Cricket 1900

A p r il 12, 1900. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 55 The following will be considered at the special general meeting on May 2nd, and it is more likely that they will be passed than n ot:— 1 . Six halls to constitute an over. 2. Declaration permissible at or after the luncheon time on the second day. 3. The side that leads hy 150 runs in a three-day match, 100 runs in a two-day match, or seventy-five runs in a one-day match, shall have the option of calling on the other side to follow its innings. The consideration of the new rules for County Qualification may be left for the moment, in order that the alterations in the actual laws of the game may be referred to here. There is very little doubt that the new reading of Laws 10 and 48 a —they each come to nearly but not quite the same thing—will cause more flutterings in the cricket dove-cot than any other new reading. If umpires at square leg had only to concern himself with Law 48 a many of them would probably avail themselves of the fact that they are not enjoined by it to watch the bowler in addition to their other multi- faiious duties; if they happened to be dissatisfied with a bowler’s delivery they would have to call “ no ball,” but not otherwise. But Law 10 leaves them no loophole whatever; if the ball is thrown or jerked they must call “ no ball,” and as they cannot tell whether the ball is thrown without looking they must watch the bowler every time he runs up to the wicket. They will be in the position of spectators at a lawn tennis match who turn their heads at every stroke as if they were automatic machines. The question is whether umpires—even the very best of them—can possibly manage to do all that is now required of them. Already the umpire at square leg has to do many things every time a ball is bowled. He has to watch the batsman’s foot and often his feet, as well as his bat. He has to see that the wicket-keeper does not put any part of his person over or before the wicket; that he does not, by any noise or motion, incommode the player; that he does not take the ball for the purpose of stumping before it has passed the wicket; that he does not kick off the bail with his foot, or knock it off with his finger before he has the ball in his hand. All this to an ordinary indi­ vidual who has never acted as umpire may seem to be enough to drive a man distracted. And now the unhappy official has also to watch the bowler up to the very moment when the ball leavos his hand. It is notorious that the quickness of the conjurer’s hand deceives the eye of the spectator, and it is to be feared that the ball delivered by the hand of a fast bowler will be too quick for the eye of the umpire to travel to the batsman’s end in time to note what is happening there. Of course these remarks only refer to umpires who are really good, or at least tiy to be good. The umpire who “ plays for his own team ” will be charmed with his new duties. Woe to the unfortunate bowler who falls under his ban, for it will be useless for him to go on at the other end; Nemesis will pursue him with relentlessness, and bowl he ever so fairly he will be damned for that match at least. All things considered, the working of this new law will be studied with a vast amount of interest. One hesitates to hazard an opinion that about nineteen umpires out of twenty at square-leg will only watch the bowler when they feel inclined to do so. With regard to the proposed new laws it can reasonably be argued that the bats­ man rather than the bowler would reap the advantage of having six balls in an over. It is admitted on all sides that the more accustomed a batsman bpcomes to a bowler the easier he plays him, and it is pretty certain that batsmen would not raise any objections—as far as they them­ selves were concerned—if the over con­ sisted of ten or a dozen balls. Few objections would be raised to No. 2, which permits declaration at or after the luncheon time on the second day, and if the declaration were to be per­ missible at any time whatever there would have been even fewer objections. Alteration No. 3 would be entirely in favour of the side which wins the toss, and unfortunate captains who lose it with an irritating persistency would find their side handicapped even more than before. It is argued that a side which has made a lot of runs ought not to Buffer for it by having to field out twice, and from the point of view of the county championship table there is much to be Baid for this. But in matches which are played for pleasure only—and there are still plenty of them—it would seem more sportsman­ like to be able to give the other side a chance. But human nature is fallible, and when a captain has the option of letting his men have another knock he will hardly be able to resist the tempta­ tion of doing so. We now come to the revised rules cf County Qualification, with their new system of transfers, etc. They are as follows. As they are all worded differently from former rules, it is unnecessary to use italics. The rules appeared in Cricket in the January number, but it may be well to give them again now at the beginning of a new season :— 1 .—A cricketer horn in one county and residing in another may not play for more than one county during the same season. 2.— A cricketer is always eligible to play for the county of his birth. 3.—A cricketer is qualified to play for any county in which he has residedfor the previous twenty-four months and is residing, but— (a) The mere acquirement or hiring of a tenement, unless used as a bona-fide home, does not constitute “ residence.” (b) The occupation of a tenement during the cricket season only does not constitute “ residence.” 4.—Where a cricketer uses as residences in the course of the year tenements inmore than one county, or where he leaves the country for the winter months, and in all other cases where his qualification is in any doubt, it is obligatory on the county for which he wishes to play to prove his qualification to the satis­ faction of the M.C.C. 5 .— A cricketer who has played for a county for five successive years is qualified to play for that county for the rest of his cricket career, or until he plays for some other county. 6 .—A cricketer may play for his old county during the two years that he is qualifying for another. 7.—A cricketer already qualified for a county, but wishing to qualify by residence for another county, must give notice in writing to the cricket club committee of the former county before he commences such residence ; and a county cricket, club wishing to engage, under a residential qualification, a cricketer who is qualified for another county club, must inform the committee of the latter before commencing negotiations with the cricketer. 8 .—Should any question arise under these rules it shall be left to the decision of the Committee of the Marylebone Club, which shall be final. To point out the awkward position in which scores of players are likely to find themselves under some of these laws would take up too much space, but if the M.C.C. will only act upon Rule 8 , instead of allowing it to become almost a dead letter, as was done in the case of a nearly similar rule in former days, viz., “ Should any question arise as to the residential qualification, the same should be left to the decision of the Committee of the Marylebone Club,” the complexity of the new rules will not be a matter of any great moment. CRICKET IN INDIA. PATIALA v. MR. BOSWORTH SMITH’S XI. The Patiala Week opened with the match on March 11th. Patiala were without Brock­ well and J. T. Hearne, who were at the time on their way to England. Still, they won easily by ten wickets. Mb. B o ;W orth S m ith ’ s X I. First Innings. B. N. Bosworth Smith, b M e h ta .................................. 0 Captain Daviz, b Mistri . . 0 — WeatheTall. c Nanak Bam, b M istri................... 6 H. A. Fulton,candb Mehta 22 R. A. hirlev, b Mehta ... 8 A . M. Erook, b Mehta ... 0 P. F. Fa-kn. c Mowloo, b Nanak Ham ... ... R. H. Mant, c Badesi Bam, b Mt-hta ........................... 9 Sergt. Evans, b Mistri ...41 Second Innings. hit wkt, b, Nanak Ram ...................41 b Mehta ......... 7 b H’s Highness . 5 b Mehta ... 0 cGurlian bMistri 9 c Bnd<si Ram, b Mehta .........32 Corpl. Holder, lbw ... Baikat Bam, not o u t... Extras ... ........... 6 b Mehta ......... 5 Mehta ........... 0 c Tarachand, b Nanak Ram ... 2 21 o M .h ti , b Nanak R a m .................21 2 notout... ......... 0 8 Extras .............. 9 Total ................123 P a t ia l a X I. To»a ...131 K. M Mistri, b Sergt. E vans.........................29 Raja t-abu.cWeather- atl, b Evans ... 17 Badesi Ram. not o u t.. S9 R. M billimoria, e Cpl. Holder, b Smith 30 — 'le ra' hrnd,c Sultan, b Evans ...................21 H. h the Kour Sahib of Patiala, b Evans... 2 H. r>. ihe Maharajah, cBa]katali,b Evans — "Williams, b Parka- ta i .......................... Captain A. H. Mehta, lbw. b BarkaUli ... Nanak Bam, c and b Barka’ a li................. Mahomed Manzjor, i ot <uc .................. Extras................... Total ... ..-.2: Second Innings : Badesi Ram, not out, 11; Tara­ chand, not out, 11.—Total, 22.