Cricket 1901

154 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M a y 2 3 , 1901. I n its annual report the London P lay­ ing Fields Society states that it now holds eight open grounds near London, on which 138 cricket matches can be played at the same time. Three of these grounds are in the East o f London, tw o in the North-W est, one in the South-East, and two in the South-West. W hen fielding at point on the St. Lawrence ground at Canterbury on Saturday, Walter Hearne, the famous old Kent fast bowler, put his knee out and had to be carried off the field. I t will be remembered that when he was at the height of his success he bad to retire from first class cricket ow ing to an accident to his knee, and although he occasionally played again he never completely re­ covered. In forwarding to us the “ Handbook of Ceylon Cricket,” Mr. P . L . Bartholomeuz, its compiler, writes : “ In it an attempt has been made for the first time to record the history of the game in the Island. The book, which is to be an annual, is priced at a shilling, and is issued from the office of the Times o f C eylon, Colombo, which is the recognised authority on sports in Ceylon. T he book seems to contain a complete record of Ceylon cricket, and includes, among other information, the scores of the various matches played in Ceylon by L ord Hawke’s and M r. Vernon’s teams and the Australians. Ceylon cricket in 1900 is also thoroughly treated, while there are chapters on Ceylon records, Ceylon teams in India and the Straits, etc., etc. Altogether the book can hardly be dispensed with by anyone who is interested in Ceylon cricket. O r Mr. T. Kelaart, the best bow ler in Ceylon, the handbook says : “ Between 1889 and 1900 he had the remarkable average of 5'51 runs per wicket, a record which it is believed is unparalleled in Ceylon cricket. Mr. Kelaart also enjoys the distinction of having captured the w icket of the world-renowned cricketer Dr. Grace.” (This was on October 27th, 1891, when Lord Sheffield's team played Ceylon at Galle Face. Dr. Grace was bow led by Mr. Kelaart for 14.) T he Hon. T. D . Logan, who, with his cricket team now representing South Africa in this country, was entertained at dinner last night b y the L.C.C. at the Crystal Palace, is, says the E v en in g N ew s, one of the monarchs o f Cape Colony. Leaving his native Scotland some twenty-four years ago, without capital other than brains and energy, he is now a millionaire owner of all the Spiers and Pond class of business in South Africa, has blasted towns out of solid rock, raised luxurious and electric- lit hotels on waste land, and reclaimed desert miles long doomed by the lethargic Dutch. It was Mr. Logan who buried General Wauchope after Magersfontein, himself having taken part in that battle, as in most of the fighting during the past eighteen months. T he enthusiasm into which many people have rushed to the conclusion that, because there have been very few drawn games this year, despite the dry weather, cricketers of the Bannerman-Barlow per­ suasion have been induced to abandon their old methods, is altogether too beau­ tiful for this matter of fact world. An ancient prophet once asked “ Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his sp o ts?” — and he knew a little of human nature. In the course of a letter to Messrs. Duke and Sons, of Penshurst, General Baden-Powell wrote from Bloemfontein, as follows :— “ I hope that before long you will have the satisfaction of hearing that we are successful in introducing the national games into the uttermost comers of the new colonies. My first steps in cricket and football were taken at Speldhurst and Tunbridge Wells, so that the fact that our cricket things came from Kent gives them additional interest for me.” W hiting from Brisbane, Mr. E. B. Boss says : “ W e have a fast bow ler here, named A. Henry. H e is faster than Marsh and has more command over the ball. H e is almost as smart as Hanj i in the field. Queensland cricket is improv­ ing rapidly, and next year we w ill make a good fight against New South Wales and England. A t the present time a Queensland eleven would consist almost entirely of Queenslanders born in the S ta te; not of men imported from New South Wales as was the case two or three years ago.” Fhom the Adelaide Observer :— Three members of the Hill family have distinguished themselves particularly during the season now drawing to a close. We all remember Clem’s tremendous score of 365 not out against New South Wales, Frank established a new individual record in the interstate railways match by scoring 207 not out, and in the interstate steamships match Hariy got the “ hat trick.” D r . P a v b i , the well-known Parsee cricketer, who was in England for some years and played for the Forest H ill C.C. with much success, made 59 and 31 not out for Ootacamund against the Gymk­ hana on April 24th, besides taking five wickets for 76. K e ie r b in g to the bow ling of M . A. N oble (about whose fairness there has never been any doubt in Australia), “ F elix,” in the Australasian, says : “ If an English team comes out Noble must live in the hope that he w ill meet, in the great games next season, no ‘ faddish ’ umpire, who, standing at short-leg, will be so extraordinarily gifted that keeping one eye on the wicket-keeper and one eye on Noble he w ill, nevertheless, be able to determine to the estimation of a hair whether Noble throws or n ot.” A statem ent was made last week in some of the papers that “ the amateurs of M r. Stoddart’s last team to Australia received the sum of £2,700 in direct payments, in addition to liberal expenses.” To this Mr. Stoddart has replied in a letter that “ there is not an atom of truth in this statement.” Oddly enough he adds in the same letter that “ N ext week I hope to make known through the Press to the cricket world the exact (so-called) terms upon which the amateurs went to Australia.” I t will be very interesting to see how he reconciles these two expressions, which would seem to be somewhat opposed to each other. But why defer his explanation until next week ? If it is advisable, for the good of the game, to give an explanation at all (which we take leave to doubt), it would surely be well to do it at once. F rom the Brisbane Observer :— ‘ ‘ The most onerous part of a cricket match is the umpiring, and ytt it is undertaken in the most thoughtless manner possible. ‘ Oh, yes,’ says the person asked, ‘ 1 know all about it. Where’s a bat ? ’ Now why does he want a bat ? So that he may have a strike when the player is out. Yet the law says that the use of the bat is allowed to none but the players who shall come in. I have known men call a wide that might easily have been covered with the bat, and then in the next breath call ‘ over,’ and yet wide balls do not count in the over, so that an extra ball must be sent down to complete it. I have seen a ball thrown in to the wicket-keeper, who took it at arm’s length, knocking the bails off with the other hand. ‘ How’s that ? ’ ‘ Out’ ! says the man who knows all about it. Another freak is to no-ball the bowler for bowling with both feet behind the bowling crease. He may do so if he likes, for the crease is to keep him back, and it is considered to his own detriment to bowl in this manner. Then again. The bowler is about to deliver the ball, but instead, knocks the bails off, and asks, ‘ How is it f ’—because the batsman was standing behind the wicket. ‘ Out ’ says this oracle with the bat, ‘ because the batsman is not standing in his ground.’ After calling a wide ball, from which two runs were made, the scorers ask, ‘ What are they ? ’ ‘ Byes, ’ says Simple Simon, but tho laws show that that they are wides.” M r. iSn azelle, an old cricketer who used to live near Penshurst, in Kent, and now in Ballarat, has a very happy knack o f letting people down, says the Ballarat Courier. While he was appearing in Adelaide immediately before the season which closed in Ballarat last Saturday evening, he was chatting with George Giffen on cricket. Giffen didn’t know that he could play cricket and the follow ing conversation occu rred:— “ W hy,” said Giffen, “ I could get you out in ten balls.” “ Could you ? ” replied Snazelle. “ Bet you a new bat I could,” offered Giffen. “ I ’ll bet you a new bat you can’t in an hour,” retorted Snazelle. The bet was made and the pair adjourned to the cricket field in the neighbourhood, where Giffen did all he knew to lift Snazelle’s bails, but without avail. At the close Giffen and Snazelle went into the city and purchased the best bat that could be procured, and Brasse, the jeweller, who was present, offered to place a silver plate on the bat. This was done, and he asked for an inscription, which was dictated as follows :—1 “ Fear God, Honor the King,