Cricket 1904

26 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. F eb . 25, 1904. the benefit of his health, has been making the ball hum in Natal during the last month or so. Playing for the Wanderers against the Australians at Durban early in January, he made 75 of the 122 put on for the last five wickets, besides taking four wickets for 52 runs. On January 20th at Dundee he was as successful with the bat, scoring 71 out of a total of 119 b y the Durban Nomads against the local Club. A pro po s of Hugh Trumble’s re­ appearance in first-class cricket, one may, perhaps with advantage, recall the follow ing lines which, if old, are as far as I know new to Cricket. When the running batsmen stumble, Or at one another mumble ; Perhaps the fieldsmen make a fumble, And the crowd begin to grumble. But when the crowd begin to grumble, See their wickets quickly tumble, As the ball comes with a rumble, Till the stumps are in a jumble, Then the bowler’s Hughie Trumble. K . G. M c L e o d , the Fettes three- quarter and younger brother of R . M . M cLeod, the Cambridge Rugby “ Blue,” who is spotted as likely to get his Inter­ national Cap for Scotland against England at Edinburgh next month, had also an excellent record in Public School Cricket last year. W ith L. M . he put on 167 runs against Loretto, and indeed it was the brothers’ partnership which mainly accounted for the victory Fettes won over their great rivals. As stated in last month’s “ Gossip,” another team from Haverford College will visit England during the summer and play matches against the leading English schools. That the Haverfordians are resolved to deserve success, even if they do not gain it, is evident from the fact that the forty-six candidates who have been chosen to try for places in the team, commenced winter practice in earnest on the 1 st inst., under the watch­ ful eye of the well-known coach, George W ooley, of Nottingham. That the team will be a strong one may be taken for granted, for as many as ten of last year’s regular eleven will be available for selection, including the Captain, C. C. Morris, who played an innings of 164 for the Philadelphians against N otting­ hamshire last season. Before leaving for England, in mid-June, the team will take part in the intercollegiate games, and will play Cornell at Ithaca, and Harvard and Pennsylvania at Home. T he Gentlemen of Ireland are anxious to pay America a visit this year, and are at the present time in communication with the Associated Cricket Clubs of Philadelphia on the subject. They have proposed a plan that would be quite an innovation, and that is to play matches with all of the Halifax Cup elevens, and also with teams in neighbouring cities, such as New York, Baltimore, &c. This would necessitate a trip of about six weeks on the other side, and as, accord­ in g to The American Cricketer, it is doubtful if such matches would attract much of a “ gate,” it is hardly likely that the plan will be carried out. It is quite possible, however, that an Irish eleven may visit the States next fall under some other arrangement. T h e fact that the “ G.G.B. Cricketers’ Diary and Companion ” is in its thir­ teenth year is conclusive proof that the handy little compendium published by G. G. Bussey and Co., of 36, Queen Victoria Street, is appreciated. Present­ in g as it does a reliable summary of the past year accompanied by a large array of figures with, in addition, a diary giving space for the inclusion of engage­ ments for the com ing season, it serves a double purpose which makes it of the greatest value to cricketers of all classes. Its size— it can be easily got into one’s waistcoat pocket—renders it particularly useful for purposes of reference. “ J a c k ” M a r s h , the aboriginal bowler who performed with success against the English team at Bathurst last week, is a member of the Sydney club. In three consecutive seasons for that club he bowled 503 5 overs, 124 maidens, for 1663 runs and 150 wickets, average l l -87. Several good judges have not hesitated to describe him as the best bowler in Australia. The dubious character of his delivery, however, has prevented him getting the trial he other­ wise would, in all probability, have had in the higher Australian cricket. F in a l proof-sheets of the “ H istory of Yorkshire Cricket ” are now in the hands o f the printers, and copies will probably be on sale before the end of March. The work is edited by the Rev. R. S. Holmes — one of the pleasantest of cricket gossips, as numberless readers of this column cm attest—and will be published by Messrs. Constable, of Westminster. A feature of the book w ill be a statistical survey of the performances in county cricket of all players who have ever appeared for Yorkshire. The statistics occupy eighty pages and are the work of Mr. F . S. A sh------ but you know the rest. Mr. J. D . B e t h a m , of Beamsmoor, Sedbergh, writes under date of February 16th :— “ Y ou may consider it interesting to insert in Cricket a notice of the death of an old University cricketer, one of the few remaining links with the thirties. Although he died nearly a year ago, I have only just learnt it and it has not been recorded in “ Wisden ” or any other cricketing paper. F. E . L on g was born August 14th, 1815, educated at Eton, where he was in the elevens of 1833-35 ; was subsequently in the Cambridge eleven of 1836, a contemporary with “ K. J. P. Broughton,” who is now the sole survivor. Elected a Fellow of K in g’ s College, he had been at the time of his death—April 8 th, 1903 — Rector of Woodton, near Bungay, N or­ folk, since 1875. W o r c e st e r sh ir e cricketers were hardly likely to overlook the devotion P . H. Foley has shown to bring the county to the forefront of first-class cricket when opportunity arose. Their gratitude recently took the concrete form of a handsome wedding present on the occasion of his marriage to Miss Dora Langley, of Stoke Edith, on the 9th inst. In expressing his grateful appreciation of the members’ good will, Worcester­ shire’s hon. secretary said: “ The way in which they back one up is a great incentive to go on working at it until the time comes, which I hope is not far distant, when we may find the county at the top of the list.” A t a recent meeting of the Committee of the Yorkshire C.C. it was decided to support the suggestion of theMarylebone Club for the formation of an advisory County Cricket Board. John Tunnicliffe attended the meeting, and the chairman (Lord Hawke) handed to him a third of his benefit, which altogether realised £1,762 19s. 6 d. It was decided to issue for George H irst’s benefit tickets at Is. each, to admit to the sixpanny pirts for the three days of the match. F o llo w in g the example of our cricket chroniclers over heie, Australian critics have been exercising their minds over the question of protectirg the -wicket from the rain which seems to have been quite out of the ordinary in Australia this winter. From one of them we learn that at Sydney the wicket is never pro­ tected, at Melbourne it is until the morn­ ing of the first day, at Adelaide the ground authorities claim that the ground is under their control until 12 o’clock of the opening day, and it is covered until then. This is how “ Short Slip,” of the Sydney Mail, discusses the question :— Some “ constant readers ” suggest that the wicket should be covered every night and that a canvas awning he wheeled on to the pitch every time an adjournment is necessary through rain. I certainly think it fairer to protect the wicket on every opportunity or to leave it alone, than to follow the Adelaide or the Melbourne rule, which provides the side winning the toss with a good wicket to start on for a certainty. Rather than have one side benefited by artificial means, I would prefer to have everything chanced to luck. In the latter case the match might be played out under even wicket conditions. It would probably be found impracticable in showery weather to place a covering over the wicket during the progress of a match. The matter has been discussed for many years and still there is nothing done. Those people who advocate protection state that it seems absurd to take days over the preparation of the wicket, and then leave it so that half-an- hour’s rain might ruin the match. Others think that the legislation should not always lean towards the batsman, that the bowler who bears the heat and burden of the day should sometimes have some of the good things that are going round. A propos of the fine stand by Hayward and Mr. Warner in the second innings of the M.C.C. team in the third test match at Adelaide, the follow ing list, showing