Cricket 1903

A p r i l 23, 1903. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 87 replied, the bowling should be better, more cunning, more artful. The bowler has to get us out.” The bowler is to be more artful and clever, and the athletic batsman is to stand there with his “ soft willow ” playing the ball on the perfect wicket. We have all watched the process, but we “ don’t love it.” Some say the wider wicket will not alter this. They may be right, but at least the batsman will have to protect another inch, which no doubt the bowlers will make good use of. If by the change batsmen are compelled to realize the necessity of getting to the work of r jn-g( t ing almost immediately, in consequence of the increased risk of trying to protect a wider wicket for any length of time, the game should at once become faster, more delightful, and reveal greater ability, if not genius. If the wider wicket make cricket brighter, faster and even more popular than it now is, the sooner we have it the better. Yours faithfully, G. H il l y a r d S w in s t e a d . Atelier, Kidderpore Avenue, West Hampstead. To the Editor of C ricket . H aigh akd T urner . D far S ir ,—In your issue of the 29th January, Mr. Alfred D. Taylor writes re the number cf wickets clean bowled by Haigh in his 158 wickets captured last season, and compares this to 0. T. B. Turner’s performances, who, be says, “ had the reputation of hitting the sticks on more occasions than any other cricketer.” If Mr. Taylor is speaking of Turner’s bowling in England, I am not in a poeition to speak, but eo far as his Australian career ij concerned, such a reputation is not borne out by facts, as the records show :— Pfrcentage of clean bowled to the number of wickets captured. .......... 64-81 \ ......... 61*00 f In all iater-state and ......... 69 58 ( English XI. matches ......... 67-69 J r7.Q7 j In all Australian .......... 57 61 ( X I. matches. j In all inter-state and ......... 40 uy \ EDg ieh X I. matches It is a curious coincidence that the number of wickets taken by Turner for New South Wales against Yictoria and South Australia should total 158, and how they were captured compares as follows with Haigh’s:— Percentage of clean t , . . b o c & b 8T l b w bow led .................ire . 118 . 25 .. 2 .1 .. 12 ... 74.68 ■Turner O .T.B .... 188... 62...76... 6 . 4 .. 11 ... 50 59 Yours faithfully, R. H. C ampbell . 388, Albert Street, E. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. March 18th, 1903. Bowler. Palmer, G. E. Howell, W . P. Spofforth, F. K. Jones, E........... Richardson, T. Turner, C. T. B. DARK GREEN CLOTH COVERS for finding Vol. X X I. of Cricket , Now Ready. 1 rice 2 /-; Post Free, 2/3. Volumes can he Bound at our Offices or exchanged for Volumes for 5 /-.—Cricket Offices, 168, Upper Thames Street, London, E.C. O B IT U A R Y . Mr. J. D. Betham writes from Sed- bergh :—“ The Rev. A. H. Hore, who died suddenly on April 7th at his residence in Cheltenham in his 74th year, was a member of the Oxford Eleven of 1851. Educated at Tonbridge and Trinity College, Oxford, he was ordained in 1854 by Dr. Henry Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter, to the curacy of Plvmpton St. Mary, Devon, which he held till 1857. Ia 1861 he was appointed a chaplain to the Forces, returning in 1874, and was the author of the following well-known work s o n Church history: ‘ ‘ Church and No Church,” “ Eighteen Centuries of the Church in England,” “ The Church in England from William III. to Victoria,” “ History of the Church of England for Schools and Families.” T H E IN D I A N C R IC K E T T E A M G U A R A N T E E F U N D . The promoters of the scheme to send a representative team of Parsee, Hindu and Mahommedan cricketers to England next year have reason to be gratified at the progress made so far. Over a month ago, when it was decided by the com­ mittee to raise a guarantee fund, we ventured to predict that the sporting native princes and local patrons of cricket would not be slow in responding to the committee’s appeal. The result of the latter body’s efforts up-to-date more than justify the views expressed in these columns when the project was first mooted, and it gives us great pleasure to announce that Mr. J. N. Tata intends to give anything between three and five thousand rupees towards the guarantee fund, and will also subscribe liberally. Sir Dinshaw Petit and Mr. Bomanjee Petit have likewise promised to give handsome sums towards the guarantee fund, the exact amount to be announced later on. Numerous other gentlemen in Bombay who have been approached on the subject by the sub-committee will no doubt in due course follow the excellent lead of Mr. Tata, Sir Dinshaw Petit, and Mr. Bomanjee Petit, and in a few months the committee ought to be in a position to report that the guarantee fund of Rs, 35,000 has been raised. We hear on reliable authority that a large sum, prob­ ably amounting to Rs, 10,000 will be forthcoming in the shape of a subscription from a well-known native ruler, while it is expected that subscriptions amount­ ing to £300 will 1>3 raised in England. £100 each from Yorkshire, Lancashire, Surrey, and the M.C.C., irrespective of the team’s share of the gate receipts, may, according to a well-known home authority, be calculated upon, while from the same authority we learn that if the summer turns out fine, and the cricket of the team favourably impresses the cricket-loving public in England, sub­ subscriptions and gate receipts should realise anything between £1,700 and £2,200. From this it will be seen that the prospects of the tour, looked at from a financial standpoint, are vey hopeful— a fact which will, no doubt, carry cou- siderable weight with intending sub­ scribers to the guarantee fund, who, judging from the present aspect of things, will incur little or no risk. Everything promises favourably for the projected visit, and not the least en­ couraging sign is the interest with which it is being regarded in England where such powerful patrons as Lord Harris, Lord Hawke, Mr. K. J. Key, Mr. C. vv. Alcock, Mr. F. E. Lacey, and many others have promised their co-operation. A N I N D E X TO “ SCORE S A N D B IO G R A P H I E S .” * T h e fortunate possessors of the well- known Scores and Biographies, for whose compilation cricketers are indebted to Mr. Arthur Haygarth, have long felt that an up-to-date index would be a great boon. They will find that this index to all the first- class matches con­ tained in the volumes will be of the greatest help to them, for, in a clear and convenient form, it brings the chief con­ tents of each volume clearly and promptly before the eye. The book also includes an index to 229 biographies given in Volume 14, the biographies in the first thirteen volumes having been published previously by Mr. A. L. Ford. The book is published by Mr. Payne himself, and is to be obtained direct from him at 64, Franklin Road, Harrogate, the price being 4s. (boards), and 3s. (paper cover). In the course of his preface Mr. Payne says, “ I feel that no apology is needed for the production of this volume, and I hope that the method adopted will prove acceptable. In 1885 Mr. A. L. Ford rendered signal service to cricket litera­ ture by indexing the biographies con­ tained in the thirteen volumes of Scores and Biographies published up to that time, but no attempt has so far been made to deal similarly with the vast collection of matches. Hitherto, in fact, the reader has been able to do little more than indulge in an indiscriminate ramble through fourteen volumes of some 700 pages each, with the occasional assistance of ‘ Wisden ’ or ‘ Lillywhite ’ acting as a friendly sign-post to some particular match of which he may be in quest. I had practical experience of this some years ago when writing ‘ Chronicles of the Counties ’ for the Cricket Field, the want of some means of reference to the ‘ scores ’ entailing an immense amount of labour. The obvious need of a match index is therefore my plea for venturing to set this little volume on its legs, though other avocations have necessitated my comprising its scope, roughly speak­ speaking, to matches, which, with a literal interpretation of the term, I have dubbed first-class.” * Index to all first-clasa matches in Scores and Biographies, Vol. i.-xiv., 1748-1878. With the approval of the Marylebone Club. Compiled by J. B. Payne, 64, Franklin Road, Harrogate.