Cricket 1901

S e p t . 5, 1901. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 393 I n the match at Tonbridge last week between Band of Brothers and Kent Club and Ground, the leg-before-wicket rule was, at the suggestion of Lord Harris, considered to be that which failed to get the necessary number of votes at the M.C.C. meeting last May. That is to say it read, for this match only, as follows:— [The striker is out], . . . 24. Or if with any part of his person (except the hand) which is between wicket and wicket, he intercepts a ball which would have hit his w icket: “ Leg before wicket.” Three men were out leg before wicket in the course of the match, but two of them would have been out under the law which is now in force. I n one of the matches played by the Belmont C.C. (Philadelphia) during a tour in Canada, an Irish soldier, who was umpiring, threatened to no-ball a Bel­ mont bowler unless he kept his arm well up. A t the end of the Belmont tour in Canada, the members of the team had a most unpleasant experience. They were returning home on the s.s. “ Halifax,” which, as was fully reported in the English daily papers, met with a serious accident, striking on a rock off Minot Ledge LighthouEe. The position in which the passengers found themselves is well described in the American Cricketer by one of the team as follows :— For a moment excitement ranged through the steamer. The passengers were quieted hy the officers, who assured them there was no danger, and we slowly sailed for Boston wharf, about seven mile's away. At 7.20 a.m. the water was pouring into the boat and the captain determined to beach his vessel off George’s Island. Although several tugs were by in a moment, he declined all offers of assistance, and it was not till a couple of hours after­ wards that all passengers had to leave the ship, and when we saw that two-thirds of the steamer was immersed in water, some of us realised what a narrow escape we had had, and many murmurs were made at the captain, who, for the sake of saving salvage, had put us into such danger. However, all of the two hundred and fifty passengers were ultimately safely landed, and we were grateful that we all so easily escaped from a watery grave. As for our baggage, we have given this up for lost, and at time of writing we are making claims on the Plant Line for the loss. R e f e r r i n g to the approaching visit to America of Mr. Bosanquet’s team the American Cricketer says : — Already there is considerable discussion as to the make-up of the teams to play for the Quaker City in the test games, and among the active players there is a strong feeling that the sides will he more representative than for several seasons past, lt will be a keen disappointment to the Committee, and also to all Philadelphians, if Mr. 6. S. Patterson should he unable to take part in the games, whieh at this time seems quite likely to he the case. The absence of the “ Skipper ” will take away from our team far and away the best batsman in this city, and considerably lessen our chances of victory. If, however, Mr. Patterson is able to play, and with Mr. J. A. Lester also on the team, the matches will have far more interest to the “ Old Guard,” and at the same time greatly enhance the chances of victory for the Phila­ delphians. T he following quotations referring to Richardson, the Surrey bowler, appeared in the Daily Chronicle on his birthday:— A very good bowler.—Shakespeare. The Surrey sportsmen chose the ground, The ball did swiftly fly.—(Ballad.) Then came a ball most keen Out of a Surrey hand.—(Ballad.) The Ball no questiou makes of Ayes or Noes.—Omar Kbayy&m. The ball and mangled stumps bestrew the field.—James Love. Tom Bowling.—Dibdin. Richardson disliked Fielding.—Thackeray. W e pity the cricket Alexander of the future, not because he will have no more worlds to conquer, but because he will have precious little chance of conquering any at all. Wickets can hardly be any better than they are now, summers will not always be as fine as during the past few years, and it is likely that bowling and fielding will improve rather than deteriorate. F rank L a ter , one of the most useful all-round cricketers of the last Australian team which visited England, was at the Oval on Saturday afternoon. He came to see the finish of the Surrey and Middlesex match, and instead had to be content with an hour’s weary waiting in the hope of the rain ceasing, which it never did until the following morning. As it happened he did not see a ball bowled, having timed his arrival so badly as to reach the pavilion just as the players were driven to shelter by the rain. L ayer , who left London on Monday on his return to Melbourne, after a flying visit to Europe, it is worthy of remark, does not think as badly of the prospects of the team A. C. Maclaren is taking out to Australia this winter as the majority of English cricketers, and apparently some of the critics on the other side do. On the contrary he seems to be quite prepared to find them make a really good show on Australian grounds. Whether his anticipations are correct or not of course remains to be seen. Anyhow, the fact remains that by no possible stretch of imagination can the team announced be regarded as anything like representa­ tive. M ore tours and rumours of tours! Last week I mentioned the possibility of another visit of South African cricketers in 1904. The Johannesburg sportsman, to whom I referred as the moving spirit in the matter, I may now mention is Mr. A. B. Bailey. One of the South African cricketers on the way home, in an inter­ view before leaving at the end of last week, gave confirmation to the rumour that Lord Hawke will probably take another team to South Africa at the end of 1903. E. A. H a l l i w e l l , the South African wicket-keeper who played for Middlesex against Essex at Lord’s this week, by the birth qualification, it will be news to a large number of Cricket readers, is a son of B. Bissett Halliwell, who kept wicket for Middlesex in the later sixties and early seventies. The latter played as R. Bissett, and was not only one of the most reliable amateur wicket-keepers of his time, but also on occasions a useful bat of the hitting type. He also played several times for the Gentlemen against the Players. W. W. O d e l l , who has bowled with some small success for Leicestershire in the later matches this season, is better known in Warwickshire. He has, in­ deed, played a great deal of club cricket in Birmingham during the last few years, and ras represented the Warwickshire Club and Ground several times. He has a birth qualification for Leicestershire. H. K. L o n g m a n , tbe Cambridge “ Blue ” who made a creditable debut in the Surrey eleven on Monday against Leicestershire, as has been remarked in Gossip before, is a son of G. H. Longman, also a Cambridge “ Blue,” in his day, and one of the best amateur cricketers of the early seventies. H. K. who will also represent Surrey against Yorkshire in Lockwood’s benefit match at the Oval on the 16th inst., is destined for the Army. It will be a pity if such a sound and likely batsman is lost to first-class matches before his cricket has really had time to mature. How does the following rank as a coincidence f Monday, September 2. Lords’, Middlesex v. Essex, 391 for eight wickets.. Oval, Surrey v. Leicestershire, 893 for eight wickets The progress made by the two metro­ politan counties continued to be remark­ ably even up to a certain point on the following morning. Middlesex, after scoring 446, got six Essex wickets down for 62, while Leicestershire, after fielding out for 423, had tix batsmen out for 64. A las! for Surrey, there the similarity ended. A b e l , after all, is to have a chance in both the matches of the Hasting* Festival, which is to begin to-day. The England team to oppose Yorkshire in the first match will be selected from the following: W. G. Grace, K. S. Ranjiteinhji, G. L. Jeesop, A. O. Jones, A. C. MacLaren, J. R. Mason, Abel, .bay­ ward, Lilley, Tyldesley, Field, and Vine. For the match between Gentlemen and Players on Monday the teams will be selected from :— G e n t l e m e n . —W. G . Grace, Lord Hawke, K . S. Ranjitsinhji, C. B. Fry. G. L. Jessop, A. O. Jones, A. C. MacLaren, J. R. Mason, Ernest Smith, T. L. Taylor, C. J. Bumup, and E. A. Halliwell. F la y e r s . —Abel, J. T. Frown, Hayward, Hirst, Lilley, Rhodes, Tyldesley, Denton, Tnnnidiffe, Vine, Wainwright, and Killick. C ricket readers, to all of whom he is at least known by reputation, will wish Y. T. Hill, the Somersetshire cricketer, the heartiest wishes on his