Cricket 1900

1 ) e c . 2 0 , 1900. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD O f THE GAME. 4 ? l 1, 4, 4, 5, 4, 4, 5, 4, 4—74. It may be stated that Robson’s total was at first given as 73, but it was found that another man had been credited with a run tco many. A SOMEWHAT curious bit of scoring was done on the same day at Sydney by L. O. 8. Poidevin, who put up 96 for Redfern against Paddington. His hits, with the exception of a two, consisted entirely of singles and fours, as follows : 4, 4, 4, 1 ,1 ,4 , 4, 4, 4, 4,1,1, 1, 1, 1, 4, 4, 4,1 ,4 , 2, 4, 4 ,1 ,4 ,1 ,1 ,1 ,4 , 1, 4, 4, 4, 4,1. The dates of the inter-colonial matches for 1900-1901 are provisionally arranged as follows. It is possible that the dates December 31st and January 5th maybe altered:— November 9—Victoria v. South Australia, Adelaide. December 15—N .S.W . v. South Australia, Adelaide. December 26—N .8.W . v. Victoria, Melbourne. December 31—Victoria v. South Australia.M elbourne. January 5—N.S.W . v South Australia, Sydney. January 26—N.S.W . v. Victoria, Sydney. The Queensland Sportsman is respon­ sible far the following statement:—“ An out-back N.S.W. cricket club has seven Chinese members, and in a recent match against a team of shearers four Chinkies put up 110 amongst them, and one took four wickets for 28 runs.” H a r r y T r o tt scored 65 for East Mel­ bourne against Fitzroy on November 3rd, bis innings including six 4’s and a 5. He made his runs in forty-nine minutes. Every one will be pleased to hear that he has recovered from his long illness sufficiently to be pretty cer­ tain of reappearing in inter-colonial cricket, barring accidents, in the very near future, even if he has not already played. He would in all likehood have been chosen for Victoria against South Adelaide and Australia at Adelaide last month had there not been a feeling that it would be best for him to have a little more senior cricket before subjecting him to the strain of inter-colonial matches. A peculiar incident occurred in the match at Sydney on November 3 between North Sydney and Leichhardt Balmain. The first ball G. R. C. CJarke, of North Sydney, bowled to Ernest Jansen was played by the batsman through the stumps without pulling the wicket down. T he following eulogy of M. A. Noble’s all-round cricket, in a New South Wales paper, has the merit of being thoroughly well-deserved:— The best all-round cricketer in Australia, “ Monty” Noble, fields at point as few men have fielded, and probably none excelled. He is a great bowler, made rather than born. The curl in the air from leg is no longer doubted. In coming apparently straight at you, the ball seems to suddenly take a somersault and swim away when nearing your bat. If you have never played against him before, you’ll try to place a full toss to leg, only to hear it rattling against your sticks. Or you try to drive what seems to be an easy one, but at the last moment it takes a curve and flies from the edge of your bat into the hands of cover-point. M. A. Noble has had but little experience as a captain. But he is brainy, reflective, and his confidence inspires one. If he were not a great bowler, he would be the man to cut out for skipper of any team, for his knowledge of the game does not begin and endwith batting and bowling. Naturally his experiences during a season in England have greatly benefited him. Asa batsman he has become more versatile, for while he still cuts perfectly and drives withwhizzing power, he has added some delightful leg strokes. The youngest of a family of brothers who have done well in athletics, and especially in cricket, M.A. gets a good deal of fun out of cycling. Like his brothers, he is musical— sings well. Like most great cricketers, he has a particularly strong liking for the pipe. M .A.N .’s scoresin representative cricket are given below. AgainBt Victoria, he averages 63 58, while his work against South Australia is but little inferior. I N .O .H .S. R. Avg. N .S.W . T. V ictoria........... 15 3 166 763 63.58 N.S.W . v. S. Australia .. 14 0 200 6S4 48 85 N.S.W . v. Queensland ... 2 0 15 27 13.50 N.S.W . v. Tasmania ... 1 0 38 88 38.00 N.S.W . v. New Zealand *3 0 37 69 23.00 N .S.W . v. England ... 4 0 34 61 15.25 Australia v. England ... 14 3 89 472 42.90 Australian X I., 1899 ... 50 7 153 16C8 37.39 Australian X I. in A u s.... 6 0 111 333 65.50 * Includes the match in New Zealand, 1894. Victor Trumper has been making his mark this season in New South Wales cricket as a bowler. According to the Sydney Referee, of November 7, Victor and Hopkins were Sydney’s two best bowlers up to date. Ir only to correct an extraordinary error in one or two of the dailies, it may be as well to state that there never was the smallest foundation for the announce­ ment that the annual general meeting of the Surrey County C.C. would be held on Saturday next. The members of the S.C.C.C. have foregathered for years in May, and the meeting will be held as usual on the first Thursday in that month. The tour of the West Indian cricketers last season resulted in a loss of a little less than £300, the expenses being £1,546 148. 7d. and the receipts £1,255 13s. 4d. If the weather had been good while the tour lasted, the balance would certainly have been on the right side, and under the circumstances we do not see that the West Indians need feel discouraged. It was a bad season for a tour in neaily every way, but this could not have been foreseen. T h ere seems a strong probability that a suggestion which was made during the summer in a letter which appeared in Cricket that an effort should be made iu Scotland to create further interest in the game, will shortly be acted upon. A scheme is on foot to found a Scottish Cricket Union to control representative matches and generally to act in the interests of the game. This would only be a revival, for some twenty years ago there was a Scottish Cricket UnioD. When this died out there was no real Scottish authority, for although tbe Grange (Edinburgh) C.C. was looked upon as the leading club—at any rate in Edinburgh—it had very little influence over other clubs. I t is proposed to play a match at the conclusion of the season next year on behalf of the widow and children of the late Mr. W. Yardley, the teams to be selected by Lord Hawke and Dr. W. G. Grace. If the M.C.C. give their approval to the scheme the match will probably take place at Lord’s. T h e list of benefit matches for 1901 as far as at present arranged is as follows :— W . H. Lockwood, Surrey v. Yorkshire. J. T'. Brown, sen., Yorkshire v. Lancashire, at Leeds on August 5th. H. Carpenter, Essex v. Lancashire, at Leyton. W . Wright, Kent v. Middlesex (Tonbridge Week), June 17th. J. H. Board, a Gloucestershire match. A. A. Lilley, a Warwickshire match. F. W . Tate, a Sussex match. As far as we know n o t h iD g has yet been decided about the usual Whit-Monday match at Lord’s. T h e financial condition of the Leicester­ shire County C.C. was the subject of an animated discussion at Leicester on December 8th. It was pointed out that there was a loss of about a thousand pounds on last season’s matches, while £2,000 was still required to make the new crick at ground complete. The meeting was enthusiastic, and it was unanimously resolved to ask members to double their annual subscription ; no fears are expressed that the committee will not be able to tide over their difficulties. T h e following have been nominated as county umpires for 1901. It will be noticed that the names of Robert Thoms, Jim Lillywhite and H. Pickett do not appear, while Hide, J. E. West and Wood are newcomers. Very many cricketers will regret that Thoms has seen fit to retire, for as the greatest of umpires he has been so familiar to cricketers for so many years that his loss will leave a very great g a p R . G. Barlow, W. Hearn, A. Hide, J. Hide, J. Moss, T. Mycroft, J. Phillips, G. Porter, W. Richards, C. E. Richardson, A. Shaw, M. Stierwin, A. F. Smith, V. A. Titchmarsh, J. E. West, W. A. J. West, J. Wheeler, A. A White, H. Wood and W. Wright. E a r ly in the month Sir Spencer Ponsonby Fane, the honorary treasurer of the Marylebone C.C. fell and broke his arm. Sir Spencer, who is in his seventy- seventh year, is, we are glad to say, progressing favourably. Many of the proposals for the refor­ mation of the County Championship would have been somewhat drastic in their effects if they had been put in practice, but they all pale a proposal which comes to us from Mr. J. T. Adkins, a member of the staff of the Imperial