Cricket 1904

458 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. Nov. 24, 1904. A t the annual meeting of the York­ shire County C.C. it was announced that the proceeds of the benefit given to George Hirst last summer amounted to £3,703 2s., of which, according to their usual custom, the committeehadinvested about two-thirds, viz., £2,500, on behalf of Hirst, who received a cheque for the remaining amount, £1,203 2s. A t the above meeting the committee decided that 40 per cent, of the net pro­ ceeds of the Australian matches played in Yorkshire next year should go to the county funds, and the remaining 60 per cent, to the Bradford, Sheffield and Leeds Clubs, on whose grounds the matches would take place. Next year Bothery is to assist the Harrogate C.C., audRudstone theHull C.C. LordHawke was re-elected as president of the county cricket club. I n the course of a speech at the meet­ ing Lord Hawke referred as follows to an attack which had been made upon the county club at the recent annual meeting of the Bradford Club. He said that he thought the members of the club had taken a very inopportune time for such an attack. The county matches played at Bradford this year had cost the county £188 3s., and if the percentage paid to the club—a percentage, by the way, which was perfectly satisfactory to other clubs in the county— had been greater the loss to thecountywould have been greater also. It was said the cur­ tailing of the member’s privileges had cost the Bradford Club 200 half-guinea members, but if the county curtailed the privileges they could not allow them to stand at Bradford, and so far from the county getting any of the Bradford membership, there had actually been a decrease of the Bradford membership on the county club. In 1903 the Bradford Club received £900 from the county, and he thought the attack upon the county came with ill-grace from a club for which Yorkshire had done so much in the past and were wishful to do much in the future. T h b Yorkshire committee has made a grant of £250 to Lees Whitehead in place of a benefit match. This amount, together with the sum set aside by the committee out of bis winter pay, will produce about £400 for Whitehead. T he following dates for matches at Lord’s in 1905 have been arranged:— Oxford v. Cambridge, July 6th, 7th, 8th ; Gentlemen v. Players, July 10th, 11th, 12th; and Eton v. Harrow, July 14th and 15th. ONWednesday,November16th,Victoria beat South Australia by nine wickets at Adelaide. South Australia made 247 in the first innings, of which Clement Hill claimed 111 not out, and 210 in the second innings, Hill again being chief scorer with 67. Victoria made 437, and 21 for one wicket. In the first innings Frank Laver scored 164. F r o m the Am erican Crickiter : — “ After anumber of seasons of inactivity, cricket took quite a boom in Pittsburg in 1903, and the season just ended speaks for itself. Unfortunately, l’ittslurg is geo­ graphically situated in such a locationthat it is veryhard to arrange matches at home ■withclubs from other cities; consequently, nearlyall thegameshave tobeplayedonthe grounds of their opponents. But it hasbeen planned to hold a cricket tournament next summer inPittsburg, to include as many of the Western teams as can make arrange­ ments to be entertained during a week. Pittsburg can boast of one of the finest cricket grounds inthe country, withawicket second to none; but in order to play two matches at one time during the proposed tournament, steps are alreadybeing takento lay a first-class wicket intheadjoining field, whichis atpresentbeingusedby themembers for golf. It is alsopart of the arrangements to invite a Philadelphia eleven to play a picked teamfromall theWestern, andprob­ ably Canadian clubs, during the last two days of this great cricket festival.” T he Christmas number of C. B. Fry’s Magazine is full of goodthings, although it does not appeal directly to cricketers as cricketers. The most interesting article is by C. B. Fry himself, and is entitled “ The Story of the Cjrinthians,” the famous football club for which so many well-known cricketershave played, includiugC. B.Fry, G. Brann, H.B.Daft, S. H. Day, G. O. Smith, L. H. Gay, and B. E. Foster. There is an amusing little note iu an article on “ Outdoor Dress” as follows:—“ It is about that period when we first begin to take an interest in what a friend of mine calls 1a cricketer’s moustache,’ because it con­ sists of eleven hairs eachside.” T h e experiment of playing county matches at Bath has proved so success­ ful that the Somerset County committee have arranged that, in 19U5, in addition to three county matches, the Australian match shall be played there. A condi­ tion is made that the Bith C.C. com­ mittee shall find 250 subscribers instead of 150. ------ I t has been arranged thattheAmateur teamwhich is to play in the West Indies this winter will leave England on December 31st, to arrive in Jamaica about January 11th. It is anticipated that the players will be back again in England at the begiuning of May. Matches will be played in Jamaica, Barbados, St. Lucia, Demerara, St. Vin­ cent, Granada and Trinidad. T h e Natal Cricket Union, at its annual meeting, entered a protest against the presen'ation of caps out of the South African Cricket Association funds to the members of the team which went to England. Thereasongivenforthisprotest was that the visit was a private one—a reasonwhichseems somewhat inadequate. In connection with the Currie Cup matches played by Natal, it was decided at the above meeting that a selection committee of three should be formed, one for each district; that players who are chosen should have at least ten days’ notice beforethematch ; that, if possible, first-class train fares and total charges should be allowed to players, and that the formation of a special entertainment fund at Durban would be advisable. From the Madras T im es :— Shouldthe Oxford UniversityAuthentics, orany other first-class t*am decide to visit India in the course of the next few years, their tour through the country would, I imagine, be more eventful. Since the iast visit of the Authentics, Indian cricket has beenstrengthenedby thearrival of anumber of cricketerswho, by reason of their partici­ pation in county cricket or in matches for the Universities, M.C.C., and London County, are entitled to be considered first- class. It will be remembered that on the occasion of the last visit of theAuthentics, hardlyany of the large cricket centreswere able to put representativeteams in the field fromavarietyofcauses.... Asecondinvasion of an English team would, however, find India better prepared, and, as far as the batting is concerned, a tfam representative of the pickof European cricketerswouldbe little if anything inferior to an ordinary countyeleven. S om e well-known cricketers toik part in the football match at Luilgrove (New Barnet) between the Ludsfrove Master’s XI. and Cambridge Uuiversity <n November 9th. Am<ng them were S. H. Day, R. P. Keigwin, P. R. May, C. D. Mclver, L. J. Moon, and G. O. Smith. T h e death is announced of Mr. E. J. Sanders, a vice-president of the Devon County C.C., and an old cricketer, in his fifty-third year. Mr. Sanderstwice went *o the United States as a member of an English touring team. It is anticipated that a Canadian team will pay a visit to the West Indies next summer, and that (as previously stated in Cricket) aWest Indian team will visit England in 1906. I t must have come as a great surprise to most cricketers when the announce­ ment was made in the newspapers that the Yorkshire balance sheet shows a loss on the past season. The income was £8,195 9s., and the expenditure £8,748 17s. 6d., leaving a loss of £588 8a. 6d. Exclusiveof Hirst’sbenefit match, the takings at thevariousgrounds wereasfollows:—Sheffield£1,704 4s. lid. (four matches), Leeds £447 5s. id. (three matches), Bradford £349 15s. 3d. (three matches), Hull £723 2s. 6d. (two matches), and Harrogate £253 15s. 6d. (one match). T h e re was an excellent finish to a match at Bombay between the Bombay