Cricket 1901

330 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A u g . 8, 1901. approaching tour, although, according to our latest advices, there were considerable doubts in Australia at the end of June whether the tour would come off. iT is very interesting to read the “ tips,” as given b y various Australian writers, as to the composition of the team. Worrall has some notes in the Sydney R eferee as follow s:— The Major is of opinion that Joe Darling is sure to be available. The wonderful bowling performances of Ehodes and Haigh gives an added interest to the formation of the side. They must bring a good medium pace right-hand off-break bowler. Haigh was not successful against us. W e had a better opinion of Mead, the Essex pro­ fessional, who bowls a good length, and does a little each way, disguising his action really well. I think he will want a wicket to suit him, but all the same be is a good bowler. Maclaren also thinks well of him. Ranji, according to a letter re­ ceived from Maclaren, is suffering from a sore throat, and it is doubtful whether he will undertake the trip. They will require another fast bowler, and the choice might fall on Lockwood, if his injured knee can stand the strain. Lockwood is also a fine, forcing batsman. Were Albert Trott to come out, they would be strong at all points. The Major has written to Ernest Jones, asking him to run up and down Mount Lofty once or twice a week, so that he will be in prime condition for the Englishmen. I t w ill be noticed that Worrall is the very first journalist either in England or Australia to suggest that Albert Trott should go out as a member of an English team. There are precedents for such a step. T h e tip given b y ’ ‘ F e lix ” in the Australasian as to the men who will prob­ ably be in the English team is as follow s: T . L . Taylor or Board, Ehodes, C. L. Townsend, Lockwood, Hirst, 0 . B. Fry, Eanjitsinhji, A. O. Jones, J. E. Mason, E. E . Foster, and A. C. MacLaren, G. L. Jessop, Lilley and Hayward, 1857 and 1858, while he also played in 1860, and his brother in 1859 and 1861. H e was an underhand bowler, and did well in the inter-colonial matches. T. E. M c K ib b in , the once famous slow left-hand Australian bowler, has, we understand, left Adelaide for Western Australia. W e have received a copy of a pamphlet issued b y the Ceylon Independent de­ scribing in detail the cricket match between the Boer Prisoners of War in Ceylon and the Colombo Colts. As this match is unique in the history of the game we append the description of the title page. Boer Prisoners . . in Ceylon. REPORT OF A C R IC K E T M A T C H BETW EEN AN X I . SELECTED FROM THE PRISONERS-OF-WAR A T DIYATALAWA AND THE C O L O M B O C O L T S . PLAYED ON THE GROUND OF THE * nondescript Cricket Club, *■ V ICTO RIA PARK , ON Friday&Saturday, July5th &6th 1901 . G R O U P PHO TO G RAP H O F TEA MS BY A. W. ANDREE, Hopetown Studio, Slave Island. REPRINTED FROM ‘ £ 0 e Cegfon Jnfcepenfcertf/ PRICE 2 5 CENTS. In the Sydney M ail, “ Short-slip ” tells the follow ing yarn :— Mr. Tom Lewis, as he was familiarly called, was very fond of a yarn over cricket. I remember him telling me that “ Mount ” Clarkson hit a ball from the racecourse, now Hyde Park, into Castlereagh Street, and one old joke of his is worth repeating. Said he : “ I was playing in a match one day, and made a hard cut in the direction of point, who, like a foolish fellow, turned his back on the ball and received a severe blow on the neck, and, would you believe it, the ball came out of his mouth.” This was of course too thin for us, and on ques­ tioning him further about it he sa id : “ Can’t you understand that if a man re­ ceived a hard and unexpected blow on the back of the neck a bawl would come out o f his mouth.” THE T . H . Lewis referred to in the above has just died at the age of 73. W ith his brother, O. H. Lewis, he played for New South Wales against Victoria in “ Independent” Press. T h e follow ing are some of the latest hundreds :— AUGUST. 1. B . Colman, W anderers v. H astings......................108 2. K .S .R anjitsinh ji .S u ssexv .W orcesterbhire 139 2. P. F . W arner . M iddlesex v . E ssex .............103 2. W ain w big h t , Y orkshire v . S outh A fricans 116 2. A J. T urner , E ssex v . M iddlesex .............I l l 3. Golding, Bushey v. A rk ley .........................................127 3. J. D ouglas , M iddlesex v . E ssex ...................... 151 5. J. L . Tate, Clapton v. B roxbou rn e......................103 5. P. P eerin ', E ssex v. K e n t .........................................104 5. K in g , L eicestershire y . L ondon C ounty .. 135 5. R . M ac D onald , L eicestershire v . L ondon C o u n t y ........................................ .......................1C9* 5. V . F . 8 . C rawford , S urrey v . N otts ... 110 5. F. M itch ell , Y orkshire v. L ancashire ... 106 5. J .F .B y r n E j W arw ickshirev .W obceste ’ shi ’ e 110 5. Q uaife (W . G .), W arw ickshire v . W orces ­ tershire ......................................................................104* 5. G. B rann , S ussex v . G loucestershire ... 130 5. R ev . P . H attersley -S m ith , M .C .C . v. D utch X I .................................................................. 140 6. I remonger , N otts y . S u r r e y ................................119 6. A . C. M ac L aren , L ancashire v . Y orkshire 117 6. L . J. T an cred , Sou th A fric a n s v . E a s t o f S cotland ............................................................166 7. W ard , L ancashire v . Y orksh ire .......................100 * Signifies not out. a n i n t e r e s t i n g c h a p t e r i n t h e h i s t o r y o f c r i c k e t . The following extracts are taken from a pamphlet published by the Ceylon Independent, giving details about the match at Colombo between the Colts and the Boer Prisoners of W a r:— “ It was a sporting event, a challenge made and accepted in a sporting spirit and arranged for, and the preliminaries undertaken in the self-same spirit. No other significance need be attached to it. Any such attempt, maybe, would be as offensive to one side as to the other. The permission of the authorities was necessarily required. That permission was readily obtained after those affected by it had entered into a certain compact. The necessary pledges were as un­ reservedly given as they are being loyally carried out. The men are on p a role; they have given their word that they will not enter into the discussion of any controversial subjects, and acquiesced in the wish, implied if not expressed, that they will avoid newspaper folk with the same horror and precipitancy as they would the Seven Deadly Sins. So far so good. The Boers chosen by the Selection Committee to worthily uphold the traditions o f —let us say Diyatalawa, for lack of a better word—left their station in the hills on Thursday in the nominal charge, some say, of a non-commissioned officer, whose responsibilities, never at any time very serious, came to an end as soon as the Maradana Junction was reached. Here the party passed over, metaphorically, into the possession of Commandant Van Zyl, a very popular Boer of powerful physique, with a play­ ful Sandow-like habit of shaking a man by the muscles of his arms instead of his hand. During their stay in Colombo, if a bull is permissible, the Boers are residing at Mount Lavinia, travelling each day to and fro. Van Zyl is on a more extended parole, and had been residing for some days in Colombo before the novel duties of a ‘ chaperone’ were imposed upon him. “ It is necessary to correct an impression which exists abroad that the Boers have no opportunities of qualifying themselves to take a worthy part in athletic pastimes with clubs outside. A greater mistake could not be harboured. Take cricket for instance. A t Diyatalawa there is a club of some seventy members, and the game is played with great keenness. Occasionally matches are played between sides representing the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, and others of equal interest if perhaps less present-day significance. A t great trouble the cricketers of Diyatalawa have fashioned unto themselves a pitch similar in most respects to the grounds they were mostly accustomed to in South Africa, that is, a ground practically devoid of grass, rendering coir matting absolutely indis­ pensable. They use a coir matting at Diyatalawa, and their introduction yesterday to a turf pitch was absolutely fresh experience, and in all probability accounts for the poor defence which they