Cricket 1903

J uly 9, 1903. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 265 sent their University. Raphael this year scored 130 and 19; Lord George Scott, who gained his place owing to an injury to C. Wreford-Brown just before the match, made 100 and 66 in 1887 for Ox­ ford ; Eustace Crawley in the same year made 35 and 103 not out for Cambridge; in 1896 G. O. Smith made 37 and 132 for Oxford. As to the men who ought to have received their Blue, and did not, their names are too numerous to mention. M e . H e r b e r t J e n n e r F u s t , who is now in his ninety-eighth year, is the only survivor of the players who represented Oxford and Cambridge in the first Uni­ versity match in 1827. He made 47 out of 92 for Cambridge, being known at that time as Herbert Jenner; he also took five wickets. T h e defeat of Yorkshire by Surrey last week reminds one of the remark- recalled, stumps were again pitched, Eccles bowled one ball, off which J. Gunn made a single (thus bringing his score to fifty) and the match was then considered over. O n the list of the players down to re­ present Warwickshire against the Gentle­ men of Philadelphia to-day, Thursday, appears the name of Hugh Rotherham, the famous old fast bowler, who, under the tuition of H. H. Stephenson, came out in the Rugby School Eleven at the same time as A. P. Lucas and D. Q. Steel. For years he regularly represented the Gentlemen against the Players. T h e r e was some remarkable scoring on the first day of the match at Worcester between Somerset and the home team, the former making 143 and the latter 427 for two wickets, a total of 570 for the day. For this total H. K. Foster was happily, it had been insured for a sumof £150. Captain Denison also referred to the financial benefit kindly received from the Dan Leno Carnival at the Oval, the “ Bat Sale,” and the smoker at the King’sHall, which realised in all some £450. On the other side, how­ ever, the sick and superannuation allowances were exceptionally heavy, though they had more than paid their way. A member had suggested that the superannuation allowance might be increased, but this was a matter for the committee. The expenses for 1903 seemed likely to exceed the average, although they had for the first six months shown a decrease of £26 compared with 1902.” A t the same meeting Lord Harris made a short speech, of which the most impor­ tant pa«s»ges were as follows :— A pertinent question was : Is the game they all loved so well retaining its popularity ? Qf course, the success of a season was largely dependent upon the weather, and, after having for several years a cycle of fine seasons, they T H E E T O N AND H A R ROW C A P T A IN S . K. I. NICHOLL (Eton). R. E, H. B ilL Y (H&ITOW). (Photo by A. D . K issack, Eton). (Photo by Messrs. Hills dc Saunders, Harrow), able way in which times have changed of late, for in days gone by it was a rarity for any Southern team, except perhaps Surrey to beat a northern county. This year Yorkshire has been beaten four times, on each occasion by a southern county, viz., Somerset, Middle­ sex, Sussex and Surrey. T h e r e was a somewhat extraordinary ending to the match between Notts and Lancashire at Trent Bridge on Saturday. There was no possibility whatever of bringing the game to a finish, and Notts were merely plajing out time, while A. C. Maclaren and Eccles were bowling. When Maclaren had bowled the last ball of his only over John Gunn’s score stood at forty-nine, and stumps were drawn. The players walked away, and had almost reached the pavilion, when they were largely responsible, for in the course of a couple of hours he made 210 runs and was still not out when stumps were drawn. It is very odd how often a player who has been omitted from a representative team makes a big score an the day when he ought to have been playing in the more important match, and Foster only fol­ lowed the example of Abel, Perrin, etc. A t the annual general meeting of the Cricketer’s Fund Friendly Society the chairman, Capt. W. E. Denison, stated that “ the receipts had risen from £509 11s. 5d. in 1901 to £1026 4s. lOd. in 1902. This abnormal rise was due to exceptional cir­ cumstances, despite the fact that the match in September at Lord’s between Yorkshire and the Rest of England only realised a slight profit through the bad weather, though, were now experiencing a cycle not so favour­ able. There has been a falling off in the receipts at matches, which was a serious business, both for them and the public. It was with several counties a question of being able to furnish the cost of running their club, and they might have to cut down the number of matches, pay their players less, or charge the public more, which last-namedwould not, perhaps, prove satisfactory, and would pro­ bably deprive many of seeing so much cricket as usual. He thought that the cricketers might to some extent remedy matters by encouraging a faster style of play, for there was little doubt that a dull, cautious style wearied the onlooker. They did like bright cricket, and if they had more finished games, it would perhaps result in their being the better able to retain the popularity of the sport. T h e Directors’ Report of the Forest Hill Cricket and Athletic Ground,