Cricket 1903

378 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A u g . 27, 1903. I t is stated that J. Gunn has been asked to act as coach to the Civil Service C.C. at Johannesburg this -winter. Frank Mitchell, the old Yorkshire and Cambridge ci icketer, is a member of this club. T h e beginning of this week was even worse than the end of last week as regards weather, and nearly all over the country it rained in torrents. On Mon­ day there was no play at Old Trafford (Lancashire v. Leicestershire), Southamp­ ton (Hampshire v. Essex), and Lord’s (Middlesex v. Kent). At Brighton (Yorkshire v. Sussex) there was play for fifty minutes, and at Bristol (Gloucester­ shire v. Surrey) for an hour and forty minutes. Middlesex v. Kent was given up altogether. E ven the worm will turn, and it is not surprising that first-class cricketers should do so. Thus C. B. Fry, in the Daily Express, says:— I believe even the bowlers are tired of this miserable mud-larking. The whole philoso­ phy of it all is that cricket is essentially a fine weather game meant to he played on hard turf with the sun visible overhead. I don’t believe cricket would ever have been invented, much less developed, had our sum­ mer climate always been such as this. It really is not cricket at all. A wet wicket now and then is all right; it is a change, and gives the howlers a look in, and takes the conceit out of the batsmen, who mayhap get a lot of runs without watching the ball or knowing how to play back. But week after week of dreary, monotonous mud chokes the heart out of the game, and spoils it past recognition. T h e state of the turf at Lord’s is a matter of almost national concern, and the M.C.C. may be trusted to do everything that can possibly be done before next season to remedy the present state of affairs. Often while cricket has been practicable and even pleasant on other London grounds, Lord’s has been soaked. Without the least doubt all the greatest experts on cricket grounds will be consulted—they have been con­ sulted already—and a great effort will be made to make the wicket as good as it was a few years ago. The problem to be solved is of exceptional difficulty, for no other ground in the world is so shut in by high stands, etc., which prevent the wind from acting freely. But that the problem will be solved there can be no possible doubt. W it h a very mixed lot of players at his disposal, Dr. Grace may well be satisfied with the results of the past London County season — four matches won, four lost, three drawn and one abandoned altogether. One of the drawn games (against Lancashire) was a moral victory if ever there was one. L. 0 . S. Poidevin, the Australian, heads the aver­ ages with 45-33 and an aggregate of 592 for 13 complete innings. The Doctor himself has not done quite as well as usual, but once or twice, notably against Gloucestershire, when he scored 150, he has been in quite his old form. W. L. Murdoch has been obliged to give up the game temporarily by doctor’s orders, but while he played he did exceedingly well. I t is a very great pity that C. J. Pos­ thuma, the Dutch fast left-hand bowler who has been playing for London County this year, strained hig leg so badly early in the season that he was never able to let himself really go. For even as it is he is second in the London County aver­ ages (practically first, inasmuch as G. W. Beldam, who heads the list, only took four wickets) with 23 wickets, at an average of 15'03 runs apiece. W. W. Odell is the only London County bowler who has taken more wickets than Posthuma; he has 24 at an average of 21'50 apiece. T h e arrangement made early in the match between Yorkshire and Kent that stumps should be drawn at a quarter past five on the Saturday, and that play should begin at a quarter to eleven, was, of course, just as fair for one side as the other, for it was pure guess work as to which side would be batting at the end. But, as things turned out, the arrange­ ment, without much doubt, deprived Kent of a victory, for it was impossible owing to the weather to make use of the three-quarters of an hour in the morning, while if the same time had been available at the end of the day Yorkshire could hardly have held out long enough to avoid defeat. O v e r h e a r d on a railway platform :— A .: “ Been to many cricket matches this year ? ” B. : “ Cricket matches ! Now if you ask have I been many times to a cricket ground I could tell you something.” A .: “ No luck, eh ? ” B .: “ Oh, yes. There’s been plenty of luck, but of the wrong sort. I start out on a lovely day. I get to a cricket ground and find that the grass is so wet that play has been put off till the next day. Or I go when there is not a cloud in the sky, and just as I ’m getting to the ground a heavy thunderstorm comes on. Play chucked, of course. Oh, yea; I ’ve seen a lot of cricket this season ! ” A . : “ Well, you can thank your lucky stars you haven’t got to play.” A ccordin g to the latest news from Bombay, there will be some difficulty in filling up the Presidency team for the match against the Parsees. Captain Greig, A . P. Douglas, J. B. Wood, Cheetham, Sale and Sprott are none of them available, and about two-thirds of the team will be comprised of men who have never taken part in the match. W. M. Turner, who has played for Essex, is at Quetta, and will probably be chosen. The Parsees, who will be without Mehta, are said to be very strong this year. Mehta will shortly return to India on account of his health ; he has been acting as professional on the Lancashire county ground staff with the idea of qualifying for the county. T h e team of Corinthians who have been playing a series of football matches in South Africa, played a cricket match at the end of July against J. H. Sinclair’s X I. at Johannesburg. The Corinthians made 105 (Bryant 26, Snell 14 and Tim- mis 14), while Sinclair’s team were vic­ torious with a score of 141 for five wickets. Sinclair’s bowling analysis against the Englishmen was 12 overs, 3 maidens, 31 runs, 5 wickets, and he also scored 60 in 25 minutes against them. W ebb , the Lancashire professional, has accepted an engagement for the winter with the Western Province C.C., at Cape Town. A correspondent , who does not give his name, writes from Euglefield Green, Surrey : — A match, which seems rather singular, took place on a private ground here some days ago. An eleven, captained by Mr. H. Edwards, was playing an eleven captained by Mr. H. E. Schwartze. The former won the toss and went in, but were all dismissed for 24. The latter then went in, but with the exception of H. E. Schwartze, who made 2, all made 0, the innings closing for 2. The former again batted, but the whole side were out for 0, leaving the other side 23 to mate. This difficult task they accomplished, but even then they only had one wicket to spare. There were only nine a-side, hut still the batting cannot have been very first-class. In the second innings all 23 were made by H. E. Schwartze, so that he alone made any runs for his side. I should be glad to receive the scores of this match, as they would be of unusual interest. F ro m Mr. W. Carless, the honorary secretary of the Hastings Cricket Week, I have received tbe following lists of teams for the two matches :— LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE y. BEST OF ENGLAND. Wednesday, September 7th, and 9th. R e s t o f E n glan d (Selected from) Dr. W . G. Grace K. S. Banjitsinhji Mr. C. B. Fry Mr. G. L. Jessop Mr. A. O. Jones Mr. 'J. W . Beldam Mr. W . W . Odell Braund Gunn (J.) Hayward Relf Strndwick Monday, Tuesday and 8th L anoashibb and Y obkshibe . Lord Hawke Mr. A. C. Maclaren Mr. E. Smith Mr. A. Eccles Mr. R. H. Spooner Mr. W. Findlay Hirst Tyldesley Rhodes Denton Haigh GENTLEMEN v. PLAYERS. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, September 10th, 11th and 12th. G entlem en f8elected from) Dr. W . G. Grace Lord Hawke Mr. A. C. Maclaren K. S. Ranjitsinhji Mr. C. B. Fry Mr. G. L. Jessop Mr. E. Smith Mr. A. O. Jones Mr. R. H. Spooner Mr. G. W . Beldam Mr. W. W . Odell Rev. A. P. Wickham P la t e r s . Hirst Tyldeeley Gunn (J.) Braund Hayward Rhodes Denton Haigh Relf Hayes btrudwick F or Wiltshire against Mr. G. L. Jes- sop’s XL , Smith took seven wickets for three runs in the second innings, and was the chief cause of an easy victory for his