Cricket 1902

A p r i l 17, 1902. CRICKET ; A. WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 73 T he practice wickets at Leyton at the end of last week looked in surprisingly good conditiou for the time of year, in favour of the bowlers it is true, but at the same time giving the batsman a chance. It was feared that Albert Trott would not be back from New Zealand in time to fulfil his engagement by Mr. C. E. Green at Leyton. Mr. F rank M itchell has written to England that he is returning home on the s.s. “ Norman,’ ’and that he hopes to be able to play in a few matches for York­ shire this season. A rumour was current last week that Mr. Mitchell was on board the ill-fated “ Kinfauns Castle,” but this was, of course, incorrect. O n Monday last the Yorkshire county team began practice on the Headingley Ground at Leeds, Lord Hawke, Mr. F. S. Jackson, Mr. T. L. Taylor, Rhodes, Denton and Whitehead making their first appearance of the season. As the ground was very soft matting was laid down, an example which might well be followed by other clubs in the early part of the season. I ndeed , it is surprising that matting is so little used in England. True its most enthusiastic admirers would never claim that it makes as good a wicket as turf, when the turf has any pretensions to being in excellent condition. But on how many practice wickets in England, even on the grounds of first-rate clubs, does batting become a danger and a misery as sood as a long spell of dry weather comes ? Again, many respect­ able clubs, which could well afford to have a matting wicket, prefer to play their matches on pitches which are nothing short of execrable. We suppose that a time will come when a matting wicket will not be a rarity in England. O n Friday last the members of the Stoics C.C. celebrated the twenty-fifth season of the Club by a dinner in the Duke’s Room at the Holbom Restaurant. Mr. H. C. Biron was in the chair, and about seventy cricketers, including visitors, were present. The captain of the club is Mr. O. R. Borradaile, the Essex secretary, who may also, I believe, be said to be its founder. In the course of the evening it was decided to have an annual club dinner. I t is greatly to be hoped that E. H. D. Sewell, who is now qualified for Essex, will meet with success in the earlier matches of the county, for batsmen of his type relieve the tedium and monotony of first-class cricket enormously. It is also greatly to be hoped that, if he should happen to fail at first, the County Com­ mittee will not drop him, for as we have often pointed out, hitters ought not to be expected to score in every match; if they come off once out of four or five times, they do incalculable good to their side, for they always demoralize the bowling. I t is estimated that the new mound at Leyton will provide standing room for at least a thousand spectators, all of whom will be able to watch the game comfort­ ably. I t is announced that Mr. P. F. Warner, who went to South Africa on February 1st to take up an appointment at Johan- nesburg, has returned to England, and that he may be able to play in some of the Middlesex matches this season. S peaking , last week, at Norwich Diocesan Conference, the Bishop of Ipswich said there could be nothing wrong in being happy on Sunday. There could be nothing wrong in keeping people out of temptation as long as public-houses were opened on Sunday. Was it not worth while considering earnestly, in the most direct way, whether or not they could not make some bold effort to master the question as to how far it was wise and advisable to supply recreation in the hours between service ? As soon as the church bell began to ring, the recreation—football in winter and cricket in summer—should be stopped, and he did not know that any­ one would say his prayers the worse for having made a nice drive to the off. A t a village in Oxfordshire, a Corona­ tion Day cricket match has been arranged. One of the cricketers who has promised to take part in it, played in a similar match on the day when Queen Victoria was crowned. T hree of the Australian team, who are to be with us next week, had an awkward experience while at Ballarat. During the course of the match the team played against Eighteen of Ballarat early last month. Hugh Trumble, W. P. Howell and W. W. Armstrong had inspected the underground workings at the Last Chance United Mine, and were, with the man­ ager, being hauled to the surface, when some timber in the cage in the opposite compartment got fixed in the bearers at one of the levels. They were suspended in the cage for about half-an-half, the time it took to remove the obstacle. Fortunately, no harm was done. I n J. O. Anderson cricket at the River Plate has a batsman whose superiority out there, at all events, is beyond all dispute. Up to the 22nd of last month in twenty-two innings he had played for an aggregate of 1,240 runs. His highest score was 133, and as he was five times not out he had up-to-date an extraordinary average of 72-94. As his nearest rival was H. A. Cowes, who made in all 670 runs in fourteen completed innings, with a big score of 221 not out and an average of 47-85, it will be seen how immeasureably ahead he was at the time among the batsmen of the Argentine. C lem H ill ’ s record in test matches between England and Australia, as given in the Sydney Referee, invites a comparison with some of the very best performances of the very best cricketers, even in these days of easy wickets and high scoring. For Australia against England in test matches, he has made 1,323 runs since 1896, his average against England reaching sixty runs an innings. On the Oval, at Adelaide, his figures are even more phenomenal. The following are his scores against English teams, viz., 200, 150, not out, 124, not out, 107, 98, 97, 81, 80, 56, 45, 20, and 8. He has thus compiled 1,066 runs, averaging 106.60 per innings on his home ground. This wonderful series of scores was made for Australia and South Australia against the three last English teams. As the Oval was opened to members for practice on the loth of April, it is super­ fluous to add that cricket th6re is now in full swing. To-morrow the serious business of Surrey cricket is to begin with a match in which eighteen young players will be pitted against eleven of the ground staff. On Monday and Tuesday next the County Eleven are to play the Next Fourteen at the Oval, and then we shall be able to judge pretty well who are likely to represent Surrey in the opening first-class match of the season, which will be at the Crystal Palace against the London Oounty O.C. on Thursday next. J. F. T r a v e r s , the left-handed bowler of South Australia, who at one time seemed not unlikely to be a rival to J. V. Saunders for a place in the Australian team, did a notable performance on March 8th for East Adelaide v. the Barossa and Light Association. In this match he took all the ten wickets of the latter for 25 out of 61 runs. English cricketers will be interested to know that ne is slower than any of the other left-handers who have bowled in first-class cricket this last season in Australia. He has a high and unimpeachably fair delivery, and bowls a splendid length. This season he appears to have developed a little improvement with the bat. As he is in his 31st year, he is hardly a “ colt.” I t will interest the large number of Cricket readers who remember the Hon. J. S. Udal as a striking personality in metropolitan cricket, as well as a zealous Incog., to know that he is still able to make runs and also to get batsmen out in Antiguan cricket. Latterly his “ lobs” have been very successful, and one of his performances in the early part of last month will bear reproduction. Nine of the ten wickets in the innings fell to his bowling for 36 runs, andthetenthbatsman was missed off it. Thi3 is believed to be a record for Antigua. At all events it is a pretty good achievement for a cricketer who is only about six months younger than the great W. G. himself. H. C a r t e r , of New South Wales, who is to be J. J. Kelly’s understudy at the wicket this summer in England, is, it appears, a Yorkshireman by birth. He was bom at Halifax on March 15, 1878, the year the first Australian t«am visited England, so that he has now just passed