Cricket 1899

M arch 23, 1899. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 43 H ill is not yet out of the South Australian Railway Locomotive Sports. “ Clem,” my boy, “ went there first when his father was one of the Commissioners.” I t is reported, and the report has good authority, that A. E. Stoddart has defi­ nitely made up his mind to give up first- class cricket. One can only express the hope, which w ill find a responsive echo in the hearts of cricketers of all classes and in every country where the game is played, that this decision is not irre­ vocable. First-class cricket can ill afford to lose a player of such infinite variety and one who has done so much by his personal influence and example to main­ tain the character of ths gaaae. B atsmen o f his type are not to b j found every day. With plenty of stroke, he was never tedious—quite the reverse in fact. With no end of pluck, and any amount of his style suited the public taste to a nicety. Just now, he certainly cannot be spared. G eorge L ohm ann was present at a dinner given to the professional players of Lord Hawke’s team, at the Grand Hotel, Pretoria, on February 17th. According to the latest advices, he was fairly well again after a slight illness. T h e spectators were so pleased with the excellent all-round cricket shown by L. C. Braund for Pietoria against L ord Hawke’s team, on February 10th and 11th, that a sum of over twenty-one pounds was collected on his behalf. In an exhibition game after the match, Braund took six wickets of Lord Hawke’s team for 56 runs. C h arles B an n erm an , the brilliant batsman of the first Australian team, according to an Australian paper, is taking a trip to England this year. He was to leave Sydney on the 22nd of this month. It is hardly necessary to add that C. B . was one of the umpires in the test matches against Mr. Stoddart’s team. Jim Phillips, who has been coaching in Canterbury (N .Z.), is said to be com ing back to England in the “ Ormuz ” with the Australian team. I t is pleasant to read that one hundrod pounds out of the proceeds of the recent match, at Sydney, between the Australian team and the Best of Australia, is to be given to the veteran cricketer of New South Wales, who has been dangerously I t will not be the fault of circum­ stances if W . G. is unable to collect a thoroughly representative eleven to play tor the South at the Crystal Palace on May 8th to give the Australian team their first taste of English cricket. N ot one of the Southern counties is engaged on that day, so that there w ill be the full neld for selection. In addition to W’. G. himself, J. p.. Mason, C. L . Townsend, with L)ckwood, Abel, Hayward, aud rI* T. Heame, I hear are certainties for the Australians’ opening match. B y the way W. G. is quite satisfied, and with reason, with the support the London County C.C. has received up to date. Already over two hundred mem­ bers have been elected, and before the ground opens for practice this number should be considerably increased. Murch, the Gloucestershire player, is to have the charge of the ground staff at the Crystal Palace. D. E. MlSTBY, the Parsee cricketer who has been scoring so heavily in India lately, fairly eclipsed himself last month by his brilliant performance for Patiala against the Gymkhana team at Lucknow. He came, indeed, within measurable dis­ tance of a double hundred— a feat, by the way, only performed by two (or three if Major Piercy’s hundreds can be authen­ ticated) batsmen in Iudia—by scoring 90 and 151. By way of contrast, it may be stated the Maharajah got a “ pair.” In the same match Brockwell, in addition to scores of 13 and 55, took eight of the ten wickets in the Gymkhana’s first innings. L an cash ire cricketers will be inter­ ested to hear that W . E . Leach, who played for the County some years ago, is going very strong as a batsman, though there are no great opportunities for retaining one’s form in the Argentine Republic. In the middle of last month, at Buenos Ayres, he played a particularly fine innings of 128, out of a total of 285 foi the North against the South. In an exhibition game after the match between the same sides, he contributed 36 not out to an aggregate of 96. In the latter he had to bat against the bow ling of Lees, who was given to the South for this scratch match. A ccording to an Australian paper, the Victorian Association had a good time of it, financially, in the two Inter-colonial matches played this winter on the Mel­ bourne ground. The New South Wales match realised £942 10s., that with South Australia, £909 12j, T h e recent intercolonial match between New South Wales and Victoria had rather a peculiar ending. When the scores were level, Worrall, the Victorian captain, went on to bow l. He delivered a slow high-tossed ball to Mackenzie, who pulled himself together for a m ighty swipe. Instead, the umpire called wide, and this won the match. It is not often that a match is won b y wickets without either batsman having the luck to make the winning hit. C olotjr -S erg ean t B la n d ’ s hundred for the Shropshire Light Infantry is the only individual score of three figures made b y a European cricketer in Bombay since July 1897. Bombay Sport says so, and if we are not to believe in our Sport, what is left to us in belief ? L ees , theSurrey cricketer, who has been wintering in Buenos Ayres in fulfilment ot a professional engagement there, left the River Plate on the 4th iost. in the s.s. “ C ly le .” All going well he should be in London early next week. During his stay he took seventy-three wickets at a cost of four runs apiece. In batting, too, he did well, finishing up with an average of fifty-two. A t a meeting of the Leicestershire County C.C., it was unanimously decided to accept the site offered by the Corpora­ tion of Leicester for a cricket ground— close to the town. It was also decided to hold a bazaar, with the object of raising money for a pavilion, and to send sub­ scription lists to every member of the club. T h e Committee of the Kent County C.C., while approving of the new rules regarding C mnty classification, suggested that they should come into force on September 1st, 1899, instead of the follow ing January. A correspondent has sent a sugges­ tion, which, whatever may be its demerits, has recommendations sufficient to satisfy its promoter, at all events, of its practicability. The idea is nothing else than to entirely cover cricket grounds with a glass roof. The roof is to be high enough to be out of reach of the ball, and in one span. Portions are to be made to slide over each other, so as to leave a part open to the sky, if required. The estimate of the cost is £25,000 for a ground large enough for important matches. The building, says the writer, could be warmed and lighted for practice in the winter evenings, and practice would, under these conditions, be possible all round, and in any kind of weather. Practice grounds, 30 by 30 yards, would cost, it is estimated, £2,000, and 40 by 40 yards, £3,000. B y the inclusion of F. Laver and Victor Trumper, the Australian team is now complete, and comprises the follow ing players, who were to have left Adelaide yesterday by the s.s. “ Ormuz ” :— S. E. Gregory (New South Wales) J. J. Kelly (New South Wales) M. A. Noble (New South Wales) F. A. Iredale (New South Wales) W . Howell (New South Wales) V. Trumper (New South Wales) J. Worrall (Victoria) H. Trumble ( Victoria) 0. McLeod (Victoria) F. Laver (Victoria) A. E. Johns (Victoria) J. Darling (South Australia) C. Hill (South Australia) E. Jones (South Australia) The members of the team who have not already appeared on English grounds are Noble, McLsod, Laver, Trumper, and Howell. The manager of the team is Mr. J. B. Wardill. Before the end of April the Australians will probably reach England, and will have at least a week’s; practice at L ord’s on the invitation of th e' M.C.C. If all the members of the team play up to their reputation, the visit o f 1899 may b s memorable in the annals of cricket 1