Cricket 1901

M a t 2, 1901 CRICKET . A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 105 Cricket: A WE1KLY RECORD OT TEE GAME. 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDOI, E.C. THTJKSDAY, M A Y 2 nd , 1901. " C R IC K E T ” is the only paper in the world solely devoted to the game. T e r m s o f S u b sc r ip t io n :—6/- per annum. 7/- post free abroad. Payable in advance. All communications to be sent direct to the Offices of Cricket , 168, Upper Thames Street, London, E.C. $a to tlum g o s s ip , I h e a b s t r a c t a n d b r i e f c L i c n l c l e o f t b e t i m e . — Bamlei. A t the annual general meeting of the M .C.C. yesterday (Wednesday), the voting on the proposed new l.b.w . law was as follow s: For the proposed change 259 ; against it 188 majority in favour of the change 71. As there was not the necessary two-third’s majority the old law remains. Lord Howe was elected as the new President of the M.C.C. A mong the excellent all-round contents of the “ Badminton Magazine ” for May are an appreciation of Mr. Herbert Jenner Fust b y his grandson, an article on Modern Wicket-keepers by Mr. Home Gordon, and a photographic reproduction of E ton v. Harrow last year. Mr. Jenner Fust’s grandson has evidently enjoyed his task, and he tells some good stories of the well-known gentleman who is without doubt the oldest of living cricketers. We imagine that the new coloured pictures in the “ Badminton Magazine ” have come to stay. O ne of young Mr. Jenner Fust’s stories is particularly interesting, because it seems to point to the origin of an anecdote which has been fathered on several cricketers. He says : “ Lest it should be thought that he (Mr. Jenner Fust, sen.) had to face bow ling slower than the modern expresses, he tells the follow ing tale, for the truth of which, though he is not in the habit of drawing the long bow, I will not be responsible: ‘ I was keeping wicket,’ he says, ‘ and a lightning howler, Brown, of Brighton, was on. He howled a ball which broke the bat, the batsman’s leg, and the middle and leg stumps, whizzed past me, went through a coat held in front of it by thelong-stop, killed a dog, and finally disappeared through a stout oak paling.’ ” I n a footnote the writer, anxious to preserve the reputation of the magazine for accuracy (for we are bound to admit that the story is a little steep), adds : “ It is hardly necessary to say that this story must be taken cum grano salis. What actually happened was this. A ball bow led in practice by Brown went through a coat and killed a dog. Inas­ much, however, as the famous Alfred Mynn was one of the bowlers to whom my grandfather kept wicket, it is un­ necessary to emphasise his pluck in keeping without pads or gloves.” B ut with regard to this footnote is it not possible that (allowing for the natural exaggerations of time and a born story teller) the grandfather saw something of the kind happen ? He might repeat such a story to a friend, and it would very soon spread and develop to any extent. As is only appropriate, Dr. W . G. Grace was the first of the famous batsmen to score a hundred this season. It was only in a minor match of course, but as four good men of his side were out for 23 when he went in, there must have teen something in the bow ling or the wicket. His s ore of 111 was for London County against H .M .S. “ Wildfire,” of which one of the lieutenants is his son, Mr. H . E. Grace. It is evident that the famous old batsman is in hitting form, as he made four 6’s. As a bowler be was not a mag­ nificent success, but he took four wickets. M r . L . Y . H a r p e r , th e o ld K ossa llia r, has a lready p la y ed three successive in n ­ in g s o f a h u n d red this season a t C am ­ b rid g e , v iz ., 188 n o t cu t, 100 n o t o u t, a n d 109 n o t ou t. T h e death is announced of Lieut. Tryon frcm enteric fever in South Africa. He was not a very great cjicketer, but if he had had the opportunity and the time to spare he might have been. On several occasions he played for Northampton­ shire, his highest score being 61 against the Surrey Second Eleven in 1898. He was the only son of the late Sir George Tryon, who went down with H .M .S. “ Victoria ” off Tripoli in 1892. T h e system adopted by the players in a match at Bangalore was so successful that a good many “ tail e n d ” men of London clubs would not be sorry if it were sometimes adopted in England. They would at least occasionally get an innings. When a batsman had scored 15 he had to retire, and the match was over in good time, as might la v e been ex­ pected, everybody getting an innings. As the score is interesting we append it. C a v a l ' s T eam . Morden, b Burke Chase, b Leslie ... Caval, b Burke ... Young, c and b Leslie Gregson, c Stock, b Leslie.................. Coygan, c Kilburn, b Burke........................ Road, retired....... Jones, b Long ... Beavins, retired ... Leslie, retired ... Buike, retired ... Stock, retired Cbulton, not out . Kilburn, retired... A SOMEWHAT peculiar way of getting out has been invented by a batsman in New Zealand. H e was running for a hit, and in order to escape being hurt by the ball, which was thrown in sharply, he 4 1 org, lbw, b Burke .. 3 4 Pims, b Leslie ... .. 6 0 Jones, b Stock ... .. 4 0 Irearle, not out ... .. 0 Eden, b Stock ... .. 0 0 Extras ... .. 3 3 T o t a l........... .. 57 id *8 T eam . 15 Leary, c Eaker, b 3 Coygan ........... .. 0 15 W slsb, b Baher... .. 0 15 Baker, b Baker... .. 4 15 Extras .. 7 15 — 0 15 T o t a l................ . 104 jumped just as he was reaching the crease. B y the time that the ball hit the w icket he had passed it in bis flight, but tbe umpire ruled that he was off his ground, and he had to retire to the pavilion. W o r r a l l is strongly of opinion that it would be a good thing for ciicket in Melbourne if electorate (or district) matches were played there as at Sydney and Adelaide. In the Sydney Referee he says :— District cricket would give a great impetus to the game in Melbourne. But the M.C.C. must be non-competitors. Taking last season as a basis, only three clubs were repre­ sented in Inter-State matches, viz., M.C.C., E.M.C.C., and Carlton. With the men com­ prising the MelbLurne team scattered amongst the different clubs, naturally more dubs would be represented in Inter-State matches, thereby causing- an increased interest, and, as a natural corollary, conducing to greater attendances. There is a lot of human nature in cricket supporters. Local people would turn up to watch the performances of their own men. District cricket must come sooner or later. It is inevitable. A n x io u s to obtain the opinions of Archdeacon Sinclair on the question of Sunday cricket, a representative of the Sun called upon him. The Archdeacon said :— “ On the surface, it seems harmless enough, and in accordance with the Book of Sports circulated during James I.’s reign. But when the matter is considered more deeply, I think that it would lead to Sunday labour. This would be detrimental to England in every way.” On asking how such would be the case, the Archdeacon said: “ Well, if you opened clubs for play on Sundays you would soon have an army of caterers who would require their goods to be brought to the grounds ; also it would lead to extra work on the part of the jailway employees, and, perhaps, on the part of the ’bus drivers and many others as well.” In conclusion, the Archdeacon said that “ Sunday observance was essential to the wel­ fare of England, England’s trade, and England’s church.” I n a mat ch between West Adelaide and P ort Adelaide a batsman nan ed Parkin v as run out in an unlucky manner. His partner returned a ball to the bowler along tbe ground, a little too hard for him to be able to do more than slightly arrest its i ace. The ball rolled on until it reached the wicket, the unfortunate batsman, who had backed up too far, just losing m the race home. I n our last issue we stated that Paddington had gained the first place in the Electorate competition at Adelaide. Further particulars show that it was a close race, and that if North Sydney had won their match against Central Cum­ berland, Paddington might possibly have had to take second place. It was all the more remarkable that at one time North Sydney seemed to have a ridiculously easy chance of winning, for on a mode­ rately easy wicket they had scored 132 out of 179 required with five wickets still in hand. A t the fall of the sixth wicket