Cricket 1901

S e p t . 19, 1901. CRICKET ; k WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 425 9. On the following day, against St. Joseph’s, he headed the list with 56, and in the match against New Town he totted up 25. The North Melbourne Alma went through without defeat. On his return to Melbourne, George Stuckey made rapid strides, and at the present time is in the front rank of Victorian football and cricket. His many friends in Hobart will wish him further success. H. F. B oyle , the famous old Aus­ tralian bowler, who holds a position under the Mining Department in Gipps- land, writes in a letter to a friend :— W e are h a v in g a v e ry bad w inter here (W alhalla) and plen ty of rain, hail and snow, the latter three feet and four feet deep. A bou t a m onth ago I got caught in the dark in the hills, and had to camp before a fire w ith on ly an overcoat for thirteen hours, w ith rain all the tim e. I got out a ll righ t in the d ay­ lig h t, bu t b o th horse and self w ere tw en ty- seven hours w ithout an yth in g to eat or drink, bu t neither was m uch the worse for it. I have since m et w ith a m uch worse adven­ ture. T h ree days after M rs. B o yle’ s return from M elbourne, I was go in g to the post- office, and through a lam p not being aligh t I missed a footbridge w hich crosses the creek opposite our place, and fe ll a distance of eigh t feet into the creek on to some rocks, spraining m y ankle very badly but not breaking any bones. T h a t is about three weeks since. I am now able to get about w ith the aid of a stick, bu t it w ill be a lo n g tim e before it w ill be w ell enough for clim bing mountains, if ever. A t the special general meeting of the members of the Melbourne C.C. to take into consideration the almost unanimous wish of the committee that the maximu m number of members be increased by 500, there were fully 1,500 members present. They overflowed the refreshment-room of the grand-stand, where the meeting was held. The meeting was a most disorderly one, and the amount of feeling exhibited was astonishing. The meeting was ad­ journed until some suitable city hall could be obtained. T he team, as given by Cricket Club L ife, which is considered likely to re­ present Philadelphia against Mr. Bosan- quet’s X I. is as follows :—J. B. King, A. M. Wood, C. Coates, Jun., J. A. Lester, C. C. Morris, Geo. S. Patterson, T. C. Jordan, P. H. Clark, E. D. Brown, N. Z. Graves, Jun., J. H. Mason. “ T h is team,” says our contemporary, “ includes two fast bowlers, King and Percy Clark, one medium in George Patterson and two slow, Lester and Wood. It isn’t particularly strong in bowling, but if the quintette can’t get rid of the opposing batsmen no one else is likely to. In batting it is very strong as batting has gone here this year. For some reason, probably the soft wickets, our batting has been very poor indeed in Halifax Cup matches. George Patterson has a good average, 46, King a fair one, 31, but the rest are decidedly off color. And yet with the good hard wickets which we expect from now on, there should be a change for the better. There isn’t a man on the team, as picked above, who is’nt a good bat, and any of the eleven might come off with top score.” I t seem s that the Belmont (Phila­ delphia) team, who were shipwrecked after their tour in Canada, did not lose their baggage for which, as was stated in last week’s “ Gossip ” they were making a claim on the steamship line. But when they received it they hardly recognised it, so greatly battered about was it. O ne is always pleased to hear of good cricket grounds being made in foreign countries. ,The latest development in this way has taken place in Cleveland (Ohio), where it has been impossible to play decent cricket on account of the wretched wickets. But by the energy of Dr. F. H. Biggar grounds have been secured which will be carefully looked after by the city, who will see that the cricketers are free from all interruption and that the turf is kept in excellent condition. As Cleveland lies in the centre of many other big towns, it will be very easy to arrange a good programme of matches. T he Annual Sports of the Hampstead C.C. will take place on Saturday afternoon next, at two o’clock. The Committee consists of Messrs. H. Greig, B. A. Hill, E. Leigh Ibbs, C. D. D. McMdlin, C. Nicholas, and S. S. Pawling. The events which will be contested are as follows :— 100 yards handicap, 220 yards handicap, quarter-mile handicap, half-mile handi­ cap, three-legged race, egg-and-spoon race, ladies’ bicycle “ needle” race, j uvenile races—girls and boys —‘ ‘air-ball” race, throwing the cricket ball, throwing at the wicket, “ sack ” tournament. D u bin G a club match in—well, no matter where—the following amusing little incident occurred to a very well- known cricketer. He was walking round the ground when an onlooker approached him and said: “ Ain’t you the best I cricketer in the w orld ?” “ Of course I am,” was the jocular reply. “ Well,” said the fellow, “ if you are not, you think you are.” D uring an up-country match in Aus­ tralia a batsman received the first ball smartly on the knee. “ How’s that.” “ Out,” says the umpire. “ Out, what do you mean p” “ Why, you are leg before wicket.” “ Leg before wicket, you id iot! how am I to have my leg behind the wicket ?” And no amount of persuasion could in­ duce that batsmen to budge. A fu n n y incident happened in a little church in Tasmania recently, says a correspondent. The parish clerk was a great cricket enthusiast as well as a not­ able umpire. One hot Sunday he was dozing in his official desk at Church, dreaming doubtless of the great match to be played next day. At the close of the sermon, when the time came for him to pronounce his customary “ Amen,” he astonished the minister, and highly de­ lighted the congregation by shouting in stentorian tone, “ Over.” “ In addition to the three cricket matches in Philadelphia” says Cricket Club L ife , “ it is almost certain that Mr. Bosanquet’s eleven will play one or two Association Football matches against an All-Philadelphia eleven at Elmwood, the home of the Belmont Cricket Club. The dates of the football games will probably be Friday and Saturday, October 4th and 5th. In a letter just received by the editor of Cricket Club Life , Mr. Bosanquet says : ‘ W e shall be v e ry pleased indeed to p lay one or tw o m atches at A ssociation Football. W e can arrange details when w e get out to Am erica. Personally I am v e ry fond of the gam e, and should be very glad to do an yth in g in m y pow er to en­ courage it in A m erica.’ ” I n a charming letter from Norfolk Island, under date of July 10, the Bishop of Melanesia, acknowledging a collection of bats sent him by S. Apted, the ground superintendent at the Oval, for the boys of his mission, writes : “ Thank you most heartily for the present of bats sent by you for my boys. They are beauties ; in fact, far better than we ever see in the Colonies, and therefore better than any that have ever reached us until now in Norfolk Island. I wish you could see these Solomon Island lads. They are as keen as can be on the game, and some of them are very good bowlers and fair bats. Just now they are mad on football, and play every day about twenty-five a side, Association game. They did not take easily to either cricket or football, but they are as fond of one as the other now. A letter from you brings up memoiies of old battles at Bickley and at the Oval. How well I remember that Beckenham and Bickley match, where my brother Leslie got 200. It makes me hot to think how we enjoyed ourselves that day. It was in 1885 or 1886. I was missed by Albert Thornton first ball and then got 100 .” ------- T h e signature, “ Cecil Wilton,(Bishop,” brings up pleasant memories of one of the best all-round amateur cricketers of the middle eighties. A batsman with a most attractive style, he did brilliant service for Kent during his short career in first- class criiket. A delightful personality on the cricket field then, Cecil Wilson has evidently lost none of his sympathy and goodwill towards men in the higher work of his far-off-mission. I t will interest some Cricket readers at least to know that A. E. Street, the promising professional, whose knee gave way when He seemed certain to make a good reputation for himself in Surrey cricket, is returning to England early in the new year. He has been engaged the last two years with the Earl of Eglington at Eglington Castle, where he has been very successful, being in quite the front flight of the Scotch averages, bowling as well as batting. The ill- health of his wife, who is unable to bear