Cricket 1898

F eb . 24, 1898. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. thanks to awinter of exceptional mildnes", that there is every reason to hope they will be ready well within the stipulated time, at least, to admit of occupation by tlie first of May. The pavilion, by this time, is pretty well roofed, and a great part of the flooring is done. A visit to the Oval, even now, will repay the curious. As far as one can judge, the accommodation for members, and also for the cricketers will be quite up to date. “ An Indian weekly journal devoted to sport in all its branches” is as pleasing, as it is a tangible sign of the growing interest in the national game in the greatest of the outlying parts of the Empire. And cer­ tainly to j udge by the arrangement, as well as the matter of the fourth and fifth issues which have been forwarded to us, Sport deserves the success one hopes it will command. The moving spirits—I trust I am not betrajiog confidence—are Messrs. It. S. Shepherd, an insatiate snapper-up of unconsidered cricket trifles, and E. H. D. Sewell, the well-known Madras cricketer. Sport, which is pub­ lished, be it stated in parenthesis, in Bombay, circulates in all the messes and clubs in India, as well as largely amongst sportsmen in the Bombay and Madras Presidencies, and the Punjab and North- Western Province. The best that Cricket can and does wish, is, that Sport has come to stay. Cricket readers, particularly those with Surrey proclivities, will regret to learn that county cricket will see Henderson no more. As is generally known, his benefit match last summer was a big success, and with every qualification for a commercial career, he has not unwisely elected to go in for a city life in prefer­ ence to a continuance on the cricket field. If it is true that The Con­ solidated Gold Fields, Limited, in whose office he is now settled, has by no means a weak cricket eleven, and Henderson should be a valuable addition to its strength. Perhaps it ought to be added that in his resolution to give up couD ty cricket, Henderson had the con­ currence, as he carries with him into his new career the heartiest goodwill of the Surrey executive. A t the special general meeting of the M.C.C., to be held on Monday next, the following recommendations will be made by the committee :— 1. That Mr. F. E. Lacey be elected secretary. The committee have gone carefully into all the applications, over fifty in number, for the post, and have come to the unanimous conclusion that Mr. Lacey is the most suitable candidate. 2. That the Duke of Buccleuch be elec­ ted a trustee in the place of the late Earl of Sefton. 3. That in consideration of his long an(-l faithful services a pension of £400 a year be granted to Mr. H. Perkins, and that he be elected an honorary life mem­ ber of the club. Mr. Perkins is sixty-five years of age, he has been secretary of the club for twenty-two years, and the salary which he has received is calculated as being worth £600 a year. A t practice before one of the Australia matches Howell bowled K. S. Rm jitsinbji three times. J u d g in g by the names of the players in a recent match between Civil and Military at R ingoon, Burma could just now place a pretty strong eleven in the field. Among others who took part in the game above mentioned were H. R. Troup, whilom of Gloucestershire; J. H . Curtis, the most brilliant Cliftonian of the past decade; not to mention Cap­ tains Dew ing and Shaw, Colonel C. Stevens, and A. P. Gwynn, the Irish cricketer and Rugby footballer. T h e ink had hardly dried over H . R. Troup’s name, before my eye fell on a paragraph in Sport of Jan, 31 conveying the terrible news that he had committed suicide at Rangoon b y shooting himself through the mouth. His death will come as a great shock to cricketers in India, particularly to those in Madras, who have for years looked upon the ill-fated young officer as quite the finest batsman in the Presidency. Shortly before his death he ran up a score of 132 for Military v. Civil at Rangoon. C. P. F o l e y of Eton, Cambridge and Middlesex fame, and one of the central figures in the Jameson Raid, has been in anything but the best of health of late. He is off to E gypt to recuperate. I n the list of those named for special services in the Mashonaland operations were two good cricketers, Captains H. M. Ridley and R. M. Poore, of the 7th Hussars. The latter, it may be remembered, scored heavily against the last English team which visited South Africa. Th e annual meeting of the Kensington Park C.C. will be held at the Sports Club, 8 St. James’ Square (by permission), on Monday next, at 8.30 p.m . The Sports Club has placed a room at the disposal of the club, which enables members to dine together at 7 p.m. before the meeting. Application for seats for this dinner (price 4s. 6d.) must be sent to Mr. O. D . Brooks, 2 i, Old Burlington Street, not later than Saturday. The follow ing are some of the latest hundreds:— Jan. 21—Amirthalingam, Madias United v. Bangalor Gymkhana........................ 102 Jan. 29 -C. H ill , A ustralia v . Mr. S toddart ’ s T eak ............................................. 188 Feb. 5—A . C. M ackenzie , N ew S outh W a le s v. M r. S toddabt ’ s Team ................ 130 Feb. 8 —N . F. D ru ce, Mr. S to d d a rt’s Team v. N ew S outh W a l e s ............................. 109 Feb. 9 — S. E. G regory , N ew S outh W a lk s v . Mr. S to d d a rt’s Team ................ 171 Feb. 10—A. C. M a cL a ren ,M r. S to d d a rt’s Team V. N ew S outh W ales ................ 140 IMPORTANT RESOLUTION OF THE AUSTRALASIAN CRICKET COUNCIL. At the annual general meeting of the Council the following resolution was carried unanimously:— “ That this Council will hereafter only grant patronage to cricket teams visiting Australia from England and elsewhere (a), when the tour of the visiting team is promoted by the Cricket Council (acting on behalf of the associations represented thereon), either solely or in conjunction with others, or (b) when the names of the promoters of the visiting team, particu­ lars of matches to be played, and terms to be allowed to the cricket associations represented on the Council are submitted to and approved of by the Council.” Mr. G. M. Evan, who proposed the resolution, said that he had no desire to prejudice or prevent the visits of English teams to Australia, but he desired that the Council should take over the control of these visits, so that the interests of Australian cricket should not be preju­ diced. It was unsafe, in the interests of Australian cricket, to allow private specu­ lators—he referred to the Melbourne Cricket Club and the Trustees of the Sydney Cricket Ground—to bring out teams practically uncontrolled by the Cricket Council or by any cricket body. He feared very much that the visit of the present team would not advance cricket in Australia, and he feared it particularly because live test matches had been arranged. The only reason that he could see for arranging five test matches was to enrich the coffers of those who brought out the team. In England three matches were found sufficient, and three should be enough in Australia also. With five test matches the chances of the Australian Eleven were greatly prejudiced. Between December 27 and January 15 the New South Wales contingent would play two testmatches and two intercolonialmatches, while the South Australians and Vic­ torians would play two test matches and one intercolonial match. Consequently the Australians would be jaded, while the Englishmen would be fresh, having played only in small matches, which served them for practice. If the Aus­ tralians beat the English team they would beat them having conceded a considerable handicap. Now, was this done in the interests of cricket or in the interests of gate money ? To provide so much inter­ national cricket was killing the interest in the game, because people would not go to see intercolonial matches, but waited for the test matches. Some people might ask, what could the Council do if the Melbourne Cricket Club and the Trustees of the Sydney Cricket Ground brought out a team from England in spite of them ? Speaking for his own colony, he was sure that their own men would stand by them. When a threat was held out that no test match would be played in Adelaide, Giffen, Lyons, Darling, Hill, and Jones declared that if no match was played in Adelaide they would not play in a test match in any other colony. The Council should take up a firm stand, and not allow the interests of the gime of cricket to be sacrificed for gate money. N E X T IS SUE , T H U R S D A Y , M A R C H 31,