Cricket 1897

326 CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A ug . 5, 1897. of him, I prepared to receive a slow ball. The umpire asked me if I would like to have a trial ball. I declined, and got ready to receive the first ball of the match. To my intense surpise, I found, much too late, that it was a very fast yorker, which knocked my wicket down. I wouldn’t have believed it possible that a man could have got up such a pace with practically no run at all. The new bowler took six or seven wickets for very few runs, three of them with fast yorkers. What made his bowling: the more difficult was that his hand, just before the ball was delivered, was quite hidden behind his head, which was covered with a thick mass of hair, like all the natives.” “ What did you think of cricket in Fiji when you first went there ? ” “ I found that there had been very little cricket for some few years, and that the ground and pavilion at Suva had got very much out of order. Being, as it were, a now broom, fresh from acting on the M.C.C. committee, I set to work to try to revive the interest in the game, and did not find as much difficulty in this as might have been expected. We play from Easter to the Prince of Wales’ birthday on November 9th. Between these times it is generally too hot and wet for cricket; but we play lawn tennis all the year round on grass courts, and have little tournaments of our own. Suva plays Levuka and other districts. The heat is sometimes very great. During last March, for instance, it averaged 92£ degrees, maxi­ mum shade temperature (our record), and one feels as if one were sitting in a green­ house, for the climate is very moist.” “ How many clubs are there in the Fiji islands ? ” “ Only a very few. At Suva, the capital of Yiti Levu (Big Fiji), the main island, we have a club in proper form, of which several of the native chiefs are mem­ bers. There is another club at Levuka, with which we have annual matches ; and the employes of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company also have clubs. But cricket of a kind is played all over the island, and it is said of a Fiji native that he will complacently practise with a cocoanut as a ball, just as it used to be said that the colliers in Nottinghamshire practised in their spare moments with a piece of coal. It is fairly easy to get material, which comes from Melbourne or Sydney, and sometimes from England. The Government, too, takes an interest in our cricket, and Sir Henry Berkeley, the present Administrator, has allowed us the assistance of prison labour in enlarging the ground at Suva, and making a running track round it, so that the track will become the boundary. This will necessitate more work in cutting the grass, and we have just ordered a new and large lawn-mower in England. We play on grass—which is ordinary Australian couch grass (for the finer kinds won’t grow). This gives a fairly good wicket, but as there is so much rain, it is generally more or less sticky.” “ What are ihe chief drawbacks to cricket in Fiji besides the heat and slow wickets f ” “ The chief drawback is the difficulty of getting matches and so keeping up the inter­ est. We are reduced, except for very occa­ sional matches with men-of-war teams and Levuka, to play games under fancy titles, such as Civil Service v. All-Comers, Smokers and Non-Smokers, and as the season is long this becomes monotonous.” “ Was there any truth in the tales of whole districts in Samoa or Tonga playing inmatches which lasted for weeks ? ” “ There is a certain amount of truth in them, but I don’t know how much. I have heard of matches between districts in which 30 or 40 players appear for either side, and it is saidthat the Governments have interfered. The natives neglect their plantations and moreover come in such numbers to the match that they eat their hosts out of house and home. I have never been to Samoa but it is my inten - tion to return by way of those islands when I leave for Fiji. I should like to learn something about Samoan cricket. It is said that no ship has ever succeeded in beating the Tongan team. We are unable to arrange matches with Samoa, or Tonga on account of the distance, but we hope sooner or later to arrange a match with Tonga at any rate, which is about 400 miles away.” “ Have you seen much good cricket in England during your visit? ” “ Not; as much as I should have liked. I could not help being struck by two things in which I think cricket has retrograded since I went away only eight years ago. I refer to the almost invariable custom, that nearly the whole field appeals loudly for a catch at the wicket and so forth. Even in the Oxford and Cambridge m itch I noticed this. I can’t help thinking that this unanimous appeal must have an influence on any umpire, however experienced he may be. In ihe other case, I refer to the closeness of the boundaries to the wicket. 1 suppose the wickets are arranged so as to be close to the pavilion for the benefit of the members, but 1 am quite sure that it makes run-getting very much easier than it was ia the days when there were no boundaries at all, and gives the bat an unfair advantage over the ball. I can give you an instance to prove my point. I was playing at Lord’s for the M.C.C. against Leicestershire at the time that Randon first came out as a bowler. When R. E. Tomkinson, the Rich­ mond cricketer, was in with me, I hit Randon hard to mid-off, who allowed the ball to go be­ tween his legs. As there were no boundaries he had to run after it. We ran seven, and Tom­ kinson, being pumped, was bowled next ball. My next partner was Captain Tryon, who off his first ball made a single - or it may have been a leg-bye. This brought me to Randon’s end again, and he gave me a ball, as nearly as possible like the first; I hit it almost to the same spot, and mid-off again had to run after it. We had run six, and I very easily got to my wicket for the seventh run, but my part- ner, not being in the best of training, was so pumped that, on the ball being thrown over, he was run out; so that, practi­ cally, two wickets were lost because we had to run two sevens ! Now, with boundaries I should have made a couple of fours, and no­ body would have had to exert himself in the least. If you are going to have bound­ aries, you may as well have them as big as you can, but the large crowds who attend matches now-a-days must be reckoned with. It seems to me, that the boundary question should extend far beyond Venezuela ! ” W. A. B e t t e s w o iit h . J. C. LOVELL’S XI. v. B. W. INSTITUTE — Played at Tulse Hill on July 31. J. C. L o v e l l ’ s XI. S.H. Flindt,b Barclay 22 E. D. Lovell, b H. Noyes........ ... 0 W. H. Golds, lbw, b Barclay .................13 J. P. Candler, run out 38 K. Robinson, run out 77 C.H. Mountain, b Bar­ clay ........................ 5 E.G.Langton, c Noyes, b Barclay.................13 J. S. Lovell, lbw, b Fiuedon ................ G. A. iting, not out .. H. Tidy, b Finedon ... L. Lovell, b Barclay .. B 6, lb 1, nb 1 ... Total ..........1 B. W . I n s t it u t e . First innings. Second innings. G. Back, b Robinson...... 10 not out................ 1 G. J. Barclay, b Robinson .. 2 F. Guntrip, c S. Lovell, b Candler............................ 0 G. Noyes, b Candler ......21 W . Jones, st Mountain, b Candler ...................... 0 run out.............. 26 H. Noyes, b Candler........ 0 b Flindt ......... 0 W. Finedon, b Candler ... 1notout................ 8 B.Pouton,c Golds, b Candler 0 st Mountain, b S. Lovell ........ 7 W . Young, c Flindt, b Candler ...................... 0 st Mountain, b S. Lovell........ 4 G. Bonton, b Robinson ... 1c Robinson, b S. Lovell ........ 0 H. Appleby, not out ........ 0 c Robinson, b S. Lovell ........ 2 Extras................. 3 Byes........... 6 Total ..........38 Total (6 wkts) 54 UPPER TOOTING v. STREATHAM.—Played at Upper Tooting on August 2. S t b e a t h a m . N. Miller, b Tindall... 3 G. L. Linnell, c Har­ vey, b Tindall .. .12 H. H. Scott, c Tindall, b Bartley.................42 W.J. Hancock, c Bart­ ley, b Lindsay ... 18 R. O. Schwarz, c Christie, b B-irtley 34 E. A. Wafson, not out 26 H. M. Leaf, b Christie 1 J. F. W. Hooper, b Christie ................. H. S. Barkworth, b Christie ................. D. O. Kerr, c Lindsay, b Bartley................. C. E. Dunn, c Harvey, b Tindall................. B 4, lb 5, nb 2 ... Total ...169 U p p e r T o o tin g . First innings. Second innings. R. R. Sandilands, c Kerr, b Schwarz ........................13 D. H. Butcher, b Hancock 0 R. M. Harvey, c Leaf, b Schwarz ........................26 F. G. Thorne, b Hancock ... 2 H. C. L e n o x - Tindall, b Hancock ........................ A. A. Allen, b Hancock ... T.W.Hemmerde, b Schwarz D. C. Bartley, c Miller, b Schwarz ........................ J. H. Lindsay, b Hancock W. A. Christie, b Hancock G. T. Warry, not out.......... c L in n e ll, b Schwarz......... b Hancock.......... st Kerr, b Han­ cock ................. st Kerr, b Han­ cock ................. Byes ... Total cMiller,bSchwarz 2 c S ch w a rz , b Hancock... . 11 c Kerr,b Hancock 1 • b Hancock.......... 2 not o u t............... 8 c and b Schwarz 17 c S c h w a r z , b Hancock.......... 4 Leg-bye .. 1 ... 51 Total UPPER TOOTING v. M.C.C. AND GROUND. Played at Upper Tooting on July 31. M.C.C. an d G ro un d . M.A.Nicholas, c Allen, b Lucas .................31 D. C. Lee, b Bartley .. 2 Carlin, b Christie ... 29 E. W. Nicholls, c and b Christie................. 3 A. P. Wilson, c Chris­ tie, b Lucas ..........11 Bagguley, b Christie... 92 H. G. Buxton, c and b Lucas........................ 0 U ppe D. H. Butcher, b Gee­ son ........................5 R. R. Sandilands, b Bagguley.................1 T. W. Hemmerde, b Gec3on ................. A. A. Allen, lbw, b Bagguley................. Rev. H. C. Lenox-Tin- dall, st Carlin, b Geeson ................. Geeson, b Lucas ... 78 D. Maogregor, b Chris­ tie ........................ 1 C. B. Palmer, b Bart­ ley ........................ 2 W. Bird, not out ... 5 B 10, lb 3, nb 2 ... 15 Total ...269 T o o tin g . F. G. Thorne, b Geeson 5 E. A. Burnie, b Geeson 0 C. R. Lucas, st Carlin, b Bagguley ......... 3 J.W. Lindsay, not out 1 D. C. Bartley, run out 0 W. A. Christie, run out 9 B 2, lb 1 ............... 3 Total ........ 77 Second innings : H. D. Butcher, not out, 6; J. W. Lindsay, st Carlin, b Bagguley. 3; D. C. Bartley, not out, 11; Byes, 1. Total (1 wicket), 21. A LL CRICKETERS should possess a copy of “ Cricket’s Year Book.” Price sixpence. Con­ taining portraits of all the celebrities for the year iu addition to a mass of useful information. Copi* s can be had of all the railway bookstalls, newsagents, or (sevenpence by post) from Cricket Office, 168, Upper Thames Street, E.C.