Cricket 1899

M ay 4, 1899. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 105 T h e batting average of Dr. B. Mac­ donald in this season’s Electorate matches at Brisbane is remarkable. He has played iu 11 innings, has been not out 8 times, and has an aggregate of 798 runs, with a highest score of 200 not out. His average is therefore 266. T h e f o llo w in g m y s te r io u s p a r a g r a p h a p p e a rs in t h e Madras Times :— The Residents closed their second innings for 231. The Visitors entered on their second innings, and at the fall of the fifth wicket the telegraph registered 170 When Blackwood wanted Donegan (the substitute, vice John­ stone, disabled) to bat, Hodgson objected, and an amusing farce was enacted. After a warm argument, the Gymkhana butler was about to be sent out, but on second considera­ tion Kunga went in. Braddell, umpiring, gave his decision vexatiously in favour of the Visitors when Kunga was bowled. The whole affair ended in a fiasco. T h e death is announced o f Mr. John Murray Macgregor, an old member o f the Melbourne C.C. He saw ihe first inter­ colonial match played on the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1856, and every big match from that lime found him in the pavilion an enthusiastic onlooker. Iu the year 1848 he played cricket in Perth, Scotland, with the All-England plajer Charlie Lawrence, now coach to ihe Melbourne C.C. As a mark of respect, the flag on the Melbourne ground was half-mast on the day of Mr. Macgregor’ s d< ath. O p in io n s differ, pays the Queensland i Sportsman, as to whether Spofforth or Turner was the better bowler. The V ic­ torian manager, Mr. K. M cL »cd, speak- iiig at Bathurst recently, sa id : “ 1 have seen most of the 'best bowlers of the world, and I can say that Turner was the best bowler I have ever seen. F ou b fellow-officers of Victor Trumper iu the Tender Board Office in Sydney, say8 the Australasian, have forwarded to him in Adelaide an amusing letter, pro­ testing against his sudden flight to “ old England with the Australian Fourteen.” They point out that while Victor will be hobnobbing with dukes and earls they wilt have to fetch the work up-U -date without having any share iu the spoils. T h e follow ing amusing account of the surprise which awaited a Dorsetshire cricketer when he began the season’s cricket appears in the Bridport News : — It is a well-known fact that a lot of cricketers at the conclusion of the cricket season stow their gear away and never trouble to look at it right through the long dreary months of winter. Such a case occurred with a well-know^ Bridport player, and he was served with an illustration of the folly of such negligence. Bringing his cricket bag to the local cricket field, and opening it to get his gear out for the first game which was to be played, he was, to say the least, suiprised to find that some mischievous mice had made it their home, and had left striking evidence of occupation in the shape of a nt st filled with young mice. A splendid pair of leg guards had bcccu gnawed away in no half-hearted fashion, the horse-hair serving to make a comfortable lining for the nest. The contents of the bag were in an awful litter, and the tenants were promptly evicted, the owner’s thoughts being too deep for words. I n the interesting number of the “ Badminton Magazine ” for May, Mr. W. J. Ford discourses about the whims and fancies of spi ctators at ciicket matches. I t is cust< mary to sympathise with the offi ials who manage certain grounds, chiefly in t ie north, ucon the unruly crowds which are sa’ d to frequent their enclosures. Such officials will be interested in the account of a “ sublime r o w ” which occurred at the Eton and Harrow match in 1866. “ There is no need at this distant date,” he sayp, “ to enter into the reasons; it was a mere question as to whether a certain hit was a boundary hit . . . or n o t; but on the umpire’s decision being given 8gainst Eton, the Eton batsmen left the ground, the crowd broke into the ring, and the playing area was filled with a seething mass of folk, wearing dark or ligh t blue favours, and shouting, according to their colours, ‘ O u t !’ or ‘ N ot o u t !’ Indeed, I remember a pretty little impromptu encounter with ‘ raw ’ uns,’ the comba­ tants being adorned with blue of different hue. So acrimonious was the temper of the crowd that the Princess of Wales, who had come up to watch the game, promptly drove away.” Ok< E upon a time an interview with Dr. Grace appeared in the columns of a contemporary. After stating that the only remaik which he could get from the Doctor was a request to go to another place, the interviewer proceeded to make the best of things by giving a biography of the famous cricketer. To the repre­ sentative of Chums W . G. has been more communicative, and, among other things, he spoke freely about the coaching of young cricketers, sayin g:— When I was a hoy, I was recommended to stand up to the wicket, keep the left shoulder well forward, and practise as otten as possible. My experience is that boys are apt to be over­ coached. A natural hitter should be allowed to stick to his style. I consider it an unwise policy to dissuade boys who have a propensity for hitting from following their inclination. Of course, p boy must be taught to play. Cricketers are made, not bom. If opportunity permits, the first lesson should be given by an expert player, for a lad’s chance as a good cricketer depends upon the manner in which he begins to play. Boys should practise at the nets with pads and gloves on, just as they would play in a match. But they often make a mistake in practising for too many hours. Young people cannot run about all day. An innings of a quarter of an hour to twenty minutes is long enough, for the first week, at any rate. O n Monday the Australian cricketers began w oik by practising at L ord’s in their usual methodical n anner. They did not all seem to be greatly enjoying themselves, for the weather w>as more suitable for football than fcr cricket. It was obviously impossible to form any estimate oi what the teaiy will be like from the form shown on the first day, or, for the matter of that, on the second or third days. All that can be said with confidence is that the members of the team can certainly play good cricket, which “ nobody can deny.” A t the time of writing there seems just a chance that the sun may not forsake us altogether during the season. U p to the I resent the season has been about as unsatisfacti ry for cricketers as could well be, and it is not much consolation to anyone to be reminded that some years ago it was quite fashionable to have a miserable spring, not to mention a miserable summer. E d it o b s who 8re looking out for a “ skill ” competition might do worse than offer a prize to their readers for the accurate selection, in ihe course of the next week or two, of the names of the players who will represent England at Nottingham against the Australians. It w iuld take all the ingenuity of their retders to guess or calculate rightly. By the end of the month about seven of the team will be “ certainties.” Is one of the Echo compositors, or is W. G., responsible for the follow ing state­ ment, which is not quite according to Cocker ?— “ The first time I ever scored a hundred in each innings of a match was when, in August, 1868, 1 played at Canterbury for the South of the Thames against the North of the Thames, my contributions being 130 in the first innings and 102 in the second. I may add that I have since repeated this achievement on three occasions.” As far as I know, there is no record that W . G. ever made t « o separate hundreds in a minor match, while in first-class matches he has accomplished the feat three times only. T h e follow ing alterations in the laws of the game were passed at the M.C.C. meeting yesterday: — 33 (a). A batsman being out from any cause, the ball shall be “ d. ad.” 33 (b). If the ball, whether struck with the bat or not, lodges in a batsman’s clothing, the ball shall become “ dead.” 46. They shall not order a batsman out unless appealed to by the other side. N .B.—An appeal, “ How’s that?” covers all ways of being out, within the j urisdietion of the umpire appealed to, unltss a specific way of getting out is stated by the person asking. ONE-DAY MATCHES. 2. The match, unless played out, shall be decided by the first innings. Prior to the commencement of a match it may be agreed that the over consist of five or Bix balls. N.B.—A tie is included in the words “ played out.” ------ H. B. B ichakdson , who made his first appearance for Surrey this week, is an old Cliftonian. H e was a member of the Cliftcn College Eleven of 1889, as good an all-round side as the school turned out about that period. Among others it included B. F. Hanson and E. Field, and one of its best performances was a vic­ tory over a strong eleven representing