Cricket 1904

58 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A pril 14, 1904. acted as his best man, while the Rev. the H on. E . Lyttelton, headmaster of Hailey- bury, helped to officiate at the ceremony. J u st before the ceremony cf the open­ ing of the b8zaar at Brighton in aid of the funds of the Sussex County C.C., C. B. P iy was presented with a twelve- horse power motor car, a gift from the members of the county criiket club as a mark of their appreciation of his services for the county in the cricket field. In acknowledging the gift, Mr. Fry said that be had travelled from London on the car in two hours, escaping all the wayside iniquities in the way of police traps, and he hoped the car would bring him g o cd luck. He had great hopes of the com ing seaEon, and hoped that Sussex would not again experience the slice of bad luck that robbed them of the championship last year. I t may be stated that the profits of the bazaar amounted to about £900. A i t e r the “ barracking ” scene at Sydney during the recent M.C.C. tour, the follow ing appeared in the Sydney Daily Telegraph :— The big cricket of the world is becoming dreadfully serious. This is what nearly happened on Saturday : A flustered official dashed at the telephone and rang up the Minister for War. An ashen-faced, wobbling-kneed crowd was around him, with one eye fixed on the roaring enemy on the hill, and the other— the largest—on the gate. Across the wire this took place :— “ Send troops ! ” “ What fo r?” “ international cricket match on. Crowd on hill armed to the teeth with umbrellas, bottles, melon skins, banana coverings, and fiery language, advancing in force on southern wicket. 'Ihree policemen and caretaker’ s dog doing good work. Umpires left for the mountains. That is what might haye been. This is what will certainly occur :— “ A cable message has been received stating that the English cricket team has left London for Australia accompanied by complete army corps.” T e e same newspaper contained a reference to the behaviour of the crowd when the umpires considered the wicket too wet for play, as follows :— As time went on the crowd began to get fidgetty about getting its money’s worth. “ I want my braes back,” said a gentleman on the h ill; ’ere’s Trumper out for seven and now there’s no play at all. Give me back my brass! ” Lots of others wanted their “ brass ” back. . . . Then mischief was found for the idle hands. They were em­ ployed in pummelling, and warlike demon­ strations were frequent. Matters gradually got worse. Sandbags were plentifully hurled about, and then a crash told that a new form of amusement had been found. The thirsty souls around the arena threw their empty bottles on to the track. M a j o r P o o b e , the famous Hampshire cricketer, playing for Incogniti against the Transvaal Town Police, at Braam- fontein, on January 20th and 27th, scored 104 not out in a total of 247 for seven wickets. A t Pretoria, for Incogniti against the Welsh Regiment, on February 6th and 7th, the Major retired after making 103. The “ In cogs” made 310 and 23 for no wicket, and dismissed their opponents for 121 and 200. L o r d S h i i p i s l d , th e n ew p retid en t o f th e S u ssex C o u n ty C rick et C lu b, has fo rw a rd e d a ch equ e fo r £ 1 0 0 to the treasu rer tow a rd s th e h e a v y deficit in the clu b ’ s f i n a n c e s . -------- M r . A r t h u r E. B e n d l e , the well- known New York cricket enthusiast, has established the “ Grace Society of Cricketers,” the only requirement for membership being the s c o t ing of a century in a match in the United States. To every man who does this, Mr. Bendle sends a handsome medal, on the obverse side of which is the head of Dr. W . G. Grace, in relief, surrounded by a laurel wreath, with the motto “ Long Live Cricket.” On the reverse is a wicket­ keeper’s glove and a ball, with the words “ Bendle Merit Medal, awarded t o -------.” Each medal is accompanied by a gold button with the letters “ G. S. C.” and the words “ Pounded 1902 by Arthir Bendle.” The words “ The Grace P jci a 'y of Cricketers” also appear in g jld letters on a dark blue enamel b'jckgr^und. T h e crick et g ro u n d a t .rst is thus d escrib ed in th e Sydney Man : — It would be next to impossible to imagine a more picturesque cricket ground. It is surrounded with heavy foliaged trees. The centre of the ground was fairly true, and the wicket was a good one. The fielding ground showed the ravages of the rabbit; indeed, on the first day our watchfulness of the cricket was broken into by a coursing match, in which several breeds of dogs participated, but puss was too clever, she knew the escapes too well for her mixed pursuers. The two or three deep lines of people against the one-rail fence were backed by vehicles of every des­ cription, punctuated with equestrian and equestrienne. ------ B e l o w will be found a summary of the receipts and expenses of the Sussex County C.C. for 1903 :— Receipts. Expenses. £ s. d. £ s. d. Worcestershire ... ......... 84 11 6 ... 118 17 0 Notts....................... ......... 68 6 6 ... 124 4 6 Gloucestershire ... ......... 25i 12 0 ... 124 19 0 Somerset................. ......... 29 12 6 ... 122 1 0 Middlesex .......... .......... 42 1 6 ... K'5 11 0 Surrey ................. .......... 122 11 6 ... 104 10 0 Hampshire .......... .......... 81 8 0 ... 107 1 6 Leicestershire ......... 378 15 0 ... 122 1 9 Lancashire .......... .......... 148 9 6 ... 119 17 9 Essex ................. .......... 150 0 0 ... 113 5 9 Yorkshire .......... .......... 234 15 6 ... 115 11 9 Kent........................ .......... 161 4 0 ... 107 19 0 M.C.C. and Ground ............... — --------- 5 10 0 Oxford University .......... 43 14 6 ... 59 10 0 Cambridge University .. 48 5 0 ... 65 2 0 Philadelphians ... .......... 6 16 0 ... 57 12 0 Essex (2nd X I.) ... .......... 1 4 0 ... 32 0 0 Middlesex (2nd X I ) .......... 1 7 0 ... 12 10 0 Totals ... ... ... £1,648 14 0* £1,618 4 * Exclusive 'of £10 9s. ground matches, and £287 17 b . 6d. Stand receipts. B ousbd by comments in the English newspapers upon the third test match, Mr. Warner writes in the Westminster Gazette :— ‘ ‘ One paper blames me for ‘ actually tak­ ing Fielder off after the Kent bowler had secured Hill’s wicket, and had only seven runs hit from him.’ The man who wrote this does not know how tiring it is to a bowler of Fielder’s pace and length of run to bowl more than seven or eight overs at a stretch under a hot Australian sun. Besides, Fielder bowled Hill out at twenty minutes past three, and when I took him oft in favour of Bosanquet it was ten minutes to the four o’clock adjournment. Now, Bosanquet has ;ot rid of Gregory nearly every time he has iowled lo him, and Gregory is never com­ fortable with him if he is bowling at all well. Again, Bosanquet is just the man to put on before an interval; he has proved that often on his tour. But I do not really mind these criticisms, for they are a compliment to us, and only show the intense interest that all England is taking in our doings.” A N ew Z faland newspaper calls attention to the recent death ia Christ­ church of Mr. George Wilmer, reputed to be the oldest cricketer in the world, after Mr. Herbert Jenner-Fust. Mr. Wilmer was born at Pulborough, Sussex, in 1816, and in 1858 he emigrated to Canterbury, N .Z . Mr. Herbert Jenner-Fust was born in 1806. T he engagement of Mr. P. H . Clark and Miss E. W. Boberts is announced in the Philadelphia newspapers. Mr. Clark was a member of the Gentlemen of Phila­ delphia team which visited England in 1902. A n oth er engagement announced is that of Mr. G. S. Patterson and Miss Eleanora W illing, Mr. Patterson being perhaps the best known of all the Phila­ delphian cricketers who have visited England. The wedding is to take place in May. Becently Mr. Patterson met with a serious accident when playing rackets, slipping and breaking his left arm very badly. H e was taken to the Jefferson Hospital, and is now so far recovered that he can attend to his ordinary business in the legal department of the Pennsylvania railway. T h e captaincy of the Essex County C.C. having been resigned by Mr. C. J. Kortright, his place will probably be taken this season b y Mr. F. L . Fane. I f any future captain of an Australian cricket team touring in England is a journalist, and wishes to speak of a refractory crowd, he may find the follow ­ ing note useful. I t is an extract from a letter by Mr. Warner in the Westminster Gazette :— Y es; they are a lovely crowd at Sydney, and anyone who has taken part in a test match here may consider himself thoroughly salted, and fit to play before an audience from the infernal regions. As Albert Knight says : The howling of the crowd reminds me of the dog Cerberus barking at the gates of H ell! T h e manner in which some of the famous cricketers who are also journalists go for each other affords considerable entertainment to the outside world. Thus Mr. Warner in the Westminster Gazette :— The opinions of the English papers on the third test match have just reached us, and I gather from some of them that my manage