Cricket 1899

A pril 13, 1899. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 59 As he was retiring the umpire spoke to umpire No. 2—‘ Mester So-and-so dedn’t like being runnedaout.’ ‘ No,’ said theother,‘heseemed rather doubtful of the decision.’ ‘ Ees, but it was this way, do ee see ? Es fut was in but es bat wadden.’—Fact.” J. T. B r o w n (of Yorkshire), E. G. Hayes and F. C. Holland (of Surrey) were among the passengers brought home by the U D io n Company’ s fine steamship, “ The Scot,” at the end of last week. Hayes, who looks all the better for his winter’s sojourn in South Africa, seems to have had a most enjoyable time of it out there. H e was engaged at Cradock, which is some hundred and eighty miles inland from Port Elizabeth, and from what one can learn was certainly not over­ worked. As a cricketer, too, he had every reason to be satisfied. His batting aver­ ages was 41 for fourteen innings, and he took seventy-three wickets at a cost of five runs apiece. H e speaks very highly of J. Sinclair, who scored over a hundred for South Africa against Lord Hawke’s team in the last “ test match ” as a batsman. T h r e e batsmen stumped off successive balls I It is not often that a wicket-keeper has a^hat trick, all, or a share of it, to him­ self. Y et this incident was recorded in a match in Peters­ burg (South Australia) on Feb­ ruary 18th. The game was between the first eleven and the next fifteen of the Railway Cricket Club there. The victims were three of the latter, and the stumper in question was one A. C. Crossman. The bowler—it is best to be precise in such matters— was Y . Frisby, a slow leg breaker. H . S. B u s h , who has come out at the head of the batting averages of the Calcutta C.C. for 1898-9, is a younger brother of P. W. Bush, who played for Surrey occasionally some fifteen years ago. He was educated at Dover College, and before he left England with his regiment scored very heavily 0n occasions in club cricket. According t0 the Indian Sporting Times, Brockwell and J. T. Hearne who have played against him this winter, and ought to know, are both agreed that he is one of the best batsmen they have met in India. A c o r r e s p o n d e n t sends the follow ing puzzle to the South Australian Register :— _ “ Can you also, please, answer the follow­ ing, re wides ? One of the pitches on which games are played here has 23 ft. of slate at each end, leaving a gap of 20 ft., about I f in. lower than the slates. The matting is strained over the edge of the slate, and a ball pitching on that flies over the batsman’s head, borne umpires give wides for this, and some do not. It seems to me that the gap of 20 ft. between the slates constitutes a defect in the pitch, for which the bowler is not responsible, and therefore he should not be penalised, ihe rule bearing on wides says nothing re defective pitches, but I, with others, maintain that the playing rules were made with the idea that the pitch would be at the same level from end to end.” “ Point,” who answers the question, wisely replies that the ball must be within reach of the batsman. T h e Adelaide Observer gives minute details of some high scoring recorded on the Oval in that city on February 11th. In the three matches played that day 985 runs were totalled. As 648 of these were from boundaries, it will be seen that the ball travelled there no less than 162 times. In one of the three games, too, there was a fiver., O ye z ! O yez! The Surrey County C.C. opens its gates on Saturday next, but only to members and for practice. Prac­ tice under prevailing conditions— only to think of i t ! It is to be hoped the Weather Clerk will see the error of his ways before then. is no ‘ fury of combat ’ to co.nmunicate itself from one to the other, as the placid counten­ ances of the ‘ ring’ at a cricket match would convince the most casual observer. To look on at cricket, indeed, deserves almost as much as angling to be described as the ‘ contem­ plative man’s recreation.’ ” T h e Granville (Lee) C.C. is seeking “ fresh woods and pastures new ” for its annual outing this summer. Lincolnshire has been chosen this time for the tour, which is to extend from August 10th to 19th inclusive. Four of the five matches are to be played at Skegaess, the fifth— the first in point of date—-at Stamford. A n amusing incident is reported in connection with the Victorian match against the Western District of New South Wales. “ I t was feared that, ow ing to the marriage of G. Payne having been fixed for the same day at Wallerawang, the Western team would be deprived of his services. His bride, however, is a great admirer of cricket, and acquiesced in the marriage taking place early in the morning, so that they might travel in the mixed train to Bathurst. In recognition of her kindness a gold bracelet was presented to her during an interval in the game.” Payne made a dozen, and was caught off Giller, but in reply he clean bowled the stolid Victorian for a duck. [ “ The Umpire can give his decision of ‘ out ’ or ‘ not out ’ without fear or without favour .” —Daily Telegraph.'] In a leading article, complimenting the Bishop of St. David’s on the speech which he made at Llanelly, the Daily Telegraph says:— ‘ ‘ The Bishop remarked that football was a very fine game indeed if there were no pro­ fessionalism or bad temper about it, but that cricket ‘ developed one quality which football did not; and that was patience.’ This is, perhaps, to understate the case, since football not only does not develop the virtue referred to, but too often tends to foster its exact opposite. Its moral effect upon the spectators is alone sufficient to show the difference from the educational point of view between the two games. ‘ Beferee-mobbing,’ we are glad to say, is not quite so common an occurrence as the Bishop, by associating it with the unduly popular practices of ‘ gambling and betting, ’ would seem to imply; but it is at least infinitely more common than ‘ umpire-bait- ing,’ which would be its equivalent in the cricket-field. The umpire can give his decision of ‘ out ’ or ‘ not out ’ without fear and without favour, and in pronouncing an unpopular verdict he can rely on the ‘ patience,’ not only of the players, but, what is even more important, of the onlookers also. There T h e South Australian Register thicks, and rightly, that the name Clement must be a talis­ man for cricketers out there. Clement Wellington, formerly of Adelaide, is now in Broken H ill, and plays for the Oriental Club in the Silver City. So far, he has scored 800 runs this season, including an innings of 118—the individual record for the B. H . Oval—for an average of 86. As he is only eighteen years of age this performance speaks well for the future of the young cricketer. T h e follow ing verses from the Queens­ land Figaro refer to the South Australian visit to that Colony :— Clem Hill is an Adelaide kid, In a bushel his talent’ s not hid. When the field missed him twice, He muttered “ How nice! But I want to get out ’ ’—and he did. The pick of the Adelaide men Was Darling, undoubted, but then, He gave one great chance, Which did not enhance His score of two hundred and ten. That notable warrior, Giffen, Whom Queensland was anxious to stiffen, Left his ground rather madly, And was stumped by Bill Bradley ; Which occurred after luncheon (or tiffin). An Adelaide cricketer, Hack, Smote the ball an astonishing whack, Then he shouted, “ Oh, heavens ! I am caught out by Evans ; ” And the dressing-room saw him come back