Cricket 1898

290 CKICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OE THE GAME. J u l y 21, 1898. “ Much ado about nothing:,” with lime­ light effects, by the School House Dramatic Society. D u r in g a match at Madras between the Madras C.C. and Bellary, Mr. W. P. Hayden, one of the team representing the former, played a ball into his pad. With great politeness he took it in his hand and gave it to the wicket-keeper, who returned thanks. The batsman continued his innings, in happy ignorance that he had distinguished himself. Meanwhile, it is to be presumed, the umpires smiled. T h e latest score made in Madras by Mr. E. H. D. Sewell is 246, for Madras against Bellary. His average must be remarkable. R e f e r r i n g to the above match, the Madras Times says:—“ Since this last Australian tour, it seems almost a sine qua non that every match nowadays must have its ‘ incident,’ and the match under notice is no exception. Nobody called anybody else a liar or a cheat, and ‘ you know it,’ nor, so far as the writer saw, did anybody bowl purposely to hurt any particular batsman, but Keble was appealed for Ibw, given out by the umpire, but allowed to bat again on consideration that he had played the ball hard first, the Bellary men showing a true sporting spirit, though there is no question that the thing was not strict cricket.” W .G .’s r e c o r d in first-class cricket up to to-day, July 20. B a tt in g . Runs. Completed Inns. Avge. 48,721 .......... 1,188 .......... 41 B o w lin g . "Wkte. Runs. Avge. 2,656 .......... 43,832 .......... 17 T e e Yorkshire County Cricket Club was represented at the funeral of Mr. M. J. E lison, its late president, by Lord Hawke. The Duke of Norfolk and the Earl of Effingham, and many repre­ sentatives of Yorkshire cricket, were also present at the ceremony, which took place on Saturday, in St. Bede’s churchyard, Masborough. O n ce more the Canterbury Cricket Week is in sight. On the August Bank Holiday the Week begins with Alec Hearne’s benefit match, Lancashire v. Kent, while the other county which will be opposed to Kent during the week is Notts. Kent will, it is hoped, be able to put its very strongest team in the field. As usual, the “ Old Stagers ” will give dramatic representations during the week. They have appeared at Canterbury for the last fifty years. Ip it had not been for the vast interest aroused by the Gentlemen and Players match at Lord’s, the defeat of Yorkshire by Kent and of Lancashire by Essex would not have been passed by with so little comment. The Maidstone ground is peculiarly suited to Walter Wright’s bowling, and it is no uncommon thing for a visiting team to fail upon it. It is curious that Yorkshire should have lost the first match of the season in which Lord Hawke was not playing. The victory of Essex over Lancashire was a splendid performance, and by his great innings Mr. McGahey has considerably added to his reputation. C a p t a in W y n y a r d played a remark­ able innings on Saturday for S lverwood Park against Wokingham. Thanks to his 138 the Park, who had to make 228 runs in two hours, knocked off the runs a couple of minutes before time. The Captain went in fourth wicket down. His innings included two 6’s and twenty 4’s. T h e race for the thousand runs is over. It was won by Tyldesley, who by his two fine innings for Lancashire against Essex, easily beat all other competitors. For the second place there has been a keen struggle, but Storer ought to win easily. At present the posilion is as follows : Tyldesley 1022 (first), Shrews­ bury 949, Abel 940, Jackson 962, Brock­ well 928, Storer 997, Townsend 863, Tunnicliffe 895, Ward 914. A n interesting query comes to me from Crouch End. A match is played between two clubs, A and B. A bats first, and makes more runs than B in the first innings. A bats again, and leaves B to score 36. When 35 of the runs have been knocked off the umpires call time, B having four wickets still in hand. What is the result ? Is the game a tie, or a win for A on the first innings ? I t has often been ruled that in such a case the game is not “ played out,” and that, therefore, the result must be decided by the first innings. But if all B ’s wickets had fallen the match would have been “ played out,” and, the totals being equal, the result would be a tie. There­ fore, it would be absurd to punish B for still having four wickets in hand, and in common fairness the game must be a tie. B ’s captain, as captain of the “ in-side,” had, of course, the option of declaring his innings closed when stumps were drawn, and, therefore, making the game a tie beyond any possibility of dispute. T h e dinner given in honour of Dr. Grace at the Sports Club was an entire success. Sir Richard Webster, the presi­ dent of the Surrey County C.C., was in the chair, Mr. N. L. Jackson, the hono­ rary secretary of the Corinthians, was the vice-chairman, while hosts of celebrities, whether cricketers or not, were present. Like the Australian captain, W.G. does not profess to make fine speeches, but what is of considerably greater impor­ tance he, also like Trott, makes effective ones. His few remarks on Tuesday night were very much to the point. A report of the speech will be found on page 291. A t a meeting at Lord’s, on Monday, of representatives of the first-class counties, Lord Hawke proposed, and Mr. C. W. Wright seconded, the following resolu­ tion :— “ That this meeting of representatives from each first-clats county request the M.C.C!. to appoint a Board to govern future testmatches between England and Australia at home.” The resolution was carried. Lord Hawke then moved:— “ That such Board he comprised of the president of the M.C.C., five of its club committee, and one representative from six of the first-class counties selected by the M.C.C. to send a representative. The president of the M .0.3. to always have a casting vote.” Mr. C. W. Wright also seconded this resolution, which was carried, the only dissentient being the representative of Warwickshire. It will be noticed that this resolution gives the M.C.C. a majority, so that the counties will, in future, practically have no control over the matches. I n the course of his speech at the Sports Club dinner, Sir Richard Webster said that he was sitting on the Treasury Bench the previous night, and informed Mr. Arthur Balfour that he was to have the honour of presiding at that dinner. Mr. Balfour said, “ Give Dr. Grace my kindest wishes, and tell him I am just the same age as he is himself.” (Cheers.) In an “ examination paper a la mode,” Punch sets a question : “ Write a history of Grace, and compare his averages with some celebrated Australian cricketers.” As a specimen of the curious English often used by examiners this i» remarkably neat. A f a m i l i a r figure on eveiy cricket ground throughout the country, Edgar Pardon will be greatly missed, particularly where County cricket has its home. To the Pardon brotherhood, of wbicb, by the way, Sydney is now the only survivor, is, in a very great measure, due to the marked improvement in the ciicket repor­ ting of the last ten or fifteen years. And of the two, Edgar, the youngest, had not the least vaiied, or the least pleasant experience. Not only English, but Australian cricketers found in him a faithful chronicler. To the Australian teams of later years, indeed, no one, perhaps, on this side was better known. Singularly fair, as well as temperate in his views, while never lackii g the courage of his opinions, his writings naturally always commanded respect. Among Pressmen he was deservedly popular. A worker always, he took a leading part among Metropolitan journalists. A year or two ago he filled the position of President of the Press Club with marked credit. As a member of the Council he did good work, too, for the Newspaper Pund. C r i c k e t in the Argentine Republic is looking up, it is pleasant to learn. It has developed so much indeed that the five or six clubs in Buenos Ayres have combined, in the hope of engaging a first-class English professional to go out there, from the close of the English