Cricket 1897

D ec. 30, 1897. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 475 there is any special reason to try an extra man, and are admitted as first-class. But when it comes to thirteen against eleven it seems time to draw the line, and if the scores are counted in first-class averages, there seems no reason why the scores in the matches against eighteens and twenty-twos should not join them. F rom the Australasian :— “ The ladies have been so prominent at the cricket match, and they have been so pretty and so patient, that one cannot help men­ tioning them with a loving approval. Their comments afford an unfailing spring of refreshment to the world-worn man. For instance, I heard one sweet creature say—11 am so disappointed. I wanted to see the Englishmen play, and the Scotchmen are in.’ From whence she evolved the notion about the Scots I cannot suggest, unless it be that she had heard someone mention M’Michael. Here is another scrap of conversation:— ‘ What are they running for ? ’ ‘ Because Trott has made a fine hit.’ ‘ Oh, how funny. I thought when our men hit the ball the other men had to run.’ ” F rom the list of scorers of two hundreds in a match, given in the last issueof Cricket, the name of Major Piercy was omitted, although reference was made to it in a previous number. Mr. F. S. Ashley- Oooper informs me that the Major scored 151 and 109 for the 1st Dorset Regiment against Royal Scots on December 21 and 22, 1893, in India. T h e chief attraction of “ Crickety Cricket,” by Douglas Miffat, published by Messrs. Longmans Green and Co., is a quaint and amusing frontispiece by the late Sir Frank Lockwood. The rest of the book consists of parodies of well- known verses, with illustrations by the author. ------ As was only to be expected, the “ no­ balling ” of Jones by Phillips, after due warning, has been very freely, but not very favourably, commented upon in Australia. But the calmer critics seem to admit that Jones had somewhat altered his stjle since the tour of 1896, and it will not be forgotten that very good judges of the game in E igland were con­ vinced that his action was somewhat open to question during that tour. CaarlesBan- nerman, who in the Australian match “ no-balled ” Richardson (whether for throwing or for getting over the crease is not known at present), is said to have given the following opinion to an interviewer:— It is a remarkably strange thing that Phil­ lips should have officiated in many of the Australian matches in England and also in Australia prior to the team going home, and have allowed the bowling of Jones to go un­ questioned. He had no right to warn Jones at all, because the rule states if the umpire ‘ ‘ be not satisfied of the absolute fairness of the delivery of any ball, he shall call ‘ no­ ball.’ ” To warn a bowler you must feel doubtful about the delivery ; to feel doubtful you must call ‘ no-ball.’ Without doubt Batnerman is, strictly speaking, right, but for giving the bow­ ler fair warning, I imagine that very few cricketers indeed will blame Phillips. O nce more the cry is being raised in Victoria, apparently with reason, that as far as cricket is concerned “ Victoria” means “ Melbourne.” It is pointed out that seven of the eleven which represented Victoria against Mr. Stoddart’s team played last season in a match against a representative country Fifteen of the colony, and that the “ swagger” eleven was soundly thrashed. Yet not one of the victorious fifteen has been given a further trial, notwithstanding that several of them showed great promise. I n the absence of any defiuite particu­ lars there would seem to be three theories as to the way in which McLeod was out in the first match against Australia :— ( a ) He was bowled by a no-ball, but not hearing the call of the umpire left his wicket to go to the pavilion. Storer therefore pulled up a stump and appealed for “ run-out.” ( b ) He was bowled by a no-ball, and after the ball hit his wicket, left his ground, presumably, to inspect the wicket. Storer, etc. (c) He went out to “ have a g o ” at the no-ball, missed it, and was howled by it. Storer, etc. It is probable that either A or B repre­ sents the case, for it is not conceivable that Phillips could have given him out for c. I t really seems to be time that some addition was made to the laws to prevent a side profiting from a batsman’s mistake in thinking that the umpire said he was out. It does not seem right to hold the wicket-keeper responsible for putting down the wicket in such a case, for if a wicket-keeper once begins to think about what he ought to do he is likely to be of very little use to his side. But as long as it is left to individual captains to decide as to whether a man shall be asked to continue his innings, it is certain that there must be dissatisfaction. F ro m St. Paul’s, Minn., Mr. G. C. Saulez writes :— A curious thing happened in a club game played here last summer. Playing without wicket-keeper and a deep slip and point, A hit a ball straight up in front of him, B at the other end, who was backing up hard, called him—The hall meanwhile falls to the ground and twists into the wicket, but the batsman had crossed. Therefore it was B’s wicket. Now if A hits a ball into B’s wicket, he certainly is not out, and if two fields, each thinking the other would try for it, let an easy catch go, it’s right they should suffer for it, while A if he had stayed where he was might have stopped the ball. I have seen our name spelled all manner of ways, but the newest is in your last edition, when E. T. Saulez, tho old Harrovian made his double century v. Poona, written “ Salis.” With regard to the ingenious position taken up by Mr. Saulez as to the incident to which he refers, I am afraid that the batsman played on, and ought to have been described in the scoring sheet as “ bowled.” With regard to the name Salis the list given in Cricket of scorers of over 200 in India was, as stated, taken from an Indian newspaper. On N ov . 6th, George Giffen was bowled for a duck in a club match, the first time (in a club match) since February, 1890. In his next match, against Victoria, he was again bowled for a duck in his first innings, on November 15. M r. W . R. W il l ia m s , Langley, Lady- well Lane, CroftonPark, S.E., is the new honorary secretary of the Forest Hill C.C., in place of Mr. J. G. Trotter, who has resigned. A GOOD friend to cricket in the south has just been lost by the death of Mr. W. Farnell Watson, of Henfold Newdigate, near Dorking. An all round sportsman, he was at one time master of the Surrey Union Foxhounds and subsequently of the Warnham Staghounds. a pack estab­ lished by his father, the la1,.! W. Farnell Watson, of Isleworth. The deceased, who was only forty-four years of age, was one of the largest landowners in West Surrey. E ven now there are indications that another visit of Australian cricketers to England is looming in the very near future. As a matter of fact the pre­ liminary steps have, I understand, been already taken to find out the possibilities of the collection of a thoroughly repre­ sentative Australian team for a tour in England in 1899. But as yet, of course the matter has not got beyond the stage of enquiry. No one will be surprised to hear that William Brockwell, the Surrey player, made his mark on his first appearance on the cricket field for the Maharajah of Patiala. The match, which took place at Lucknow on November 30 and follow­ ing day, was between Lucknow and Patiala, and Brockwell’s all-round cricket was the chief factor in the decisive victory of the Patiala team. How much of their success was due to him may be judged from the fact that he contributed 85 to their total of 292, and took thirteen of the twenty Lucknow wickets. The Maha­ rajah, who himself got double figures, had two of the best Parsee cricketers— Mistri and Billimoria—in his eleven, which is very strong. On the other side, Major F. F. Crawford, R.A., whilom of gr<at fame, scored 50 out of 101 got from the bat in the first innings. Luck­ now scored 114 and 92, and were beaten by an innings and 86 runs. B r o o k w e l l , according to my corres­ pondent, is likely to soar to quite new heights in the way of sporting fame, while he is at Patiala. Though he had not before been outside a horse, under the Maharajah’s tuition, he had gone in for riding, and even had already made a commencement in the study of the higher art of pig sticking. The followers of Surrey cricket will be relieved to learn that he came safely out of the ordeal the first time of asking, though there was, for a moment, j ust a chance that the Oval might have known him no more, the result of circumstances over which I had almcst said he had no control. The N E X T ISSUE, THURSDAY , J A N U A R Y 27.