Cricket 1903

58 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A pril 9, 1903. almost always the case with a successful county, applications for a trial have been received from a very large number of colts. L a s t week, in a golf match at Cannes between the home team and the Liver­ pool Golf Club, G. W. Hillyard, the well- known old Leicestershire cricketer, de­ feated Harold Hilton, the famous golfer, who has been b)th amateur and open champion. W it h reference to the above, the follow­ ing notes on Mr. Hillyard’s career appear in the Sovereign. “ As a youngster he was in the Royal Navy, and distinguished himself iu rowing and swimming con­ tests. He was a ‘ middy ’ on the vessel which took the Pri ce of Wales and the late Duke of Clarence on their trip round the world. He gave up the sea and took to matrimony, his bride being Miss Bingley, the lady-champion of lawn tennis, and one of the best riders to hounds in the Leicestershire country. George Hillyard, as he is usually spoken of, played regularly ia the Leicester county cricket team and for the M.C.C. He is among the foremost lawn tennis players, and should have been Champion. He has several times competed for the amateur championship of golf, but hitherto without great success. Daring the week that he defeated Mr. Hilton at Cannes he won a ruby and diamond scirf pin, presented by the Grand Duchess of of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, for a lawn tennis handicap.” T h e r e will be some amusing develop­ ments if the proposed widening of the wicket becomes law on June 1st. For where on earth are the new stumps to come from in sufficient quantities to satisfy a hundredth part of the demand for them ? Stumps must be made of seasoned wood unless they are to smash up immediately after use, and seasoned wood is not prepared in a day. Manu­ facturers only keep a certain stock in hand ; it would never pay them to keep enormous quantities of seasoned wood on the ofl-chance that at some future time it might be useful. T h e following comments on the pro­ posed visit of a native Indian team to England by “ Major Max ” in the Indian Sporting Times will be read with interest over on this side :— “ Apart from these two players (K. S. Ranjitsinhji and K. S. Singh), the team would be a strong one, and should shape well against the weaker counties, I fancy a sur­ prise awaits English cricketers, and that the team will come through the tour with flying colours. Some of the critics appear doubtful as to the ability of Indian batsmen to with­ stand first-class bowling. It is possible that the batting of the team in the beginning of the tour may not rise to a very high standard, but after a few matches the team will hang well together, and will prove a most difficult side to dismiss. Mistri, Jayaram, Ahsan-ul- Hak, Meherhomji. Kanga (H. D.), and one or two others will, or I am very much mis­ taken, develop into batsmen of the very highest class before the tour is completed. The bowling, too, will not disappoint home batsmen, and there will be days when Mehta, Mistri Baloo, Ali Hasan and Co. will startle the cricket world by exceptional performances. There is too great a tendency to under-rate the strength of Native Indian cricket, and for this reason, if for no other, if it is only to show home cricketers that the game out here has progressed to a far greater extent than they suspect, it is high time that a represen­ tative team should follow the example of the South Africans and West Indians, and visit England. There should be no difficulty in raising the Bs. 38,000 required as a guarantee fund. If the Fiji Islanders are able and willing to open their purse strings to finance the visit of a team to England, a visit which, by the bye, no matter how hopefully the pro­ moters may regard it, cannot turn out a financial success, surely the Indian Princes will not be hesitant about lending their sup­ port to a movement which not only promises to be a financial success so far as the return of their money is concerned, but will elevate Indian cricket to a higher status in the cricket world. It would reflect everlasting discredit upon India were the present scheme to fall through for want of a guarantee fund of a couple of thousand pounds. There are thous­ ands of sportsmen who risk large sums on horse-racing, and out of this number I am convinced that some will be found who will not be backward in supporting the present movement.” T h e bowling staff at Lord’s for the coming season will consist o f :— Farrands Rylott Hearne, O. G. Wheeler Mycroft, T. Hearn, W. Hay Attewell, W. Burton Titchmarsh Chatterton West, J. E. Martin Pougher Rawlin Heame, A. Carlin Phillips Richardson "Whitehead Whiteside Bean, G. Needham Heirne, J. T. Geeson Board Mead Carpenter Storer Moss Attewell, T. West, W. A. J. Russell, T. Brown, T. Butt Pike Woodcock Huish, F. H. Wrath ill, H. Trott, A. E. Overton, W . Tate, E. Oates King. J. H. Cranfleld Yoong Cox Relf Thompson Atfield Humphries Murrell Smith Wainmight, Walter E iet Coleman Trott, F. Brauod Llewellyn T h e following is from the Australasian newspaper: — “ At a certain Western district cricket match, on Saturday last, the umpire at the bowler’s end was an ardent supporter of the in side, and his knowledge of football far exceeded his cricket learning. The wicketkeeper, having succeeded in taking a very pal­ pable catch, whilst standing close up, appealed to the individual in question, only to be met with the reply, ‘ Not o u t! because you were less than ten yards off.’ ” H a r r y T r o t t , erstwhile skipper of Victorian and Australian teams, is g.>ing very strongly again as a run getter. In the last four innings he had at the end of February he scored 216, 127,19, and 43, giving an aggregate of 404 and an average of 101. T h e Argentine Batting and Bowling Averages for the season of 1902-3 contain at least one performance out of the ordinary. For nineteen completed inn­ ings J. O. Anderson has an aggregate of 1,098 runs, and an average of 57-78. J. O. Anderson is an old Beifordian, and in a recent match for them against Buenos Aires scored 141 not out. A t the annual dinner of the Wanderers C.C., G. L. Jessop made a speech, in which he said that he was opposed to a change either in height or width of the wicket, and thought that the decrease in the size of the bat the most feasible course to pursue if any reforms were needed. Personally, he considered that the real requirement was an improvement in the general standard of the fielding. T h e membership of the Wanderers C.C. has risen from 68 in 1892 to 151. The limit of members has been fixed at 160. O n another page will be found a copy of the letter by P. F. Warner addressed to the president of the Canterbury Cricket Association with reference to the incident which occurred in the match between Lord Hawke’s team and Canterbury. M r. F. E. L a c s y has arrangel a new and interesting fixture for August Bank Holiday and following day at Lord’s in the shape of a match between M.C.C. and Ground and an Eleven of the Public Schools got up by Mr. W. J. Ford. M r . JerHsoN, everyone will be glad to hear, will captain the Surrey Eleven in their opening match against the London County C.C. at the Oval next Monday. Though he is returning to London on Saturday from Ventnor practically well again, Abel will not risk playing at this early date. The opportunity will be taken, I understand, to give a trial to two or three who did well for the Second Eleven last season. T h e possession of a new Cjunty ground, and in such a good position as Poole, should give the Dorsetshire County Club a stimulus which ought to produce increased support. The ground at Poole Park, which has been relaid by Martin, the caretaker of the Hampshire ground at Southampton, will be opened on May 25th. Theic neighbours of Hamp­ shire will be the opponents of the men of Dorset on that occasion. So far Victoria and South Australia have met on thirty-five occasions with a useful advantage of twenty-two victories to Victoria against thirteen to South Australia. In the thirty-five matches Victoria has secured 15,000 runs for 674 wickets (average per wicket, 26,1 3 ); South Australia, 13,849 runs for 677 wickets (average per wicket, 24*00).