Cricket 1904

466 CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. D ec . 22, 1904 mains on the top. On the morning of a match I have seen men take sacks and mop up the water which is lying on the wicket, until it becomes almost dry; such a thing would be of no use in England, because the water would have sunk in. Australian wickets must, as a rule, be considered quite artificial, because the soil of the district in which awicket is made is replaced either by Bulloid soil or Merrycreek. These soils become as hard as concrete, and awicketmade withthem wears exceedingly well. At Sydney, after six days’ play, you may see a wicket which, as far as the actual pitch is concerned, looks practically untouched. Australian wickets are wonderful crea­ tions, but unquestionably they conduce very greatly to lengthening matches.” “ Were you much impressed by the elaborate scoring boards in use on Aus­ tralian grounds ? ” ‘ ‘ I was not altogether impressed by them. I did not see the necessity for so much detail, and I greatly missed the cards of the match, for although somany particulars are given on the scoring- boards you lose your records of the game and have to go to the newspapers for them. I think that the scoring-board at Lord’s gives quite sufficient information, for if there is too much detail there is nothing left to the imagination, and you can drag the thing out so far that it may almost become absurd. Outside the offices of the principal newspapers in Australia there are scoring boards which are precisely similar to those in use on the grounds, and as every single run is made on the field the boards show it, so that thepeople in thecrowdwhichalways assembles can almost see the match in their mind’s eye, since most of them knowthe players and their peculiarities. The great matches are reported very fully and very well in the Australian newspapers.” “ Are the arrangements for spectators at a match as good as they are inEng­ land ? ” “ Better, I think. Take Sydney, for example. There they have a mound which can accommodate about twenty thousand people, who can all see admir­ ably. It is true that there is not much shelter, but Australian summers are not as a rule wet. Then there is ample accommodation in the way of smokers’ reserves, ladies’ reserves, and so forth. The members’ pavilions are, as a rule, excellent in every way.” “ Did you notice much difference be­ tween English and Australianweather ?” “ Not as much as I had anticipated. The chief difference isthat, nomatterhow wet it may be in Australia, it is never cold iu the summer. I did not find the heat excessive, although on Christmas day the thermometer was 98 inthe shade. But it is a little trying at night, for the temperature falls only a little, and this tells on English players, although, I may add, that it does not seem to affect their appetites in the least. And as long as a cricketer can eat well there is not much amiss with him. I think that the glare which is so general in Australia makes the weather seemhotter than it really is. | You get greens which seem more yellow than theyareinEngland, andthe colours are generally warmer.” “ What did you think of Australian crowds ? ” “ They are much the same as in Eng­ land, except that in Australia the hobbledehoy bay gets out of hand, and seems to do as he pleases. But there is one thing to be said in favour of these fellows ; they are very just in their way, for if they shout sarcastic remarks at the players of the visiting team, they treat their own men in the same way. They will howl at one of theirverybest players if he happens not to field a ball to their satisfaction, and will tell him to go and ‘ get a bag.’ As a rule the crowds are larger than they are in Eagland, more especially on Saturdays andMon­ days ; but, of course, there are not as many matches in Australia as in Eng­ land.” “ Did you find the travelling very monotonous in Australia ? ” “ It is certainlyalittlemonotonousand isnot quite ascomfortable as inEngland. The everlasting gum trees, with their .dusty, sage-green colour, get on your nerves at first, and it is not much of an improvement to come across mile after mile of burnt forest. But when you are near Brisbane the mountain scenery is grand. I think that Sydney must be the city in Australia with the prettiest sur­ roundings. It is a standing order that every visitor to Sydney must be asked hundreds of times, ‘ Have you seen our harbour? ’ But theharbour is somagni­ ficently situated that there is excellent reason for this. InTasmaniathe scenery was often almost exactly like that of the home counties in England, hedges and all, while Hobart is almost like an English town. In Tasmania, as well as in all parts of Australia, wewere received with the verygreatesthospitality ; people seemed to think that they could not do enough for us.” “ Did you meet many old cricketers while youwere in Australia ?” “ A great many, includingTomHoran, H. F. Boyle, Allan, Cohen, the manager of one of the teams, Tom Garrett, Bob M’Leod, Beal, Massie, and Lyons.” W. A. B e t t e s w o r t h . OBITUARY. G e o r g e H e a r n e . George Hearne, father of the well known Kent players George, Frank and Alec Hearne, also brother of old Tom Hearne and uncle of the present day “ J. T.” was born at Chalfont St. Peter’s in Buckinghamshire, May 15th, 1829. In height he was on the short side, measur­ ing 5 feet 5,} inches. In the words of “ Scores and Biographies ” “ About 1845 he took up his abode atEaling, where he resided 11 years, andwhere he followed the occupation of a horse-dealer. Sub­ sequently for 8 years he was engaged at Southgate by Mr. John Walker, to look after his ground there, but in 1875 he was employed to attend to the newly- formed Kent County Ground at Catford Bridge.” Not until comparatively late in lifedid he enter upon his public career as a cricketer, being selected as one of Eleven Colts to oppose an M.C.C. team at Lord’s on July 16th, 17th and 18th, 1860. “ Ikey” Hodgson and Jonathan Joy of Yorkshire played for the Colts, who were victorious by 16 runs, thanks largely to the bowling of CalebRobinson of Otley, who in the second innings took eight wickets for 41 runs. L illy- white’s Companion states that Hearne played his first great match in 1863. This, however, is hardly correct, as he assistedMiddlesex against the M.C.C. at Lord’sin1861,inRoyston’sbenefitmatch, when, going in last, hemade 22. In the following year he took part ina remark­ able match between Middlesex and the Surrey club at the Oval, whereinMiddle­ sex on being set 383towinsuffereddefeat by 10 runs only. Hearne’s share in the second innings was 65 not out. Mr. I. D. Walker, who was but 18 years of age and captain of the HarrowEleven, made 102 in the second innings of his county. Theaggregate runsinthematchamounted to 1,042, and it is worth pointing out that Lillywhite’s “ Guide” remarked that this aggregate had only once been beaten up to that time, viz., when 1,047 runs were totalled in the match between Sussex and Epsom at Lord’s in 1817. About this period Hearne was also doing useful work for Southgate as instanced by his 48 against Surrey Club in 1863. In the same year he assisted Middlesex against the M.O.C. and Surrey, being easily best scorer on his side in the formermatchwith 65 in his first innings. The February of 1864 witnessed the formal establishment of the Middlesex County Club, and it was in the same year that Buckinghamshire, who pos­ sessed a strong side, came into cor­ porate existence. Two matches were played between the counties, and sin­ gularly enough Hearne assisted Bucks in the first match and Middlesex in the second. The returnmatch, wherein he made 6 and 22, was remarkable for a Middlesex win in the face of a first innings deficit of 218 and for a magnifi­ cent running catch on the part of Hearne himself. Against Sussexhemadeauseful 27 not out, but at Islington against the M.C.C. he registered the best innings of his career by notching a splendid 72 not out, includingagreat leghit for8, though the umpire called “ one short.” In the same innings his brother Tommade 125 and Mr. T. Case 116. For the five matches in which he assisted his county that year Hearne could showthe excel­ lent average of 28. From thence until the end of 1867, after which year his career in important cricket practically closed, his two best efforts with the bat for his shire were 31 against Surrey in 1865 and the same number against the same county in 1867. George Hearne may be described as a good free bat and excellent “ long stop.” J. B. P. R ICHARD DAFT’S “ Nottinghamshire Marl ” _ Particulars apply, Radcliffe on-Trent, Notts.; [ A d v t .1