Cricket 1901

10 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J an . 31, 1901. the ground (and before 1800) ; roundarm or roundhand (introduced in 1825, and at first disallowed as being throwing), and the more recent overhand or overarm “ bowling” has reached a Btage at which its practical difference from throwing is a matter on which authorities are at variance. A v a l u e d correspondent, H . W . P., who has been a regular Cricket reader from the first, writes : “ I notice that Robert Thoms has retired from county work as umpire, I trust that someone will collect an account of his sayings and doings during the long period of his excellent work, but better still will he not relate in his inimitable style his varied ex­ periences ? There must be hundreds of instances of sound advice and instruction given to young amateurs. I first met Thoms as umpire in a match between a club in the North of London (not a hundred miles from Southgate), and Hornsey, about 1860; I was playing for the latter club. I was a very young enthusiastic and inexperienced wicket­ keeper, and at one period of the game we had a lob bowler on and I soon had a chance of stumping a ‘ gentle tapper’, and off went the bails with the batsman a good foot out of his ground, but in reply to an universal cry of ‘ how ’s that,’ Thoms replied, ‘ not out.’ I bore the dis­ appointment more in pity than in anger and soon had another equally easy victim, Thoms again replied firmly ‘ not out.’ This was too much to bear without re­ monstrance. I pointed out that the man was half a yard at least outside the crease. ‘ Yes sir,’ said Thoms ‘ but you took the ball a foot in front of the wicket both times.’ I learnt a lesson then from Thoms which I never forgot, and during the fifteen or twenty years of subsequent wicket-keeping, I never made that mistake again.” I i would seem that George Gilbert, a cousin of Dr. W . G. Grace, has fallen upon hard times, owing to a flood which wrecked his tent and belongings—he was a gold digger. He was b om in 1829 at Cheltenham, and in his early days played with all the famous men of the time. Two matches were played in 1851—both at Lord’s—between the Gentlemen and Players, in the second of which Gilbert was selected to assist the Gentlemen. H e made 2 (b N ixon) and 0 (c B ox, b Nixon). The Players won by an innings and 22 runs, scoring 229 v. 100 and 107. In the one innings of the Players, Gilbert obtained four wickets, his victims being J. Dean, J. Guy, J. Wisden and S. Dakin. This was the only occasion upon which he took part in a Gem lemen and Players’ match, but after he went to reside in Sydney he was one of the originators of the idea of playing a match between New South Wales and Victoria, and captained the team. He played against Victoria until 1875, making the highest score two or three times and occasionally taking wickets. He had the honour of delivering the first ball ever bowled in an inter-coloniol match—New South Wales v. Victoria, at Melbourne, March 26 and 27, 1856. There was no grass on the ground and all the players played minus hoots, several also minus stockings. G il b e r t ’ s performances for New South Wales against Victoria were as follows (scores were but small in those days of poor wickets and very little practice):— At Melbourne, March, 1856 ; 6 and 7 and 4 for 34. At Sydney, January, 1857 ; 2 and 31. The 31 was the highest score of the match. A t Melbourne, January, 1858 ; 15 and 12 and 5 for 23, and 6 for 65. The 15 was the highest score of the innings. At Sydney, January, 1859; 1 and 4. A t Melbourne, February, 1860 ; 3 and 13. The 13 was the highest score of the innings. At Sydney, February, 1861; 15 and 1. At Melbourne, January, 1862 ; 6 and 26 and 1 for 19. At Sydney, December. 1866; 16. At Melbourne, December, 1867 ; 22 and 2and 0 for 19. At Melbourne, December, 1874 ; 11 and 3. At Sydney, March, 1875; 10 and 1. From the Natal Mercury :— It seems pretty certain that a fairly good team will leave Africa for the English cricket season, and we will wish them all luck. So far the names suggested are simply Johannesburgers, Pretorians and Capetonians. I could name a couple from Natal and, any­ how, Cooley should be included. F r o m ; other sources we hear that passages have been booked from Cape Town for April 17th, that Mr. Murray Bissett will captain the side, and that Messrs. Rowe, Sinclair, Tancred, Halli- well, and Graham will be included in the team. In our last issue (December 20th, 1900), we were not at liberty to do more than state that the county captains had decided to take definite action to get rid of unfair or dubious bowling. But it was, of course, impossible that the secret of what had really happened at the meeting of the county captains on Decem­ ber 10th should be kept for long, and a day or two afterwards it was given to the public, together with the terms of the circular which had been sent by Mr. F. E. Lacey to the first-class counties. The circular was as follow s:— Lord’s Cricket Ground, N ,\Y., December 14th, 1900. S ik ,—At a meeting of the first-class county captains held at Lord’s on December 10th, it was unanimously agreed that the county committees be informed that the captains have undertaken not to bowl the following bowlers in county matches during the season 1901, viz.: C. B. Fry, Captain Hedley, Captain Brad­ ford, Griffin, Mold, F. Davidson, Roche, W. G. Quaife, and Geeson. And they also request the different com -' mittees will be good enough to warn F. G. Bull, W . Lowe, Tyler, Bland and Lockwood that they must be more careful as to the fairness of their deliveries. I remain, yours faithfully, F. E. L acey , Secretary, M.C.C. This naturally gave the impression that the circular had been issued by the committee of the M .C.C., but we believe that the M.C.C. has had nothing to do with it. D e s p it e the war the usual cricket match between Johannesburg and Pre­ toria has been played. Johannesburg made 321 and 132 for two wickets, which included 170 (not out) b y Prince, and 40 extras, and, in the second innings, 57 by J. Sinclair. Pretoria made 256 (Neu- meyer 80 and C. van Leenhof 79, with 30 extras) and 99. (Sergeant Neuland 22, Loubscher 17, and Neumeyer 10, and 24 extras). Sinclair took in all nine wickets for 118 runs and Prince eight for 94. T h e list of benefit matches for the year is now as follows :— Name Match and Place. H. Carpenter, Essex v. Lancashire (Leyton, July 18). J. H. board, Glo’stersh. v. Surrey (Rristol, Aug. 22). "W. Wright, Kentv. Middlesex (Tonbridge, June 17). W . H. Lockwood, Surrey v. Yorkshire (Oval, July V5). F. W . Tate, Sussex v. Yorkshire (Brighton, Aug. 19). A . A . Lilley ------ ------ J. T. Brown, sen., Yorkshire v. Lancs. (Leeds, Aug. 5). W . Gunn (probably), Middlesex v. Somerset (Lord’s, May 27). So seldom is it that cricketers in Aus­ tralia show to advantage when making runs against time that the performance of the Waverley Club at Sydney, in an Electorate match against Leichhardt- Balmain, is the more to be commended. In order to win, Waverley had to make 199 runs in about ninety minutes, and when time was called they were within ten runs of victory, with five wickets in hand. I t is quite in the fitness of things that the distinction of the best record for an innings in first-class matches in Australia should have fallen to the foremost bats­ man of the day among Australian cricketers. Full particulars of the per- ormance are given in another colnmn. So far Clem H ill has scored over three thousand runs for South Australia. The following tables given by “ Recorder ” in the Cricket Notes of the Adelaide Observer, will show how his aggregate of 3,081 has been made. ( pponents. I. N.O. H.S. R. Avg. English Eleven ... 7 2 200 603 120-60 Queensland .. 1 0 78 78 78 N .S.W ..................... .. 24 3 365* 1496 71*23 Victoria................... .. *2 1 135 904 43-04 Totals ... .,. 54 6 305* SO^l 64*18 “ O n their own merits modest men are dumb.” Clem H ill’s speech at the fare­ well given to the New South Wales team after the close of the match was marked by a modesty quite refreshing to think of in these days. This is what he said : — “ Mr. chairman and gentlemen—I feel a little proud of myself. I live for the game, and have always striven to do my best and play it for all it is worth. I have made many good friends among cricketers, and it is a grand thing to know that one’s efforts are appreciated in the manner you have shown. One of the proudest moments of my life was when the Sydney fellows gathered around me on the field and gave me three cheers. It was a splendid thing. The interest my people take in me is very active. If I make a duck I get a good time from my father, and if I make a hundred, I think he sometimes walks in the air. It is nice to know that my father and mother take the greatest interest in my doings.” S o u t h A u s t r a l ia would appear to have two very promising young bowlers in Travers and Matthews, to judge by