Cricket 1899

474 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. D ec . 21, 189’. T HE Editor of Cricket wishes to purchase Volumes 3 and 4of “ Scores and Biographies,” “ Wisden’s Almanack” from 1864 to 1878, “ John Lillywhite’s Companion,” before 1869, 1870, 1872, 1674, “ FootbaU Annuals,” 1868,1872, “ James Lillywhite’s Annual” for 1874. F OR SALE.—A number of Cricket Books, . inclu­ ding complete set of Cricket. “ Scores and Biographies,” “ Wisden’s Almanack,” “ John Lilly­ white’s Companion,” “ Jerks in from Short-Leg,” “ Bolland’s Cricket Notes” (1851), “ Nyren’s Cricketer’s Tutor,” “ Fred Lillywhite’s Guide for 1865,” and early years, “ Football Annuals” from earliest date.—F.C., care of Cricket , 168, Upper Thames Street, E.C. “ pR ICK E T’S YEAR BOOK,” 1899; price 2d., O post free 2|d.; from the Office of Cricket , 168, Upper Thames 8treet, E.C. C r i c k e t p r o f e s s i o n a l w a n t e d , gooa ALL-ROUND MAN, for private groucd, for next season. Must be good fast bowler.—Apply, stating wages required, to J. A. R u t h e r fo r d , Highclere Park, Newbury. "CR ICKET ” is the only paper in the world solely devoted to the game. T e r m s o p S u b s c r ip t io n (;myable in ad - vance): —6/- per annum. Summer Numbers, 6/- ; Winter Numbers, 1/3 (post free). 7/- per annum, post free, Abroad. A ll subscriptions to be sent direct to the Offices of Cricket , 168, Upper Thames Street, London, E.G. R e s u lt s of the S e a s o n and A v e r a g e s of the P r i n c i p a l C lu b s canbe inserted in Cricket at the rate of 3s. 6d. a column, with aminimum charge of 2s. 6d. To ensure insertion in the following number, particulars must be re­ ceived not later than the Saturday previous to the day of publication at the Offices of Cricket , 168, Upper Thames Street, E.C. Cricket: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LOHDOH, E.C. THURSDAY, DEO. 21 st , 1899. IMPORTANT NOTICE ! Six numbers are issued during the Winter asheretofore,fromOctober toMarchinclusive, as follows :— No. 527.—THURSDAY, OCT. 26. No. 528.—THURSDAY, NOV. 30. No. 529.—THURSDAY, DEC. 21. No. 530.—THURSDAY, JAN. 25. No. 531.—THURSDAY, FEB. 22. No. 532.—THURSDAY, MARCH29. Subscriptionforthe above series, 1/3post free. Jtetnltoii Gossip. The abstract and brief chronicle of the time.— Hamlet. I h e a r that Major Poore, after going to America to buy mules, is now at the front. I n addition to Major Poore, the follow­ ing cricketers are now in South Africa or on their way:—A. J. Turner, Essex; Captain Hedley and H. W. Ketclewell, Somersetshire ; R. O’H. Livesay, Kent; W. L. Foster, Worcestershire; E. I. M. Barrett, Colonel Spens, H. W. Studd, Captains Bradford and Barton, Hamp­ shire ; P. W. Milligan, Yorkshire. A c c o r d in g to the Madras Times, “ the Gaekwar of Baroda has set aside 7,000 rupees as a little buckshish for Ranjit­ sinhji.” B a r l o w , the famous old Lancashire cricketer, played in a few of Blackpool’s best matches last season with the follow­ ing results :— B a t t in g . Innings, 7 ; not out, 2 ; highest score, 51 not out; runs, 185 ; average, 37*2. B o w lin g . 96 overs, 37 maidens, 236 runs, 26 wickets, average 9. C o m m e n tin g on the arrival home of some of the Australians, the Sydney Mail says:— Four of the New SouthWales members of the Australian teamreturned to Sydneyfrom their tour by the “ Oruba ” on Saturday morning. Though the hour of arrival was rather early for a welcome, the executive officers and several delegates put off in a launch at 7'30 and, boarding the ship, exten­ ded a hearty welcome to the quartet, S. E. Gregory, F. A. Iredale, V. Trumper, and W. Howell. They all appeared tobe in excellent health, and said that the passage home had been a very good one. They were delighted that the association had gone to so much trouble to receive them, especially as some of the delegates present had had to come from railwaystationslongdistances away. Trumper has developed into asturdy-looking chapwith a pair of substantial shoulders ; Iredale has put on flesh; Gregory is just as he was before he left, and the same may be said of Howell, even to the extent of a bad leg. It will probablybe remembered that prior tohis departure Howell still suffered from the effects of a strain sustained almost two years ago at Adelaide. He failed to shake it off during theEnglishtour, and findsit troubling himnow, somuch so that he has decided to give it a thorough rest for a couple of months to allow it a chance of permanent recovery. “ C r ic k e t , locally, is not thriving,” says the Natal Mercury, “ and no wonder. Saturday’s match at Lord’s (Durban) was a very scratch affair, and Grevville easily beat the Q.P. The light was wretched. There was nothing in the game worth noticing, and, until the country is quiet, a deaf ear will be turned to the sound of the rebounding sphere from the willow, and attention will only be paid to the cannonading of guns, preparation of troops, and so on. Well, cricketers, who are always known as possessing large and generous hearts, will not grumble. They take what comes. They put up with matters which cannot be helped, and they smile serenely every time.” “ I wonder,” continues the Mercury, “ if a team of South African cricketers will go to England next season. Some of our notable willow-wielders are on the other side now. Tancred and Llewellyn are there; then others are all on the coast, and would, with this unsettlement continuing, be able to get off to the Old Country with ease. There have been efforts in Cape Town to arrange refugee cricket. How those efforts have eventu­ ated I know not.” T h e list of first-class county umpires for 1900 is as follows:—Hearn (W.), Barlow, Wheeler, Richardson (C. B.), Thoms, White, Sherwin, West (W. A. J.), Titchmarsh, Lillywhite, Shaw (A.), R'chards, Phillips, Moss, Pickett, My- croft (T.), Hide (A.), Wright (W.), Porter, and Smith (P. A.). Walter Wright is the only new umpire, but Phillips was not included last season. A b a la n c e of nearly £2,500 is the result of the past Yorkshire season’s cricket. At the annual general meeting Lord Hawke stated that there was a pro­ portion of winter pay to the professionals to be deducted from this balance, but he anticipated that thiswould be made good by Yorkshire’s share in the receipts of the “ Test ” matches. The list of mem­ bership has been increased from 1,200 to 2,433. Oddly enough,: owing to com­ plications, Yorkshire has no matches with other counties on the two Bank Holidays, but the South African or West Indian teams will probably take one of the dates. Lord Hawke stated that, despite the war, the South African team would visit England. Lord Hawke was re-elected as president of the county club. A t a private meeting at Lord’s, called by Lord Hawke, on the subject of benefit matches to professionals, the following resolution was unanimously adopted:— ‘ ‘ That this meeting is strongly of opinion that counties should reserve direct con­ trol over the investment and disposal of all benefit monies.” O w in g to the liberality of some of the members of the Hampshire County C.C., the arrears of £319 in November, 1898, have been made up, but the balance-sheet for the past season showed a deficit of £198, which was nearly wiped out by the proceeds of the shares of the county in the “ Test ” matches. The honorary secretary, Dr. Russell Bencraft, stated that on account of the expense of theWarwickshirematch it had been decided to arrange matches with Kent inplace of the Midland county, but it was subsequently resolved to play Warwickshire as well as Kent, some of the members pointing out that Warwick­ shirehad supportedHampshire atacritical time. Captain Wynyard resigned the captaincy, and received the thanks of the meeting for his past services. The com­ mittee have decided to make a presenta­ tion to Major Poore when he returns in safety—as all cricketers hope that he will—fromSouth Africa. Soar is to have a benefit next year. T h e financial statement of the Hamp­ shire committee showed the receipts to be £3,289, of which the principal items were :—Gate receipts (county matches), £1,351, the biggest gates being—Aus­ tralians £364 net, Sussex £152, Bourne­ mouth Week £147, Derbyshire £123, and Kent £164. Members’ subscriptions came to £1,111. County match expenses totalled £1,329, wages and labour £738,