Cricket 1902

464 CRICKET: A WEEKLY KECORD OF THE GAME. Nov. 27, 1902. fessionals. By the way, why should wenot play professionals in all our representative matches? I would remind the “ powers that be” that, if we are to improve our cricket, we must have more opportunities of playing against and watching men who are better than ourselves. 4 .— T h b C o u n t y C h a m p io n s h ip . I shall conclude with a few remarks upon, and suggestions regarding, that excellent institution, the Scottish County Champion­ ship. This competition promises more in the way of general improvement than anything yet tried. It is very gratifying that the Committee of Management should have shown so much enterprise in their initial season. What is now required is that the lead given by the counties north of the Forth should be followed up by other districts where no clubs already exist. We must have more county and less club cricket. There can be no doubt that over indulgence in “ friendly matches” has militated against our play in the past. When there is nothing at stake to spur on the players, the cricket, especially the fielding, becomes slovenly. I believe that the salvation of Scottish cricket lies in the adoption of the competitive element by all the chief cricketing counties. The first thing to point out in connection with the extension is that it is desirable that the Grange should take the initiative in institut­ ing a Mid-Lothian county club. Were they to do this it would undoubtedly give the whole movement a decided impetus. If, however, the Grange should refuse to do anything in the matter, a Mid-Lothian county club should be formed without them. It may be pointed out that clubs would not forfeit their individual existence by partici- dating in the competition. I would submit the following suggestions :— (#) The County Championship should be extended by the inclusion of the follow­ ing five counties, bringing the number competing up to ten: Mid-Lothian, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Selkirkshire, and Roxburghshire. N.B.—The claims of Clackmannanshire might be considered. (b) The residential qualification should be increased from three to six months. ( c ) Neutral umpires should be appointed to stand in all County Championship matches. N.B.—lhis is imperative. The absence of neutral umpires was the one great defect in the regulations. Friction must be avoided at all costs, or else much of the good resulting from the competition will be undone. (i d ) In cases where there is “ local rivalry ” the counties concerned should have the option of playing two-day matches if they so desire. (e) All matches should be played between May and the end of August. ( /) In the case of a larger county the matches should be distributed among the leading cricketing centres in the county. N.B.—Forfarshire, for example, contains three prominent clubs in Arbroath United, Brechin and Strathmore. Each of the teams mentioned might be allotted one county match each season on their own ground. ( g) Each county to qualify for the champion­ ship should be required to play matches with at least two-thirds of the other competing counties. In conclusion, a golden opportunity will present itself at the annual meeting of Scot­ tish club representatives at Edinburgh next month for introducing much-needed reforms. May the verdict be “ go forward” and not “ stand still” ! The time has now arrived for the old order to change and give place to the new. (tformpon&cncc. The Editor does not hold himself responsible tor the opinions of his correspondents. “ A SU G G E S T IO N FR O M AM ER ICA .” A Reply. To the Editor o f Cricket. S ir ,— Re fe rrin g to th e let te r, “ A S ugges tio n fro m Am e ric a ,” in yo ur issue o f A u g u s t 21st, w h ile th e system advoca ted by th e w rite r o f in s titu tin g a re co rd o f e rr o rs made by th e fie ld sm en is no d o nb t p ra c tic ab le in ba se -b a ll, I fa il to see th a t it w ou ld be of any g re a t b e ne fit in c ri c ke t, th e cond iti on s o f th e tw o games b e in g so e ssen tia lly d iffe re n t, as w ill be seen fr om th e fo llo wi ng :— 1.—The area of the playiDg piece in base-ball is much more circumscribed than that of the average English county cricket grouDd. In the former game all hits are made in front of the bat, or of the two sides of the “ diamond” on which the bases are marked, those falling behind being termed “ fouls,” and con­ sequently valueless. 2 .— E ach and eve ry one o f th e fie ld e rs in base -ba ll uses a g lo ve , so th a t ca tc h ­ in g o f any ki nd is m ade re lat ive ly easy. The th ree basemen are p ro v id ed w ith a m itt en , fash io ned aft er a b o x in g g lo ve , so th a t it is ha rdly to be w ondered a t th a t th e b a ll is not “ m u ffed ” so o fte n as in c ric ke t. 3.— The average d u ra ti o n of a m a tch at ba se -ba ll, o r o f th e n in e in n in g s necessary to com p le te a gam e, is a t m ost tw o and a -h a lf hou rs . M e th in ks if th e ba se -b a ll fie ld e rs in th e S tates had to fa g o ut fo r e ig h t or te n hou rs, as is o fte n th e case in E n g la n d , o r w he reve r crick e t is p la yed , in s te ad of for a fe w m in u te s at a tim e , a nd cover th e same e x te n t of g ro und w h ic h th e “ m en in th e c o u nt ry ” do a t c ri c ke t, th e re w o u ld be m ore of th e w ild th rowi ng and d ropped catches to w h ic h M r. K illik e lly takes e xcep tio n in th e E n g li s h gam e. 4.—The innings in base-ball are alternate, each side going to the bat as soon as three men are disposed of. If the “ pitcher” had to keep sending them down for an hour, as many of our English bowlers do, I rather think base-ball would degenerate into a haphazard sort of game. Whi lst the re is no d o ub t th a t base thr owing in th e S ta tes has been reduced to an exac t science, I th in k it w ou ld su ffe r if th e basemen had to ta ke some o f th e d iffic u lt, h a rd , cu rved d riv es to “ cove r,” and cu ts to th ird m an , e tc ., e tc., w h ic h are such a fe a tu re of th e E ng li sh gam e. F ro m th e fo re g o in g it w ill be seen th a t i t is n e a rly im poss ib le to in s titu te any com paris on be tw een th e tw o games, b o th o f w h ich are peerle ss in th e ir respectiv e coun tr ie s . V ery tru ly you rs , M o n te rre y (M e x ic o ). A. Munro. Sept. 6th, 1902. CR ICKET IN IN D IA . T h e INTER-SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIP. The final match for the E. and A. I. Trophy was played at Bangalore on October 2oth. Tho two schools were well matched, and the Cottonians were only able to win by 22 runs. B ish op C o tto n S c h o o ls . First innings. J. Jackson, c and b Pereira 10 R. Power, b C. Pereira ... 0 W . Mackenzie, c Kelly, b De la Nougprede ......... 22 H.Rickie,ht wkt, h Gillespie 13 M. Ricketts, c Pereira, b Gillespie ........................ 0 P. GibsoD, lbw, b Gillespie. 7 N. Mackenzie, b Gillespie .. 7 H. Moore, b C. Per ira .. 0 W. Bird, b Smith................ 1 N. Mackenzie, b C. Pereira. 0 G. Meaton, not out ......... 1 Extras........................ 8 Total .................69 Total ............164 S t . J oseph ’ s First inningrs. V.De la Nougerede,cMoore, b Ricketts ............... J. Pereira, c Moore, b N. Mackenzie........................ J. Doran, c Jackson, b N. Mackenzie........................ C. Pereira, b M. Ricketts ... G. Doran, b W. Mackenzie. E. Dunlop, not out .......... R. Smith, c Ricketts, b N. Mackenzie........................ 4 P. Kelley, c BirJ, b N. Mac­ ke zie ... .......... 1 H. Gillespie, c Rickettts, b N. Mackenzie ... ........... 3 J. O’flearn, c Rickie, b M. Ricketts ................. 0 runout C. Gillespie,b N. Mackenzie 2 notout.. Extras....................... 2 Extras Total ..........89 Total Fecond innings, c J. Pereira, b Gillespie ..........19 b J. Pereira ... 5 cDunlop.b Doran 2 lbw, b J. Doran.. 9 cGillespie.bSmith 12 c J. Pereira, b Doran ..........45 c Doran, b Gilles­ pie .................12 b J. Pereira ... 0 c C. Pereira, h De la Nougerede... 7 b C. Pereira ... 34 notout................. 1 Extras ..........18 C o lle g e . tecond innings. 30 b M. Ricketts ... 25 4 c N. Mackenzie, b W. Mackei zie. 36 1 c N. Mackenzie, b W. Mackenzie. 0 14 b W. Mackei z:e. 3 0 b M. Bicketts ... 0 28 c Bird, b W.Mac­ kenzie ..........19 c N. Mackenzie,b Ricketts.......... 5 b W . Mackenzie.. 3 cBird, b W . Mac­ kenzie ..........16 ... 2 ... 0 ... 13 KENT COUNTY C.C. 1902. The following is a list of the match receipts and xpenses of the past Kent sexson. Receipt*. pen^ re £ s. d. 9 48 10 10 40 15 8 103 10 70 17 111 10 , 71 9 , 111 7 , 69 18 Canterbury week (v. Essex ,.oa .. n a-d Surrey) .......... J 1Idt>1) 0 v. Essex (aw»y) ................. ....... v. Surrey (a ay) ................. ....... v. Notts (Gravesend) .......... 25 10 6 v. Notts (away) ... ... ----- v. Lancasfcire ( Tonbridge) .. 13)16 9 v. Lancashire (away) ......... ....... v. Gloucestershire (Tonbr’ge) 164 19 3 v. Gloucestershire (away) ------ v. Uempshiie (Tunl ridge Wells ........................ v. Hampshire (away) .......... ...... v. Sussex ( Tuubridge Wells) 249 11 0 v. Sussex (aw^y) ................. ....... v. Middlesex (Beckenham).. 85 3 6 v. Middlesrx (away) .......... ....... v. Somerfcet (Maidstone) ... 96 10 0 v. Somerset (away) .......... ....... v. Woreet»teishire (Tonbr’ge) 16 6 0 v. Wi.rce.-'t r.'hire (away) ------ v. Yorkshire (Catford B’dge) 193 10 0 v. Yorkshire (away) .......... ....... v. Australians (Canterbury) 8)4 16 6 v. M.C.C. (away) ................. ....... v. Oxford University (away) ------ Totals................. £3!78 7 3 £2664 8 10 The home matches include share of gate to dubs owning grounds where matches were p.ayed. ’ In­ cluding Australians’ half-share of gate. The two 2nd X I. games cost £30 0s. 10d., and Club and Ground matches £81 16s. 8d. 9 9 101 5 9 ... V 3 19 4 ----- ... €4 6 10 * ... U2 14 11 .. 58 8 10 .. 112 12 5 .. 37 3 3 .. 112 16 1 .. 6i 6 11 .. 115 18 6 .. 67 3 8 .. J15 17 8 65 5 11 . *527 13 6 .. 7 14 5 .. 63 4 6 P ARSI CRICKET, with 27 Illustrations, by M. E. Pavj»i.—A History of Parsi Cricket given in a lucid and concise form. Records and many memor­ able achievements of prominent Parsi cricketers, etc. Price, 4s.; post free, 4s. 3d.— Cricket Offices, 168, Upper Thames Street,^E.C. Printed and Published for the Proprietor by M xbritt & EU tcheb , L td ., 167, 168, and 1€9, Upper Thames Street, London, E.C., Nov. 27th, 1902.