Cricket 1902

218 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J u n e 19, 1902. 22 yards, owing to going beyond the crease, yet to cnltivate length, the very first idea instilled by a coach would be to bowl the true distance, bowl, in fact, at practice as you would in a match. The veteran Boyle invariably did so, measuring off his distance, and going through the same preliminary as in the biggest of big contests. I f only young cricketers would realise that net practice is of little or no value unless it is taken in serious earnest, and conducted on the same conditions as apply in a m«tch, batting and bowling, in fact, with the same care that one does in the actual field, there would be, per­ haps, less failures. I am induced to the 'belief that much good could be done in the way of developing young bowlers if they could receive systematic coaching at the nets, which at present is reserved mostly for young batsmen alone. The following description of the methods of Marsh, the Aboriginal, whose fast bowling has been the subject of so much discussion, not only in New South Wales, but throughout the cricket circles of Australasia, will be read with interest. It is from the Sydney Mail :— The peculiarity of his bowling is first of all his very strange run to the wicket. In approaching the bowling crease, he swaggers in his trot from one side to the other, and the batsman unconsciously watches the wriggling form instead of fastening his eye on the ball; but even if he wished to keep his eyesight on the ball, he would have con­ siderable difficulty, for it is held ;in the palm of the hand, the fingers gathering around it, and all the hatsman is enabled to see is the black back of the hand which contains the ball. The hand is brought quickly over, and the ball is some distance on its road to the batsman before he is aware of the fact. The difficulties of the batsman do not, however, end at this. He is probably called upon to negotiate at short notice perhaps a hall coming along like greased lightning, or one that swerves in the air, indeed so much so, that even a full toss may find its way past the bat and into the wicket. I was in a line with the wicket when Marsh was bowling at Leichhardt-Balmain, and I saw a couple of wickets obtained, one with a delivery that struck the centre of the wicket, and another that dropped at the foot of the stumps. Then again there is a ball he sends down which comes across a lot from the off even on a good wicket. I n competition matches last season in Sydney, Marsh took fifty-eight wickets at an average cost of 9'35. This, it is believed, is a record in grade cricket in Sydney. In five successive innings, he took twenty- three wickets for 124 runs. D u r in g the Moor Hall Week, at Harlow, which commences on Wednes­ day, June 18th, v. Gentlemen of M.C.C., a match will be played on Thursday and Friday, 19th and 20th, Moor Hall v. G. Hillyard Swinstead’s X I. (Artists). Mr. Swinstead’s side will include six painters, two sculptors, one author, one musician and one actor. Mr. A. K . B e l l, one of the promoters of the Scottish County Championship, has issued an appeal to Scottish cricketers, in which he states that co-operation is now required in extending the movement to other parts of Scotland where no county clubs exist. Mr. Bell, in the course of his circular, writes :— Mr. Macgregor Mitchell, captain of the Perthshire club, and myself, came to the con­ clusion that if a Scottish CountyChampionship could be organized, it would be a means of fostering the interest in cricket, not only in the other districts of Scotland where county clubs existed, but in Scotland generally, pro­ vided that other county clubs were in time constituted. With this object in view, we called a meeting at Perth of representatives of Aberdeenshire, Forfarshire, Stirlingshire, and our own club Perthshire, when it was unanimously decided to start a County Cham­ pionship. Although the season is young, we can easily see that our ideas are correct, and that great interest is being already taken in this competition. Mr. Mitchell and I are of opinion that before next season comes round, it is most desirable that county clubs in other parts of Scotland should be formed, and we consider that if Mid-Lothian would only take the initial step, it would not only give the movement a decided impetus, but would, we are confident, make county cricket in Scotland an assured success. It is imperative, however, that such a club as Mid-Lothian must be constituted under the best auspices, and that the Grange club would have to take the lead. Mr. Bell also says that “ the larger the district, the greater the interest,” and that “ this is my main reasen for advocating county cricket as a means of instilling life into a game that should not be allowed to decay in Scot­ land, as it undoubtedly is.” It may be added that Mr. Bell points out that clubs would not lose their individual existence by taking part in the County Champion­ ship. M e n t io n was made in the annual report of the Marylebone C.C. of a forth­ coming tour under the auspices of the club. Mr. Campbell Hulton will captain the eleven, which will be composed of members of the club unassisted by “ The Ground.” Thanks to the courtesy of Mr. H. S. Isbrucker, who had charge of the Gentlemen of Holland during their visit to England last August, I am able to give the programme arranged for “ The Gentlemen of M.C.C.” The four matches will be as follows :— AUGUST. 18,14. The Hague V. All Holland. 15, 16. The Hague v. South Hollaed. 18, 19. Heemstede (near Haarlem) v. North Holland. 20, 21. Heemstede (near Haarlem) v. All Holland. T h e one vacant date left in the Aus­ tralian programme when the team arrived in England will, after all it appears, most likely be given to Harrogate. The arrangement would suit the Australians admirably, as the three days (September 1st, 2nd and 3rd) come between the return with Lanca­ shire, which is to be played at Liverpool, and the match with C. I. Thornton’s England Eleven, which is the third and last fixture of the Scarborough Festival. Whether the Australian cricketers will be able to accept the invitation to visit America in the latter part of September is at present doubtful. The possibility of their playing in Western Australia, as a finish to the tour, is quite on the cards. Major Wardill, indeed, is awaiting developments in this particular connec­ tion. T he annual report of the London Playing Fields’ Society will be interesting reading to every one who can appreciate the really splendid work the L.P.F.S. has done and is doing in finding accom­ modation for the poorer clubs on reasonable terms, that is to say, at rents within the meaLS of the workers who constitute the bulk of their membership. A n idea of the area the Society covers may be gathered from the fact that it has at the present time in its charge as many as one hundred and fifty-four cricket pitches. What that means in the extent of healthy recreation provided for the London e’ erk or the London working man every S tturday afternoon, will be readily under •tood without access to figures. The grounds now held by the Society, according to the report, are eight in number :— Ground. District. Pitches. Acs. Wanstead Flats .......................... E. ... 15 ... — Chingford .................................. E. ... 11 ... — Manor P a rk ................................. E. ... 9 ... — St. Quintin’s .......................... N .W , 80 ... 31 v*illes4en ................................. N .W . 14 ... 15 Magdalen (Earlffield) ........... S.W . 8 ... 8$ Prince George’s (Rayres Park) S.W . 39 ... 54 Crofton Park ........................... 8.E. 28 ... 25 C r ic k e t readers, particularly those favoured in the possession of this world’s goods, will be concerned to hear that the L.P.F.S. has incurred a sum of £7,000 for the extension of Prince George’s playing field, and £800 for the expenses of laying out the Magdalen playing field. The best means of helping the Society is by annua] subsciiptions. Full particulars can be obtained of the secretary, Mr. G. J. Mordaunt, 45, Gloucester Street, W. W h a t a pity it is that good cricket, if the match does not happen to possess a title sufficiently imposing to Becure the bold advertisement of the press, receives such scant support from the regular cricket habitue. Though Lord’s on Tues­ day was a blank owing to the wet, and there was no match of even secondary importance in the neighbourhood of London, with the novelty of a fine after­ noon thrown in there were at the outside hardly a hundred spectators at the Oval to see the finish of the mutch between Surrey’s second eleven and Glamorgan­ shire. Yet the play all round would have favourably compared with a lot of what has been accounted as first-class cricket this year. After all the chief sufferers are the public, who miss a good deal of bright attractive cricket, and cricket in many respects far more interesting to watch than the excessively cautious methods which not infrequently mark the higher cricket of to-day. J u s t now when the County Champion­ ship occupies such a considerable share of the public attention, a few facts show­ ing how the honours havebeen distributed