Cricket 1897

S ep t. 16, 1897. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 429 appeared under the title of Cricket Club Life, with a design for a cover in the style which is known as “ high art.” It repreients what is presum­ ably a cricketer bitting at the nets, in a costume which he would find incon­ venient on a hot day. F rom the c intents of Cricket Club Life , which are of a common sense pattern, I find that “ J. B. King, whom the critics in England awarded the first place as an all-round cricketer on our team, played for his club against Hiddonfield. The secmd b ill from Ciptaia Taylor, the Philadelphia ‘ demon’ put bick to the bjwler, much to that worthy’s surprise and delight. King’s record against the New Jersey team is two ciphers.” F rom the Sydney Mail :— Scene.—A restaurant in Sydney; two theatrical young ladies seated. Time, Satur­ day, 2 p.m. First young Lady : “ Look at the crowds going to the football match. I’ve a good mind to go too.” Second Toung Lady : “ I cin’t stand foot­ ball.” F. T. L .: “ I like it, but I cau’t stand cricket, it’s too slow for anything.” S. Y. L. : “ Neither could I stand cricket at one time, but it’s all right when you un­ derstand the fine points of the game.” To those who are about to write letters to the papers on the subject of the county championship, the following summary of irrefutable arguments, which have already appeared several times, may be of interest:— That Surrey man ought to be ashamed of themselves for even aspiring to Championship honours. That Surrey is incontestably champion county. That nobody in his senses would dream of disputing Lancashire’s claim. That .Essex really ought to be champion county. Tmt if the writer’smethod of scoring were adopted Surrey (or Lmcishire, as the case may be) would be champions without a rival. That if the writer’s method of scoring were adopted Surrey would be at the bottom of the list—where they deserve to be. Taut any system which does not bring Surrey out at the top mast be inane. Tnat anv system which gives Surrey the lead is wicked in t.he extreme. That it would be infinitely the beat plan to abandon connty matches and play Married v. Single, Long noses v. Short noses, Big feet v. Little feet, Short v. Tall, Thick v. Thin, etc. That the whole system is rotten, and the method of scoring idiotic. Tnat the system and method would be all right if they were entirely altered. That the only person who quite understands the question is tne writer of the particular letter. T he vanishing trick has been success­ fully performed at the Oval, and the pavilion aud tavern are by this time pretty well lost to sight as they are certainly to memory dear. It was incidentally men­ tioned a week or two ago that photo­ graphs had been taken of the exterior of the two buildings and of a portion of the interior of the pavilion. Copies, which may be had of Symmons and Co., 60, Ciancery Line, will be of interest to Cricket readers. T h e notice in last week’s “ Gossip ” that William Brockwell, the Surrey cricketer, had accepted the engagement, vactted by J. T . Hearne with the Maha­ rajah of Patiala for the coming winter, has been paid the sincerest flattery of reproduction by most of the papers which touch on matters cticketal, if in mist cases, one is almost ashamed to add, without acknowledgment. In addition to Brockwell, Surrey will in all probability supply another cricketer to coach the young idea in outlying parts of the Empire. It is pretty certain, indeed, that Lees will go out this winter to Cape Town to act as professional to the Cape Town Club. T h o u g h Mr. T. Disney, the author of “ Cricket Lyrics,” just published by Digby, Long & Co., will be unfamiliar to the present generation, he will, no doubt be remembered by many Cricket readers. Unless memory is treacherous, he was in the Rossall eleven, and figured with some prominence subsequently in Oxford cricket. Ha was, if he is not now, Head-Master of Harlesowen Grammar School. This is also from memory. A b e l is in the proud position of being the only cricketer who has scored two thousand runs this season. Before the North v. South match, at Hastings, he still require 1 42 runs, and 20 before Gen­ tlemen v. Players, the last match of the season. Hallam increased his number of wickets to a hundred during the Hastings Week. T h e end of the season has been pro­ ductive of remarkable bowling in small matches. Roberts, the Gloucestershire professional, took eight wickets for 15 at Bith, W. S. Htle, the Hampstead amateur, seven for five at Hampstead, while Me id, Birton, Haigh, and Car­ penter have experienced an enjoyable time for elevens against eighteens. L a d ie s ’ cricket matches at the end of the season are becoming a recognised institution. The other day a c >uuty match was playel, not between Surrey and Sussex or Yorkshire and Lincashire. but Cumberland aud Dumfriesshire, of all counties in the world. The Scotch­ women were so proficient in the mysteries of fielding and catching and under-hand b>wling, not to say batting, that the Englishwomen were iguominously de­ feated. But one of them upheld the honour of her country by scoring 22 out of a total of 29. I n the match between B >mbay Presi­ dency and the Parsees, the Englishmen had to make 125 in their second innings with three hours to play. But the wicket was so slow, and the bowlers had so much the best of matters, that in a very short time all idea of making the runs was abandoned, and the team played desperately to make a draw. It was a very near thing, but the side was saved from defeat by H. E. Browne, who, going in first, carried his bat for sixteen. His innings is described by an onlooker as b»ing “ patient,” which is very easy to believe. Sixteen runs in three hours must be about a record. T h e members of Mr. Stoddart’s team are to leave St. Pancras on Friday morning by the 10.55 train. Bun voyage ! I t might have been thought that Dr. E. M. Grace had gained such a reputa­ tion in his own neighbourhood, as a ciptain who quite understood the laws of cricket, that an opposing team would have hesitated to put him to the test. Bat when Coalpit Heath had to go in for the second innings to make 22 runs to win against Thornbury, and found their wickets going down a little too rapidly for their peace of mind, they began to cut things rather fine as regards the time taken between the fall of a wicket and the arrival of the next batsman. At last 7 wickets had fallen for 12. The next man, despite the caution given by the Coroner to the captain of Coalpit Heath, did not appear upon the scene until after the two minutes were up, and he was accordingly told by the umpire that his presence at the wicket was not required. Thereupon the opposing side refused to send any more men in, and, of course, the match was rightly claimed by Thornbury. But consider the gorgeous simplicity of it all as Eudyard Kipling says. T h e total of 214 made both by the Players and the Gentlemen in the first innings at Hastings reminds me that in the match under the same title at B ighton, for Jim Lillywhite’s benefit in 1881, each side made 204 in the first innings. In the second innings at Brighton the Players made 112, and the Gentlemen 111. It is said that, as a nutter of fact, an error was afterwards discovered in the scores, and that the Gentlemen’s total was also 112, making the match a tie in both innings. It was quite neir enough as it was, in all conscience. T h e following warning to inex­ perienced lady cricketers, who are ready at this time of the year to rush into the fray without preliminary practice, is given in last week’s Queen : — “ There must always be a certain amount of danger in these matches because of the hardness of the ball, and it is surprising that fingers are not often put out of joint, for to accurately gauge the pace of an approaching cricket ball, and to place the hands in such a posit.on that the *sting ’ may be taken out of it at the critical moment, is an art which is not as easy as it seems to an onlooker watch­ ing Mr. Jackson or Prince Ranjitsinhji in a first-class match. Bat ladies will play in spite of the danger, and somehow or other escape accidents, but, as is only natural, their scores are generally small, and their bowling, while it certainly does not lack variety, is seldom fast enough to be harmful.” N E X T ISSUE, THUR SDAY , OCTOBER 28.