Cricket 1900

u CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A p r i l 1 9 , 1 0 0 . C hilled to the marrow, our Spring poet was, he informs us, at the Oval on Easter Monday, and looking around him for the Londoners in the London County team, he was inspired to send us the following l i n e s r A king* sat on the rocky brow On which the Crystal Palace is, And men in flannels lay below, From many counties,—all were his ! He counted them at break of day— But where was Ranjitsinhji, pray? * One of the Kings of Cricket. F rom the Australasian :— From the start of the season 1889-90 up to now, North Melbourne and East Melbourne first elevens have played nine matches, of which North have won five and East four. The Northern skipper has won the toss eight times out of ten. A t Cambridge Mr. T. L. Taylor is captain, and in the absence of Mr. E. F. Penn, who has gone to South Africa, the duties of secretary will be undertaken by Mr. S. H. Day. Four other old Blues are available, viz., L. J. Moon, A. E. Hind, E. R. Wilson, and J. Daniell. Among the freshmen Mr. E. M. Dowson, the old Harrow captain, is the most likely to obtain his blue. No fast bowler of very great promise seems likely to be found. M r. R. E. F oster is the Oxford captain, but Mr. F. H. B. Champain is still available, as well as all the other Blues, except Messrs. Stocks, Eccles, and Montmorency. The most promising freshmen are Mr. A. H. Spooner, the old Haileybury captain, Mr. F. G. Robinson and Mr. T. R. Crawley-Boevey, both old Clifton boys. “ S trange as it may seem,” says Cricket Club Life , “ it has transpired that a player has failed to reach double figures, and, in spite of that fact, his contribution earned the right to future rehearsals, along with deeds of Grace and Ranji, at the cricketers’ festive fire­ sides. J. Hargreaves Tattersall, of the Manhattan Cricket Club, was playing in Massachusetts. Most of his comrades had made scores of very meagre propor­ tions, and it required but slight exertion to surpass them. This, however, Tatter­ sall did in a most peculiar way. That it it was quite an extraordinary event it is only necessary to add that he received but one ball in the entire match. From this he made a fine hit to leg and ran five on it. Immediately afterwards, on a stroke by his partner, he was run out, and retired with what proved to be top score for the day to his credit.” T he other day, writes a correspondent, I was in the West End when a motor car went past me. To my amazement I saw upon it the words “ M.C.C. Delivery Van.” I rubbed my eyes to make sure that I was not deceived. But there was no mistake about the M.C.C. Naturally I j umped to the conclusion that the Marylebone Club, which has lately taken such vast strides in commerce, had started a scheme for supplying its members with goods on the co-operative system, and 1 went thought­ fully on my way. It was not until the evening that a friend, who is interested in motor cars, informed me that the letters “ M.C.C.” were doubtless intended to represent “ Motor Car Company.” T he important news in connection with the first-class county teams may be summed up as follows :— L a n c a sh ir e . —Mr. A. C. MacLaren, who is now secretary, while Mr. S. H. Swire continues to be honorary secretary, will be able to play regularly. It is hoped that Briggs will also be well enough to play. Mr. R. H. Spooner may not often be able to assist the county. S u sse x . —Relf, who bas played with great success for Norfolk, is qualified for Sussex by birth ; he will, doubtlpss, receive a good trial. Butt will have his benefit on August 23—the York­ shire match. S u r r e y . —Mr. D. L. A. Jephson succeeds Mr. K . J. Key as captain. Mr. V. F. S. Crawford is said to be quite fit again, and. bar accidents, he is bound to meet with success. Mr. H. B. Richardson is going to California. Most likely Mr. E M. Dowson will be seen in the team after the University match at Lord’s. K e n t . —Mr. R. O ’ H . Livesay and Mr. L. J. Le Fleming are in South Africa. Walter Wright has been appointed one of the county umpires. No match is to be played at Gravesend. W a r w ic k s h ir e . —Mr. J. F. Byrne has returned from South Africa, but Mr. A. C. S. Glover is said to be absent from England. The only recruit who is likely to make a reputation is Mr. Manton. W orcestersh ire .— The list of matches is much larger than before, Surrey, Kent, Lancashire, Gloucestershire, and Middlesex being met for the first time. Mr. W , L. Foster is in South Africa. A trial will be given to Bannister, a light-hand bowler of medium pace. M id d l e s e x . —EssexandWorcestershirewill be met in addition to the counties who usually oppose Middlesex. Mr. C. P. Foley and Dr. G. Thornton are in South Africa. J. T. Hearne takes the Whit Monday match against Somerset for his benefit. N otts . —Shrewsbury will have half the nett gate of the Surrey match at Trent Bridge on Whit Monday for his benefit. The Leicestershire match is revived. Mr. G J. Groves will probably have a good trial. S o m erset . —It is hoped that Mr. L. C. H. Palairet and Mr. G. Fowler, who have recovered from their accidents, will be able to play regularly. Captain W . C. Hedley, Mr. F. A. Phillips, and Mr. H. T. Stanley are in South Africa. G lou cestersh ir e . —Mr. G. L. Jessop wTill be captain in place of Mr. W. Troup, whohasreturnedtohisdutiesin India. Captain Newnham will, it is said, be available again ; he has received nine months’ leave from India. It is to be feared that W. G. Grace will again not assist the county. Mr. C. 0. H. Sewell may not be able to play. D e r b y sh ir e . —Mr. R . G. Kenward is in South Africa. There are a few promising youngsters who w ill doubtless receive a trial. H am p sh ir e .— Owing to the war Hampshire will suffer far more than any other county, among the absentees being Major Poore, Colonel Spens, Mr. E. I. M. Barrett, Mr. C. Heseltine, Mr. Palmer, Captain Bradford, Lieutenant E. M. Sprot, Captain Barton, and Mr. H. W. Studd. Mr. C. Robson is to act as captain. It is doubtful whether other well- known players will be able to play regularly. The Kent match is revived. Y o r k sh ir e . —Mr. K. S. Jackson and Mr. F. Mitchell are in South Africa, and Mr. F. W. Milligan, who is known to have been badly wounded, is among the missing. It is hoped that Mr. Ernest Smith will be able to play more frequently than usual. Moorhouse is to receive £500 instead of a benefit. E ss e x . —Mr. A. J. Turner is in South Africa, and his brother, Mr. W. M. Turner, is on his way to India. L e icestersh ire .— Pougher receives his benefit on the Whit Monday match against Yorkshire. Two or three young professionals are likely to have a trial. An innings of 202 not out in a total of 346 for two wickets was played on March 3rd, at Sydney, by W. E. Pite for South Sydney v. Leichhardt. Of this young player the Sydney Mail says Pite in this venture completely excelled himself. His compilation was 202, a long way his highest for the club. He was in very consistent form the season before last, averaging 58, and yet his highest score was but 56, obviously he had a lot of not outs. His cricket then was safe and sure; in fact, he was a second edition of Trumper, taking no risks, keeping the ball well along the turf, and possessing a big range of pretty strokes. Last season he was dead off form. His highest was 26, twice obtained in the one match, and he, of course, closed the season with a very poor average. His want of form was a great disappointment to his clubmates, who remembering his batting of the previous season naturally anticipated an improvement, which, however, did not come. This season he has exhibited a return to form to a certain extent. A few weeks ago I mentioned in referring to a compilation of 60 odd that it was gratifying to note that he was scoring. On Saturday he completely took charge of the bowling, and,displayinga continuedconfidence of stroke that quite took his comrades by surprise, he went on and on, until he was retired by effluxion of time. Cricketers all round are delighted with his performance. I have compared him to Trumper in style. I might go further and say that he po-sesses the same unassuming disposition as characterises the Australian Eleven man. T he Melbourne eleven, which visited New Zealand, scored 336 against Canter­ bury, H. Trumble making 55 and H. Graham 169. Tbe Canterbury totals were 95 and 135, so that Melbourne won by an innings and 106 runs.