Cricket 1898

43 0 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S ept . 22 , 1898. sive innings of 59, 45, and 56, 19, and 17 not out, 27, 61, 22, and 31, which is something like his true form. The only match in which hemet withmuch success in bowling was the new fixture at Cam­ bridge, in which he had nine wickets for 52. Webb, the youngster whose perfor­ mance in the Notts’ match at the end of the 1897 season gave ripe to such high hopes, was given a thoroughly good trial, but was terribly disappointing, for only in the last match in which he played, that v. Sussex at Brighton, whenhe took seven wickets for 134, did he do anything to justify his selection. His place will next year be better filled by Roche the Victorian. Jem Phillips only played against Cambridge, and did not bowl then. J. N. P. [To be continued.') H A M P STE A D C.C.— “ T H E CO O N S” v. REST OF CLU B .—Played at Ham pstead on Septem ber 17. “ T h e C oon s.” First innings. Second innings H , P . Haym an, b Preston... 24 b H utchinson ... 2 H . Greig, b Poole.....................46 J.G Q,.BePch. b Hutchinson 12 C. D . D . M cM illin. b Beaton 14 R . L eigh-Ibts, run out ... 3 c and b Beaton ... 17 A . E. Uodfrey, b Poole 2 run out ............ 1 A . B. Osmond, c M aicus, b Poole ...................................... 2 bH utchinson ... 12 J . C. R . Dickson, b Beaton E . Reid, not o u t ................... T . W . M ackintosh, b Beaton 5 6 n o t o u t ................... 5 0 b Hutchinson 7 H . R . Grylls, b Beaton 0 b Hutchinson ... 0 Extras ............................. 3 Extras 0 Total ..................... 117 T otal (6 wkts.) 44 R e s t o f C l u b . First innings. Second innings L . Hutchinson, c Haym an, b O sm o n d ............................. 6 b D ickson ............ 27 H . C . Preston, b H aym an ... 0 b M cM illin............ 11 W . Burchett, b Osm ond ... 15 run out ............ 12 J. G reig, e and bM ackintosh 1 b D ic k s o n ............ 5 T . M . Farm iloe, st Besch, b Haym an ... ..................... 8 b Leieh-Ibbs 3 A . T . Poole, c L eigh-Ibbs, b Greig............ ..................... 17 st H aym an, b M ackintosh ... 5 J. G ibbon, b D ick son ............ 6 not ou t.................... 3 E . W . H . Beaton, lbw , b M ackintosh .................... 9 c H aym an, b God­ frey ..................... 10 A . Rogers, jun., st Besch, b M ackintosh ................... 1 b L eigh-Ibbs ... 3 F . C. W heeler, lbw , b M c­ M illin ...................................... 8 b M ackintosh ... 3 J. M arcus, not out ............ 0 c Be8ch,b Dickson 4 Extras ............................. 4 Extras 0 Total ... _ ............ 75 T otal ... 86 K IR B Y M O O R S ID E v. E L E V E N F R A N K S .—Played at K irbym oorside on September 17. K ibbymoobsidb . F irs t in D iD gs. Second in n iD g s. M . Swalwell, s t J, C., b R. W . Frank ............................. 2 st J. C.. b R . W . Frank ............11 H . K ing, c and b W . L . F r a n k ......................................13 b W . L . Frank... 0 W . F. Coverdale, st J. C., b R . W . Frank ............ 1 b R . W . Frank... 4 J. M . H oggart, c J . C., b W . L . Frank ..................... 9 st J. C., b R . W . Frank ............ 3 F. E. Coverdale, b W . L . F r a n k ...................................... 0 c T .,b G. S.Frank 16 J. R. Shaw, b R . W . Frank 15 c and b R . W . Frank ............17 C. A ydon, b W . L . Frank... 12 lbw , b R . W . Frank ............ 3 T . Coverdale, st J . C., b R . W . Frank ..................» ... 0 n o t o u t ....................13 A . Rutter, b R . W . Frank .. 1 run out ............ 4 J. A nderson,b R . W . Frank 2 n o to u t....................18 H . Rutter, not out ............ 7 b R . W . Frank... 3 Extras ............................ 3 E xtras..............10 T otal............................. 65 T otal *102 * lanings declared closed. E l e v e n F r a n k s . R .W . Frank, b A ydon 14 T. Frank, b Anderson 0 W . L . Frank, b A n ­ derson .................... 3 G. S. Frank, b A nder­ son ............................. 0 J. C. Frank, b A ydon 2 A . S. Frank, b A ydon 0 In the second innings T . Frank, not out, 3; wicket, 58. W . P. Frank, b A ydon 6 W . Frank, b Anderson 0 H Frank, b Aydon ... 0 . A . Frank, not out 2 W . Frank, absent ... 0 Extras.................... 7 T otal ............34 -R . W . Frank, not out, 51; extras, 4.— Total for no ON THINGS IN GENERAL. The following letters, which seem to have reached us by mistake, are at leaBt typical of the annual autumn discussion. D e a r S ir, —Not long ago I was watch­ ing a match on a county ground, and a ball, ruthlessly struck by a player, hit the ground just in front of me, and caught me a severe blow on the ribs. I needhardly say thatwhenHerMajesty’s subjects are thus exposed to danger, something ought to be done. If the police cannot take the matter in hand, I would suggest that a lawn tennis ball should be used instead of a cricket ball. I am confident that this change in the game would be appreciated by players who, as things stand at present, are constantly getting hurt by the ball. All that would be necessary would be to substitute law 2 of Lawn Tennis for law 4of cricket. Thus the law would read as follows :—“ The ball shall not be less than 2| in., nor more than 2-ft in diameter; and not less than If oz., nor more than 2 oz. in weight." Trusting that the M.C C. will take the matter up with prompitude. Believe me, yours confidently, A L o t je r o f C h a n g e . D e a r S ir, —The proposal I am about to make is, I believe, entirely original. In these days of wholesome competition it is, to say the least of it, curious that cricketers should lag so far behind the times. Now, in all branches of commerce, except first-class cricket—I presume that nobody will deny that first- class cricket is purely a commercial game —competition has had the effect of lowering prices, and making vendors and purchasers keep their eyes open. If I go to a shop to buy, say bootlaces, and am offered bootlaces at 6d. of the same quality as I canget elsewhereinthe same street for 5d., I promptly remind the tradesman of the fact, and the bootlaces are mine at 5d. But withregard to first- class cricket, therewould appear to be no competition whatever. I amcharged 6d. for admission to any and every county ground, just as I was twenty or thirty years ago. If, moreover, I were to go to Leicester, and point out to themanat the gate that for 6d. I couldget amuchbetter article at the Oval or Lord’s, cf what avail would it be ? Such astate of affairs is surely a disgrace to our time, and I, therefore, proposethat county committees should, next season bestir themselves. Let Lord’s try the experiment of “ cut­ ting,” as in other businesses, and charge 5Jd. instead of 6d., when there is amatch at the Oval or Leyton at the same time. Mark my words, the result would be surprising. 1 think, too, that a scheme might be drawn up to make the price of admission suitable to the match, on the basis of the county championship table. Thus, if Yorkshire played Surrey, 6d. might be charged; if Leicestershire, 3d. The percentage system might be used with advantage, but as decimal points would be inconvenient when applied to coins, I should suggest that the nearest halfpenny should be charged. Yours truly, A. G. R o w le r . D e a r S ir, — I have for a long time felt that the present system of placing the counties in order of merit is much too intricate. Already drawn games are ignored. Why not carry this out a little further and ignore losses and wins ? This would simplify the table immensely. Yours, H. A n w e li. D e a r S ir,—I write to point out a scandalous state of affairs. Last Satur­ day, for reasons into which it is not necessary to go, I arrived on the field late—it was only an hour and a quarter late, I may remark. To my intense sur­ prise I found that the captain of my team had had the impertinence to play another man in my place. If captains are to be allowed to take the law in their own hands in this manner, I, for one, shall take to croquet. Yours, etc., A C lub C ricketer . D e a r S ir, — The absurdity of the present law as to l.b.w. is patent to all. And yet it does not seemto haveoccurred to anyone that the line should be taken from the umpire’s eye (not the howler's hand or the bowler's wicket) to the bats­ man’s wicket. Recognise this, and the debateable part of the lawwould be sim­ plicity itself. Thus it might read :— “ Which in the opinion of theum­ pire at the bowler’s wicket, shall have been pitched in a straight line, which may be drawn at any point and of any magnitude between his eye—his left or right eye, according to whether the bowler is bowling round or over the wicket, or is right orleft hand—andthe striker’swicket, and would have hit it.” I flatter myself that at last a definition of l.b.w. has been propounded, which is entirely without ambiguity and without flaw. Yours, etc., S o c r a t e s - S m i t h . ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. P . A . B la y d o s (Londonderry).—N ot yet. M r. B ull played for Granville, and M r. Perrin for T ottenh am . S p e c ta to r .— (a) Thanks for your letter, (b) It has, as you remark, been referred to elsewhere, (c) One o f the obvious dangers ” is that wicketa m ight be doctored, which is sufficient in itself. ... H . F. T u ck eb . — W ill endeavour to find out. W ill write. “ I n t e r e st e d .” —See above.