Cricket 1898

26 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. F e b . 24, 185 8. No less than 1,739 runs were scored in the match between Mr. Stoddart’s team and New South Wales at Sydney, which, a.s play lasted for six days, is not so very surprising. The previous best total in a first-class match was 1,514, Australia v. Mr. Stoddart’s team, 1894, at Sjdney, and in a minor match, 1,665, Melbourne University v. North Melbourne, 1894. In each of these matches all four innings were completed. A t the annual general meeting of the Lancashire County C.C., Mr. W. H. Swire was able to Btate that the report was exceedingly favourable. In reply to a suggestion that the example of Yorkshire should be followed by Lancashire in the matter of dealing with professionals dur­ ing the winter, Mr. Swire stated that the professionals had not been forgotten, but that it was not desirable to make public the system which had been adopted. Mb. W. E. H u m b l e writes as follows from St. Paul, Minnesota:—“ It is very uphill work with us, as the people out here, as a rule, have little knowledge of the game, and less time to play it. The nearest club to us of any importance is Chicago, and that is almost 500 miles away, so, of course, we have to play a good many club matches, which tend to get monotonous. Nevertheless, we keep the game going, and last year we started the North-West Cricket Association, hop­ ing thereby to create more enthusiasm in the game—at any rate to bring it more prominently before the public. Winni­ peg, which is some four or five hundred miles due north of us, carried off most of the honours, but they have excep­ tional advantages compared with us, in the way of good grounds to play on and plenty of support. We find it impossible to get either.” F ro m the reports sent me by Mr. Rumble, who is honorary secretary of the Minnesota C.C. as well as the North- West C.A., if appears that the clubs belonging to the association played a series of matches against each other last year at St. Paul. They were the Mani­ toba and Chicago Associations and Omaha and Minnesota Cricket Clubs. The matches were played on cccoanut mat­ ting. The highest score was 55 by S. B. Prest, who had top batting average; W. James took 21 wickets for 72 runs. The MinnesotaC.C. played 13 foreign matches, winning 10 and losing three. G. C. Saulez had the best batting average and H. H. Vaughan was best with the ball. O f the matches played by the Calcutta C.C. this season only one has been lost. In Clark the club possesses a bowler who varies his pace well and breaks both ways, while Thomas and Major Ormerod are both hitters of considerable ability. In one of the matches, when the opposing side seemed certain to make a draw, Clark took the last four wickets without a run being scored off him, and won a brilliant victory for his side. T h e exceptional heat during the recent Inter-colonial match between Victoria and New South Wales, evidently, too, had its humorous side, at least for some of the cricket enthusiasts, to j udge by the following verses which appeared in the A ustralasian over thenameof ‘ ‘ Woomera.” In any case, the slow cricket seems to have suggested a particularly soothing influence—very pleasant contrast with the painful effects reported on so many of the players. He started from his pleasant sleep And gazed in -wonder round, Roused by the wild exultant shout That echoed o’er the ground. “ And wherefore all the row P” he cried. ‘ ‘ Has Trumhle missed a catch ? Is Worrall in or Giller out ? Has Sydney lost the match ? “ Oh, say why do the people rave ? What great deed has teen done ? ” They broke it gently, as they might, “ Victoria’s made a run.” “ Ah, woe is me,” the old man said, And bitterly he wept; “ I ’ve waited long to see that run; They got it while I slept.” Ah ! vain indeed are simple words To solve so great a sorrow; They only said “ You’ll come again; They might make two to-morrow.” A pr o po s of the second test match, it will be of interest to give the details of the attendances during the four days :— ITEMS. The attendance was as follows:— Paid for Turn- Receipts. Admission, stiles. £ s. d. First day .......... 18,029 21,744 1.207 7 6 Second day .......... 19,619 26,858 1,297 16 0 Third day .......... 13,080 20,116 906 4 6 Fourth day .......... 6,344 12,192 428 18 6 Total .......... 67,072 13,910 3,810 6 6 A f ig u r e long and well-known in Melbourne cricket, has passed away by the death of R. Greig, of the Richmond Club. He was for years a delegate of the Richmond Club to the Victorian Ciicketers’ Association. As manager of the Victorian Association teams visiting other colonies he was also a great success. He died at Mount Margaret in Western Australia early last month in his forty- eighth year. A. E. T r o t t , who is going to appear, one is led to believe, in the Middlesex Eleven in the summer, has been making the ball hum, it would seem, in the Transvaal this winter. It would be more correct, indeed, to say that he has been remarkably successful with both bat and ball. In one match he received £20 for a score of a hundred. In another—for Pretoria against the Pirates—he took nine wickets for 87 runs, and in a third he carried out his bat for 215. Bat his best record with the ball, so far, at least, as my information goes, was in the league match between Pretoria and the Pirates, at Pretoria on January 22. In this A. E. T . got eight of the Pirates out at a cost of only nine runs. H o l l a n d of Leicestershire, and Lees of Surrey, were the chief factors in the establishment of a new record for Cape Town. This took the form of an innings of 470, made by Western Province against the Garrison, atNewlands, on January 22. Of the Province’s total Holland was responsible for 150 and Lees 113. The previous best for the Cape was the 463 made by Cape Town against Western Province on the 3rd of January. D e s p it e the wet weather during his benefit match, Pickett, thanks to sub­ scriptions, has not had to regret a failure. He has decided to enter into partnership with Freeman as a cricket and athletic outfitter, and there is no reason why he should not be very successful in business. T h e proceeds of the match between Yorkshire and Hampshire at South­ ampton on May 26, 27, and 28, will be set apart for the benefit of Baldwin. T h e names of the eleven who repre­ sented the Madras United C.C. against the Bangalore Gymkhana on January 22 were :—Lisles, Amirthalingam, Sooboo- royaloo, Narrain Rao, Seshachari, Rajamony, Captain, Rajagopalachari, Venkatarama Chetty, Singaram, Srini- vasram. C. V. B. Davy, in the first innings of Bangalore, was “ c Sooboo- royaloo, b Rajagopalachari.” C. E. D. Budworth, in the same innings, went even three better in the number of letters, for he was “ c Venkatarama Chetty, b Rajagopalachari.” No wonder that time was not sufficient to allow them more than a draw. Amirthalingam, the name comes quite glibly from one’s pen, made 102 of their first score of 258. According to the score in the Madras Times of January 27, he got 142 runs in the match for once out. S m a l l cause for surprise that under the circumstances occasionally the Madras Times gets a little mixed. This is how it describes a part of the match between the Law College and Pachaiyappa’s College on February 2nd : “ Amurthal- ingam’s 51 consisted of several boundaries and his batting was faultless. Seshadri formed a lucrative partnership with Amurthalingam. The Pachaiyappa’s College then entered on their first ven­ ture, losing two wickets for 45 runs.” The Law College eleven was made up of the following: Kanikachellam, Sreenivasan, Amurthalingam, Vittal Rao, Seshadri, Mahabala, Rangasawmy, Ekambaram, Venkama, Krishnasawm, Hanumant. B u t no matter ! A day will come ! B r o c k w e l i . is fully maintaining the promise of his early performances with the cricket team of the Maharajah of Patiala. They have plenty of matches at Patiala, and Brockweli has been setting the side a brilliant example in the way of consistent scoring. Up to January 12 his average was 84'7. By the latest advices, that is in the latter part of January, he was down with fever. T h e new pavilion and tavtru a1, the Oval are now in such a forward state, N E X T ISSUE , T H U R S D A Y , M A R CH 31.