Cricket 1901

F eb . 28, 1901. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 27 an opinion thereon. Up to the present time, as far as one can hear, the following counties have notified their approval of the action of their captains on the ques­ tion of throwing. Yorkshire, Essex, Hampshire, Notts, Worcestershire, and Gloucestershire. The follow ing counties have published the result of their de­ liberations within the last few days. The Sussex Committee passe 1 the follow ing resolution :—“ That this com ­ mittee, while approving of the question of throwiDg being taken up, disapproves of the action of the captains as being ultra vires, the meeting not being a properly constituted authority to legislate on the subject, and that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the secretary of the Marylebone Cricket Club.” A t the meeting of the Yorkshire Committee it was v o te d :— “ That the committee unanimously indorse the action of the team, Lord Hawke, and the other captains of the first-class counties in agreeing not to bow l certain bowlers in 1901, who, in their opinion, and accord­ ing to Rule 48, are not absolutely fa ir ; that the committee is quite willing that the M .C.C. should consider the action of the first-class county captains on throw­ ing, and suggests that the captains be called in consultation on the subject.” Gloucestershire’s reply was :— “ The committee of the Gloucestershire County Cricket Club approve of the step taken by the captains to remedy the bow ling evil, and are unanimously of opinion that the whole question should be care­ fully considered by the M .C.C., with a view to the matter being effectively dealt with at an early date.” Rumour has it that Lancashire and Surrey have both signified their desire that the Marylebone Committee should consider the resolution passed by the captains on December 10th, with regard to Law 48 “ and pronounce an opinion thereon.” A r t h u r C o l l in s , the Sussex amateur, has been dangerously ill. Happily he is now well on the way to convalescence. T he cricket of Greater London will be distinctly poorer by the death of E. P. Sewell. Some ten or so years ago he played frequently for Essex, and with considerable success, being generally reliable for a fairly good score. Latterly, he had devoted himself mostly to club cricket, principally for the Surbiton C.C., for which he was one of the chief run- getters. H e was, too, in the front rank of hockey players. Deservedly popular in all conditions of life, he will be greatly missed in Metropolitan sport. G. L . W il s o n , the old Brightonian, who did good service for several season s for Sussex before returning to Australia, has evidently lost little or any of his all­ round form as a cricketer. A t present he is located up Seymour way in Victoria, and just lately, lor that district against Yea, scored 47 out of 90, besides taking eight wickets at a cost of only fifteen runs. T h a t the batsmen do not always have their own way, even on Australian wickets, was forcibly proved in the gener­ ally small scoring in the matches between Victoria and New South Wales, and Victoria and South Australia, recorded in another part of the paper. “ M id-On,” in the Melbourne Age, comments thuslyon the first day’s play in the former match :— Under all the circumstances the howlers anticipated the afternoon’s experience with less satisfaction than did the batsmen, who, after inspecting the wicket, looked forward to the enjoyment of a good time. How these expectations failed was shown in the descrip­ tion of one of the most remarkable day’s play ever recorded in connection with a match of such importance. On both sides batsmen who have made world-wide reputations failed badly before bowlers who hare so far gained only local distinction. The success achieved by these bowlers, Saunders (Victoria) and M’Beth (New South Wales) in particular, must not, however, be under-estimated, as it is worthy of special remark that not one of the discomfited batsmen on either side found the least fault with the wicket. All that can be said is that on a bats­ man’s day, and a batsman’s wicket the batsmen, with few exceptions, failed, and bowlers prevailed; men like Worrall, Noble, Graham, Trumble, Laver and Kelly do not make “ ducks ” on a good fast wicket through either lack of skill or nervousness, and the failure of those six international batsmen, with Howell and SJarsh added, to contribute a solitary run amongst them simply emphasises old Sam Cosstick’s dictum, “ Cricket is a funny game.” It may, however, be worthy of notice that Saunders and M ‘Beth, who between them accounted for nine of the six­ teen wickets which fell, are both left-handed. Bowling only from the pavilion end, they probably, in “ nipping back,” as both did frequently and considerably, received some little assistance from the wind, which came from the right quarter to favour their work from leg. H u g h T b u m b l e , naively suggested, as the result of the supremacy of the bowlers on this particular occasion, that the advisibility of reducing the wickets to two stumps, might well be considered. C r ic k e t has just sent another of its best players to the front in the person of Neville Miller, the hon. sec. of the Streatham Cricket Club, who sailed on Friday last in the s.s. Gaul for South Africa, to join Paget’s Horse. It is hardly necessary to add that that he played for Surrey occasionally during the last two seasons, with conspicuous success. During his absence, the secre­ tarial work of the Streatham C.C. will be undertaken by H. H . Scott Basset, Woodfield Avenue, Streatham, S.W . T he follow ing are some of the latest hundreds:— DECEMBER. 8. P. M ’Alister, East Melbourne v. Melbourne 163 15. H. Trumble, Melbourne v. East Melbourne 111 21. V. Tiumper, N.S.W . v. Ballarat.................. 121 22. C. J. Eady, Break o’ Day v. Wellington (Tasmania) .................................................. 102 26. K . E. Burn, South v. North (Tasmania) ... 140 JANUARY. 10. Col. Peterkin, Bangalore Gymkhana v. Middlesex Regiment .................................. 100 THE VETERAN’S SONG. [With apologies to Mr. W . S. Gilbert.] Time was when crease and I were well acquainted ; Time was a bat was ever in my hand ; A splendid play’r, with ugly strokes un­ tainted, No better style than mine in all the land. Time was when navvies of the meanest station, Forsaking even pugilistic men, Would watch me play with deep-oathed ad­ miration— Ah me ! Ah me ! I was a fine young batsman then ! Had I my eye in—critics all assembled ; Did I get out—welled forth th’ opponents’ cheer; Came there a leg-bail—all the fieldsmen trembled; And when I slogged the bound’ry seemed too near. I got no ducks; no nervousness hung o’er me ; For I made runs beyond all other men; No “ square-leg trap ” or lob could ever lure me ; Ah me ! Ah me ! I was a strong young bats­ man then. F. C. M. R ic h a r d s . ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. F.S.J.— ( a .) Intercolonial matches with Queensland, Tasmania and New Zealand are not generally counted fir*t-class. It is a matter of opinion. ( b ) T. Marsden 227, Sheffield and Leicester v. Nottingham, at Darnall, July 24 and 25, 1826. T. Hayward, sen., 220, Cambridgeshire v. Cam­ bridge University, at Cambridge, May 12 and 13, 1859. W . L. Murdoch, 279 not out. Fourth Aus­ tralian Team to Engl nd v. Best of Australia, at Melbourne, January 1, 2 and 3, 1884. (c.) G. J. Thompson, who scored 125. The other is J. H. L.G.C.—W . L. Murdoch’s 321, February 10, 11, 12 and 13, 1882; P. 8, McDonnell’s 239, December 26, 57 and 28. 1886 ; J. Darlirg’s 210, January 16, 17 and 18. 1899; V. Trumper’s 253, February 23, 24, 25 and 27, 1899 ; P. McAlister’s 221, February 17,18, 20 and 21,1899. See also reply ( a ) above C R IC K E T IN A U S T R A L I A . VICTORIA v. SOUTH AUSTRALIA. The Victorians won this Inter-State match, played on the ground of the Melbourne C.C., on December 31 and three follow ing days, by 238 runs. In the earlier part of the game the scoring was low, and the only total over 180 was Victoria’s second o f 446. Graham and McMichael laid the foundation of this by putting on 157 for the first wicket. At the outset Travers did a fine bow ling per­ formance for South Australia, taking nine of the ten Victorian wickets at a cost of only thirty runs. V ictoria . J.Worrall,cBailey,b Travers 8 H. Graham, c Giffen, b Travers ..........................22 H.Trumble,c Bill,b Travers 4 W . Armstrong, st A . H. Jarvis, b Travers ........... 1 J. H. Stuckey, b Travers ... 18 c Reedman, b Matthews ... 23 lbw. b Matthews 120 c Reedman, b Matthews ... 18 c Matthews, Walkley ... b Matthews b ,..102 b Travers ........................... 11 b Matthews ... 74 C. H. Ross, st A. H. Jarvis, b Travers ... ,................. 3 c Reedman, b Matthews ... 0 C. McLeod, c A. H. Jarvis, b Travers ........................... 0 b Travers ...........10 F. Laver, c Stuart, b F. J arvis.................................. 7 b Travers ...........12 S. McMichael, not out 1 c Stuart, b Giffen 76 J.Saunder8,c Hill, b Travers 0 not out................... 2 Leg-bye ................... 1 Extras ........... 7 Total ................... 76 Total ...........446