Cricket 1903

4 4 2 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. O c t . 2 9 , 1903. W. Bruce, R. W. McLeod, G. B. Gordon, W. McBean, F. Allan, and H. G. Wimpole. In an article which appeared in the Daily Express on October 16th, A. C. Maclaren stated that in hig opinion the following questions had to be considered in estimating the chances of the M.C.C. Australian team:— 1. —Are Trumble and Darling going to stand down as expected ? 2.—Are Ihe wicke'.s going to be of the billiard-table order or difficult ?—a most important thing to know, for I consider our chance much greater on soft rather than on hard wickets. 3.—Are there to be any matches played by us on matting wickets f 4.—What will happen in case of break­ down? 5.—Is the fielding good enough p Also the batting ? 6. - Will our opponents be as strong as formerly ? M a c la r e n ends his article by sajing:— “ To sum up, I consider our men to have a much bigger chance than many imagine, and if they win they will deserve all credit, for I know full well how hard it is to defeat Australia on her own battle­ ground.” I t is stated that at the request of the Gloucestershire committee, G. L. Jessop has consented to continue next season tbe captaincy of the county eleven. He may not, however, be able to play in all the matches. O w in g to the inability of John Gunn to make the voyage to South Africa, his place as coach to a Johannesburg club has been taken by his brother George, who sailed from Southampton for the Cape on September 19th. L ord D a lm e n y , the Surrey cricketer, and the eldest son of Lord Rosebery, has been adopted as Liberal candidate for Midlothian. A t the beginning of October the Hon. Alfred Lvttelton, the famous old Cam­ bridge University cricketer, became Colonial Secretary in place of Mr. Chamberlain. Some notes on Mr. Lyttelton’s career as a cricketer appear on another page. O n another page will be found the scores of a match at Shanghai, between English and Australian residents. The first match under this title played at Shanghai took place last year, when England won by 69 runs, the score by Eogland 189, and Australia 111. It will be seen that this year Australia won by eight runs, although it was evident that the odds against them were at least four to one. A t a dinner in connection with the St. Peter’s C.C., Brighton, a presentation of a silver salver was made by Mr. A. J. Gaston, on behalf of the touring members of the club, to Mr. Arthur Blackman, the captain, who has just celebrated his fiftieth birthday. Ma. W . W a l b a n c k , who played a fine innings of 63 for the X V III. of Twicken­ ham v. Mr. Strutt Cavell’s X II. on Twickenham Green, is the young Twick­ enham Town player and not a North London club player as has been stated. He and his brother began to assist the village club directly they left fchool. Their father was also a keen cricketer during the eighties. Walbanck has bitted with great success during the past three seasons for the following clubs : Erratics, Hampton Wick, Twick­ enham Town, Waldegrave Park and Richmond Town. In the field he iB brilliant, and in these Hospital matches he caught such well-known players as Dr. W. G. Grace, G. L. Jessop, B. J. T. Bosarquet, W. G. Grace, jun., off the bowling of Mr. W. Williams. He is a captain of the Twickenham Rugby Union P.O. for this season. A n obituary notice of John Crossland, the once famous Lancashire footb iller, will be found on another page. There seems to be a general impression that he was debarred from playing for Lancashire because of his doubtful action when bowling, but he was really condemned on a side issue, the M.C.C. Committee haviog passed the following resolution : — “ That it having been established to the satisfaction of the committee that Crossland has resided in his native county, Nottingham- shire, from October, 1884, to April, 1885, this committee is of opinion that he no longer possesses a residential qualification for Lancashire.” It may be stated that this resolution was passed in reply to an objection made by the Notts Committee to Crossland playing for Lancashire, on the ground that he, bsiog a Nottinghamshire-born man, did not reside in Larcishire regularly and continuously. C r o s s l a n d ’ s bowling analysis during his best three years for Lancashire was as follows :— Overs. Mdcs. Runs. Wkts. ATer. 1882 ... 685.1 ...307 ... 967 ... 97... 9'94 1883 ... 427.1 ...159 ... 733 ... 65... 13-18 1884 ... 564 2 ...213 ... 952 ... 72... 13 26 M r . P. J. C ook , the Port Elizabeth cricketer, who during the past season played a good deal of cricket in England for the Wanderers, etc., has returned to South Africa on the s.s. “ Norman.” T h e death is announced of Mr. W. W. Hall, J.P., late President of the Notts County C.C. Mr. Hall was returning to England from New York on the “ Etruria,” when a heavy sea was shipped, which dashed him violently against some of the fittings of the vessel. Pour days later he died as a result of his injuries. M r . P. B. W il s o n (Trinity) has been elected captain of Cambridge University for next season; Mr. E. W . Mann (Trinity), hon. secretary; and Mr. R. P. Keigwin (Peterhouse), assistant treasurer. I t is stated that L. O. S. P o id e v in will not return to Australia until after the cricket season of 1904. T h e Yorkshire Committee have de­ cided to set apart the match against Lancashire at Leeds on the August Bink Holiday for the benefit of George Ilirct. M b . E. B. C h e a l e s Wt iie s as follows:— “ In a recent match, Maldon v. Wiekford, a curious incident occurred which gave rise to considerable discussion. Will you be kind enough to give a decision ? I was keeping wicket to lob bowling. The batsman ran out to hit a ball which I thought would just miss the off stump, and I brought my hands for­ ward sharply to take it and stump him. The ball, however, just touched the off stump, with the result tbat I missed the ball, but knocked the stump forward. On an appeal to the bowler’s umpire, the batsman was given ‘ Not out,’ the umpire giving as a reason that I took the ball in front of the wicket. Granting that it might be possible for the umpire at tho bowler’s end to see if the wicket-keeper takes the ball in front of the wicket, it is very unlikely, and in this instance the umpire at my end said distinctly that no part of me was nearer than a foot when the ball hit the wicket. My reading of Rule 42 : ‘ If a wicket-keeper or any part of his person is in front of wicket when he takes a ball with the intention of stumping, or if any part of his person is in front so as to incom­ mode or interfere with a batsman, etc., the batsman is “ Not out.’ ” A rather heated discussion ensued, and a majority of players held that ‘ if any part of a wicket-keeper’s person is in front of the wicket, even if a man is cleanbowled, he shall be “ Notout.” W i t h regard to the above, all that is necessary to say is that Law 42, to which Mr. Cheales refers, is as follows:— “ The wicket-keeper shall stand behind the wicket. If he shall take the ball for the purpose of stumping before it has passed the wicket, or if he shall incommode the striker by any noise or motion, or if any part of his parson be over or before the wicket, the striker shall be ‘ not out,’ ex­ cepting under Laws 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30.” But according to Law 47, “ The umpire at the bowler’s wicket shall be appealed to before the other umpire in all cases, except in those of stumping ..................... or arising out of Law 42.” Also in the “ Decisions and Interpreta­ tions, authorised by the M.C.C.” there is a note to Law 47 as follows: “ When the umpire at the bowler’s wicket has given a batsman ‘ not out,’ the other umpire may answer any appeal within his juris­ diction.” Obviously an appeal might have baen made to the other umpire. H owev e r much the well wishers of Surrey may lament the ill-suacess of the County eleven, and the regret at their failure must be as wide as it is deep, there will be some solatium from a financial standpoint in the result from the gates generally throughout the season. As a