Cricket 1899

398 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. S e p t . 7, 1899. in a match between Kent and Yorkshire, when, after Walter Wright had filled up the holes -which he had made, Lord Hawke, a thorough sportsman, protested. T he law does not consider the point at all except in a negative manner. Law 9 states that certain things may not be done—with certain exceptions, and it is only reasonable that those exceptions should be acted upon literally and in accordance with custom. It seems to us, therefore, that Darling was wrong in not consulting the captain on the other side before filling up the holes, and that Jackson was entirely within his rights in raising a protest. But Darling may, on his part, fairly claim that it is too much to expect a captain to think of everything in a moment, and that as the thing was done at the Oval (although by the bowler and not the captain) with the active consent of one of the umpires, he was justified in his action. It is obvious that, if the law were amended so as to allow batsmen and bowlers to protect them­ selves when a storm comes, time which is now wasted would sometimes be saved. B elow will be found a complete list of men who have scored two thousand runs during a season. Banjitsinhji stands alone as having scored three thousand. It will be noticed that there is a great difference between the number of com­ pleted innings in W .G .’s and Kanjitsinbji’s best records:— Year. Complete Total. Inns. K. S. Ranjitsinhji ... ... 1899 .,.. 3054 ... 47 K.S. Ranjitsinhji ... ... 1896 .... 2780 ... 48 W. G. Grace .......... ... 1871 ... 2739 ... 35 W . G. Grace .......... ... 1876 ..,. 2622 ... 42 Abel ........................ ... 1699 ., 2529 ... 47 Hajward ................. ... 1899 ..,. 2477 ... 42 C. B. Fry ................. ... 1899 ... 2366 ... 54 C. L. Townsend.......... ... 1899 ... 2361 ... 43 W . G. Grace .......... ... 1895 ... 2346 ... 46 Abel ........................ ... 1896 .. 2218 ... 52 W. G. Grace .......... ... 1873 ... 2139 ... 39 W . G. Grace .......... ... 1896 ... 2185 ... 50 Abel ....................... ... 1897 ... 2090 ... 47 A. E. Stoddart.......... ... 1893 ... 2072 ... 49 W . G. Grace .......... ... 1887 ... 2062 ... 38 Abel ........................ ... 1895 ... 2057 ... 46 Gunn (W .)................. ... 1893 ... 2057 ... 48 Abel ........................ ... 1898 ... 2053 ... 42 K anjitsinhji has already received promises from A . C. MacLaren, O. L . Townsend, A . O. Jones, G. Brann and A . Piiestley to accompany him on his tour in the United States. Other men who have been asked to go are A . E . Stoddart, J. B . Mason, C. J. iSurnup, T . L . Taylor, and H . Martyn. It looks as if this would be a thoroughly sporting team, with plenty of batting and very little bowling. I t is proposed to send a team to England next year from the West Indies. Lord Hawke is taking an active interest in the preliminary arrangements. The following is a list of the latest hundreds:— AUGUST. 14. W .H . Lindsay,Marlboro’ Blues v.Tonbridge 151 16. L.J.Le Fleming,Tonbridge v.Marlboro’Blues 154 15. F. Gully, Tonbiidge v. Marlboio’ Blues ... 104 18. B. J. Bosanquet, Eton Ramblers v. The Mote 109 19. L. C. W. Thring, Marlboro’ Blues v. Ton­ bridge Wells ..............................................115 20. E. V. Barclay, Burghley Park v. Exton ... 121* 22. C. A, G. Luther, Blue Mantles v. Marlboro’ Blues ............................................................160 26. Miss W. Wright, Miss Chilton’s X I. v. Miss Leese’s X I......................................................106 58. H . T. Stanley, Incogniti v. Gents, of Sussex 100 31. A b e l, S u rr e y v. H a m p sh ire ....................... . 167 31. B.J.T. Bosanquet,M.C.C. v. Cambridgeshire 122 SEPTEMBER. 1. C. M cG ah& y, E s s e x y . W a r w ic k s h ir e ... 130 1 . Rev.H.C.L. Tindall, Incogniti v. Eastbourne 137 5. H a y w a r d , S u r r e y v. "W a rw ick sh ire ... 137 5. J. D a r lin g , A u s t r a lia n s v. S. o f E n g la n d 167 5. F .S . J a ck so n , Y o r k s , v. M r .'1 h o r n to n ’ s XI. 101 6. A. O. J on es, T h o r n to n ’s X I. v. Y o b k s h ib e 108 The county championship table for 1899. Complete results :— Pts. Finished Per- Surrey.............. P. W. L. D. in games centage ..26.. .10... 2.. .14.. . 8 12..., 66-66 Middlesex ... .. 18., .11.. 3... 4.. . 8 14 ., 5714 Yorkshire ... ...28.,..14..,, 4.. 10.. 10 18.. . 55-55 Lancashire ... ...25..,.12... 6.. . 7.. . 6 18 .. 33 33 Sussex.............. .22..,. 7... 5.. 10.. . 2 12.. . 16 66 Essex .......... .20.,.. 6..,, 6 . 8.. . 0 12.. — Warwickshire . 20. .. 4.. . 5 . 11.. 1 9.. . —1111 Kent .............. ..19. .. 6... 8.. 5.. -2 14 .. —14-28 Gloucestershire .. 20.,.. 5.. . 8.. . 7.. •3 13... —2376 Hampshire ... ...20. .. 4 .. 8.,.. 8.. 4 12.. . —33*33 Notts .............. . 16. .. 2.. . 4., .10.. -2 6.. . —33-33 Worcestershire .. 12... 2.. . 5 ,.. 5.. -3 7... -42-85 Leicestershire .. 18... 2... 8... 8.. -6 10.. . —60 00 Somerset .. 16... 2... 8. .. 6. 6 10 .. —60 00 Derbyshire ... ...18. .. 2.. . 9... 7. -7 11... -63-63 The fixture, Lancashire v. Kent (May 22, etc.), abandoned without a ball being bowled, is not reckoned in the above. The official method of calculation is as follows: A point is reckoned for each win, and a point deducted tor each defeat. Unfinished games are left out of the reckoning entirely, and the county which during the season shall have obtained in finished matches the great*st proportionate number of points is reckoned the champion county. K. S. RANJI1S1NHJI. Ranjitsinhji, famous Prince, From our Eastern Empire come, Draws all hearts towards him since He has made our land his home. Let us now his praises sing, All our gain, but one small loss, Just a simple little thing— He cannot win “ the toss ” ! Though for eight times has the Prince In succession failed to win, Yet did we the matter mince When the other side went in ? Of his great achievements proud, These mischances we could gloss, And refrained to say aloud, “ He cannot win ‘ the toss ’ ! ” Cheers for fielding by the Prince, Ever on the people’s lips ; Splendid form does he evince When at point or in the slips. May good fortune be his meed, No worse luck his pathway cross, Than when, trying to succeed, He cannot win “ the toss.’’ How do justice to the Prince?— Through the land his deeds resound— A t the task we well may wince, Though to praise him we are bound. Finest batsman ever known, {Spreads his fame for many a coss* Through his country—yet he’ll own He cannot win “ the toss.” How we love to see the Prince, Batting in his wondrous way; And his bowling must convince Everyone ’tis hard to play. May his powers be never less, Life’s rough buffers merely floss, May he have true happiness, And luck to win “ the toss ” ! F. B. N. * A Hindu measure of from one and a-half to two miles. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. A. B. H a r la n d (Stockton-on-Tees).— N o need to apologise. On the contrary, we were glad to receive your impression of the incident. F. C o v e n tr y . —Thanks very much. We hope to use the poem next * eek. F. J. C a w tiio b n e .— Next week. R.E.M. (Leeds).—We do not think so. He gener­ ally fields in the slips. © o r m p o n B c n c c . The Editor does not hold himselj res . onsible jor the opinions oj his correspondents. THE “ SAWDUST IN C ID E N T ” AT SCARBOROUGH. To the Editor o f C ricket. Sir, — Thus the well-informed abd able writer of the weekly cricket notes iu the Daily News, who may be taken to voice the generally-expressed opinion, expert and otherwise, on this incident:— ‘ ‘ Some unpleasantness arose overanincident that is likely to be brought before the M.C.C. in order that an official ruling on the point may be obtained. When the other players rushed oil the field to escape the violent storm that had broken over the ground, Darling stayed behind and risked getting wet through in order to fill up with sawdust the foot-holes made by the bowlers. Louis Hall, who was umpiring, expostulated with him, and F. S. Jackson, the captain of the English eleven, protested very strongly. The Australians, it is stated, defended the action on the ground that when they met Surrey at the Oval in May the same thing was done by one of the Surrey players. The matter is sure to cause a good deal of discussion. Wo should take it that Darling’s action was quite irregular, but, for all that, good results are likely to follow from it. Over and over again matches have had to be abandoned after rain because, while the pitch itself was fit for play, the bowler’s foot-holes have remained so soft and muddy as to render bowling impossible. It is clearly wrong for any one player on either side to act on his own authority in such a matter, but, either by an addition to the laws of the game or in a rider to their ‘ Instructions to Umpires,’ the M.C.C. might empower umpires directly rain came on so to fill these holes with sawdust as to prevent them becom­ ing unfit for cricket. Such a proceeding would be as fair for one side as the other, and would certainly be the means of saving much valuable time. Very often we have seen a good match given up on a sunny afternoon for no other reason than that the bowlers could not get a reasonably good foothold. Between a custom officially sanctioned, how­ ever, and the irresponsible act of an individual player there is, of course, all the difference in the world.” May I ask what Cricket has to say on the matter ? Was Darling’s action so very irregular ? Is there any necessity for all this “ pow-wow ; ” this reference to the M .C.C. Committee; the alteration of existing laws, or the additional “ instruction ” to umpires ? I cannot see why, for Darling’s action was, in my humble opinion, perfectly justifiable, according to law 9. If, just before he rushed away for shelter, Hirst, or his partner, had stopped behind to pat the pitch, would he have been infringing a law ? Or, even if he had started for the pavilion, and had been met by Jackson, his captain, on the way, and had then retsaced his steps— after the umpires had removed the bails— and had, under his