Cricket 1904

D ec . 22, 1904. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 471 donian C.O. and the local club three curious incidents occurred. (a) Twomenhitwicketinthesameinnings. ( b ) The two men were out off successive balls. (i c ) They might both have beenont inan- another way for oneof themwas caught at thewicket andthe otherwasstumped. From Vanity F a ir :— “ There are as good fishinthe seaas ever came out of it,” but I questionif thebilliard worldwill everseeanother JohnRoberts, the cricket world another W. G. Grace, or the Association football world another W. N. Cobbold. A ccord in g to a cablegram from Johannesburg, the SouthAfrican Cricket Association has decided not to accept the offer of a visit fromthe Aus­ tralian team on its return from England. But, *•as stated in Cricket some time ago, an invitation will ibe sent to England to send out a team in the winter of next yeir. I t is not very easy to understandwhy the London County executive, whenthey were not able to arrange six out and home matches;with first class teams, asked the M.C.C. that four out and home matches should entitle a teamto be considered first class. The “ six out and homematches ” arrangement only applies to the County championship, and witn regard to other matches, the question whether they should count as first class was formerly decided by the Press and lately by the M.C.C. But the M.C.C., apparently thinking only of theCounty championship, declined to accede to this request, and accordingly London County asked to be allowed to take part in the minorCounty championship. This request was also re­ fused. The result is that, for the time being at any rate, London County practi­ cally ceases to exist as a first-class team. A t the annual meeting of the Lanca­ shire County C.C. on December 9tb, Mr. A. N. Hornby was again elected as president, and Mr. 8. H. Swire as hon­ orary secretary. Mr. A. G. Steel, K.C., becomes a vice-president of the club. In the course of the above meeting, Mr. Swindells, who seconded the chair­ man’s motion for the adoption of the report, made some strong comments on the absence of aDy reference in thereport to the success of the bowling of Mr. Brearley. Mr. A. N. Hornby statedthat it had not been decided to dispense with Mr. Brearley’s services, and added “ As longas I ampresident of this club I will not toleratehadbehaviour on or off the cricket groundby anyplayer, he he amateur orprofessional. The Press have been much against me in this matter of Brearley and Lancashire, and they (the Press) should be really more careful in what they say, and ought not to try and injure any player against his committee. In the middle of July Mr. Brearley and I shook hands and agreed to let bygones be bygones. Mr. Brearley andmyself are the best of friends, andthat gentlemanhas since beenmy guest atmy club, long after the disturbance was over, andhe told me that he would not be abletoplay for Lancashire after the York­ shirematch.” Th e death is announced of Mr. Claude THE LATE GEORGE HEAHNE. Photo by Dalby Bros., Oscar House, Lewisham . M. Baker at Beckenham at the age Of twenty-six. Mr. Baker was one of the bestknownplayers intheBeckenhamC.C. until he was obliged to give up the game on account of a weak heart. He is a brotherofMessrs. P. C. and H. Z. Baker, who have both played for Kent. T h e committee of the M.C.C. have sanctioned the proposed reduction next yearin the number of matches qualifying for the County championship from eight out and home matches to six. Hence Northamptonshire, which has been able to arrange matches with six counties (Surrey, Hampshire, Warwickshire, Leic­ estershire, Derbyshire and Sussex) now becomes afirst-class county. Northamp­ tonshire will pool the gates with Sussex. On Decembsr 14th Major Eustace Crawley, the old Cambridge cricketer, who made 35 and 103 not out against Oxford in 1887—his first appearance in the University match—was married *o Lady Violet Finch, eldest daughter of the Earl of Aylesford. Major Crawley also made 54 in the University match of 1889. He also made 100 and 7 for Harrow against Eton in 1885, and 40 and 69 in the matchof 1886. A b a l l was given at Johannesburg on November 5th to celebrate the return of the South African teamwhich toured in England during the past season. All the membars had not returnedwhen the ball was given, but to each player who was present a pocket book with silver fit­ tingswasgivenasamemento of the tour. H u g h T r u m b l e wasbowl­ ing at the nets on the Mel­ bourne ground at the beginning of November, and is said to have shewnnearly all bis old form. Among his victims was W . W. Arm­ strong, who is well-known as a member of the last two Australian teams. O ne of those accidents which oughtnevertohappen on a cricket field occurred at EastMelbourne duringprac­ tice at the nets. A batsman hit a ball hard to leg and it went clean through the side net on to the breast of another batsman named Braithwaite, hurting him severely. F. Laver was also hurt in the same way. It was discovered that the meshes of the net would allow a ball to pass through them. H. J. H il l , a brother of the famous Clement, has left Adelaide and gone to live in Victoria. Hebecame amem­ ber of the North Adelaide team two years after his brother, and of late years he hasbeensecretaryoftheEastTorrensClub. He represented South Australia against the M.C.C. team during the tour of 1903-4. His batting averages in senior cricket at Adelaide are as follows :— N o. Tim es M ost o f n o t T otal in an Y ear. In n s o u t. runs. in n s. A v er 1&96-7 ................... . ... 9 .. . 1 ... 120 . . 25 . . 15*00 1897-8 ................... . ... 8 . . 2 ... 124 . . 30 .. . 20*66 1898-9 ................... . ... 5 .. 1 ... 9J . . 49*. . 22*50 1899-0 ................... . ... 8 .. 2 ... 247 . . 76 .. 41-16 1900-1 ................... . ... 9 .. 1 ... 219 . . 71 .. 27-37 1901-2 .................... . ... 7 .. 1 ... 154 .. . 5i 25-66 1902-3 ................... . ... 9 .. 0 ... 260 .. . 81 .. 2883 1903-1 ................... . ... 8 .. 2 ... 266 .. 88 .. 44-33 1904-5 ................... . ... 2 . o-- © . 104 .. 80-00 — — -------- ■ ■ — — T ota ls... . ... 65 .. 10 ...1640 .. 104 .. 29-81 Mr. E. J. B r o o k s m it h , who for the last fifteen years has been instructor at