Cricket 1898

A p r il 14, 1898. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 57 Cricket: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LOUDON, E.C. THURSDAY , A PR IL 14 t h , 1898. $a\)titcm ao ssstp . The abstract and brief chronicle of the time.— TJamlM. T h e Corporation of Newcastle (Natal) recently granted the use of a portion of the Market Square to the cricket and football teams of the town. The space was railed off, and a match played almost immediately after the fence was up, for in the land of cocoanut matting one does not have to wait for the grass to grow. A t the beginning of March, Mr. A. Bailey took to Durban a team of cricketers, includingLohmann, two brothers of A. B. Tancred, Gordon Beves, and J. Sinclair, some of the best-known men in the Transvaal. Two matches were played, the honours of which fell to Lieut. Challinor, who made 111, and Lohmann, who bowled and batted well. The scores of the matches will be found on page 59. D o b i n g the first of the above matches against Natal it was dis­ covered that the wicket was too long by 3 i inches, and that the stumps were placed too far apart. One of the batsmen had a lucky escape, the ball passing through the wicket without removing the bails. It was then found that the same accident was likely to occur again with something like fre­ quency. U m p ir e s in Natal seem to have a lively time if the follow ing note from the Natal Mercury is a speci­ men of the treatment meted out to th em :— “ The ball was thrown at Atfield’s wicket, hut the professional was in his ground before it pitched, running his hat along the ground as he came in. Mr. C. Henwood, the umpire of the home team, to the surprise of players and spectators, gave Atfield out on an appeal made amid the excitement of the throw. Onlookers shouted for another um­ pire, sarcastically advised Henwood to ‘ have a shandy,’ and expressions of disgust at the umpire’s decision were made on all hands.” I n “ Gossip” of March 31 reference was made to the score of 205 by C. J. Eady in a Pennant match at Hobart (Tasmania), played on February 5. The match was continued on February 12 and 15, and in his second innings Eady made 120, not out, thus placing his name for a second time among the few scorers of a hundred in each innings, his previous record being 116 and 112—in a first-class match, Tasmania v. Victoria at Hobart, on January 26, 1895. Dr. Grace is the only other iran who has accomplished the feat more than o n ce ; his record is three times, all in first-class matches. The records of the actual figures made by the scorers of two hundreds in a minor match will be found on page 52. It may be said that Eady’s two hundred and a hundred is a record for Australasia. A. E. Stoddart came within five of the two hundred in one of the innings of his record. T h e Australasian record of scorers of two hundreds in an innings is now as follow s:— A ustralia . A. C. MacLaren, 100 and 109, at Sydney (firstclass). Miss Deane, 193 and 104 (Sydney). A. C. Bannerman, 110 and 101 (8ydney). H. Pellew, 102not outand 104not out (8. Australia). — Campbell, 117 and 118 (Sydney School Match). T asmania . C. J. Eady, 112, not out, and 116 (first class) ; also 205 and 120, not out. K. E. Burn, 116 and 162. tbJi, / ' . i 'W (H "tk '• s / From a Sketch by Hippo P ott-T hom as. W i t h reference to the above sketch, Mr. Thomas writes :— “ This—a figurative design without a numeral figure upon it—is the latest thing in glance guides. Cricketers who have been satiated with points and decimals, systems and proportions, ought to welcome a result table that makes no call upon their mathe­ matical faculties for its comprehension. What could be plainer? From Lancashire at the top of the tree, honourably snatching at the laurels of victory ; to Derbyshire at the bottom, making equally sure of the wooden spoon, every county is portrayed in the true position to which the M.C.C. warrants it to have climbed.” I n a match between two of the teams in the Devenish Association, Victoria, one of the batsmen was out b y a yard when try­ ing for a run. On the wicket-keeper appealing, the umpire said, “ N ot out.” The batsman, in his exuberance at the let off, was walking outside his crease, when the umpire is said to have followed the example of an umpire of ancient days, by saying, “ Keep insi le your crease, you fool, or you will be out again.” A c o r r e s p o n d e n t of the South Aus­ tralian Register thus writes about country cricket in the colony :— “ Like the pastoralist, the country cricketer has no fixity of tenure, and where to-day a strong team exists, a couple of years hence only fragments may be found. At most places wickets of cement, asphalte or slate are to be found, touching which, having played on all, I should like to make a few remarks. Cement and slate are too hard, especially the latter, as the best length bowling rises over the stumps, and I have had more knocks on the knuckles in a dozen games on slate than in twenty years on all other wickets. A slow bowler on it will very rarely hit the stumps. Asphalte is undoubtedly the best, es­ pecially on a hot day, as then the ball comes along very true, but cold bleak weather makes it as hard as a flint, and then look out for knuckles. Some day I hope to put down a wicket of asphalte, with the top two inches of hard-wood sawdust instead of stone chips and sand. Then, I believe, I shall be able to cry ‘ Eureka ! ” ’ I t is a little curious that C. M cLeod, who was third in the bow ling averages in the matches between Mr. Stoddart’s team and Australia, was altogether un­ successful in intercolonial matches, his average for these being 81'33 per wicket. A t the close of the fifth match against Australia, Mr. Stoddart was presented with a gold watch, chain and pendant bearing the follow ing inscription : — “ Pre­ sented to A. E. Stoddart by the Trustees of the Sydney Cricket Ground and the Melbourne Cricket Club as a token of their esteem, and as an acknowledgment of his many services in the cause of cricket in Australia. Sydney, March 2, 1898.” An amusiDg letter has been published by the Adelaide Observer with reference to the proposed testimonial to Clement Hill. I t is as follows :— I agree with giving Clem Hill a testi­ monial, but there is another player whose services should, I think, be recognised. I refer to Mr. George Giffen, who by standing out of most of the important matches this season, has rendered a great service not only to South Australia, but to Australia generally, because it has boen the means of introducing new blood, which would have remained dormant so far as first-class matches are concerned. No doubt Mr. Giffen had this object in view when refusing to play, and not, as some would have us believe, that it was on account of the pay not being good enough, for I for one will not believe that Mr. Giffen has yet turned a professional cricketer.