Cricket 1898

D e c . 22, 1898. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 479 P o s s i b ly someof thereaders o f Cricket may be able to give a replyto the follow­ ing query : “ Is there a plac“ in London or the suburbs where a young fellow could practise cricket under cover during the winter months? I mean such a place as that opened by the Brothers Quaife in Birmingham last winter.” A r e c e n t decision of Barass, the well- known Australian umpire, has been the subject of much discussion in Australia. A batsman, under the impression that he was bowled, left his ground, but on an appeal by the other batsman, the umpire at the bowler’s end give himnot out, the bail having been knocked off by the wicket-keeper. The batsman returned to his crease, but iu the meantime the wicket-keeper had knocked off the bail. Birass gave the batsman not out on the ground that «s the wick-rt was broken a stump ought to have been struck out. T h e above decision of the Australian umpire must naturally once more turn the attention of cricketers to the wording of L iw 20. “ The wicket shall be held to be ‘ down ’ when either of the bails is struck off, or, if both bails be off, when a stump is struck out of the ground.” When one bail is off the wicket is obviously down, but the fact of its being down does not preveut its being down againiftheotherbiil isstruckoff, although it must be admitted that the law isnot as clear as it might be. It may be pretty safely said that nine cricketers out of ten (barring old wicket-keepers) would pull up a stump if one bail was off “ to make sure.” I n connection with the above law, Mr. J. E. Blaxland writes from Ascension Island :— I should he much obliged if you would give me an answer to this case at cricket which occurred last Saturday. A run was being made, and the bails being off, the wicket­ keeper pulled out a stump with one hand, having the ball in the other, and though the batsman was out of his ground, the umpire gave not out. Most of the players thought it ought to be out, and that it was only necessary to pull out a stump, but, on looking at Rule 20, it says, a stump is to be struck out of the ground. I should like to know if the umpire’s decision was right, and whether pulling a stump out of the ground would be considered the same as being struck out if the wicket-keeper had touched the stump with the ball at the time of doing so. We all seem to remember seeing it done some time or other, and even though the rule is very plain, we should like to have a decision on the case. [Here again Rules 20 and 28, which have to be taken together, are anything but clear. In practise a stump is generally pulled out of the ground with both hands. Rule 21 evidently means that the hand which does the deed must have the ball in it. But it does not say so. — E d .] From the Australasian: — The Fitzroy Shandies are noted for their stubborn play in an uphill game, but in a recent match their accustomed valour left them, and they bit the dust in a remarkable way. They were playing at Moonee Ponds, and wanted six runs to get to win, with five wickets to fall. This was a critical j uncture, calculated to test the nerves of the most stal­ wart member of the Shandy team. Did they respond to the call made upou them ? Alas ! they did not. Even that hero of former Shandy engagements was utterly routed, and F. L. fell, smitten by a Moonee Valley bowler. Last line of all, that ends this strange event­ ful cricket match—the five Shandies made one, and that one was a bye, and the tears of the Shandies for their ducks are long ere this absorbed in the dust of that wicket at Moonee Ponds. T h e following amendment to the rules of the Melbourne Cricket Club has been adopted by 42 votes to 13:—“ The number of members shall not exceed 2,500, exclusive of absentees, country and junior members. The committee may regulate the number of countiy and juuior members, according to their discretion. The limitation to 2,500 shall not apply to players of establishedrepute iu all sports affiliated with the club, in whose favour the ballot may be opened by order of the committee at any time.” In seconding the above amendment, Mr. H. C. A. Harrison said, “ As long as the club was able to give reasonable accommodation to the public it should not close its doors. There was absolute sitting accommodation for 5,800 people, and the fear of being compelled to stand once iu a few years should not induce members to deprive the club of a revenue of 1,000 guineas a year. It would place them iu a better position to help other clubs. In his opinion the club should make no further provision lor members, while 15,000 or 20,000 people who paid for admission to the outside grouud stood upon the asphalt.” A f t e r losing seven wickets for 75 against West Adelaide, on Novem­ ber 5th, the Sturt Cricket Club made a surprising resistance to the bowling of George Giffen, Hugo and Co. When the afternoon’s play ended, there were still only sevenwicketsdown,but the scorehad mounted to 299, thanks to 108 not out by F. T. Hack, and 143 not out by R. E. Green. D u r in g aPennant match atMelbourne between Fitzroy and Richmond, a player of tbe latter clubhit a ball against a gum tree, fromwhich it dropped into the hands of a fieldsman. The umpire, considering that the hit would have been a five if it had not been for the tree, allowed this number of runs to the batsman, although only one run had been scored before the ball was returned to the wicket-keeper. Fitzroy claimed that even if the batsman was not out, the hit only ought to count as one. Presumably, before the match began, the umpires settled what was the boundary, otherwise it is difficult to see where the fiver comes in. A t a meeting of the committee of the M.C.C., held on December 12, it was decided to adopt the suggestion of the secretaries of the counties that the minimum of matches in the champion­ ship should be six out and home matches against other counties. As a sequel to this decision, Worcestershire has been promoted to the first class. L o r d H a w k e ’s team for South Africa, wi:h the exception of Mr. Milligan, who had guno oninadvance, left Southampton on Siturday, December 3rd, and arrived at Madeira on December 7th. It consisted of the following players:— Lord Hawke, Mr. P. F. Warner, Mr. C. E. M. Wilson, Mr. H. R. Bromley-Daveoport, Mr. F. Mitchell, Mr. F. W. Milligan, Mr. A. G. Archer, Board, Cuttell, A. E. Trott, Haigh, Tyldesley. A m o n g the scores made in the early club matches of the season by well- known Australians are; G. Giffen, 28, not out; H. Donnan, 67. not out; E. Rush, 108; H. Graham, 177; G. L. Wilson, 125, not out, and 21 ; 8. M‘Michael, 97 and 246, not out; J. J. Lyons, 28 and 64, not out; F. Laver, 171 and 126,not out; Dr. Macdonald, 42, not out; A. Mac­ kenzie, 60; S. Green, 84, not out; V. Trumper, 37; G. Giffen, 58; J. Worrall, 56 ; J. Harvey, 84; W. Bruce, 166; C. Hill, 77; C. J. Eady, 38 arid 17. J. J. L y o n s made 64 not out on November 5ca, in half au hour. His score included 44 fours. O n Saturday, November 5th, and the following Wednesday, the'New South Wales Eleven played the Next Fifteen. The Fifteen went in first, and scored 286 for 5 wickets on the first afternoon. On the following Wednesday, they brought their total to 446 for 9 wickets (R. A. Duff 189), and, having declared, pro­ ceeded to get out five of their opponents for 148, which was decidedly good business. McKibbin andNoble were not playing, and Newell split his hand after bowling four overs, so that the bowling was not strong. Despite this, the result must make some ot the eleven a little thoughtful. ------ A I’A R k W E L L dinner was given to Dr. Grace by the Clifton Foot Beagle Club, of which he is a member. The Duke of Beaufort was in tbe chair. W. G. promised that he would play iu as many matches forGloucestershire as hepossibly could. He is, I believe, now settled iu his new home at Sydenham. N e w Sorra W a le s sat uponTasmania very heavily, at Sydney, at the beginning of the month. They scored839 ( trumper 292 not out, and Iredale 196) against 130 and 222. McKibbiu took 10 wickets during the match for 157 ruus, and Howell and Noble were also very successful. Noble did the hat trick. T iie large hall of Cannon Street Hotel was well filled on the 7th inst, the occasion being the ninth annual smoking concert of the City of LondonPoliceC.C. N E X T ISSUE, THURSDAY , J A N U A R Y 26.