Cricket 1900

472 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. D e c . 20, 1900. Military Railways at Johannesburg. Mr. J. Adkins in the course of a long letter says:— I am of opinion that a far better arrange­ mentwould be to lessen the number of players on a side, say, to reduce the numbers of players to six a-side. The men thus chosen would of course be the six best all-round men in the country, and that would mean rousing the players to more energy than is at present shown in the field, as the men would not be chosen for batting or fielding alone, but on general all-round points. At the present time, a good many cricketers are always sure of being played because of one good point, and thereby entirely neglecting the art of fielding. Given ordinary weather, two teams of six picked men should be able to last the match well into three days, but in almost every instance would the game be brought to a definite issue. But we are afraid that if Ranjitsinhji and C. B. Fry (for example) got well in with two bowlers and only four men in the field, the match would last very well indeed into three days. A t the annual general meeting of the Lancashire County C. C., it was an­ nounced that the balance sheet showed a surplus of £625 18s. od. on the season’s matches, which is a highly satisfactory state of affairs, seeing that the proceeds of the Yorkshire match was given to Mold. It was found impossible to give Ward the Yorkshire match next year for his benefit, but he was given the choice of taking any of the other matches or of waiting till 1902. We understand that he preferred to wait until 1902. Mr. A. N. Hornby was again elected president, and Mr. S. H. Swire honorary secretary. The president stated that the counties collectively intended to deal with the matter of benefits. L i e u t . C. R. H. G r e s s o n , the Bucking­ hamshire cricketer was wounded in the fighting near Krugersdorp at the begin­ ning of December. S o m e r s e t s h i r e sustained a loss of £400 on last year’s matches, which will necessitate a call of £3 14s. each on the guarantors. It was decided at the annual general meeting that two matches should be played at Bath in June, the town offering to raise 150 guineas and to pay over half the gross receipts of the matches to the county club. Sir Spencer Pon- sonby-Fane was re-elected president, Mr. Murray Anderton being secretary, and Mr. S. M. J. Woods captain and assistant secretary. T h e fund for the testimonial to Mr. J . A. Dixon, promoted by the county com­ mittee as an acknowledgment of his great services to the county as captain, amounts to about £170. The presentation will take the form of an illuminated scroll, the balance of the proceeds being, by Mr. Dixon’s wish, kept under control by the committee, to be given as they think fit in helping the benefits of Notts’ cricketers who have been regular members of the county elevens. C a m b r i d g e s h i r e has to record an adverse balance for 1900, but as it only amounts to £10 it is not very serious. At the annual meeting Viscount Clifden was re-elected president, and Major Oliver Papworth honorary secretary, the latter being accorded a hearty vote of thanks for his past services. O w i n g to the absence of s o many of its best players in South Africa, Hampshire had an unfortunate season, with the result that there was a considerable deficit. Economy was voted the order of the day at the annual general meeting, and it was decided to reduce the number of matches next season, and to abandon all second X I. matches, except that of Sussex. We sincerely hope that better times are in store for the county, which has suffered more than any other county from the war. At the urgent request of the members Dr. Russell Bencraft again undertook the duties of honorary secretary, and Mr. C. Robson was re-elected captain. I t will be seen from the list of fixtures which we publish in another column, that a team will visit England from South Africa next year. The programme was made by Lord Hawke, who only received positive information at the end of November that the team would make the tour. W. H. L o c k w o o d has chosen the Surrey and Yorkshire match at the Oval, on June 25th and two following days for his benefit. J. M a t t h e w s , who made such a credit­ able debut for inter-colonial cricket for South Australia v. Victoria, at Adelaide, on November 9th, had been already four seasons in senior cricket with 48 as his highest contribution. When he went in, six of South Australia’s best batsmen had gone for only 65 runs, and when he was out (ninth wicket), the total was 253, of which he had made 79. Recorders of the Adelaide Observer claim that there are only two instances of a better per­ formance in a first inter-colonial innings, these were J. M c l l wraith’s 133 for Victoria v. New South Wales in Decem­ ber, 1885, and J. O’Halloran’s 128 for Victoria v. South Australia in January, 1897. T h e feelings of the captains of the first-class counties as expressed at their meeting at Lord’s on the 10th inst. was so strongly against any alteration in the law relating to l.b.w. as well as against a change in the system of scoring in the county championship that it was no sur­ prise to find the committee of the Mary­ lebone club taking the same line when they met later in the day. Speculation has been very busy during the last fort­ night in cricket circles on the subject of an announcement that the captains of the first-class counties had decided to take definite action to get rid of unfair or dubious bowling. This is all the infor­ mation allowed to be published. But it is a matter of common conversation in cricket circles that an understanding has been arrived at which will effectually put an end to bowling that is unfair, if not to what is only dubious. I t is quite in the eternal fitness of things that Clem Hill, without a doubt, the best Australian batsman of this, if not of any other age, should have established a new record for Australia. Up to Monday last the highest innings in a first-class match in Australia was W. L. Murdoch’s 321 for New South Wales v. Victoria at Sydney in February 1882. Last Tuesday Clem Hill outdid this by 44, scoring 365, not out, of a total of 576 by South Australia v. New South Wales at Adelaide. A p p e n d e d is a list of the largest indi­ vidual innings on record:— *628, A . E. J. Collins, Clarke's House v. North Town, at Clifton College, June 22, 23, 26,27, and 28,1899. 485, A . E. Stoddart, Hampstead v. Stoics, at Hamp­ stead, August 4 , 1886. 424, A . C. MacLaren, Lancashire v. Somersetshire at Taunton, July 16,16, and 17,1895. *419, J. S. Carrick, 'West of Scotland v. Priory Park, at Chichester, July 13 and 14,1885. *417, J. Worrall, Carlton v. Melbourne University, at Carlton, February 8, 1896. *415, W . N. Roe. Emmanuel College L.V.C. v. Caius, College L.V.C., at Cambridge, July 12 and 13, 1881. *404, E. F. 8. Tylecote, Classical v. Modern, at Clifton College, May 14,19, and 26, 1868. 402, T. Warne, Carlton v. Richmond, at Carlton, December 3,10, and 17,1898. •,o:), W . G. Grace, U.S.E.E. v. Twenty-two of Grimsby and District, at Grimsby, July 10,11, and 12,1876. 388, M ajor Spens, United Services v. Nondescripts, at Portsmouth, August 9 and 10, 1882. *365, K . E. Burn, W ellington v. Derwent, at Hobart, February 25, March 4 and 11,1899. * Signifies not out. F r o m the Adelaide Observer :—An um­ pire story which, has the merit of being true, comes from the Port (Adelaide). J. Matthews was bowling in the Port Adelaide—North Adelaide fixture—but the arbitrator did not happen to be looking. The ball nipped up quickly, skimmed off a bail only, and dropped from the wicket-keeper’s hands to the ground. To the appeal the answer was “ Not out.” “ Why, the ball knocked the bail off,” exclaimed a fielder. “ Oh, did it ? ” said the umpire. “ I thought you were appealing for a catch. O u t! And the batsman slowly went pavilion- wards.” C RICKET FIELD (Private), with Tennis Courts, at Dulwich, to be let for alternate Saturdays.—Apply W o o d , 2 , White Lion Court, E.C. P ORTRAIT MEDALLIONS OF POPULAR CRICKETER8.—W . G. Grace, K . 8. Banjit- sinhji, C. B. Fry, C. J. Kortright, A. C. MacLaren, A. K. Stoddart, J. R. Mason, G. L. Jesaop, Abel, Richardson, Hayward, Lockwood, Heame (Alec.).— Price 2d. each , poet free 3d., or the set of 13, post free, 2s. 2d.— M bbritt a n d H a to h k b , L t d ., 168, Upper Thameg Street, London.