Cricket 1899

470 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME D ec . 21 , 1899. “ Do you play in League matches when you are not assisting the county ? ” “ Not now. I don’t play any cricket except for the county. I am afraid that I think Leagues a bad thing for cricket —at any rate for first-class cricket. They seem to me to cause dissentions, just as they do in football, but to aminor degree. Most of the players of the Club and Ground get away for League matches, so that these have fallen off very considerably in the matter of attendance. Once upon a time they used to attract large crowds. I remember hearingathing which amused me very much when I was first playing for the Club and Ground. In one of the matches my name appeared in the adver­ tisements as down to play. An old coun­ tryman, who evidently possessed a good deal of caution, came up to the gatekeeper and asked, ‘ Is Diver playing? ’ Now, as it happened, I was too unwell to appear, and the gatekeeper told this to the countryman, who then said, ‘ Well, I’ll tell you what I’ll do. If Diver isn’t playing I’ll pay threepence, but not six­ pence, because I came purposely to see him.’ As none of the rules of the club provided for such a case, the gatekeeper was unable to accept this sporting offer, and the old gentleman stalked away. No doubt he had seen all the others playing and wanted to sample a new man.” “ Have you played ia League matches at any time p” “ When I first went to Warwickshire I played for Birmingham in the Midland League. I am not likely to forget my first season in this League, for in the first five matches I was given out l.b.w. in each case by the other side’s umpire— each side at that time brought its own umpire. Of course, in time, I learned to keep out of the way of the ball when it was anywhere near the wicket, and in the course of the season I played four innings of a hundred. I don’t think that in the whole of my career I have been given out l.b.w. more than about twice in first-class cricket. I remember a curious incident connected with one of the Midland League matches in which I was playing. It occurred at Tibshelf. We had managed to get nine of our opponents’ wickets down when the Tib­ shelf umpire pulled up the stumps, and we all left the field. When we reached the pavilion our umpire pulled out his watch and shewed that there were still three minutes left for play. Fortunately for us the time had been set by his watch when we began the game, and after a discussion a compromise was made. We were to go out and finish an over, but, as things turned out, the last batsman was caught at point off the very first ball.” “ You used to bowl a good deal at one time ? ” “ I bowled for the Cambridge Victoria with a fair amount of success, but it is seldom that I have bowled in county cricket. In the first match that I was in the Warwickshire team I took six wickets for 43 runs against Notts, and this is by a long way my best performance in county cricket. In that year we beat Notts, Kent and Surrey in the first threematches of the season. For Surrey I only bowled once—against Hampshire—but I did not meet with any success. I often, however, used to keep wicket for the county after Pooley had left the team.” Like most other cricketers who hit hard, Diver has ideas about slow play. “ I can’t help thinking,” he said, “ that a great deal would be done to stop slow play—I am not referring to slow play when a draw has to be worked for, because that is quite another thing—if a ‘ not out ’ were to count as a complete innings. There cannot be much doubt that many men play for the ‘ not out,’ especially when there are only three or four wickets to fall, instead of playing for their side. It is a great temptation to do so, as things are at present, for averages are made so much of nowadays that a man hardly likes to risk anything. As for making wickets higher or wider, I think that the idea is altogether wrong; batsmen would soon be calling out that the bowlers had everything their own way. After all, we hardly ever get a season like this, and a bowler lasts for several yeirs—not as long as a batsman it is true, but still f ~r some years, and he is sure to get plenty of opportunities in the course of his career. I am afraid that if matches were played to a finish— as it is proposed to do with the test matches in the future—it would result in draggle-tail cricket, which would be tedious in the extreme.” W. A. B e t t e s w o r t h . CRICKET IN MELBOURNE. FIRST ROUND OF PENNANT MATCHES. EAST MELBOURNE v. MELBOURNE.—Played on the Melbourne Club Ground on October 14,21,23. E ast M elboubne . P. Macilister, not out 213 8. M‘Michael, b Fry... 47 A. S. Carter, c Ross, b Carr ..........................26 V. Thompson, b Bruce 23 J. Howlett, lbw, b Fig­ gis ..........................16 J. Horan, c Jacobs, b Mailer ................... 8 A. Christian, c and b Bruce.......................... 19 A. E. Clarke, c Ross, b Fry.......................... o S. Barry, c Lucas, b Fry .........................43 A. C'ollias, c Jacobs, b Over .................... 5 W . Rogers, c Graham, b Over ... ... 2 Extras.................... 9 Total .. 411 M elbourne . W . Bruce, b Christian 1 H. Graham, c Howlett, b Collins................. 19 D. Mailer, b Howlett 23 H. Fry, c Rogers, b Collins ................... 1 E. R. Jacobs, c JJow- lett, b Barry ...........24 A. Aitken, c Howlett, b Co.lins ...................21 C. H. Ross, b Howlett 18 C. Over, not out ... 65 A. J. Figgis, b Collins 13 A. Lucas, c Rogers, b Collins .................. 7 H. Cave, b Collins ... 2 Extras...................10 Total SOUTH MELBOURNE v. HAWKSBURN.- at Hawksburn on October 14 and 21. S o u th M elbou rne . ...204 -Played D. Sutherland, b Os­ borne .......................... 3 W . McCormack,c Tay­ lor, b Osborne . 19 W. Armstrong, b O’Counor ...........15 V. Jones, b O’Connor 12 S Morris, c Baird, b Taylor ...................10 R. McLeod,b Jones ... 41 G. Horsburgh, b O’Connor ................... 5 T. Grant, c Prosser, 1 Osborne ................ G. Honeybone, 1 Osborne ................. J. Dean, not out C. Kemp, e Taylor, 1 Osborne ................. B l , w 2 ................. Total . ...144 H aw k sbu rn . C. Jones, c Kemp, b McLeod ......................35 W . Watling, b Kemp 17 E. Rush, b Dean ... 37 T. Rush, c Morris, b McLeod .................... 2 E. Baird, not out ... 26 J. McDonald, c Mc­ Cormack, b Kemp... 12 W . Prosser, b Dean... W . Lockett, run out J. Taylor, b McLeod J. O’Connor,c Honey­ bone, b McLeod ... R. Osborne, absent... Extras ................... Total ...150 ST. KILDA v. RICHMOND.-Played at Richmond on October 14 and 21. S t. K ild a . First innings. J. Ainslie, lbw, b Goss ... 16 J. Todd, b Goss ... ... ... 5 E. Kirwan, b Blake ......... 4 A. Crighton, c Parsons, b Blake ..................................14 C. Peryman, c Desmazures, b Goss..................................48 C. G. Wilson, b Goss...........69 F. Waugh, b Goss ........... 0 W . R. Robertson, lbw, b Goss .................................. 5 M. Fitzgerald, c Kelly, b Goss ..................................22 J. Marshall, b Goss ........... 5 J. Knell, not o u t................... 2 Extras........................... 4 Second innings. b Parsons not out... 12 28 c Green b Parsons 10 c Wade,b Parsons 18 st Peat ing, b Easthaugh ... 37 run out ...........18 Extras ........... 3 Total ...184 Total (5 wkts) 116 R ichm ond . A. M. Wade, b Fitz­ gerald .................... 7 M. Rush, c Kirwan, b Robertson................40 H. Edwards, c Knell, b Marshall ............ 2 H. Parsons, b Fitz­ gerald ................ 41 A. Green, b Robertson 0 R. Kelly, run out ... 4 E. Goss, c and b Robertson ...........13 P.Desmazures.run out 5 C. Blake, lbw, b ia r - shall 2 E. Peatling,bMarshall 2 G. Easthaugh, not out 2 Extras ...................It Total ...132 FITZROY v. NORTH MELBOURNE.-Played a North Melbourne on October 14 and 21. N orth M elbourne . J. Gerber, b F. Tarrant 14 W . Carlton, c Cogle, b Sh oll.......................... 6 H. Mapleston, b Sholl 19 H. Noonan, c Bea- cham, b Sholl........... 2 C. Howe, c F. Tarrant, b Mitchell...................10 E. Bean, run out ... 25 R. Houston, not out... 27 H.Rundell, c Graham, b Ellis .................. 7 T. Fox, lbw, b Bea- cham ................... 5 A. Carlton, b Bea- cham .................. 0 J. McClelland, lbw, b Beacham.................. 0 Extras................... 4 Total ...119 F it zr o y . J. T. Graham,bMaple- stone .......................... 14 A. Tarrant, not out ... 46 M. Ellis, b Bean ... 15 R. Mitchell, c W. Carl­ ton, b Bean ... .. 15 J. Hopkins, b Maple- stone .......................... 3 J. Cogle, b A. Carlton 2 H.Webb, b A, Carlton 0 O. Beacham, b Be in 0 J. Tarrant, run out ... 2 E Best, b Maplestone 4 E. Sholl, absent......... 0 Extras................... 17 Total ...118 CARLTON v. UNIVERSITY.—Played at University on October 14, 21, and November 2 . U n iv e r sity . F. C. Ross, run out ... 4 T. Drew, b Saunders... 12 C. Campbell, b Saun­ ders ... ...........18 C. Miller, b Warne 32 H. J. Stewart, b Saun­ ders .......................... 10 E. C. Osbome, b Saun­ ders ..........................63 H. E. Bullivant, c Fox, b Saunders ...........26 L. Miller, c Hether- ington, b Amphlett 45 W . O’Hara, st Pullar, b W arne........... 3 L. W. Rainey, notout 56 J. A. M‘Lean, lbw, b Delves .................. 40 Extras.................. 34 Total ..340 C arlto n . T. Warne, st Bulli­ vant, b O Miller ... 67 H. Hetheriogton, b Drew ... 46 T. Collins, eNicholson, b Rainey...................30 F. Delvts, run out ...34 E. Brooks, st Bulli­ vant, b D rew ...........21 A. Fox, not ou t........... 2 J. Puller, st Bullivant, b Drew ................... A. Fenton, b Drew ... J. Saunders, b Drew C. Amphlett, lbw, b Stewart ................... T. Bastings, absent .. Extras................... Total .......... S