Cricket 1904

O ct . 2?, 1504. OUtCKET: A WEEKLY HECORD OF THE GAME. 441 As a result of the past season’smatches the debt of the Derbyshire County C.C. has been reduced from about £700 to £300. There was a notable increase in gate receipts, which amounted to £1122, aa against £700 last year. The Notts matchwas the most successful as far as receiptswere concerned, producing £216, but the Hampshire match (£182) was not far behind. From the Am erican Cricketer. We take this opportunityof expressingour regret, andevenmore so, our surprise, atthe lack of attendance at the Gentlemen v. Players match at Haverford, on September 3rd and 5th. Heretofore, tickets have been sold at the very small sum of twenty-five cents., but receipts have always been very small, andthisyearnoadmissionwas charged. Very few, indeed, outside of club members wereonhandeitherday, andthetotalabsence of the active cricketers of the eitywas very striking. Notwithstanding that the result was almost a foregone conclusion, it would seemthat some interest should be shown in theworkof our professionals. It isstated that theRev. F. H. Gilling­ ham, who as readers of Cricket will remember, has received an appointment as Army Chaplain, will be located at ColcbeBter, and that his services may still be available for Essex occasionally. In d ian cricketers came across a bad patch of weather in the middle of last month. The rain at Poona indeed was so continuous that it was impossible to make even a start in the return match betweenPoonaandBombayPresidencies, though three days (September 13tb, 14th and 15th) were allotted for the fixture. The complete absence of cricket was a great disappointment, as a large number of people had come up fromBombay for the match. H. H. C orn ish , who played for the Young Amateurs of Surrey a few years ago, as well as—if I remember rightly— once or twice for the County’s second eleven, has been bowling with a good deal of success in the States this year. In the final match for the Philadelphia Cup at Haverford on Stptember 10th and11th, betweenBelmont andMerion C team, he took six wickets for 52 runs. In the Philadelphia Cup averages for the Beason he comes out eleventh of the bowlers, having delivered 1,131 balls for 556 runs and 50 wickets, which gives an average of 11‘12. T h e GermantownClub of Philadelphia was making great preparations at the commencement of this month for its semi-centennial celebration, which wasto extend fromOctober 5th to 8th inclusive. In addition to a couple of cricket games inwhich the YeteranB and Juniors were to participate, an elevtn of the German­ town and Philadelphia clubs were to oppose an eleven selected frcm Merion and Belmont on the last two days; a tennis match with a cricketers’ dinner; a dinner, dance, quoits and lawn bowls, swimming exhibition, squash races and bowling contests, billiard and pool ex­ hibitions were also included in the pro­ gramme, which was to conclude on the eveningof the8thwithadinner, followed by a smoker and Vaudeville entertain­ ment. An y uncertainty about the coming of the Australian cricketers next season has been set at rest by the arrival of an official intimation from the other side. It has taken the form of a request to Mr. C. W . Alcock to arrange the fixtures as he has done now for many years, hence there need be no longer any doubt thatthetwelflhAustralianteamwillbethe great attraction of the English cricket season of 1905. The fact that Major Wardill is again in charge of affairs in Australia will be a sufficient proof, if any indeed were wanting, that thirgs will mature satisfactorily and expeditiously. A lr e a d y one hears of applications for fixtures from new cricket centres in differentparts of thekingdom, andindeed the difficulty apparently will be to keep the card within the bounds of the four months which practically represent the extent of the regular season. One thing is pretty well certain, thatthe Australian teamwill this time not come bythe long sea route as they have generally. They will leave home earlier than usual toplay a few matches in New Zealand in February en route for England, via America. They shouldbe due in London towards the end of April, as in all prob­ ability theywill playtheiropeningmatch in London in the first week of May. It ishardly necessary toremind Cricket readers that an arrangement was come to over here, when the invitation was sent by the Marylebone Club, whereby the fifth Test match he played to a finish if honours were equal at the end of the fourth game. As the International Board has the allocation of the different grounds for the Test matches, the pro­ gramme obviously cannot approach com­ pletion until the important question of wherethe fiveTestgames are to be played has been settled. As far as one canhear the Board can hardly meet till at the earliest the middle of next month. Among other enclosures offered for Test matches this time is the excellent ground at Cardiff onwhioh county matches are played. The accommodation there has been greatly increased even since the Australians played there three years ago, and the authorities, indeed, can point to the success of the August Bank Holiday match there in 1902 to showwhat the possibilities are for the collection of a big crowd. W h e th e r the Major will come him­ self with the team to England or not, to judge by what has appeared in some of the papers on the other side, would seem to be a little doubtful. On the other hand, as he is conductingthepreliminary negotiations in view of the forthcoming visit, it may be that there is still some small hopeof his accompanying theparty after all. He had been down a few months ago with a longish bout of influenza, lasting over seven weeks. In the early part of last month, he however, had got pretty well over it, and was in the thick of his work as secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club. T h e nett result of the match between Jockeys and Amateur Athletes, played at the Oval on September 26th, was a substantial addition of over a hundred and fifty pounds to the Abjl Testimonial Fund. For this handsome contribution “ The Guvnor ” has mainly to thank Messrs. W. Lotinga, the old amateur athlete, and Morny Cannon, who were jointly responsible, not only for the idea of the match, but also for the satis­ factory way iu which it was carried out. As a matter of fact the game proved such a success from every standpoint that it is already in contemplation to make it an annual fixture at the Oval, the proceeds, as this year, to go to some deserving cause in connection withsport. T h e fact that J. Darling has returned toAdelaide, apparently for a permanence, and hasalreadygot going inhisbest run- getting form suggests possibilities which may have to be reckoned with again in Australiancricket. J. D.’s first matchon his return to South Australia was for his new district, Sturt, against Bankville. Though playing on amatting wicket he got into his stride at once aud kept the fielders busily employed until he had registered 102. A t a meeting of the New South Wales Association, held inSydneyon September 20th, Messrs. G. P. Harlow, F. A. Ire­ dale and M. A. Noble were appointed selectors of teams forinter-state matches. With a viewto the discovery of bowling talent, Mr. Iredale moved that the advisability of sending a representative to country matches be considered, but the motion was lost. The balance sheet issued with the annual report showed a sumof £1,294 8s. 2d. to the credit of the Association. K. S. R a n jits in h ji played for Seven­ teen of Cambridge against an eleven brought by Tom Hayward, the Surrey professional, on September 24th on Parker’s Piece. He made 68, and his innings included no fewer than five fives and eight fours. S cen e : Railway station at Kingston- on-Thames. October. Two ladies. Enter boating gentleman in flannels, carrying a hamper. First Lady : “ Dear me ! I thought cricket was over for the season ! ” Second Lady: “ Well, it isn’t exactly. It’s over for the professionals, but a few others play a little later.” First Lady: “ Oh, of course, I knew th a t."