Cricket 1902

458 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. Nov. 27, 1902. gladly assist Torquay in retaining the services of a professional by paying a-third of the expenses. Several other speeches were made in favour of the idea, and the Torquay C.C. was accordingly re-formed, amidst much enthusiasm. The Mayor was elected president for the first year. It was decided that the mini­ mum subscription for playing members should be 5s., and for honorary members 10s. O n c e more the Knickerbocker A.C. has won the cricket competition which always excites such interest throughout New York and district. The Club has now won the championship for the following years : 1893,1894, 1896, 1897,1898, 1899, 1900 and 1902. F. F. Kelly, the secre­ tary of the club, secures the bowling prize in the league. In all the team played twenty-seven matches with the following results:— Played. Won. Drawn. Lost. First eleven.......... ]3 10 2 1 Summer eleven ... 13 9 2 2 Junior eleven ... 1 1 0 0 Totals ... 27 20 4 3 A n e w game, entitled “ Table Cricket,” has been invented by Dr. W. G. Grace. The pitch is thirty inches in length, and is composed of a board covered with green baize. The batsman uses a bat whose blade is five-eighths of an inch wide, and an inch and a half in length, with a handle seven inches long. The ball, which is made of gutta-percha, is three-quarters of an inch in diameter. It is bowled from a strong and cleverly- contrived spring, very simple to manipu­ late. The rules of the game drawn up by Dr. Grace commence with : “ The laws of cricket shall be adhered to as much as possible.” To a representative of the Evening News Dr. Grace said with regard to his game: “ A batsman is out in four ways—if he is bowled, caught, knocks his wicket down, or hits the ball twice. No,” he added, with a smile, “ it is not possible to put a twist on when bowling, hut you can vary both pace and pitch. Caught does not mean that the ball must be secured by an opposing player. Round the pitch are placed nine little hox- like, movable receptacles, and if the pilule, or ball, is driven into any one of them, the batsman has to retire. No player has to field. Then the question of runs. Round about the pitch is erected a webbing, and according to the position on this webbing that the ball strikes, runs from one to four are counted.” W i t h reference to the above game Mr. Walter Monroe writes to a contem­ porary as follows:— It is very remarkable how the same idea seems to strike two men in remote partsat the same time. Three months ago, at Santander, in Spain, I thought out the game of “ home cricket ” on certainly a better plan than that detailed in your article, and had models of the same prepared, and have come over to Eng­ land to bring it out. Last night I was show­ ing some friends how to play the game, and they are as much astonished at this as I am. However, I have this satisfaction, that, whilst in the great cricketer’s game he acknowledges that the howler cannot give a twist to the ball, in my game it is quite possible and easy, and the out-door rules of cricket apply exactly. To a large number of “ Gossip ” readers it will come as a surprise to hear that the Hastings and St. Leonard’s C.C. is defunct, and that the borough of sixty thousand inhabitants is now without a cricket club of any real pretentions. Such a state of affairs is very far indeed from being creditable to so popular and public a resort as Hastings, and it is to be hoped that in the near future a strong club will be formed worthy of the town. Considering the position Hastings has held in the cricketing world iu years gone by, it is most regrettable that the game is now so poorly supported there. In some quarters it is freely stated that the League matches, played by various junior clubs, which are allowed to take place on the Central Ground on Saturday afternoons, are damaging to the best interests of the game. May we suggest that Hastings follow the example of Torquay, and hold a public meeting as soon as possible with the idea of re-estab­ lishing the club on a sound basis ? The local M.P., Mr. Freeman Thomas, is an enthusiastic cricketer, and would make an admirable chairman for the occasion. H o w e v e r serious cricket fared last season, and a good deal of it was, it must be admitted, serious in more ways than one to those immediately c >n- cerned, comic cricket, as exemplified by Mr. Dan Leno’ s match at the Oval on September 10th, had plenty of substan­ tial support. The financial result, at all events, was so satisfactory that a sum of £400 was distributed as follows : £150 to the Licensed Victuallers’ Asylum, £100 to the Music Hall Benevolent Fund, £100 to the Cricketers’ Fund, and £50 to the Music Hall Home. The Cricketers’ Fund was a recipient this year, at the suggestion of the committee of the Surrey County C.C., who were accorded the privilege of naming one of the bene­ ficiary institutions. A t the request of a number of cricketers the committee of the Notts County C.C. have decided to make an appeal to the members of the club to recognise in some special manner Arthur Shrewsbury’s ex­ ceptional batting during the past season. Everyone will agree with their pro­ position that Shrewsbury’s perform­ ance in heading the first-class batting averages with an average of 50 in a season of such continuous wet wickets is a really wonderful achievement, par­ ticularly for a player who has repre­ sented his county for twenty-six years. Subscriptions can be forwarded to any of the sub-committee: W. H. Tomasson, Woodthorpe, Nottingham ; the hon. sec., G. M. Royle, Third Avenue, Sherwood Rise, Nottingham ; J. A. Dixon, 27, Eton Avenue, Nottingham ; or to the Secre'ary of the Notts County C.C., H. Turner, Lucerne House, West Bridgford, Not­ tingham. ------ T h e committee of the Dorsetshire County C.C. have decided to give up the idea of improving the ground at Dor­ chester, and by arrangement with the Town Council of Poole, they will acquire a new ground in Poole Park, which was given to the town by Lord Wimborne. The club is at present badly in want of funds, and energetic efforts are being made to place it in a more satisfactory position. O n Wednesday, November 5th, at Wel- ton, near Hull, the Hon, F. S. Jackson, the famous cricketer, was married to Miss Broadley Harrison. Lord Hawke acted as best man, and most of the mem­ bers of the Yorkshire team were present. The wedding presents werevery numerous, and among those who gave them were K. S. Ranjitsinhji, Lord Hawke, aud other members of the Yorkshire team, and the Yorkshire County Committee. H o w e v e r disappointing he may have been with the Australian team of 1896, C. J. Eady is, as he has been for some years, the central figure in Tasmanian ; cricket. This last season his success for the Break of Day C.C., was more pro­ nounced than ever. He was at the head of both the batting and bowling averages, making his eighth double first of the kind. In bawling he took twenty-seven wickets at an average cost of 16-3 runs. In batting his performance was quite phenomenal. His aggregate for five completed innings was 756, which gave him an average of over 151 runs. C. J. E. was very popular over here, and his con­ tinued successes in Tasmania will give gratification to a large number of Cricket readers. R. A. S tttd d , brother of C. T. Studd, arrived in Colombo early in the month on his way to India in connection with the Anglo-Indian Evangelical Society. R. A. upheld the family reputation at cricket at Eton and Cambridge, while he topped the averages for Hampshire in 1895. T h e fixtures definitely completed up to the time of the Oxford Authentics’ team reaching Calcutta about the middle of December, are as follows :—November 17th, 18th and 19th, v. Bombay Presi­ dency ; November 21st and 22nd, v. Hindus ; November 24th, 25th and 26th, v. the Parsees; November 28th and 29th, v. Secunderabad ; December 4th, 5th and 6th, v. Mysore State, at Bangalore; December 8th, 9;h and 10th v. Madras Presidency, at Madras ; and December 12th and 13th, v. Southern India, at Trichinopoly. It is hoped that the Authentics will play at least two matches at Calcutta against the Calcutta Cricket Club and against a Bengal Presidency X I. A c c o r d in g to the Bombay Gazette, there is a hitch about the fixture at Delhi with an All India X I. If it should be found impossible to arrange the fixture an effort will be made to arrange a match against an All India team at Calcutta. Perhaps the strongest side the Authentics will meet during the tour is the Madras Presidency X I., which will be selected