Cricket 1903

90 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A p r il 23, 1903. lowed b y the Warwick (July 20th to 25th), Devon (August 14th to 27th), and South Coast (August 14th to 22nd), tours. The last match on the list of out matches is on August 29ih against Worthing. T he Belgrave C.C. was disbanded at a recent meeting as a club with a home, but it is not at all unlikely that it w ill be reorganised and become a wandering club. I n a skit on the free register for country produce instituted b y a weekly paper, Punch has the follow ing : — P rodu ce to se l l . Mr. C. B. Fry, Sussex County Cricket Club, Brighton, may possibly have ducks’ eggs to dispose of during the summer. A t the present moment, when the weather is beastly, it is not altogether cheerful to read in the Daily Telegraph :— “ What the future will give us it is very difficult to say, for the pressure changes are remarkably complex. For ourselves, the dominating factor appears to be that the disturbances in the south-west are not very serious. Less settled weather is beyond doubt in prospect, but the very slow and unsteady fall of the barometer, coupled with the fact that in the north there are signs of an increase of pressure, makes it probable that in the southern counties the weather will remain fair for the present.” T h e Wanderers, fortunate in still having Stanley Colman as their team collector, have a stiffish opposition to face in Bickley Park for their opening match, which is on Saturday of next week. Tbe Wanderers, who as their name implies, have no ground, can place a very strong side in the field when all their best regular members are available. They play the game, too, in no dilettante style, but with a keenness which is often conspicuous rather by its absence in club cricket. Ih e Wanderers’ match list will be found in another place. It ends as usual with a tour in Kent and Sussex. This year the five matches are against Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, Canterbury, Devonshire Park and Eastbourne. T he Belsize Club has secured a fourteen years’ lease of ground at Neasden from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and the new pavilion is to be opened on Saturday next b y Mrs. Seaman Buckingham. Seventy-five matches have been arranged with a week from June 15th to the 20th, and a Sussex tour from July 13th to 18th. Under the captaincy of Seaman Bucking­ ham the club bids fair to have a |very prosperous season. The membership has now reached a hundred and fifty, and as the ground is in excellent condition there is every reason to believe that the wickets will be equal to the best in north London. T h e follow ing is from another Gossiper, Shortslip of the Sydney Mail to w it:— The Hon. J. H. Carruthers, leader of the Opposition, told me an amusing incident the other day. He had a dog which he had trained to field, and one Saturday afternoon took him for a walk to the Domain, where University were playing Carlton. The last two men of Carlton were in, and there were 14 runs to get to win. A stroke sent the ball to the dog, who picked it up and bolted with it. An extraordinary scene followed. All the fieldsmen chased the dog, but they had no hope of catching him, and in time the required runs were obtained. There was a big dispute over the matter. University referred the question to the New South Wales Cricket Association, and the point was decided in favour of Carlton. Mr. Carruthers tells another story about his dog. He was practising football, and when running with the ball was tackled by an opponent. The dog, which to this point was a spectator, evidently thought that there was something unfair about the tackle, so he proceeded to tackle his master’s adversary. The latter’s amazement on being collared by the seat of the pants by the dog may be easily imagined, while the laughter of the spectators was loud and long. The risibility of Mr. Carruthers was too much aroused for him to take advantage of the opportunity thrown in his way by his dog. T he same writer pays a high tribute to George Giffen’s brilliant performance, which may well be reproduced h ere:— The finest performance put up in inter­ state matches perhaps since they commenced was George Giffen’s 81 and 97 not out, and seven for 75 and eight for 110—178 for once out, and fifteen wickets for 185. And this is the man who was considered two or three years ago to have shot his bolt. This was a performance worthy of the great exponent of cricket that he is. It was magnificent. Yet he got to within measurable distance of establishing a much more splendid record. Nineteen rues more in the first innings and three in the second would have given him two centuries for the match—a feat yet unperformed by an Australian batsman in Australia in first-class cricket. Another 36 runs on to the aggregate would have won a grand match for South Australia, and this would have been a record finish. He will be forty-four on the 27th of this month and he has been before the cricket public twenty-six years. I have often expressed the opinion in these columns that George Giffen was a much ill-used man. He fought for the benefit of others and was himself “ left.” T he follow ing are the results of matches played b y Lord Hawke’s Team in New Z ealand:— Auckland, won by an innings and 129 runs. South Taranaki XV]TI., won by 9 wickets. North Taranaki XVIU ., won by an innings and 102 runs. Wanganni XV ., won by 8 wickets. Manawatti XV III., won by an innings and 130 runs. Hawte’s Bay XV., won by an innings and 193 runs. W ellington, won by 10 wickets. Wairarapa X X II.. won by an innings and 81 runs. Marlborough XX II., won by 9 wickets. Nelson XV lII.. won by an ionings and 80 runs. Westland X X II., won by 5 wicketB. Canterbury, won by 133 runs. Otago, won by an innings and 230 runs. Southland XV ., won by 7 wickets. South Island, won by an innings and 132 runs. South Canterbury, won by 122 runs. New Zealand (1), won by 7 wickets. New Zealand (2), won by an innings and 22 runs. M b . P . F. W arner and the other members of Lord Hawke’s team were met on their arrival at Melbourne on March 11th by Mr. E. Murchison (the president), Mr. J . McLaughlin (vice­ president), Major Wardill (the secretary) and some committee men of the Mel­ bourne Club. On the follow ing day they were publicly welcomed by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne in the Town Hall. Mr. Warner, in response to the toast of the health of the team, expressed the pleasure he and his comrades felt at having had the opportunity of visiting Australia. Ma. W. H. G r e s f e l l , M .P., speaking at Slough the other day, siid he would not be able to get together a cricket eleven of legislators this season, as they were so much occupied by multifarious duties in the House of Cjmmons. Re­ ferring to the last match at Slough, Mr. Grenfell said he wished to publicly ex­ press his gratitude to the gale of wind which blew while the legislators were at the wickets, and which carried the ball beyond the reach of the fielders. With­ out that assistance the team would have come off second best. The M .P .’s hit bloom ing high, bloom ing hard, and blooming often. (Laughter.) A c r ic k e t season without a Parlia­ mentary eleven in the field can only be a very poor thing. Y et one cannot but pay homage to the stern devotion the cricketers show, and the splendid example they sat to the non-sporting — I had almost said common or garden members of the legislature to the public interests. A t the monthly meeting of the New South Wales Association held in Sydney on March 16th, a resolution against the proposal of the M .C.C. to widen the wicket was carried unanimously. The question of the next visit of Australian cricketers to England was also opened by the follow ing proposition of F. A. Ired ale:— “ That when the opportune time arrived this association should take the initiatory steps to send home the next Australian Eleven under its auspices.” “ The associa­ tion had,” so said F. A. I., “ in the past been backward in this matter,and,while he had no fault to find with the Melbourne C.C. orits officers, he did not see why the New South Wales Cricket Association should not assert itself.” The resolution was seconded, but subsequently amended to read as follows, and carried : ‘ ‘ That when the opportune time arrives this association should take the neces­ sary steps to invite the co-operation of the Victoria Cricket Association and the South Australian Cricket Association in sending home the next Australian Eleven.” T h e Ealing Club holds its annual dinner in the pavilion on the cricket ground next Saturday evening. E n q u ir ie s in many different quarters where information in ordinary circum­ stances would have been forthcom ing have failed to elicit any definite reply to the question how the members of Lord Hawke’s team are returning home. One knows that they are com ing back b y the Suez canal and not by the Canadian Pacific route as was originally intended, but that is all. The general impression is that they are on board the Orient