Cricket 1904

460 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. Nov. 24, 1904 next mail to this effect to thepeople inter­ estedinLondon. Letters will go from this club also by the next mail, denying the truthfulness of the statements of Mr. Warner.” On the motion of Mr. J. T. Lipscombe, it was decided that letters should be sent as advised by Major Wardill. W it h reference to Mr. Warner’s articles mentioned above, the Westminster Gazette of Monday last contained a letter from Mr. Percy K. Bowden, the secre­ tary of the New South Wales Associa­ tion, flatly denying Mr. Warner’s charges. In a footnote the Editor of the Westminster Gazette says: “ We are glad to publish Mr. Bowden’s letter, and can only add that neither Mr. Warner nor ourselves desire topursuethe subject or to make any bad blood out of a friendly game.” F r o m the A ustralasian :— The celebrated umpire, E. Crockett, has recently returned from a trip to the West. He visited Boulder City, and there met the fine old express bowler, E. Jones, who is at workinconnection with one of the mining companies. Thestar‘‘ express’’ lookedinthe pinkof condition, and seemedfit for another tour to England. All the adipose tissuehas gone through hard work, and he looks like the athletic, magnificent mass of indiarubber hewas whenat his best at mid-off. F r o m the Melbourne A r g u s :— It is satisfactoryto note that the Yictoria Association is endeavouring todosomething withthe schools, andnodoubt itmeans to do something for them, as well as with them. There is a great nursery for cricket in the State schools, andas I pointedout some time ago, it is left to go its own way, which, in the cricketing sense is generallya crude and abadway. The schoolboytakes naturallyto football, because he sees everywhere the proof of its popularity, but he needs to be instructedincricket, andwithout somesystem of coaching themere playingof the game is not sufficient, though eventhat may in time go a long way to restore the popularityof clubcricket. It is agood move, though we can, of course, expect nobenefitfromit inthe immediate future, and as a field sport club, cricket needs early attention if complete stagnationis tobeavoided. The committee of the MelbourneC.C., says “ Felix” in the Australasian, have had an anxious time in dealing with all the complicated matters connectedwith the proposed new buildings, but, I understand, that thepreliminary troubles are now at an end, and that shortly a special general meeting will be held for the purpose of considering the proposals, and of authorising the necessary loan. As indicating the magnitude of the pro­ jected scheme of improvements, I may state that the amount of the loan will probably be from £20,000 to £25,000. This looks big, but when you get just on £7,000 a year from entrance fees and subscriptions alone, you view with a light heart the contemplated outlay, especially as English teams will come again, andthrough themmatches against Australia on the M.O.C. ground will reduce the indebtedness. O n November 10th Mr. F. E. Lacey, the secretary of the M.C.C., received the following cablegram from Australia:— “ Three Associations accept invitation. We confirmour letter of September 19th accepting invitation on behalf of New SouthWales.” A t a meeting of the Committee of the M.C.C. on Monday last it was decided that the Board of Control for the Test matches of 1905 should hold their first meeting onMonday next, December 5th. As in 1902, the Boardwill consist of six representatives of the M.C.C., and a representative of each of the six counties at the head of the championship table. The president of the M.C.C., as chair­ man, will have a casting vote. The M.C.C. representatives are as follows :— The Marquis of Granby (president), Lord Alverstone, the Earl of Lichfield, Lord Harris, Mr. A. G. Steel, and Mr. R. E. Foster. W h en the members of the Board hold their first meeting they will doubtless settle the dates of the five Test matches, and name the grounds on which the matches are to be played. It may be taken for granted that Lord’s, the Oval, Manchester and Leeds will each have a match. The dates for the Test matches will most likely be as follows:—Monday, May 29th; Thursday, June 15th(Lord’s); Monday, July 3rd ; Monday, July 24th ; and Monday, August 14th (Oval). F r o m the Sydney R eferee :— The South Australian Association has appointedJ. Darling, C. Hill andN. Claxton selectors of representative teams for the season, and J. Darling as the representative of the State on the Selection Committeeof the Australian XI. Darling’s appointment in preference to Clem. Hill is a surprise to cricketers inthis part of Australia, ashe has been quite out of touch with first-class cricket and cricketers sincehis return from England in 1902. Besides, Hill has practi­ cally carriedSouthAustraliaonhis shoulders since Darling tookuphis residence in 'Ias- mania, fiveyears ago. Indeed, without Hill, the secondelevenof NewSouthWaleswould probablybeat South Australia on the form that has beendisplayedby the Southernersin Sydneywithin the past four or five years. Of course, Adelaide people will probably think differently; nevertheless, there is no shadowof doubt that Clem. Hill is veritably &leviathan on the South Australian side, which he has very frequently lifted from mediocrity to greatness by sheer force of his wonderful genius asbatsman. A t e a m of black cricketers from Bar­ bados, playing under the name of “ The Fenwicks,” made a voyage to British Guiana last month, and played three matches there. A t the annual dinner of the Cross Arrows C.C. Mr. F. E. Lacey, theM.C.C. secretary, made a speech, in the course of which he said that:— The tour the M.C.C. had undertaken last autumnhadnot, they know, beena financial success. They (theM.C.C.) had lost rather morethanathousandpounds—to be precise, the actual amount was £1,044 19s. lOd. He took exception, however, to those who merelysaid“ theM.C.C. can afford it,” for, though it was partially truethat theM.C.C. was arichclub, andthat if their possessions were realised there wouldbeenoughto dis­ chargeall liabilities andhavea small balance inhand—(laughter)—thequestion had to be lookedat inthe light of a going concern, and without adoubt they werelargely dependent ontheweather. Twelvemonths agomatters were not so rosy with the club, but the patient had passed through the illness and period of convalescence, and, thanks to the weather, was now in possession of robust health. Speaking personally, he thought it unreasonable that the M.C.C. should take over thewhole of the financial responsibility, andhe thought that stepsmight be taken to reduce the possibility of losstoaminimum. TheMelbourneClub had handed over £500 toAssociations out of theproceeds of the last trip, andtheywouldnaturallynot giveaway the greater portion of their profits. T h e news comes from Adelaide that Clem Hill is to be married in January next in Tasmania. “ Clem my boy,” it is said, has bought a large property in the neighbourhood of Adelaide, so that South Australiawill retainhis active interest. The honeymoon is to be spent inNewZealand, andClemand his bride are to make their way to England via America. The last innings recorded to himin club cricket by the mail arriving this week was one of 105 for East Torrens v. West Adelaide. Since then he has notched heavily for South Aus­ tralia v. Victoria, as iBnoticed in another part of “ Gossip.” H is to r y seems likely to repeat itself in the person of T. V. Garrett, the eldest son of T. W. Garrett, the old-time Aus­ tralian cricketer, who was a prominent memberof last season’s Sydney Grammar School team. In a match for Central Cumberland against Redfem, onOctober 8th, the former after scoring 206 dis­ missed five of theiropponentsfor 32. Of the five young Garrett’s bowling was responsible for four. In style he is said very much to resemble his father. In view of the Australian visit next year it will interest Cricket readers to know that R. A. Duff, the hero of so many brilliant first-wicket performances in conjunctionwith Victor Trumper, has opened the season in his best form. The Sydney Referee speaks of his 66 (out of 110 in 40 minutes) for North Sydney on October 8th as “ the daintiest batting” of that day in Sydney. I n amatch at Adelaide on October 8th E. Leak, playing for Sturt against West Torrens, took fourwicketswith successive balls. T h e following are the batting and bowling averages of the Senior Eleven of