Cricket 1902

M a t 8 , 19 02. CRICKET ; A. WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 121 T he annual general meeting of the Surrey County C.C. passed off very quietly, and there was little discussion, even over the proposal to admit ladies as members of the club. This proposal was carried almost unanimously. Ladies will not be allowed to attend or vote at meet­ ings ; they will be restricted to such accommodation as is already provided, or that the committee may from time to time think necessary. L ord A lverstone was re-elected president of the Surrey County C.C. with acclamation, and the Earl of Rosebery and the Earl of Onslow, vice-presidents, while Mr. Wildman Cattley, for the twentieth time, was appointed honorary treasurer. A lready reports of rapid scoring begin to come in. Among them is the total of 561 runs made in less than four hours in the afternoon match at Cam­ bridge between Trinity and Caius. The latter declared with 346 for five wickets, while Trinity scored 205. T he highest total for the first wicket so far this season would seem to be the 194 by Mr. A. F. Smith and Mr. J. W. Marsh for Jesus College, Cambridge, against Christ’s College. Both batsmen were dismissed just before reaching the hundred, Smith making 96 and Marsh 95. B oth the matches at Lord’s thi* week, viz., M.C.C. v. Lancashire, and M.C.C. v. Yorkshire, are played under the sug­ gested new l.b.w. rule. I n attempting to stop a hard drive by Clement Hill, at Lord’s, last week, Hugh Trumble was unfortunate enough to se­ verely injure his thumb, some of the bones being broken. This accident will, of course, keep him out of the field in the earlier matches. A COMPLIMENTARY dinner was given to Braund last week by the Richmond Town C.C. in honour of his great success with Mr. Maclaren’s team. In the course of the evening he was presented by the members of the club with a silver cigar and cigarette case. I f ever there was a moral victory in the game of cricket, the Surrey men might reasonably claim that they placed such a victory to their creditin theirmatch with Worcestershire last week, at the Oval. But in the present system of scoring in championship matches it is not enough for a side to be the stronger; it must have good luck in the matter of weather, for the best bowlers in the world cannot dismiss their opponents if the rain will not allow them to try their skill. Some counties are particularly unfortunate in the matter of weather, and Surrey, of late years, has certainly not known how to propitiate the fates. T he honour of obtaining the first hundred in first-class cricket this season has fallen to Lockwood, who made 102 for Surrey, against Worcestershire, at the Oval. Quite a lot of men have run him exceedingly close, for Dr. Grace, V. F. S. Crawford and C. J. B. Wood have each scored 97, while W. L. Murdoch has made 92. As Sir William Russell, of the Treasury Office, the hon. sec. of the Incogniti, is acting as secretary to the Coronation committee this year, Mr. J. E. Raven is directing Incog, affairs till he is able to return to the office. Mr. Raven, by the way, has a long record of useful work in connection with the Incogs., in being the oldest playing member of the club. There are still two of the original Incogs, on the roll in the persons of Sir A. W. L. Hemming, G.C.M.G., the Governor of Jamaica, and Mr. A. F. Brereton, of the India Office. Personally, I can remember J. E. R. coming up to the Oval to play for Sussex against Surrey in the middle of the seventies, I think it was in 1876. How well the Incogs, have been served by their administrative officials may be judged from the fact that they have had only two hon. secretaries since the club was started, somewhere about 1860, to wit, Sir A. W. L. Hemming, till he received a colonial governorship, and Sir William Russell, Bart. I think I am right in saying too, that the club possesses a printed record of every match it has played since it was instituted. This year the Incogs, are giving a Coronation ball. It is hoped that Sir Augustus Hemming will be home in time to preside at the annual dinner. The card for 1902, I may add, is slightly curtailed by reason of the Coronation. The matches omitted, it is hoped, will be picked up next season. L ast summer I called attention, if I remember rightly, to a circular issued by A. M. Inglis, the treasurer of the Incog­ niti C.C., notifying all Incogs., past and present, that a subscription limited to one guinea had been opened by the com­ mittee with the object of presenting a testimonial to Robert Thoms for his long and faithful services, extending over a period of more than thirty years. That the Incogs, have a hearty appreciation of R. T.’s devotion, as well as of the cheery companionship which raised him far above the position of a mere umpire to the club, has been shown by the response which has been given to the circular. The testimonial, it is hoped, will be ready for presentation at the annual dinner, or some early date. “ A black man once said to me in the West Indies,” says Mr. P. F. Warner in the St. James’s Gazette, “ when Trinidad had beaten Lord Hawke’s eleven, ‘ We shall yet propel our flag among the nations as the Colony which has humbled its mother! ’ The Australians have, well—perhaps not ‘ humbled ’ us, but of the last fifteen test matches we have won but two. It is high time we had our revenge.” “ I HAVE run acrosB all sorts,” says “ Stump ” in the American Cricketer, “ and it was at Old Trafford, in the early part of 1888, I first met A. C. Maclaren; he was not then sixteen and was succeed­ ing his brother ‘ J. A.’ as the Harrow captain. Their father, Mr. James Mac- laren, was proud of the school honours acquired, and I was engaged just then to keep up their practice. ‘ A.C.’ was the worst of the pair at that time, but as he matured more it was conclusively evident that here was the frame of one of the greatest batsmen of his time. How does one get such impressions, may be asked and the answer is reflectively implied by the feeling when it comes, that you were once his master, and when you know instinctively that he is rapidly becoming yours.” 5 T he following description of an over bowled by a player named Theakstone appears in the Sydney Mail .-—“ If Theak- stone’s capabilities were measured by his keenness, he would be one of the best cricketers alive, but they are not. He sent down a wide, another ball at the head of the batsman, the fifth almost- bowled Wilkinson, and the latter was caught off the sixth.” T h e first match of the season at Lord’s had a somewhat startling commencement which appeared as follows in the evening papers:— 6 „ „ „ CRICKET. T?h 1 1-6 n LUNCH Thompson 0 Dillon o Storer 5 King 4 Relf not 0 Somerset 0 “ T he Derbyshire Cricket Guide for 1902,” compiled as usual by Messrs L G Wright and W. J. Piper, jun., and pub­ lished by Bacon and Hudson, Derby, at the price of twopence, contains a portrait and biography of W. Storer, Cricket in 1901 by L.G.W., Derbyshire records and statistics, etc., etc. In his review of cricket in 1901 Mr. Wright treats of his own county in a summary fashion, thus: “ Derbyshire held the undignified position of whippers-in.” The book is well worth having. R eferring in the Derbyshire Guide to high scores, Mr. Wright says :_ The greatest remedy, however, for theso long scores lies within the powers of the players themselves. If a higher standard of fielding were aimed at and reached, which is possible, there would be little to complain of in regard to unfinished matches. Still it might be borne in mind that occasionally it is quite as creditable a performance for one side to save the game by making a draw as it is to the other side to gain a victory. It will be a pity if some of the finer points of the game are to be sacri­ ficed for the mere sake of slo^gina- and sensationalism. A c r ic k e t match was played on the ice at Long Meadows, Oxford, in January, 1856, and one of the players is now a resident of Tasmania, bound down with the weight of four score years. A s c o r e of 212 was made at Durban on April 4th by Mr. A. D. Nourse for the home teamagainst Maritzburg. This is a record for Durban cricket. The innings lasted for four hours, and the