Cricket 1903

J an . 29, 1903. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 9 of whom Mr. S. C. Packer, the secretary of the county Rugby Union club, E. H. D. Sewell, the Essex professional and assistant secretary, and Mr. Crawford were the three from whom it was decided to make the choice. As Mr. Packer retired from the competition, Sewell and Crawford met the committee finally. About a fortnight before the selection was made several newspapers announced that Sewell had obtained the post, which was treating him rather badly. W i t h the object of getting more sub­ scribers to the county club, the Warwick­ shire committee have decided to reduce the annual subscription from £1 6s. to a guinea, while the subscription of members living outside a fifteen-mile radius of the county ground will be half-a-guinea. T h e following story about the late Mr. S. D. Waddy, Q.C., is taken from the Times :— “ Mr. Waddy, Q.C., was examin­ ing Tom Emmett, the well-known York­ shire professional and umpire, in a case at the Leeds Assizes about ten years ago. Enmett gave his answers sotto voce, and Mr. Waddy said, “ Speak up, Emmett, in the tone in which you cry ‘ Over ’ when a man is out.” I t is stated that Major Poore has again gone to South Africa in charge of troops and that his services may not be available for Hampshire this season. O w in g to a report that Mr. T. L. Taylor intended to retire from first-class criiket. on his return from his visit to New Z 'aland with Lord Hawke’s team, the eilitor of the Yorkshire Post sent the following cablegram to him at Auckland : “ R ported here you retire from Yoikshire team. Cable yes or no.” The reply was “ Auckland—Probably. Taj lor.” T h e return match between Essex and Derbyshire, on July 2 0th , etc., is to be played at Glossop instead of Derby, as arranged at the meeting of the county secretaries in December. On the other haDd, the London County match on August 20th, etc., is to be played at Derby instead of Glossop. I t is reported (it might almost be said “ as usual ” ) from Australia that, at the end of the present Australian season, Hugh Trumble and Darling will retire from first-class cricket; also that Clement Hill and Armstrong will enter into business at Johannesburg. But Hill is not to settle in South Africa after all. That is what his father says, at all events. The wish was evidently father to the thought with the South African journalist who circulated the report. Oh those pressmen! T h e appointment by cablegram of Mr. C. J. Burnup as captain of the Kent County X I. iu place of Mr. J. R. Mason, who has resigned, and his acceptance from New Zealand of the office by the same means of communication, marks an -innovation in the annals of cricket. The appointment will doubtless be popular, and there seems no reason why it should not also be successful, fjr Burnup has given ample proof that he possesses most of the qualifications which go to mike up a good captain, while it is more than probable that he will show that in addi­ tion he has the strength of mind to be able to change his bowlers when he thinks it proper to do so, without regard for their feelings, and to mark out his own course and stick to it, despite the outcry which is sure to be raised in irresponsible quarters. For the rest, he has shown both at cricket and football that his nerves are not upset at critical moments; and that be has unlimited confidence in himself —one of the most important of the many qualifications required by a county captain if he is to be a success. T h e Rev. R. S. Holmes, who for four years was a regular correspondent of Cricket, recently delivered a lecture at Wakefield on the game. The lecture was reproduced at length iu the Wakefield Express of December 27tb, January 3rd and January 10th. A t the annual dinner of the Kent Football Association, on the 7th inst., Lord Harris, in the course of an interest­ ing speech, said that it would be indeed a bad day for England if she become indifferent to her pastimes. Not that they should be allowed to become tyrants; they must be properly controlled ; and in this direction he instanced a similar state of things, which had to be contended against in cricket only a couple of centuries ago. At that time betting men, he said, lined the rails at Lord’s Cricket Ground, and offered odds, and more recently stakes—possibly not always of the advertised value—were played for. If Lord Harris spoke as reported above, he certainly made a serious slip (from an historical point of view) when he referred to the betting at Lord’s “ a couple of centuries ago.” The original Lord’s Ground, as the majority of Cricket readers are aware, was not formed until 1787, nor the present ground until 1814. It wa3 during the first three decades of the nineteenth century that the bookmakers could be seen shouting out the odds at Lord’s. The two greatest offenders in this respect were Crock ford, “ fishmonger and bell-keeper” and Gully, butcher, prize-fighter and M.P. for Pontefract. T h e following story—it is probably a story in more ways than one - is related of the late Archbishop of Canterbury. “ When headmaster of Rugby School he used to play cricket with the boys. He used to “ slog,” and after each “ slog ” he invariably shouted—when excited bis Devonshire manner of speaking took a stronger hold of bim than ever—1Now, then, stap it, stap it. If you can’t stap with your hands stap it with your bady.’ ” O n Saturday, in the Enfield Golf Club’s monthly medal competition, Mr. Ernest Smith, the Yorkshire cricketer, went round iu 76 strokes, thus beating the competition record for the grean. A LETTER from Mr. R. W. Frank, the captain of the Yorkshire second team, was read at a meeting of the Scarborough C.C. on the occasion of a discussion upon the advisability of increasing the “ talent” prizes from six to twenty-one. Mr. Frank strongly opposed giving cricket prizss in any shape or form. He said that such priz9s damaged the game from every point of view. Anything that encouraged individualism should be at once stamped out. How encouraging was the example taught by the Yorkshire County Eleven, the result of which spoke for itself ! Lst us, he added, play cricket for the sake of the game, not for what we can get out of it. The proposal was negatived by 35 votes to 25. A l b e r t W a r d has received a sum of £1,719 17s. 10J. as the proceeds of his benefit match last } ear, Lancashire v. Yorkshire, at Old Trafford. M r . J. C r a n s t o n , the well-known old Gloucestershire county cricketer, has been appointed to take charge of the Glouces­ tershire ground staff. T h e Marylebone Club has issued in­ structions to umpires to gauge the width of cricket bats during the coming season. A. C. M a c l a r e n , who has joined a London firm of wine merchants, on the understanding that his duties will not in any way interfere with his cricket, has announced that he has cabled and written to the secretary of the Melbourne C.C. advising that a visit to Australia of an English team should be postponed to 1904. W i t h regard to his reasons for this action Mr. Maclaren has made two state­ ments. He informed the Sportsman that: By that time our men would have had a thorough rest, and it would be more satis­ factory that they should go out fit and well rather than attempt next autumn to make up for one year what has been lost in the past. An interval of four years, it will be remem­ bered, having occurred between the visits of the 1897 and 1901 teams. To a representative of the Daily Mail Mr. Maclaren entered more into parti­ culars, as follows:— “ There are many reasons,” he said, “ why the visit should he deferred, and the exper­ ience gained during the last tour has convinced mo that such a step is advisable. Good bowlers are scarce, and our best men broke down early in the season owing to the labor­ ious tasli of playing for one year continuously. As a matter of fact our bowlers were over­ worked. It must not be forgotten that the playing pitches out in Australia are very hard, and it is a difficult matter for a bowler to keep a good length all day. “ The Yorkshire club, also, again talk about refusing to allow their bowlers to go, and without professionals we cannot hope to do anything at all.