Cricket 1899

J an . 26, 1899. CRICKET ; A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 9 the captain of the other side against the new­ comer taking part in the later stages of the game should be allowed ? [The protest was undoubtedly justified and should be upheld.] T h ek e was an exciting finish to the Electorate match at Sydney on December 3rd, between Waverley and Glebe. The former had declared at 303 for six wickets, and Glebe could only play for a draw. A t 6.15, the time appointed by the Cricket Association for drawing stumps, they had nine wickets down, but the umpire ruled that the over must be completed, with the result that the last man failed to keep up his wicket. N o t very complimentary to George Giffen is the follow ing remark about him in a Queensland newspaper: “ George G'ffen g o t a lot of runs—for the other s:de— ill the intercolonial match between South Australii and Victoria. He took one for 128 and one for 49 in the respec­ tive innings of Victoria.” Since that time Giffen has done wonders with the ball. A. P. S ymonds and A. Edgington put on 135 for the last wicket for Madras v. Bingalore. T h e receipts of the Sydney Cricket Ground for the year endiDg September 30th were £12,737, of which £6,410 was derived from members’ subscriptions, and £3,875 from the visit of the English Eleven. The expenditure for the twelve months was £11,783, including £4,380 for permanent improvements. T h e follow ing remarks from the Tas­ manian Mail might be read with advan­ tage by many of the “ budding cricketers of England,” as well as those of Tasmania: “ While thus speaking in complimentary terms of our budding cricketers, the opportu­ nity must be taken to point out weaknesses which should be cured. Three glaring points exist—want of self-reliance, a very weak style in playing slow bowling, and a decidedly lazy and listless manner of backing up and run­ ning between the wickets. Dealing with the first complaint, while allowing for a natural nervousness, it does not appear cricket-like to hear from a group of players waiting to go in such remarks as ‘ I hope “ Joker ” is taken off before I go in,’ or, ‘ I know Ward will soon get me,’ etc. 1 his is what is termed being out before you are in, and can only be met by cultivating a determined feeling of going in to do the best that can be done, come what may. In reference to the second weak­ ness-batting against slows—our young bats­ men make the great mistake of letting the ball hit their bats, with the result that poor strokes are made and catches plentiful. . . Slow running between the wickets is the most glaring and unpardonable mistake. Nothing looks so bad as to observe a young and athletic batsman ‘ dozing’ inside the crease, especially when he should be ‘ backing up.’ ” _ T he Auckland (N .Z.) Referee’s Associa­ tion proposes to adopt a code of signals for clubs under its direction, by which the umpire may notify the scorers as to wha,t is goin g on in the field. The fol­ lowing is the code as at present proposed: “ W id e: Arm extended horizontally. No b a ll: In: itation of a throw (elbow bent, arm behind head). B y e : Swing of the arm from the shoulder. L eg-bye : Arm extended vertically with hand. Short ru n : Arm extended vertically above head.” W ith reference to the code, the Otago Witness wickedly suggests a few other signals as follow s: “ H ow , for instance, would this do: I f the bitsman is bow led out, the umpire should stand on his head ; if leg-before wicket, the umpire should cross his legs ; if stumped, the umpire should extend the right leg verti­ cally from the b o d y ; if run out, the umpire should extend the left leg verti­ cally from the b o d y ; if caught out, the umpire should turn a somersault.” T he Rev. Edward S. Burrows writes from St. Augustine’s Vicarage, Y ork Street, Hackney Road : “ The enclosed score may possibly be of interest to your readers, as it is not recorded in ‘ Scores and Biographies.’ An account of the match may be found in Bell’s L ife for November 11th, 1849 :— SINGLE-W ICKET MATCH. Played on the Broughton Ground, Manchester, October 30th, 1849. Balls. Hits. No hits. Hinkley ........... SO ... 20 ... 0 ... 3 b Felix. F .F .C ooke,E :q. 93 ... 85 ... 4 ... 7 b lelix. 10 (E. Cooke did not bowl.) N. Felix, E<q. 211 ... 181 ... 14 ... 8 notout. H. Cooke, Esq., did not bat. Wides (Hmkley, 1; Cooke, 2)........... 3 11 (Hinkley bowled 186 tails for six runs.) (H. Cooke bowled 25 balls for two runs ) D u r in g an up-country match in Ceylon a player, who was wearing a hat with a high crown, made an attempt to catch a ball which had been skied. N ot judging the catch properly he allowed the ball to drop on his hat, which gave way just suffi­ ciently to prevent the ball from rebound­ ing, while the fieldsman’s head escaped disaster. For a moment he hardly knew what had happened, but when he realised ihe situation he very carefully removed the ball from its resting place, and the batsman retired to the pavilion. N .B .— This is not a communication from Baron Munchausen. T h e follow ing description of a country cricket ground is from the Australasian. “ There are gullies on three sides, and in these gullies the out-fielders have to be placed. •A huge mullock heap is the grand stand, and the barraokers roll up in force. On the fourth side of the ground is a street, and the arrangements as to boundaries will be interesting. Just where long-on should stand is a large waterhole, and if the ball goes into this the batsman scores 2. A string of waterholes on the other side of the ground yield 3. An old lady’s house and garden, which is like an oasis in the desert, is also in the out-field, and 4 is scored by the lucky man who can land the ball into this enclosure. The wicket is matting on asphalt, and is of a lively order.” W i t h reference to a note in “ Gossip,” of December 22nd, Captain G. C. Eicke, late of the Wiltshire Regiment, writes : “ M y score of over 200 was made at Pes- hawur in either 1896 or 1897, the match was Officers Wiltshire Regimentv. Officers R oyal Irish Fusiliers, and the exact number of runs 212.” A c c o r d in g to Sport (Bombay), a cricket match between Indian Gentlemen and English Gentlemen, with Brockwell and Hearne, which had been arranged to take place at Cawnpore at the beginning o f December, fell through because the English Gentlemen were unable to come to the scratch at the last moment. K . S. Ranjitsinhji, the Maharajah of Patiala, the Kour Sahib, the Maharajah of Dholpore, Gokal Chand, Badesi Ram, Nanak Ram, Mehta, Mistry, Muzoor, and Billimoria were to have represented the Indian Gentlemen, and H . D. Watson, E. L . French, B. N. Bosworth- Smith, A . Priestley, Wood, Brockwell, Hearne, and four others, the Englishmen. T he Nondescripts have two dates still open— July 1 and 15. The honorary secretary, Mr. Leonard Corke, Arthog, Ewell Road, Surbiton H ill, will be glad to hear from clubs wanting ma*ches on those dates. S o m e of the native Indian newspapers are still worshipping at the shrine of Ranjitsinhji. “ H e behaved in a manner the most sportsmanlike when he was given out caught at the wicket.” “ The Viceroy must have remarked the Prince standing on the platform, clothed in an array of the most all-embracing colours.” “ The Prince has been graciously pleased to become Hon. Colonel in the guard of H .H . the Maharajah of Patiala.” U p to the present nine of the Aus­ tralian team which is to visit England this spring have been selected. Tney are as follows :— V ictoria . Previous Vi-its. M cLeod. C.................. — Trumble, H ................ 1890, ia93, 1896. W orrall, J ................... 1888. S outh A ustralia , Previous Visits. Darling, J. J ............... 1896. H ill. 0 .......................... 1896. Jones, E ....................... 1896. N ew S outh W ales . Previous Visits. Gregory, S. E ............. 1890, 1893, 1896. Kelly, J. J ................... 1896. Noble, M. A ............... ....... A t a cricket club dinner in Leicester­ shire, Mr. C. B. Marriott referred to the cricket of the county, and in the course of his remarks said that he had noticed in the matches played at Ayleston and other places, as recently as last season, a most decided lack of keenness on the part of one or two members. Whether a man was an amateur or a professional, if he accepted an engagement for the county eleven, it was hia duty to be keen, and if he did not recognise what was expected of him, then the sooner he ceased to be a member the better for Leicestershire county cricket. Every member of a county cricket team nowadays owed a duty of steadiness in his conduct to the committee and supporters of the club, and the man who thought it consistent with his posi-