Cricket 1901

A p r il 11, 1901. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 55 heavily, and trying hard to retain his bolting eyea within their sockets, while for the life of him he could not under­ stand what all the row was about. For years the two villages had played friendly matches, without a jar, without a wrangle. And now, just when sports­ manlike and gentlemanly conduct was expected of them in the august presence of a peer of the realm, nothing but ill- feeling and scathing remarks prevailed. What would Lord Marmion think of it ? But if Mr. Panter had thought less and looked more closely at his noble friend’s freckled face he would have seen a look of unalloyed contentment and amusement spreading over it, as he stuck his hands deep in the pockets of his old college chum, the Reverend Claris Dear. In walked the eleventh man. It was a fresh over. The bowler took his run and delivered the ball, when a cry of “ no-ball ” startled the field, so startled the batsman indeed that he stood open-mouthed and motionless, receiving the bounding ball full on the bridge of his nose. The bowler walked up the pitch and apologised—they always do, especially when they bow l on the man-or-wicket principle; and the fielders gathered around, each solacing the injured cricketer by recounting how he had been hit in exactly the same way, either this season, last season, or some other season. Y et all this time the Long Buckby umpire smiled benignly. He was a smart fellow, had played his trump card and now held the game in his own hands. N othing could save Little Dingleden. He could go on “ n o-b a llin g” for ever. The over could never be called, and every ball sent down meant at least one run to Long Buckby. A second Napoleon was this umpire, and yet at home he sold candles and cheese in the dingy corner of his father’s general shop. But the nation’s loss was Long Buckby’s gain. He went on “ n o-b a llin g” for a time. It became quite monotonous. The umpire in the smock-frock fumed, Mr. Panter glared, m id-on commenced to crack-nuts, m id-off sat on his haunches and nibbled strands of grass, and Lord Marmion softly whistled “ The Absent- Minded Beggar.” A boundary was hit and square-leg refused to fetch the ball. A t last a spectator threw it in and then nobody would stoop to pick it up. The game was at a standstill. “ Have a drink ? ” suddenly asked Lord Marmion. And the umpire for a moment turned, as though to make for the tent. But, as I said before, he was a second Napoleon, not to be caught b y a ruse. H e paused and in a twinkling saw his danger. No, not even for his love of cold gin—which helped to drown the ever-present odour of tallow and cheese that hung about him— would he sacrifice the strong position he had gained. Y et, just as Napoleon knew not the Nemesis that awaited him in the shape of Waterloo, neither did the L on g Buckby tradesman’s eldest son suspect his com ing doom. As I have said before, country teams quarrel over the decisions of umpires, but I never yet knew of the most countryfied eleven that wantonly broke a rule. They may quibble over the laws of the game, but give them the proper reading of those laws and ready acquiescence is the result. And it was their loyalty in this respect which saved the great match of Long Buckby versus Little Dingleden from being handed down to posterity as a silly farce, while it also brought about the downfall of our modern Napoleon. The last man was in, you will remember, and naturally so long as the umpire no­ balled the bowler the over could not be completed and the game might be pro­ longed into the dimmest future. The unfortunate trundler, who was becoming exhausted after sending down thirty consecutive balls, from which abou'. fifty runs and no-balls had been scored, tried the expedient of changing his delivery, and even stooped to the extent of bow ling under-hand lobs. But in vain. “ N o -b a ll! ” resounded round the field as he delivered every ball. The scorers had already filled the space devoted to “ N o-balls,” they had written P.T .O .at the bottom corner of several more pages and now thought of writing “ For further no-balls see next year’s score book.” For the batsman it had been a grand time. One of them, a sticker, stedfastly played a steady game, taking no more liberties than if the bowler were a Richardson or a Mold. But his com ­ rade, a great hulking fellow, who went in last because he played across every­ thing and had never made a dozen runs in his life, was in his element. What cared he ? Every delivery was a no-ball, and, acting upon this fact, he slogged away merrily, was clean bowled time after time, was often caught, and could have been stumped from every ball that he missed. But presently when the poor bowler, now a helpless, exhausted wreck, had sent down fifty consecutive balls, one just grazed the bat, was stopped, and ia a trice whipped into the stumps by the wicket-keeper. It was a smart piece of work. The batsman was six feet off his ground. “ H ow ’s th a t?” The umpire— the ancient one in the smock—rubbed his grisly chin, spat on the turf and leisurely replied, “ H out.” “ Get along,” came a voice from the other end. It was the Buckby umpire who spoke. “ Y e can’t be stumped from a no-ball.” “ But ye can be runned out,” answered the other. And then it suddenly dawned upon everyone that the old fellow was right. “ E f,” explained that gentleman, “ ef ’e ’adn’t a ’it the ball it wouldn’t a bin hout, but as ’e did ’it it, then ’e be hout— runned hout.” Yes, Nemesis had fallen upon the L on g Buckby umpire. H is little scheme by which he intended to make the innings interminable had come to an untimely and unexpected end. He was a trifle crestfallen, and even when his ancient foe advised him to “ go ’ome and eat candles and cheeses ” he was too sad to reply. Still, it must be confessed that he had done well for his side. An innings, which at one time promised to be small, now totalled 142, of which 112 had been made by the last wicket. ESSEX COUNTY CRICKEr CLUB. The follow ing are the most important items in the annual report of the comm ittee:—■ Your committee are very pleaded to an­ nounce that Mr. A. J. Turner, who last season, was serving with his regiment in South Africa, has now returned, and will be able to play during 1901. His inclusion in the team will add very much to its strength. It is also hoped that Mr. Kortright, who occasionally howled splendidly last year, will come back to his very best form and be able to play regularly during the coming season. Mr. H. G. Owen will again captain the side, and your committee once more take this opportunity of tendering to him the hearty thanks of the club for his loyal support of his county and for his very able captaincy of the eleven. Mr. C. E. Green has engaged Alfred Shaw, R. Peel, and A. Trott to coach the eleven, and specially selected players, on the county ground for three weeks, commencing on the 20th April. Mr. C. McGahey has been appointed Assistant Secretary to the club in place of Mr. F. G. Bull, resigned. Arrangements have been made during the past year whereby the rate of interest on the mortgage on the ground has been reduced as foreshadowed at the last general meeting, and the ground has been transferred from Mr. 0. E. Green and Mr. F. Green into the names of trustees on behalf of the club, A resolu­ tion will be submitted to the meeting, confirming the appointment of the trustees, and a new rule in place of Kule 6 will be proposed. The roll of members on the 31st December last stood at 1,799 gentlemen and 155 ladies; 102new members were enrolled during 1900. The arrangements for trains stand as heretofore, viz., the Great Eastern Railway Company will run a special express train to Leyton on all county match days, leaving Liverpool Street at 2 o’clock and arriving at Leyton at 2.12, in addition to which the •J.35 train will stop at Leyton at 3.45. These trains will not run on Second X I. match days. The annual general meeting wilt be held in the Pavilion, at Leyton, on Wednesday, the 24th April. The following bowlers have been engaged for the season, \iz., Innes, Reeves, Tremlin, Buckenham, E. Russell, Sewell, and S. Brewer. RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT. Dr. To Cricket Expenses ........................ „ Rent, licenses, Insurance, e tc .. „ Ground E xpen ses........................ „ Rates and Taxes .................. . „ Salaries, etc..................................... „ Printing and Stationery ... . ,, Postage and Telegrams ... . „ Petty Expenses ........................ „ later.so on Mortgage ................ Gr. By Subscriptiots ......... ,, Entrance F ees........... „ Cricket Receipts „ Hire of Ground „ Catering Ltase......... „ Guarantee Account Interest on Deposit £ s. d. ... 2,196 13 8 60 14 10 ... 897 5 3 90 11 9 ... 623 0 0 76 0 10 31 18 3 26 2 7 .. 431 13 2 £1,637 0 4 £ s. d. ... 2,0*9 7 6 ... 106 1 0 ... 1,864 17 4 24 7 9 ... 216 0 0 18 16 0 19 10 1 Balance carried to Capital Account... 349 0 8 £4,637 0 4