Cricket 1901

402 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S e p t . 1 2 , 1 9 0 1 of them. In Australia the pace is pretty much the same everywhere, although perhaps the Sydney wicket is the slowest —if you can speak of slowness in such a case—and this is no doubt why English­ men like the Sydney wicket best. “ Did you feel at all uncomfortable when your slow play was severely criticised in some of the papers ? ” “ Not in the least; but I was often amused. It was my duty to do what seemed to me best for my county, and, besides, I am by nature a slow player. I think that the remark which amused me the most occurred during the match against Derbyshire at Glossop. When stumps were drawn on the first day Geeson and I were not out, having been in for some time. When the match was resumed the next morning Geeson and I went out of the pavilion gate among the Derbyshire players. Just after we had got on to the turf Hulme said to Geeson, ‘ I suppose you're coming in to take root! ’ Geeson replied that he hoped so, and then Hulme, pointing his thumb in my direction, added, ‘ And I suppose that beggar oyer there will be sprouting about lunch time ! ’ ” * Two or three years ago Dr. Macdonald went on tour with a Queensland team to New Zealand. “ We visited all the big town8 on both islands,” he said, “ includ­ ing Napier, Wellington and Christchurch. The New Zealanders are enthusiastic cricketers, and treated us most kindly. We had an amusing experience at Christ­ church, where the wicket was excellent in every way, except that we found that the grass was long enough to enable the bowlers to turn the ball so much that we had great difficulty in making runs. Still, we managed to keep in all day. In the evening the ground man was called over the coals by the New Zealand captain, and, after expressing his sorrow that such a thing should have happened, said that at any rate it should not occur again. It didn’t. On the next morning we found that he had started to work with a mowing machine placed as low as possible, with the result that the wicket was absolutely shaved. The ball wouldn’t turn an inch, and we had a lot of runs made against us. The Christchurch men were very angry with the ground man, but we were convinced that he had not the slightest idea that he was doing any­ thing not in accordance with ordinary usage.” “ How would you account for the fact that Queensland is not as strong at cricket as any of the other colonies ? ” “ I should account for it partly because we do not get as many opportunities of playing against powerful teams, and partly because until within the last two or three years our wickets have not been as good as those of the other colonies. Those Queenslanders who have done well are generally men who have learned their cricket in Victoria or New South Wales. But for the last few years great efforts have been made in Queensland to improve the wickets, both for practice * As a matttr of fact, -when tie innings was declared at lnnch time, Getson and Dr. loaedouald were btill in, the fumer w ilt 104and the latter with 147. and matches. We have imported Bulli soil from Sydney, and Merri Creek soil from Melbourne, of course at great cost, for the distancefrom Melbourne is l,200miles. The reason why we have had the two soils is because we found that the Bulli soil is the best in wet weather, and the Merri Creek soil in dry weather. So that one part of the ground is prepared with Bulli soil and the other with Merri Creek soil, and it entirely depends on the weather as to which wicket is used for a match. We have now in Brisbane two grounds at least where the wicket is as good as can be desired, although in the matter of grounds we are at present a long way behind Melbourne and Sydney, where a ‘ test ’ match might be played on any one of their half-a-dozen grounds.” “ What is the weather like in Queens­ land ? ” “ It is hotter than in the other colonies, but there is not a great deal of difference. At about Christmas time, however, it is occasionally so hot that it is really difficult to become enthusiastic, and this I think somewhat militates against our success. But on the whole it is a beauti­ ful climate.” “ What do you think of the future of Queensland cricket ? ” “ I am very hopeful. In order that the colony may become as strong as the other colonies, it is of course neces­ sary that it should play regular inter-state matches. But here the ques­ tion of distance and expense must of necessity come in. It is a seventeen hours’ journey from Melbourne, and twenty-eight hours from Sydney, and the mere travelling expenses of a team from Sydney would be something like £200, and although we could reckon on good gates, it requires a great deal of considera­ tion before such an undertaking could be entered upon, so that you see we have very considerable difficulties to contend with. But still we hope that in the end some scheme will be arranged by which we can play out and home matches with the other colonies. No doubt for a time we should be beaten, just as South Aus­ tralia used to be, but the tide would eventually turn, and in any case you must have a beginning.” Dr. Macdonald tells a story which was current in Australia before he left there. “ When it was announced that Australia was going to send a contingent to the war in South Africa,” he said, “ it was reported, so the story runs, that Kruger called General Joubert and said to him ‘ I see that some people called Australians are coming over ; do you know anything about them ? ’ ‘ Well,’ replied Joubert, ‘ I don’t know much about them, but I am told on good authority that eleven of them beat all Eugland a year or two ago, so that they must be a pretty good lot.’ ‘ Heavens ! ’ replied Kruger, ‘ and they say that five thousand of them are coming here! ’ ” This chat may fittingly be brought to an end with the comments on Dr. Mac­ donald’s play made by Mr. C. B. Fry in one of his weekly articles, and by one of the daily papers. Mr. Fry said:— “ Dr. R. Macdonald, the recent recruit of the Leicestershire eleven, is an altogether remarkable player. His methods are ultra-Australian; that is to say, he pays extreme attention to not getting out, and has no regard for the time he takes to make his runs. He is an excellent anti­ dote to the modern tendency to try for modem hitting. His skill, however, in defence is most remarkable, and I doubt whether there has ever been a more per­ fect player in his own particular line. Bumpy fast bowliug on an imperfect wicket might bother him a bit, as he is not tall, yet I don’t know that he would be got out by.it.” The other comment was as follows: “ Dr. Macdonald, who did not appear until late in June, has been a most valuable nuember of his side, his figures being remarkably good for a batsman of the stone-wall type.” W. A. B ktxksWORTH. CToirtsponflence. The Editor does not hold himself responsible tor the opinions o f his correspondents. A REPLY* To the Editor of C rick et. D e a r S ir , —As regards Mr. Collet's suggestion for ensuring finished matches, I may say that a similar idea had occurred to me, and I think it would be found, on the whole, an improvement. A provision, however, would have to be made to prevent a match, like the Yorkshire v. Somerset match at Leeis, in which the side leading on the first innings eventually lost, from ending, to all intents and purposes, in a draw—each side securing one point. In such a case it would perhaps be best to give the two points to the side even­ tually scoring the greater number of runs, and no point to the other side. I think that the greatest objection to which this suggestion is open is that which is urged against W. G. Grace’s proposal to decide on the first innings, namely, that it would make the side leading on the first innings ultra careful in the second. But I think this would be to some extent obviated by the fact that the side defeated in the first innings would have choice of innings in the second. Yours faithfully, A. K . S h a p c o t e . 9, Mt. Edgcumbe Terrace, Stoke, Devonport. September oth, 1901. PANTHER y. DULWICH.—Played at Catford on Septembtr 7. P an th e r . A. Wallers, lbw, b Darby.................... 18 8 . Silverthorne, b Darby...................... 5 R. Allport, c Phillips, b Stafford..............31 H. E. Wilkins, lbw, b Phillips ................ 0 S. Prior, b Phillips ... 7 W L. Bayley, c Long­ ley, b Phillips......... 0 D u lw ich , W. A. Standish, b Phillips ................ 9 W. J. Standish, b Phillips ................. 8 B. W. Green, run out 15 A. E French, c Darby, b Phillips... Extras Total H. Darby, run out ... 19 A. Engelbach, run out 30 B. Longley, not out ... 36 R. D. Shaw, c and b W . J. Standish ... 4 L. Phillips, not ou t. Extras .............. 7 15 26 20 Total (3 wkts) 135 W . M. Fringell, G. Procter, S. E. Huntley, J. E. S. Key, B. Gallaway, and F. E. Stafford did not bat.