Cricket 1904

12 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J an . 28, 1904. of £296 7s. in a total revenue of £2,663 3s. Gate receipts came to £ 1 ,5 5 1 10s. and match expenses to £1,999, a deficiency of £448. Other expenses were £ 686 , the Cost of the ground staff, £106 talent money, £100 to Mr. A. O. Jones as a wedding present, and £300 to W illiam Gunn as his share of the “ g a te” at the Whitsuntide match v. Surrey, the total receipts from which match were £707 10s. N o other match at Trent Bridge during the season brought in more than £ 122 , this sum being taken a t the Lancashire match. There are very nearly 2,000 subscribers now to the County Club and the total subscription in 1903 was £2,109 12s. 6 i . In connec­ tion with the extension of the ground and improvements account there is a balance due to the bank of £3,422, the amount due last year of £3,261 having been reduced b y £1,128 14s. transferred from the donation account. F, J. H o p k in s has been appointed head groundman at the County Cricket Ground, Southampton. Hopkins made a sensational appearance for Warwickshire some seasons ago. He was very successful as a bowler, but was no-balled because of his action. Last season he took 178 wickets in Birmingham club cricket. I n c l u d in g the money taken from the grand stands, the gate receipts in the first test match at Sydney amounted to £4,250, which is a record for Australia. A SPECIAL general meeting of the Essex County C.C. will be held at the Great Eastern Hotel, Liverpool Street, E .C. (Bishopsgate Street entrance), to­ day (Thursday), January 28lh, at 4.30 p.m . Agenda : 1. To receive the report of the special committee appointed at the special general meeting on November 10th, 1903. 2. New rules. In the forthcoming cricket book on Yorkshire the names of all players who have ever appeared for the county (1833- 1903) will be given in alphabetical order. A special table w ill ba devoted to the wicket-keepers’ doings. The price of the book will be 5s., and 5,000 copies will be published. It will probably be out in March, and w ill be printed in Leeds, and sold by Constable and Co., of Westminster. Size, post 8 vo. The cover will be a rich dark blue, with a white rose on it—the colours of the club. There will be about 20 full-paged illustrations. The follow ing English schools and colleges have requested Haverford College, U .S., to bring a team to England this year :—Eton, Harrow, Winchester, Eugby, Marlborough, Clifton, Chelten­ ham, Repton, Malvern, Charterhouse, Haileybury and Shrewsbury. J o h n W is d e n ’ s “ Cricketers’ N ote­ book,” edited by Mr. P. S. Ashley Cooper, still continues to be popular. In addition to the calendar and the list of matches for 1904, it contains all sorts of very useful records and notes on the play during the past season, while a special article on “ Missed Catches ” will be found of great interest. A long table has been drawn up dealing with the three-figure matches of 1903, showing at what totals the scores of the players were standing, when unaccepted chances were offered. Altogether a most useful little book. F o r Metropolitan v. County, at Bris­ bane, on November 6 th, Henry, the aboriginal fast bowler, took four wickets with successive balls in the second innings. In the same innings, a bowler named Armstrong took three wickets with successive balls. I n a match at Brisbane between Milton and St. Mary’s Gordon, the former team had to make 155 to win in an hour and a quarter, and won the match just on the stroke of time. The Brisbane Journal thus describes their effort: — “ The Miltons girded themselves, drew deep breaths, and set their teeth for the task. They banged right and left, high and far, and achieved a victory, due to sheer vigour and determination. One can just imagine the feelings within the breast of a cricketer as he feels he’s winning under these circumstances.” Mb. J. B. C h a l l e n , the old Somerset­ shire cricketer, is a member of the Barnstaple Amateur Orchestral Society. A few days ago he made a great hit both at the Barnstaple Theatre and the Alexandra Hall at Ilfracombe, as the Duke of Plazi-Toro, in “ The Gondoliers.” D r . E. M . G race was once more to the front last year in the bow ling averages of the Thornbury C .C . His record for the season was 41 innings, 213 wickets, 1886 runs— average per wicket 8.182. In batting he had an average of 18, with a highest score of 68 . H is complete record in all matches since he began to play cricket is 10,815 wickets and 75,217 runs. W it h reference to the Thornbury C.C. the Western Daily Press says : This is the 35th season that this club has played at the Ship Inn, Alveston, and it is perfectly unique as regards its management. For close upon twenty years there has not been an annual, or even a committee, meeting, and, more remarkable than anything else is that in 1874 it was the same secretary and treasurer as now, the president, and committee of nine members—four at £1 a year subscrip­ tion, three at 10s., and two at Ss.—making up an eleven, every one of whom, we are glad to say, is alive at the present moment. A n o t h e r individual score of over 200 in India has to be chronicled. Playing for Punjab v. North West Frontier Province, at Lahore, on December 28th, 29th, and 30th, G. H . Cookson (60th Rifles) made 2 and 205. The total scores were Punjab 135 and 375, North West Frontier Province 300 and 166. Captain C. E. Bateman Champain (5th Gurkhas) played a fine first innings of 77 for the N .W .F .P . T h o u g h it was to cricketers of the island a case of the unexpected happen­ ing, the visit of the Madras team to Ceylon seems to have been pretty well a success for them all along the line. Altogether, the cricketers from Madras seem to have had a good time of it off as well as on the cricket field and they are not likely to forget the hospitable recep­ tion they met everywhere, more especially from the planters on the occasion of their up-country trip. In rowing, Ceylon more than held its own, but that was the only failure of the Madras players, who were far too much for the islanders at hockey as well as cricket. “ F b l i x ” in the Australasian pays a well merited tribute to the all-round cricket of P. G. McShane, the well-known player who died on the 11 th of last month in Melbourne. A strong, if not stylish bat, he did splendid service for Victoria in Inter-State and International matches for a number of years. H e was also in the front rank of footballers, and indeed was a fine all-round athlete, being first-rate both as a runner and jumper. While engaged as curator to the St. Kilda Club he had to be removed to Kew Asylum suffering from a mental ailment, and though he was ab'e to be’ removed temporarily, a relaps9 occurred from which he never recovered. He was in his forty-sixth year. T h e Inter-state matches between New South Wales and South Australia have been as a rule fruitful of high scoring, those of later date in particular. Oa ten occasions New South Wales have exc >eded 400 runs in their first innings—six of them in the last seven matches. The totals range from 918 downwards and touch 807, 681, 624, 545, 472, 438, 428, 420 and 406. South Australia has scored 400 or more on half-a-dozan occasions, with 576 as the highest effort. The others are 483, 469, 442, 412 and 400, although 335 for four wickets deserves a mention among the big totals. T h e Committee o f the Marylebone Club, feeling that with the old County Cricket Council defunct, and in the absence of any recognised body at the present time hardly as closely in touch with County cricket as they would wish, have approached the first-class Counties with a view to the formation of an advisory committee representing County cricket which the M .C.C. may consult as occasion requires. The proposal is that each first-class county shall have a repre­ sentative, with, as a chairman, the presi­ dent of the M .C.C., or a member of the M.C.C. committee. The meetings to be held at Lord’s, with the secretary of M.C.C. as secretary, it is suggested shall be called at the instance of M .C.C. or five counties at not less than a fortnight’s notice.