Cricket 1898

66 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A p r il 21, 1898. may be said to have gone one better than the rest, as the follow ing extract will serve to show : “ Shades of M ’Donnell, Massie, Bonner and Lyons ! To think that such giant hitters should in this year of grace 1898 be outbanged b y one mauley-handed Bill Howell at the expense of the famous band of Britishers is enough to make the veterans of the pavilion weep for the reputation of the smiting warriors of bygone days. It was collossal, superb, magnificent! Even Harry Hilliard, who has seen everything in the Australian cricket world for 40 odd years, admits that he never before saw such hitting in the palmiest of days Bonnorian. Astonishing to relate, the old stagers who remember the man who, two years before the flood, banged the ball from the centre of Hyde Park over to Pyrmont, collapse, and admit their champion is eclipsed by Penrith’s William.” Howell, who was b om at Penrith, New South Wales, is twenty-eight years of age. H e plays for the Central Cumberland C.C. at Sydney, but lives in the country. [For two or three details in the above we are indebted to Mr. A. McLintock.] A L I V E L Y M E E T IN G . It was pretty obvious, when the Aus­ tralian Eleven met together during one of the big matches to arrange about a visit to England, that the Australasian Cricket Council was not likely to be consulted on the subject. For some time no notice was taken of the action of the Eleven, but at a meeting of the Victoria Cricketers’ Asso­ ciation, some of the members attempted to take the bull b y the horns, with what re­ sult can be seen b y the follow ing report of what took place. The few remarks made by Trott were very much to the point. Mr. George Moir moved that a lett er be sent to the Australian Cricket Council suggesting that next year would be an opportune time to send an Australian eleven to England, and asking the Cricket Council to take the necessary preliminary steps, and, if necessary, to finance the tour. It would show that the cricket authorities here intended to support the project of sending a team home, and would carry the matter through properly. Mr. H . H . Budd seconded the motion. Mr. W. Biuce said he was opposed to the motion. The Cricket Council had taken no financial risks in the past, and had better leave the control to those who did. H e saw no gopd that could accrue to the team or to Australia by the appointment, of anyone through or by the Council. When Austialianteamsarranged these matters themselves they did quite as well as when the Council intervened. There would possibly be a lot of friction in connection with the next tour, and it would be better for the Council to keep out of it. Mr. Moir.—The matter of financirg the team has been already discussed on lines which must be a distinct advantage to every member of the team. The Coun­ cil would take the risks, but not a farthing of the profits. They wanted it to go home as the Cricket Council team. Mr. Budd.— It cannot go home without the approval of the Council. Mr. H. Trott.— It will, though. Mr. Moir.—Then it will not contain several of the most prominent cricketers in Australia. Mr. Trott.— All right. Y ou ’ll find that you’re making a mistake. Mr. Moir.—The Cricket Council won’t reap one farthing advantage. Where does the objection of individual members of the team come in ? Mr. P . M 'Leod said the Council was a most useless body, and could do no poesi- ble good to cricket. He could not see what benefit an Australian team would gain in going to England under its wing. In saying that the team would have to go under their control they wou’ d fiijd themselves quite wrong, for they were utterly unknown in England. Mr. Budd—They’ll make themselves known. Mr. M 'Leod.—The Council wereneither recognised nor respected by cricketers. They had been in existence for seven years, and had done nothing. In this case they would be defied. Mr. Budd.—They will not be defied. Mr. M 'Leod.—None of the cricketers will consult them. Mr. Budd.—Y ou are interested. A man offered to lay me two to one that you would be the manager. Mr. Trott (to Mr. Budd).— I’ll lay you two to one you're not manager, anyhow. Mr. Moir.—There is a great distinction being made now between cricketers and sportsmen. Mr. M 'Leod.— There’s also a great dif­ ference between those who know how to conduct cricket and the Cricket Council— which doesn’t know. The team can have no loss, and will not require the support of the Council. Mr. P. Knuckey said that he had some hope for the Council after the last meet- iog, and would support the motion. He could not see were the harm came in sending such a letter. Mr. M 'L eod.—There may be no harm— but no possible good can come of it. The resolution was carried by five votes to three, Messrs. Trott, Bruce, and E. M 'L eod voting against it. C R IC K E T A S IT IS A T K O L A R . AN AMUSING MATCH. Saturday, March 26th, was set apart to decide the momentous question of the supremacy at cricket of the Underground Captains, or the Bally B il Captains as they are locally known, and the Coro­ mandel Mine C.C. Everybody looked forward to some tea-party cricket, and the players did not altogether disappoint them. “ A dry wicket and not much chance of rain ” quoth Captain J. D. Cosens of Coromandel as he swept his experienced eye o’er the gravel-spread plain, the cocoanut matting and the sky. He then won the toss, and evidently on the principle that a grilling sun is better thin the shade and seclusion which a pavilion gives, put the Underground Captains in and took his team into the field. A curious and possibly unique game in the annals of cricket ensued. Having disposed of the best bats among their opponents, a species of lob bow ling was put on at each end, while an umpire who could hardly be considered anything but wholly and solely partial to the interests of the in-side purlioned two stumps at his end, and the match pro­ ceeded all the same. Captain Odgers literally took tea with the bow ling, smit­ ing it all over the field, and it is but fair to him to state that had he not had rather a nasty tumble at the end of a stolen run, stolen with the agility of an A. N. H ornby or S. M. J. Woods, he would have been batting still. His magnificient innings came to a close shortly after this mishap for the mammoth score of 25, the highest of the day, which duly met with its reward at the banquet in the evening. Such a match was bound—all Lombard Street to a China orange—to create anew record, and I hope it will catch the eye of statisticians and collectors of cricket trifles that one batsman, viz., Bally Bal Captain Stapleton, was out four times in six balls ! The secret has not yet leaked out whether the umpire was squared or what he was doing, but speaking from an absolutely unprejudiced point of view, I should say he was guilty of a most im­ moral and flagrant breach of duty, or else should haste him and consult an oculist. Seventy odd was the total the Coromandel cuckoos had to face, and so well did they begin that one of tbeir best bats was l.b.w. to the second ball, which he said was breaking from leg and would not have hit the off-stick, while his part­ ner was equally certain it was breaking from off and would have missed the leg- stump. The umpire, with whom these little differences of opinion generally rest, was equally convinced it was going straight or breaking both ways at once and would have smashed all thrie stumps, the consequent result being that the bats­ man was forced to seek the seclusion that the pavilion grants. Captain J. D. Cosens meant business but p liyed at the wrong ball of the three he got from C. H. Richards, and Coromandel’s supporters groaned audibly. The utmost interest was still shown in the game, and every bit of high class fielding was vociferously applauded. As they had fielded out for nearly 20 runs, some of their supporters thought it time to give some of the Under­ ground Captains a “ pick-m e-up,” so two sallied forth with sodas and a three-parts full whisky bottle. It was a bit thin, how­ ever, to have filled the whisky bottle with cold weak te a ! The result but added to the general mirth, as the perspiring fields swarmed round the drinks like vultures to a defunct cow. The Coromandel innings closed for just over forty, so the match ended in a huge blaze of triumph for the sixteen Underground Captains. 1 feel it my duty to report that the Coromandel team played according to M.C.C. rules— there was nothing underground hbout them, all was above board, fair and square, whilst their opponents played according to quite a different set of rules, which betrajed their underground calling, which could not bear the light of day .—Madras Times.