Cricket 1901

A p r i l 18, 1901, CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. ? 5 T he death is announced of George Doe, an old Derbyshire cricketer, at the age of sixty-fix. H e was chiefly known as a long-stop—a most important position in the old days—but he was also a hard hitting batsman. He chiefly played for Chesterfield and Brimington. L a s t year, on account of the war in South Africa, there was no Parliamentary cricket, but matches are again to be played this season, and already Mr. W . H. Grenfell, of Taplow Court, has arranged to take a House of Commons team into Berkshire. ------- In a letter to the Daily Telegraph on “ Cricket Centuries,” the Hon. E. V. Bligh, who is one of the strongest advo­ cates of a change in the l.b.w . iaw, savs : ■ The fact—which nobody can deny—that the existing law of L.B .W . has effectually disposed of bowlers (with very rare excep­ tions) from the leg-side, in itself shows, that, as one principal means of restoring the balance of fair cricket, this class of bowlers should be again fostered and encouraged. I am old enough to recollect Mynn, Hillyer, Lillywhite, Bathurst, Tarrant, Jackson, and the numerous other bowlers who, almost without exception, came in from the leg-side. It was never contemplated that the law of L.B .W ., which had been recently altered then, would exclude such bowlers altogether; umpires regarded it rather as a guide than as a statute, and gave it generally a liberal con­ struction. It was foreseen, however, that if rigidly applied it would present a mathematical impossibility for leg bowlers. This has come to pass. Only off-bowlers as a class exist, and batting is out of all pro- portion'in the ascendant, with innings reach­ ing sometimes up to 600, 800, or even (I believe) 900 runs. This means that the bowlers of the future must ask for a free and fair wicket. “ I am not at liberty to give a name,” continues Mr. Bligh, “ but I will conclude in the words of the fairest, fastest, and straightest first-class fast bowler I ever knew.” “ There cannot be a doubt in any fair- minded cricketer thatthe wicket ought always to be clear and open to the bowler. If the batsman cannot guard the wicket with his bat there is no reason whatever why he should guard it with his padded legs, and if a ball would have taken the wicket and the batsman placed his legs between wicket and wicket, and the ball hits his legs, he ought to pay the penalty and be out.” A c c o r d in g to present arrangements the Essex team will on Saturday next begin their practice with Alfred Shaw, Peel, and Albert Trott, who have been engaged for their benefit by Mr. C. E. Green, to whom the county owes so much. So remarkable have been the changes in the weather of late, that b y Saturday a sum­ mer heat may be upon us. M e t r o p o l it a n clubs might do worse than follow the example of the Forest H ill C.C. in the encouragement it gives to the social ,8ide of cricket. During the season summer entertainments in the shape of open-air concerts are to be given on May 27, July 3, and August 5, as well as on the evenings of the matches with Kent C.C. and Ground on July 10, and London County Club on August 21. Performances of the “ Yeomen of the Guard ” are to be given at the Sydenham Public Halt on May 3 and 4 in aid of the the kindred clubs— the Forest H ill C.C., the Catford Bridge F.C., and the Perry H ill G.C. J. S. U d AL has not been long in making his mark on the cricket records at Antigua. The C. J. was in one of his roughest moods on March 18th, and his score of 103 against the Antigua C.C. must be accounted a performance of ex­ ceptional merit for a cricketer of his years and with so very few opportunities for practice. A t any rate he has the satisfaction of a record in the shape of the first hundred of the twentieth century in Antiguan cricket. The score, which will be found in another part of the paper, will be read with interest, if only for the distinguished West Indians who took part in the game. As showing that cricket is not played to empty benches in Antigua, the follow ­ ing extract from a local paper may be qu oted:— So freely did he (the Hon. J. S. Udal) force the game, hitting with his usual vigour and frequency, that the reward was soon brought by the making of his century, at which time he retired amidst loud cheers, not only from the occupants of the pavilion—the majority of whom were of the fair sex— but by the crowd which congregated around the ground. T e s t practice was to have begun at the Oval to-day, and a goodly number of young amateurs, as well as professionals, had accepted the invitation of the executive to be present. But, unfortu­ nately, the continuous rainfall of late has soddened the ground to such an extent that to-morrow’s arrangements, at all events, have had to be cancelled. The youngsters will come up instead towards the end of next week. R. T. C r a w f o r d , a younger brother of V . F. S. of that ilk, has accepted an invitation, with the concurrence by the way of the Surrey executive, to play for Leicestershire this season. R . T., who, like V . F. S., was born in Leicester, showed exceedingly promising all-round cricket several times for Surrey’s youngsters last year, and is distinctly promising. He has everybody’s best wishes in first-class cricket. W h i l e on a cycling tour in France during the holidays Mr. E. E. Bowen, Senior Assistant Master at Harrow School, fell in attempting to mount his machine and died almost immediately afterwards. Mr. Bowen, who was the younger brother of the late Lord Bowen, was exceedingly popular at the school, and his influence with the boys was very marked. He was one of the oiiginal members of the famous Wanderers F oot­ ball Club, for which he played in 1871 and 1872, when it won the Football Association Cup. In the school cricket he took the greatest interest, and that he thoroughly understood the game is evidenced by many of his poems, of which the memory will live for ages. T h e Derbyshire committee has to report a financial loss on last season’s matches, and it is stated that this, “ added to the already existing debt, makes it a matter of seriousness.” The war and bad weather are chiefly responsible for this unfortunate state of affairs; but there are reasons for hope that if the present season is fine the county will be in a much better position at the end of it. It is noticeable that the receipts from gate money at Derby last year never amounted to as much as £50, whereas at Chesterfield and Glossop the lim it was a hundred pounds, v iz .W o rce s te rsh ire , at Chesterfield, yielding £172 8s. 5 d .; Notts, at Chesterfield, £156 2s. 6d. ; Lancashire, at Glossop, £129 10s. 2d.; and Warwickshire, at Glossop, £100. T h e ninth annual issue of the Book of the Yorkshire County Cricket Club has just made its appearance, edited and com­ piled by Mr. J . B. Wostinholm, the popular secretary of the club, and Mr. H. H . Stones, the assistant secretary. As usual the appearance and neatness of the book reflect the greatest credit on the printers, while the compilers are again to be congratulated on the excellence of its contents, which include everything that a Yorkshire cricketer can possibly want to know about his team, besides other useful information, and a neatly arranged diary ■ ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. F. 8. J. (Eastbourne).—We do not feel justified ia giving the list he.e on account of its length. It can be seen in Cricket for May i'5th, 1899, post free ?Ad. CRICJKET IN AN T IGU A . The occasion of the Federal Legisla­ tive Council at Antigua, in the middle of last month, was taken to arrange a cricket match between the Members of General Legislative Council with others and the Antigua Club. It was played on March 18, which was an off-day before the arrival of the Royal Mail steamer to convey the representatives from the other Presidencies to their respective homes. The game, which was got up by the Chief Justice, His Honour J. S. Udal, proved to be a great success. His eleven included the follow in g :— His Honour J. C. Cox, Commissioner of St. Kitts-Nevis, His Honour Dr. Cook- man, Commissioner of the Virgin Islands, the H on. W. H . Stoker, Attorney General of the Leeward Islands, the Hon. E. A. Foster, Auditor General, the H on. J. C. Macintyre, Member for Dominica, the H on. R . Warneford, Member for Antigua, Messrs. F. B. Mowrer, Consul for U .S.A., W . M . Gordon, Clerk of the Council, G. Nugent, Private Secretary, and H . Holmes, Clerk in office of Colonial