oronto, and D etroit. T iie death o f G eorge Freeman has taken aw ay a cricketer w h o some thirty years ago was in his ow n department w ithout a superior. A fast bow ler, w ith a beautiful delivery, he g o t up remark­ ably quickly from the pitch. F or some six seasons he was quite the best bow ler o f the day, and indeed there are n ot a few w h o still consider him as one of, if n ot the finest they ever paw. A chance of a lucrative business as an auctioneer induced him to give np first- class cricket in 1871, when he was at his best or very near it, to the great loss of the gam e. H e did reappear fo r Y o rk ­ shire on tw o occasions, and then as an amateur, bu t not a fttr 1880. E ven later than that he had n ot lost his repu­ tation, for in 1882 he was invited to play for the Gentlemen against the Australian team at the Oval. O f comm anding presence, he was besides one of the best o f companions. One o f m y best recol­ lections is o f the m usicsl performances in which the three Georges Freeman, A tkin­ son, A n d erior, R oger Iddison took part in the o ld days. I t was only last summer that I heard from him in a letter fu ll of cricket chat. H e died last M onday fo rt­ night, at Thirsk, in his fifty-secon d year. W nAT n e x t? The new wom an -will evidently have to be reckoned with pre­ sently in the matter o f the apportionm ent o f cricket offices. The Adelaide Observer places on record the fact that there were thirty applicants fo r the secretaryship of the South M elbourne Club in succession to M r. E . D . Heather, who had resigned after sixteen years’ service. So far, so g ood . B u t the point of the paragraph is like the ladies’ pc stscript at the end. One o f the applications adds the Observer was “ from a la d y .” Gracious goodness ! F o r the follow in g F elix of th eAustra- I'.isian is responsible :— In a match recently a batsman stepped out to play a hall, and the wicket-keeper had the bails off in the old-time twinkling of an eye. The wicket-keeper did not even take the trouble to appeal, hut just dandled the hall, waiting for the batsman to walk away. The batsman, however, did nothing of the kind. He stepped hack into the crease, and on the appeal, the wicket-keeper, to his utter amaze­ ment, heard “ not ou t” from the umpire. Is it any wonder that the wicket-keeper, turning to a comrade, said “ What a bally cheat! ” Alter the match the umpire came up and said to the wicket-keeper, “ Sorry if I’ ve injured you, old man, but I had to give him not out. Why, he never gets more than two strikes a week, and I wanted to see that he had the usual allowance.” The wicket­ keeper so enjoyed the explanation that he and the umpire had a drink together. THE NEXT AUSTRALIAN TEAM. A m eeting o f the Australian Cricket C ouncil was held on O ctober 9th, at the O xford H otel, Sydney, to consider the question o f Bending an Australian E leven to E nglan d next M arch. N ew South Wales was represented b y Messrs. John Portus, P . Sheridan (p roxy for Mr. Richard Teece), and C. A . R ichardson; V ictoria, b y Messrs. H . H . Budd, D . A . Madden, C. H . R oss, and S. N a th a n ; and South Australia b y Messrs. G. M ostyn Evan, W . O. W hitridge, W . A . G ibb (p roxy for M r. J. Cresswell), and James Marshall. M r. J. M . Gibson was elected chairman o f the council for the ensuing year, and took the chair. Mr. Joh n Portus was re-elected honorary secretary. The balance sheet, as read, showed a credit balance o f £25 4s. M r. W hitridge m oved :— “ That the year 1896 be considered an opportune time fo r an Australian E leven to visit E n glan d.” M r. C. H . R oss seconded the resolution. M r. H . H . B udd though t that the time was not opportune. I t w ould be im ­ possible to get together a team good enough to meet E ngland. Perhaps in the follow in g year it w ould be different. The resolution was cjrried w ith one dissentient (M r. B udd). M r. C. H . R oss considered that this was the time to take steps to prevent a repetition o f the undesirable proceedings which marked the tour o f the last A us­ tralian team in E nglan d. H e m oved “ That it shall be tbe d uty of any future manager of an Austral ian E leven appoint ed or approved o f b y this council, to hold meetings o f the executive comm ittee of his team at least once in each week during the tim e the team is actively en g a ged ; and correct m inutes o f the whole proceedings o f such m eetirg i. as w ell as o f the meetings o f the team , shall be kept b y him . T be manager shall, if required, produce these m inutes to the council for inspection.” This was carried. T be follow in g was also ca rrie d :— “ That an executive and financial com ­ m ittee be appointed, consisting o f the manager and tw o members o f the team, one o f whom shall be the captain for the time bein g.” It was decided that the conditions upon which the n ext Australian team be sent to E ngland should in the first instance receive the approval o f this council. It was also decided that the hon. secretary of the council be requested to communicate • w ith M r. A lcock, the secretary o f the Surrey C ounty C .C ., with the view o f arranging a programm e of matches in E ngland fo r the Australian Eleven, 1896. It was resolved :— “ That the manager shall furnish a report to this council at the end o f the tou r.” A resolution was also agreed t o :— “ That the team visiting E nglan d during the year 1896 shall return to Australia and disband not later than N ovem ber, 1896,” the object bein g to prevent tour­ in g in Australia after their return. The follow in g addition to the objects o f the council was p assed :— “ That tbe council undertake the arrangement of international and inter-colonial matches played in Australia.” I t was decided to invite applications for the position o f m anager to the A us­ tralian team, to close on the. 23rd of December. The members of Lord Hawke’ s team for South Africa, except the captain and Sir T. C. O’ Brien, who sail in the Moor a week later, leave Southampton in the Union S.S. Guelph on Saturday next. The team consists of Lord Hawke, Sir T. C. O’ Brien, Messrs. C. W. Wright, S. M. J. Woods, H . T. Hewett, A. J. L. Hill, C. B. Fry, C. Heseltine, A. M. Miller, H. R. Bromley-Davenport, Hayward, Butt, Tyler, and Lohmann. At the second annual concert of the South London Association, held on November 9th, the prizes were presented for the Senior Division to the Bricklayers’ Arms Locomotive, and for the Junior to the St. .Tude’s C.C. Major Dalbiac, M .P., the president, was in the chair. F. E. Smith, the Surrey professional, in his first match (v. Black Watch) for the Western Province C.C. took six wickets for seven runs.