Cricket 1900

TUB FINEST BAT THE WORLD PRODUCES. 1 1 6 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M a y 1 0 , 1 9 0 0 . BUSSEY’S BUSSEY’S AT TH E SIGN OF THE W ICKE T . B y F. S. A sh l e y -C oopek . The recent experiments tried at Lord’s to abolish as far as possible boundary hits have hardly met with as much success as they deserved. The idea of making a batsman earn his runs fairly (by running out all his hits) is an excellent one, but the remedy suggested by the Marylebone Club for dealing with the matter will have to be thoroughly over-hauled* before it meets with anything approaching general approbation. The plan adopted in the M.C.C. v. Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire matches was, it is true, tried only by way of experi­ ment, and it would, therefore, be somewhat unfair to hold the scheme up to ridicule because success did not at once attend the club’s efforts. Even as recently as the seventies all hits on almost all grounds (except those to the pavilion) could be run out, as in those days there were few people at a match com­ pared with the huge crowds we see nowadays at the most important fixtures. In the old days, when the ball was hit amongst the spectators, the onlookers parted right and left, and the fieldsman was thereby easily enabled to recover and return the bill. Such a procedure is impossible to-day on account of the enormous attendances attracted to matches by “ the hated County Cham­ pionship” (to quote the late Mr. M. J. Ellison). Everybody is agreed that the fairest condition under which a match can be played, is when the ground is large enough to enable all hits, irrespec­ tive of the distance to which the ball may be sent from the wicket, to be run out. But, failing this, what plan would be the best to adopt in order to abolish boundary hits ? That is the question the M.C.C. have set themselves to answer. Their first attempt to do so has undoubtedly proved a failure. It has been suggested that all hits which cause the ball to pitch or bound over the three-foot net should entitle the batsman to four, and that when the ball is stopped by the net the hit should be run out, and as many runs scored as the number of times the batsmen cross from wicket to wicket. Such a plan certainly gives prouii^e of prov­ ing more successful than the one suggested by the M.C.C., and, more­ over, is not nearly so complicated as the arrangement at present iu vogue at Lord’s. A very interesting leader on the subject appears in the current issue of the Field, in which it is stated: “ Cricket, under the private rules of the Marylebone Club, began at Lord’s last Wednesday, when the playing arena was enclosed with a net between 2ft. and 3ft. in height. This fantastic experiment was greeted with universal derision.” Here a question suggests itself— ‘ •Should per­ formances accomplished under the pri­ vate rules of the M.C.C., be reckoned in the first-class averages?” Ought runs * Since these notes were penned the M.C.C. has thought fit to alter the mode of scoring. The changes suggested by the Club will be found in another column.—F. S. A.-C. scored in such a manner to be classed in the same category as those obtained under ordinary conditions.? The appointment of the Hon. Ivo Francis Walter Bligh to the presidency of the Marylebone Club will be welcomed in all cricketing circles. The Hon. Ivo Bligh belongs to a family which has for generations been devoted to the game. The following genealogical table shows the most famous cricketing members of the fam ily:— _________I_________ 4th Earl of Darnley Hon E. (General) Bligh (b. June 30, 1767, (b. Sept. 19, 1769, d. Mar. 17,1831 ) d. Nov. 2,1840.) I__________ 5th Earl of Hon. & Rev. Hon. EL. Bligh Darnley E. V . Bligh (b. June 10,1834.) (b. Aprill6,1827, lb. Feb.28,1829.) d Deo. 15,1896 ) I_______ I I 6th Earl of Darnley Hon. Ivo Bligh (Lord Clifton) (b. March 13, 1859.) (b. August 21,1851.) Toe Hon. Ivo Bligh’s father, the fifth B irl of Darnley, was appointed president of the Marylebone Club in 1849. For considerably over a hundred years the family has rendered the greatest service to the game in Kent, the name of Bligh being a name to conjure with even in the days of Lord John Sackville and Sir Horace Mann. The match at the Crystal Palace last week between Surrey and London County was full of interest from start to finish, although the bat held the mastery over the ball throughout. But this is the age of billiird-table wickets and gigantic scores, and sensational performances with the ball are necessarily few and far between. Townsend’s bowling during the first Surrey innings, however, was very fine, and was a far better perform- ancd than the figures would lead one to suppose. The rate at which runs were obtained throughout the match shows that the change of five balls au over to six not only sives time but increases the rate of run-getting materially. Hayward and Fry, by following up their fine scores at the Oval with further large scores, have plainly shown that they are already in splendid form. Fry, as is generally known, is a Surrey man by birth, whilst Hayward, although born at Cambridge, comes of a Surrey family, his grandfatuer, a Mitcham man, having pUyed for the county as soon as the county club was formed, over fifty years ago. Lockwood’s splendid double must not be lightly passed over, although it would be better for Surrey if he could regain the bowling form which in the early nineties made him a terror to bats­ men. The successful reappearance of Holland was very pleasing. He is a batsman it is always delightful to watch, for he has beautiful strokes all round the wicket, and his heart is in the game. In a few years’ time, if his health permits, he will probably be worth a place in any eleven. It deserves to be mentioned that on the last day of the match, after the luncheon interval, Sir George and Lady