Cricket 1899

A pr I l 20, 1899. CRIokET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 73 “ CRICKET” is the only paper in the world solely devoted to the game. T e rm s of S u b sc r ip tio n ( payable in ad­ vance) :—6/- per annum. Summer Numbers, 6/- ; Winter Numbers, 1/3 (post free). 7/- per annum, post free, Abroad. All subscriptions to be sent direct to the Offices of Cricket , 168, Upper Thames Street, London, E.C. Cricket: A W IBK LY EECOKD OF IB B OAMh 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LOKDOH, E.C. THURSDAY , A PR IL 20 th , 185 9. $a\ulton aosstp. The abstract and brief chronicle of the lime.— Bamlei. M r . J. H . B a r t l e t t , thehonorary secre­ tary of the Training Ship “ Mercury ” Cricket Club, Hamble, Hants, informs us that while batting at the nets a few days ago at Hamble, on Mr. C. A. R. Hoare’s cricket ground, C. B . Fry made an enormous hit. The distance was measured, and was found to be 145 yards 3 inches, from the batting crease to where the ball drcpped. Alfred Shaw, who has been engaged b y Mr. Hoare to further the interests of cricket in Hampshire, was present on the ground. In answer to a request, Mr. Bartlett has veiy kindly given us further par­ ticulars of this hit. 1. The hit was a straight drive. 2. The hall was a slow medium. 3. Alfred Shaw (the famous howler), measured the distance, and saw the hit made. 4. H. Edwards, a young member of the Training Ship “ Mercury’ ’ cluh, was thehowler. O r the sum of £2,500 which is required by the Leicestershire County Cricket Club to enable it to accept the offer of the Corporation of Leicester to provide a new ground, £2,000 has already been promised. Mr. C. E. de Trafford will again captain the team, and everybody will hope that the bad luck which has attended him so long in batting will at laBt leave him. W it h a view of finding out whether Rudyard K ipling was known b y the masses, a representative of one of the Reviews made inquiries of various cabmen, bus-drivers, fruiterers, and club porters as to whether they had ever heard of the great writer. The result of this test of a man’s title to be considered famous was distinctly unfavourable to Mr. K ipling, which goes to prove in the first place that cabmen and bus-drivers do not know everything, and in the second that a popular writer is not b y a long chalk as widely known as a popular cricketer. For which o f these gentlemen who were interviewed would have had nothing to say about Dr. Grace or R injitsinbji ? T he feat of scoring 200 runs in an innings has been accomplished eleven times in the United States and Canada during the past twenty-one seasons, says the American Cricketer. A. M. Wood «nd G. S Patterson, who both come from Philadelphia, have each scored two of these double centuries, the former making 278 not out and 201 not out, and the latter getting 271 and 202. G. S. Lyon, one of the trio of Canadian cricketers credited with this feat, made 238 not out, this being the best individual score in Canada. W . W. Noble, who is also a Philadelphian, and H. Richardson, formerly of San Francisco, Cal,, each ecored 208 not out. Burrows is the only professional who has accomplished this feat, his score being 202 not out. I t is fortunate for Gloucestershire cricket that Mr. W . Troup will again be in England during the summer. The attacks c f fever to which he was subjected had left him in such a state that, although the temperate climate of England has done wonders for him, he was not strong enough to withstand the heat of India, and his notice to return has been recalled. T h e dissolution of any well-known club is always a sad thing, and cricketers will therefore hear with great regret of the decision of the members of the “ One and All ” cricket club to bring its existence to a close. For the past twenty-five years the club has played at the Oval when there was no important match going on there, but the Surrey committee were this year obliged to offer terms which the club could not accept. Mr. G. L. Slater, 111, Fentiman Road, S.W ., is the honorary secretary. R e g a r d in g the alteration in the date of the Notts colts’ match, a writer in To-Day, who seems to understand the game of ci icket, says: “ It is wellthat theEaster Monday matchhas been dropped, for it has often been impossible for a promising youngster to show his true form when playing in two sweaters and shivering in a snowstorm or an easterly wind, conditions which often obtain at Easter in this uncertain climate. 11 is a pity that other counties do not follow the example of Surrey, and arrange a series of matches throughout the season in which good youngsters can rub the edge off the nervousness and gain the valuable experience necessary to fit them for a place in the county team. When a colt comes from his village team to play a trial match against the county eleven, he is over­ awed from the first, and rarely indeed can he render a good account of himself. Of all the supposed trials, this method seems the least likely to answer its purpose.” P e n n s y l v a n i a University cricket seems to be in a bad way, according to a writer in the American Cricktttr, who says: “ Everythingseems to be against the develop - ing of any great interest in cricket at the Uni­ versity, and on this account, there are each yearabouttwentymen from whomto choose the eleven. Last year the plan of using the base­ ball cage for early practice was adopted, but did not have the desired results. In the first place the wicket, consisting of coca matting on top of rough clay, proved unsatisfactory, and the light was very bad, so that this year it has been determined not to use the cage again ; but about the middle of April, a board platform will be built on an end of Franklin Field, and matting laid on top of this, and it ia hoped that the men will be able to get in good form by the time the matches begin. Another factor in making it impossible to put the best eleven in the field is that the championship games come right in the middle of the examination period.” P a l m e r , the old Australian bowler, seems to think very highly of the Tasma­ nian cricketer, E. A. Windsor. He says that his batting is good all round the wicket, and his howling unplayable if the wicket is at all sticky. Even on fast, true wickets he takes a lot of playing. S o m e years ago, says a writer in Cricket Club L ife, I toured one summer with a team, of which one member had tender shins. He played mid-off, and always wore shin guards under his trousers. His hands were gcod, and he had no fear for them, but he esteemed his shins at one and the sametime vulnerable andprecious. On one occasion we arrived at a ground late, after a railway journey and a drive, both of some length, and changing in a hurry, this twisted Archilles forgot his shin guards. Quite early in the innings of our opponents, he got the hardest drive of his season at m id-off. He had not time to stoop and put his hands on it, nor even to withdraw his delicate limbs. I t came, a terrific line drive, and struck him about three inches above the shoe-top ! C k ic k e t e b s will be sorry to hear that Richard Humphrey, the famous old Surrey player of the seventies, has been obliged to undergo an operation at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital for ganglion of the wrist. Fortunately the operation has been quite successful, and Humphrey was able to leave the hospital on Sunday last. Later in the season he will go to Westbury, Wiltshire, to umpire and act as coach, Mr. W. H . Laverton having given him an engagement. In the mean­ time he would be glad of an engagement as coach or umpire until he goes to Wiltshire. His address is 3, East Street, Theobald’s road, W.C. So greatly have we been impressed by the enterprise of the proprietors of the Daily Telegraph in offering to their readers (for a consideration) the “ One hundred best novels in the world,” together with a revolving bookcase to hold them, that we have serious thoughts of imitating their example. Our idea is to issue a series of “ The world’s hundred greatest cricket bats,” with a revolving case to put them in. It is hardly necessary to say that cricketers would find the above seiies of immense value to them. Does a man make a duck’s egg with a “ P iggott,” he turns the revolving case and tries a “ Wisden,” or an “ Ayres,” or a “ Gra- didge ” in the next match. Does he get out lbw. with a “ Bussey,” he has but to try his luck with a “ Watson,” a “ S u gg,” or a “ Lilly white.” A g a in , if a “ Slazenger” fails to stop a shooter, what is easier than to turn to