Cricket 1898

43 4 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. •S ept . 22 , 1898. League competition was presented to tbe ■winners the president of the League made the following remarks:— “ He could, not help feeling gratified that East Bierley had remained at the top of the League. He must confess, however, that as president he would have liked to see a little more competition for the cup, so as to create more interest and produce more gate-money. The object they had in view in forming the League was to stimulate interest in the local clubs. They had succeeded in spme instances, hut, unfortunately, not in others. This was the last season in which they would present medals to the players of the champion club, as some of the clubs found themselves ham­ pered with the expense, and it had been decided to play in future for the honour of holding the cup only.” Thirteen players of the wiuning club were then presented with medals, which, as the last of the series, ought to be treasured with exceptional care. T he following extract from the annual report of I Zingari C.C., Durban, which I may state has a balance of about five shillings on the right side, may be of interest to Englishmen:— “ We are much indebted to Mr. Atfield, the Wanderer’s professional, for his valuable services in securing us a professional. After considerable trouble, he has succeeded in engaging Mr. Douglas Smith, of Somerset County Club, who holds good references from Mr. L. C. H. Palairet, Mr. S. M. J. Woods, and various clubs. We are also much indebted to our president for arranging our pro.’s passage out. Up to date we have no fresh blood, and the team will be practically the same for the next seaFon, with the ex­ ception of H. B. Shire, who, I regret to say, is leaving the town in consequence of his health. He carries with him our best wishes, and we trust soon to have him back again.” T he occupation of Wei-hai-Wei was hardly an accomplished fact before the thought of the officers and men of the China Squadron, as is the little way of Englishmen, lightly turned to thoughts of cricket. Indeed by August 1st the officers had managed to make a cricket and football ground there, as well as three tennis courts, with the trifling matter of a club pavilion thrown in. Good old cricket! T he matches arranged by New South Wales for the coming season are as follows:— D ecem ber 10.—A t Sydney, Tasm ania v. N ew South W ales. D ecem ber 17.—A t Adelaide, South Australia v. N ew South W ales. Decem ber 24.—A t M elbourne, V ictoria v. N ew South Wales. January 7.—A t Sydney, South Australia v. New South W ales. January 26.—A t Sydney, Yictoria v. N ew South W a l s. April 1.— A t Sydney, Queensland v. N ew South W ales. Of Mr. G. S. Patterson, the captain of the Philadelphia team which visited England last year, who has not kept up his oldreputation this season, Cricket Club Life says:— ‘ ‘ Although he is temporarily out of inter­ national cricket—and how we all regret it he is taking a great interest in the colts, and devotes many a spare hour to training the y o u n g ste rs. W h a t a p a st m a ster o f th e a rt o f h a ttin g h e is, a n d w h a t a w o rld o f g o o d h e ca n d o th e b o y s w h o a re la y in g th e fo u n d a tio n fo r th e ir fu tu re fo r m ! L u c k y th e y o u th w h o g e ts p o in te rs fr o m th e ch a m p ion a n d w h o fo llo w s th em o u t.’ ’ T h e Hon. and Rev. Arthur Temple Lyttelton, who has just been appointed Suffragan Bishop of Southampton, is, it need hardly be added, one of the great brotherhood who have made the family name familiar as a household word in cricket. Seven of the eight brothers represented Eton, at Lord’s, at one time or other, and the eighth, Hon. A. V. to wit, would in all probability, but for illness, have figured there, too, against Harrow. The senior of the eighth is Lord Oobham; another brother, General N. G., led a division under the Sirdar in the late action against the Khalifa; another, E lward, is Head Master of Haileybury College. The youngest, Alfred, President of the Marylebone Club, is Recorder of Oxford and M.P. for Warwick. A f t e r the match between the Kathia­ warteamandPoona Gymkhana, in which Ranjitsinhji made two ducks, a scratch game was arranged. The following description of the game, from a local Indian paper, is delicious :— ‘ ‘ A scratch match was got up, after the Poona and Kathiawar ciicket match had been decided, to play for one hour. The news had got abroad, and a large concourse of people were assembled again on the Gymkhana ground, to witness the play of .Ranjitsinhji. Gymkhana went in first, and made 51 runs for three wickets down, and closed the innings, in which Beresford, Deas, Sale scored 11, 19, 14 'respectively. Kathiawar went in, but Prince Ranjitsinhji had a bad leg ; he was hurt in the mornings play; Major Ashby was placed to run for Ranjitsinhji who opened the game and put away three with his first ball, and a boundary followed by a wonderful hit for six. The figures scored up with great rapidity, the Prince playing quite freely made 52 not out. The innings was closed for 70 runs. The public admired much of his superiority in handling the bat and was often applaused.,, Mr. W. V a u g h a n writes fromBadulla, Ceylon, with reference to the celebration by the Colombo Colts of the 25th anniversary of their club. “ Between 1886 and 1898 the Colts played 133 matches, of which they won 90, lost 9, and 34 were drawn. Has any other club a better record than this? The Colts are all native born, the majority being Burghers, i.e.y descendants of Dutch aud Portuguese colonists and the remainder pure Singhalese. Of the 133 matches, 42 were against teams composed of Englishmen (including Lord Hawke’s team, and the Colts won all except 4. Ceylon has reason to be proud of her Colts, and no one has a greater admiration for them than His Excellency the Governor, Sir J. West Ridgeway, who attended the At Home held by the Club on the 23rd inst.” Thomas B iu n a ll, the Notts cricketer who died on Monday, made his first appearance at headquarters on June 1, 1863, a day remarkable in |the history of the M.C.C., as the occasion of the first visit of the Prince of Wales to Lord’s. He was the principal scorer for the Colts against M.C.C. and Ground in that match, and the form he showed was good enough to ensure him a trial for Notts the same year. He also made a creditable debut for the Players against the Gentlemen at Lord’s in 1863. But bis best record, perhaps, was in 1869. He scored 116, not out, at Tonbridge «gainst Kent that season, in which he again represented the Players at Lord’s. In spite of increasing bulk, he figured in the Notts Eleven till 1878. At his best, he was a very dangerous batsman, being free and resolute hitter. He was in his fifty-sixth year. The following notes on the late Mr. J. J. Colman have been kindly sent by Mr. Robert Borrett, the editor of the “ Norfolk Cricket Annual ” of 1898. Mr. J. J. Colman, who died on Sunday afternoon, was a member of the famous eleven Norfolk cricketing brothers. He was a generous patron of true sport, and always took a lively interest in the cricket of the county. He owned the Lakenham ground, which he enclosed and kept in order for the free use of local clubs and players. The ground has been for a number of years the headquarters of the Norfolk County Cricket Club, Norfolk County Football Association, and some 30 minor cricket and football clubs. Apart from the loss of the rent of this valuable plot, it must have cost Mr. Colmai\ £300 a year to keep the ground in playing order, Chadwick, and the assistant groundsmen, being all employed by him. Russell J. Col­ man, the eldest and only surviving son, formerly had a place in the cricket and foot­ ball elevens associated with the famous Carrow Works. He now devotes his leisure time to yachting and shooting. The following are some of the latest hundreds:— J U L Y . 27. J. G. Greig, L ord Sandhurst’s X I . v.A hm ed- n a g a r .........................................................................114* A U G U ST. 1. J . G. Greig, L ord Sandhurst’s X I . v.E lphin- stone University ...............................................118* 1. M . R . Jardine, BycullaClub v. Bom bay ... 137 15. J. G. Greig, L ord Sandhurst’s X I . v. Staff Corps X I .................................................................... 107* SEPTEM BER. 2. J. G. Greig, L ord Sandhurst’s X I. v. Naval Team .........................................................................113* 10. W . L . Bayley, Panther v. B a rn es..................102 H O R N SE Y v. O LD C IT IZE N S.—Played at Hornsey on September 17. H o r n se y . G. Hart, b R. C. Cole 10 J. Dem psey, c M iry­ lees, b Blewett ... 6 E . RobiDs, c Blewett, b B a rn e tt...................12 L . Brewer, c Mirylees, D .Crum p.bB.A.Clarke 0 A . E . Nicholls, lbw , b B au ly.............................63 W . Brewer, c Blewett, b B . A . Clarke............ 0 E . D . Ayling, b B . A . Clarke ..................... 9 W . C. Nimm o, c and b B. A . Clarke ............11 F. B. Dent, b Blewett 17 C. W . Talbot, c M iry­ lees, b Blewett............50 O l d C it iz e n s . Sm ith,” b Nimm o b R. C. Cole Jameson, not out B 2, lb 4, nb 1 , T otal ... , B 17, lb 4, nb I... 22 L. Mirylees, b D ent ... 19 W . C. Bauly, c and b Ayling .................... 33 R . C. Cole, b N icholls 6 B . A . Clarke, not out 21 J. H . Barnett, J. E. Adam s, H . Blewett, J. B. H one, J. W . M irylees, L . Roberts, and S. W illiam s did not bat. Total ..102