Cricket 1901

O c t . 3 1 , 1 9 0 1 . CRICKET; 1 WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. 4 4 1 with a view to qualify for Gloucestershire. As a bowler he has been quite in the forefront of Indian cricket for some years. The season just over generally favoured the bowlers, and Baloo, the Hindoo, as well as Kharas, had good figures, too. Still, he has in him all the material for a useful bowler, and if he can stand the climate over here and the work, he should do well. ------ T h e follow ing is from the last number of the Adelaide Observer to h and:— D u rin g the m atch played again stN ew South W ales at Syd n ey in Janu ary, 1900, M r. G eorge G iffen secured the proud distinction of being the on ly A ustralian cricketer who has scored 10,000 runs and obtained 1,000 w ickets in first- class cricket in E n glan d and A ustralia. The ball w ith w h ich he accomplished the latter feat has been mounted, and w ill be presented to M r. G iffen at the annual m eeting. A t the annual meeting of the Bast Torrens C.C. held in Adelaide in the middle of last month, J. J. Lyons said farewell formally to his favourite game. Th &Adelaide Observer records feelingly:— M r. W . O . W hitbridge, the secretary, read a le tte r from Lyon s, in w hich he stated that his le g w ould not now stand the strain of train in g, and, therefore, he had reluctan tly to resign from the cricket arena. T h e letter was received w ith m anifiest feelings of regret. T h e assistance rendered b y the veteran was, how ever, not forgotten. S ir E d w in Sm ith referred to the subject in a speech w hich brou gh t back m emories of the splendid exhibitions w e w ere w ont to receive at the cham pion’ s hands. H e said th at the finest piece of cricket ever seen at L o rd ’ s w as w hen Lyon s, w ith Bannerm an, succeeded in w iping off a deficit of 180, of w h ich he m ade 149 him self. T h e feat w as received w ith spon­ taneous enthusiasm from the w hole of the spectators. I t w as decided to m ake M r. L yon s a life member of the club, and send on a recomm endation to the South A ustralian C ricket Association th at som ething should be done to suitably recognise the assistance given to South A ustralian cricket b y their retirin g member. Th e follow ing from the Bombay Gazette, reads a little curiously :— A s an outcom e of the num ber of matches abandoned in Bom bay through rain during the past season a proposal w as form ulated to change the cricket season to the cold w eather m on th s; b u t on account of th e alm ost insur­ m ountable difficulties in the w ay of carryin g out the proposed change, the m atter has been shelved and is not lik e ly to be discussed again unless some means can be suggested to over­ come the difficulties in the w ay. A t the annual general meeting of the Melbourne Club held some five weeks ago, two cricketers well-known in England occupied the two places at the head of the poll for the election of the committee. Last year W. Bruce came in at the top with Hugh Trumble a good second. This time the positions were reversed, and Trumble romped home an easy first with a majority of some 60 or 70. T hat the Melbourne Club does not con­ fine its scope to cricket alone can be found by any one who takes the trouble to read its annual report. That just issued shows that it won the Pennant and Shield of the Bowling world for the second year in succession, as well as furnished the runner up for the Victoria Amateur Bowling Championship. It landed the premier­ ship of Victorian football last year, as well as the Lawn Tennis premiership, though in the latter, this year only the runner up to Albert Park. The Senior Lacrosse team also won the premiership of the Victorian Association for 1901. One of the latest, as well as one of the most practical of its many varied responsibilities, consists of the Rifle Cup now in the second year of its existence. In this Major Wardill was well to the fore, winning the rifle given by Mr. J. McEwan at scratch, in a match at 500 yards, with 41 points. At the present time forty mem­ bers are armed with the ‘303 rifle bought by the committee and repaid by monthly instalments. J. D a n ie l l , the old Cantab and Somersetshire cricketer, as well as International Rugby footballer, is captaining the Richmond football team this winter. As a worker in the “ scrum ” 1 The Prophet ” has no superior, and tbe benefit of his leadership has already been fully proved in the improved all-round form shown by the Richmond fifteen. Now that he is home again from his tour in America with Mr. Bosanquet’s team, the Richmond crowd is hoping to see R. O. Schwarz again in the club colours. A GOOD old Hertfordshire cricketer passed away towards the end of last month in the person of Mr. William Westell. He was, indeed, the founder of the County Cricket Club, and, in its earlier days with John Hughes, bore the brunt of tbe bowling for Hertfordshire. As a bowler he was very much above the average, and a ball was presented to him for obtaining five wickets in five balls in a match on the Eton and Middlesex ground at Primrose Hill many years ago, remains in the family. He also played several times against the United South of England and All-England elevens. His connection with Hertfordshire cricket extended over fifty years. Th e following letter was written by Mr. Chamberlain at the time of a com­ plimentary dinner given to W. G. Quaife and Lilley in Birmingham just prior to their departure for Australia with Mr. MacLaren’s team:— I see from the Birmingham Daily Mail that tw o W arw icksh ire cricketers, Messrs. L ille y and Q uaife, have been selected to champion th eir country in the team w hich is about to start for A ustralia. I do not doubt that these frien d ly contests in our national gam e tend to foster the good feelin g w hich happily exists between all parts of the. Em pire. I am sure th ai the A ustralians w ith their wonted hospitality, w ill reciprocate the welcom e which w e have given to th eir representatives. A nd w hether our cricketers are successful or not, I feel certain that th e y w ill w o rth ily con­ tribute to the strength of the good fellow ship w h ich these tours are intended to promote and m aintain. I cordially w ish them a pleasant trip. I t is grateful and comforting'to'find from an Australian paper that “ a long felt want has been supplied.” The con­ summation in this case takes the form of a new scoring board on the ground of the Melbourne Club. The writer claims for it, and no doubt justly that it is, perhaps, the most complete in the world. It is a brick structure, and will cost £800. It is on the roller blind system, and is so elaborate, and (I quote again) every detail has been so well thought out, that at the conclusion of an innings the full scores and bowling figures could be taken down without any trouble. They order these matters better in Australia it is certain. C a p t. A. P. D o u g la s ’ score of 129 for the Poona Gymkhana against the Poona Hindus which appears “ in another place,” was his fourth hundred in the Indian season just over. The total of 392 made by the Gymkhana on this occasion was the highest of the year in Presidency Cricket. A t the annual meeting of the Cam­ bridge University Cricket Club held on Monday last, E. R. Wilson, of Trinity, was elected captain for the year, and E. M. Dowson, of the same college, secre­ tary. L. V. Harper, of Christ’s, was appointed assistant treasurer. The Rev. A. P. Boughey retains the oflice of treasurer. H a rro v ia n s will be interested to hear that R. H. Crake, the school wicket­ keeper of last year, is already doing his country good service. He has just reached South Africa to join his regi­ ment, the King’s Own Borderers, and should now be at the front. By the way, Harrovians, always ready to recognise the debt they owe to the school, will meet in solemn conclave next week to decide on a suitable memorial for the old boys who have died fighting for the Empire in the Transvaal. T h e annual report of the Bedfordshire County Cricket Club just issued, only pays a just tribute to the excellent per­ formances of L. Parbury, the Bedford County School boy, for the county last season. Of a total of 120 wickets taken in Bedfordshire matches this year he was credited with as many as 55. As these only cost 19’2 runs apiece, it was a great record for a youngster only seventeen years of age. Two past masters of the art gave a rare exhibition of gentle tapping at Bristol, on September 21st. The match was between two twelves, captained by S. M. J. Woods and Dr. E. H.Cook, respec­ tively. With only twenty-two minutes left for play “ Sammy” opened his second innings. G. L. Jessop was his partner, and this was the rate at which they scored—fifty in eight, one hundred in sixteen minutes, and by the end of the allotted twenty two minutes 142. “ Pro­ digious ! ”