Cricket 1900

4 5 8 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. N o v . 2 9 , 1900. F. P. K k o x has been elected to the captaincy of the Oxford Eleven in succes­ sion to F. H. B. Champain. C. H. B. Marsham takes the position of Honorary Secretary, vice Knox promoted. The office of Treasurer, vacated by the Rev. H. M. Burge, now Head Master of Repton School, has been filled by the election of Mr. A. Hassall (Christ Church). A t the annual general meeting of the Northamptonshire County C.C., Mr. A. J. Darnell, the honorary secretary, objected very forcibly to the want of a scheme by which a deserving second-class county could be promoted to first class. He stated that the county club had played fifteen matches this season, and thirteen last season without being defeated. Nevertheless, he had only been able to arrange fixtures for 1900 with one first- class county, viz., Leicestershire, and as in order to enter the first-class county championship competition it is necessary to secure matches with at least eight counties, his county must perforce go on as before. Mr. Darnell is no doubt quite justified in feeling annoyed, but the difficulty is that the first-class counties will not arraDge matches unless they wish to do so. T h e Cambridge University captain for 1901 is Mr. S. H. Day, while Mr. E. R. Wilson is honorary secretary, and Mr. E. M. Dowson honorary assistant treasurer. I t is stated that Mold has received a cheque for £2,050 from the Lancashire County C.C. as the proceeds of his benefit. There is still a small balance in hand to be forwarded to him. T h e following from the Adelaide Observer is a pretty good record in South Australian cricket: — A few weeks hack it was queried whether any country batsman had made over 1,000 runs in a season. O. J. Caust, of Chain of Ponds, has achieved this distinction five times—on two occasions making nearly 1,600 runs. When he left for the West three years ago, the season heing only half elapsed, he scored 1,300 runs in ten complete innings, thus averaging 130. From Christmas time to Easter Monday last season (about four months) he made 885 runs, consisting of the following scores:—100*, 21, 46, 110*, 2, 107*, 109*, 56, 0, 16, 116*, 11, 67, 106, 18, an average of 88j. He is twenty-seven years of age, and during his cricketing career he has made fifteen centuries. Has any other country batsman made as many ? M e s s r s . F. S. J a c k s o n and F. M i t c h e l l were present at the annual meeting of the Yorkshire County C.C. on Tuesday last to receive in person a hearty welcome on their safe re­ turn from the Transvaal war. Lord Hawke, who presided, reported that the Milligan Memorial Fund amounted to £442, and it was suggested that this sum, together with the fund raised at Low Moor, should be devoted to the endowment of a children’s cot at the Bradford Infirmary. After the meeting Major Shepherd, on behalf of the com­ mittee, presented to each member of last year’s county eleven a silver bowl, as a memento of their unbeaten record in championship matches. The home matches for the Yorkshire Eleven next year have been fixed as follows:—Leeds—Essex, Lancashire and Somersetshire ; Sheffield — Middlesex, Notts and K en t; Bradford—Surrey, Sussex and Warwickshire; Huddersfield— Derbyshire ; Dewsbury—Worcestershire; Hull—Gloucestershire; Scarborough— Leicestershire; Harrogate—Hampshire. Bath is after all, not to lose its county cricket week next year. The guarantee of a hundred and fifty guineas in sub­ scriptions to the club required by the county committee has practically been provided, and in all probability Lanca­ shire and Worcestershire will meet Somersetshire at Bath during the week commencing on June 24. As there seems to be some mis­ apprehension on the subject, it may be as well to state that the proposals for a new system of scoring in the county championship emanate from Mr’ W . E. Denison, and are not the suggestions of the Cricket Sub-Committee of the Mary- lebone Club, as many have assumed from the circular which will be found on page 455. The following are some of the latest hundreds:— OCTOBER. 13. C. W . Butler, Break o’ Day v. Wellington (Tasmania) ... .......................................... 139* 24. B. Jayaram, Bangalore v. Madras.................. 100* * Sigoifles not out. THE NEW SCHEME. [Mr. Denison has proposed a scheme hy which umpires should decide whether an unfinished match ought to count as drawn or as a victory.] O’er his supper beer the umpire Pondered on the recent match ; Doubtful, weary, and disheartened, Still he mused and stroked his thatch. ’ Twas a case of draw or vict’ry That had taxed his utmost skill; And, alas ! his own ideal Might make other people ill. From a distant Eastern county Had the visitors been brought; Three long days the anxious umpire Gave decisions as he ought. Now, discouraged and desponding, Sat he, feeling very cheap ; Fears of deep humiliation Sen*; him finally to sleep. Then a voice cried, “ Rise, O umpire! Do not suffer like a moke, Shape Ihe thought that lies within thee.” — And the startled umpire woke. Woke, and told the eager member Of the club in Johnian Wood That—in fact that he’d be j iggered If this scheme was any good. Oh thou batsman, bowler, keeper ! Take this lesson to thy chest: That is best which is the simplest; Let the Counties be at rest. W . A. B. TH E PROJECTED REFORMS . A French gentleman is said to have stated many years ago that every English­ man had a burning desire every morning to go out and shoot something before breakfast. If this gentleman had been at hand at the present day to study the English character, he might reasonably have added to his previous statement the words “ and every evening after dinner he has a still more burning desire to reform something or somebody.” This is unquestionably an age of projected reforms. We all want to reform the Army and the Hooligans; some of us would like to reform the Church; we all think we could put the county championship and the laws of cricket on a perfectly sound basis if we only had our way. Fortunately, most of us are content to let well alone, and not anxious to alter the laws every week. Others are not so temperate, and accordingly suggestions for reform are made whole­ sale every year, more especially during the winter months when there is plenty of time to argue the pros and cons of the matter. At the present moment the air is full of suggested reforms, but only two of them are of any considerable importance. The first of these is Mr. Denison’s scheme for the reformation of the method of deciding the county championship, and the second the various schemes for improving the law about leg before wicket. Mr. Denison suggests that points should be allowed for drawn games. Now there are very many cricketers who would heartily agree to this provided that each side scored a point, or the same number of points. But this is not Mr. Denison’s idea at all. He would have the umpires adjudicate upon the position of the game, and in the event of their coming to the conclusion that it was only a question of time that prevented one side or the other from winning, they should award a point or points to that side. These are the details in the pro­ posed scheme, but the main question is the adjudication upon the position of the match. It would indeed be difficult to imagine any suggestion which would be more likely to arouse envy, hatred and malice among the players of the side which was adjudged to be beaten morally, or to imagine anything which could be more repugnant to the umpires—already overweighted by their responsibilities. Poor umpires ! They already have to do impossibilities in the way of watching a bowler’s arm and foot at the same time, or of watching his arm while they are watching the wicket-keeper. To refer to the obj ections to the scheme in any detail would fill far too much space, but the most careless observer must have remarked that such a scheme would .tell far more severely on the weaker counties than on the stronger; that the magnificent struggle which is so often made by the weaker side to avoid defeat—a struggle