Cricket 1904

A pkil 28, 1904. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 85 “ TIME LIMIT.” The forthcom ing “ tim e-lim it” match between Yorkshire and Notts at Leeds, has for some reason or other attracted very little attention. I t is true that the question of “ time lim it ” has been dis­ cussed in a more or less desultory manner for a very long tim e; it is true that time­ limit matches have occasionally been played, although cricketers as a body have taken very little interest in them. A few enthusiasts have stuck to their guns, and from time to time have expa­ tiated on the advantages of the system, but their follow ing has been small and so apathetic that there seemed reasonable grounds for concluding that, for some years at least, nothing would be done in the matter b y the authorities. In the Melbourne Pennant matches a time limit scheme has been in force for two or three years, and while its originators have praised its merits to the skies, probably in the hope of inducing the cricketers of Adelaide and Sydney to follow their example, the players themselves are not by any means enthusiastic over the new method. On the whole, it may be said that hardly any reform has ever been suggested which has met with such a cool reception. But now that two important counties have decided on playing a three-day match on a time limit system of their own, it iB clear that the seeds which have been sown have borne fruit, although whether the fruit w ill in time become ripe is quite another question. The first thing that must strike a cricketer when considering the new time limit scheme is that if it became law the game would be quite unlike cricket as played at the present day. Theoretically a match would be much more interesting to watch, because the batsmen would one and all not only be eager and anxious to make runs as rapidly as possible, but would actually become fast scorers. This, to say the very least of it, seems hardly likely. Can the leopard change his spots? Can the player, whom nature has intended to make runs at the rale of twenty per hour, turn bitn- Belf into a hitter who knocks the bow ling all over the field ? If he cannot do so he would seem to have no place in the new game, and although this might not be an overwhelming misfortune, it would surely not be an unmitigated blessing, for if every batsman were to become a rapid scorer, a cricket match would be quite as monotonous to watch aa it is at present when two pronounced Btickers get together. Anyone who has seen Mr. Jessop play a long innings knows well that the mere rapidity of the hitting becomes tedious, and a man might be excused for Baying, “ Better an hour of Willie Quaife than a couple of days of Jessop.” The rate of scoring is, after all, only comparative, and if there were no Abels nor Quaifes, it would soon be found that men like P ry and Maclaren would be looked upon b y spectators as wretchedly slow scorers. It may be said that it does not matter in the least what spectators think of the rate of scoring, but in these days the spectator is master of the situation, for unless he turns up in sufficient numbers county clubs get deeply into debt. Spectators are just as important to the welfare of the Yorkshire county club as that of Leicestershire or Cornwall. Any variety of themodern game which does not take spectators into con­ sideration is bound to be a failure, and it is very doubtful indeed whether specta­ tors would take kindly to the time-limit game, at any rate as it is at present mapped out. Of course the rules which will guide the forthcom ing match are only tentative, and it is pretty clear that they are too intricate ever to come into regular use. It has always been held to be one of the advantages of cricket and football that at any stage of the game a player or spectator may at once know exactly how each side stands. Thus at a football match a late arrival asks, “ What’s the state of the game ? ” and is told that Southampton has scored two goals and Tottenham Hotspur one, which gives him all the information he requires. Again, at a cricket match he knows just what has happened when he hears that Yorkshire has made 250 and has three wicketB down for 60 in the second innings, while Notts has made 320. But what will happen if it comes to “ Time saved in innings one and two to be added equally to innings three and four,” 1Time lost in innings one and two to be deducted (qually from ;innings three and four,” “ Time delayed in innings three to be divided equally between innings three and four,” and “ Time delayed in innings four to be made up if possible by the unallotted time, and if this is impossible, the match to be decided on the first innings ? ” It would be as difficult to find out the positions of the sides at any moment as to find out how a county which has played ten matches in the championship stands as regards another which has played eight— a difficulty which to any man who was not born with a mathe­ matical mind would be insufferable. But although the scheme for the new game is involved and unlike that to which Englishmen have become accustomed, it is well that the experiment should be tried. I t may even meet with success, for more unlikely things have happened, and in the course of time we may per­ haps become accustomed and contented to see the scores in the morning papers without being able to guess how the teams stand with regard to each other, unless, indeed, the statisticians give the desired information. But the task of the statisticians is already hard, and if to their labours is added the work of calcu­ lating the positions of every team every day, their lot will be anything but happy. W .A .B . Rules for the Time-limit Match, Yorkshire v. Notts, at Headingley , May 2, 3, and 4 :— 1. Each innings to be limited'to 4J hours. 2. Time saved in innings one and two to he added equally to innings three and four. Time lost in innings one and two to he de­ ducted equally from innings three and four. 3. Time delayed in innings three to be divided equally between innings three and four. Time delayed in innings four to he mads up if possible by the unallotted time, and if this is impossible the match to be decided on first innings. 4. Match to be decided by the number of runs scored irrespective of wickets lost. 5. Hours of play to be each day 11.30 to 2.0, 2.45 to 6.30, with tea interval at 4.45 for fifteen minutes, if no other interval in afternoon. 6. Boundaries not to exceed sixty yards from nearest wicket. 7. In case of rain sufficient ground to be covered in a manner to protect bowlers’ and batsmen’ s foothold, and also each night. Play to be continued immediately on cessa­ tion of rain unless the captains agree that play is impossible. 8. If either side do not complete their first innings in allotted time to do so before com­ mencing their second innings. Definitions :— 2. Time saved, i.e., when side gets Out in less than 4J hours. Time lost, i.e., through delays for rain, light, etc. E xample —First innings only takes 3J hours, second innings takes 4£ hours (one hour saved). Then third and fourth innings to be allowed 4J hours each. 3. E xample —Delay in third innings of one hour, then third innings to be limited to 3$ hours and fourth innings to 3J hours. E xample — Delay in fourth innings of one hour, then the unallotted time to be used, i.e., from 5.30 to 6.30, and an extra quarter-hour played if possible. If delay too great to be made good, then match decided on first innings. 8. Object of Rule 8 is to prevent the last few players from being deprived of the plea­ sure of batting in match. It also gives the side only losing portion of wickets in first 4J hours, the advantage of extra wickets to fall in their second innings. E xample —First innings : A gets 250 for five wickets; B gets 300 for eight wickets. Second innings: A has fifteen wickets to fall and can thus afford to force the game, with the result they get, say, 350. Second innings: B has to get 301 runs and has twelve wickets to fall. LONDON COLNTY (12) v. PENGE WEDNES­ D A Y (18). — P lay ed at the Crystal Palace on April 20. Dr. Grace took bix wickets for 33 runs. P engh W e d n esd ay . Maskell, run out Fisk,c Fry. b Pritchard Resler, b Grace , Taylor, b Grace.......... Appleton, run out ... Upward, run out Lock, b Pritchard Ktimpson, h Priiofcatd Dwyer, st Greenlees, b Grace........................ 6 Harrison, b Bell........ 10 Lavey, cand b Grace... 14 Remnant, b Ptitchard 0 L o n d o n C o u n t y . Shambrook,cDouglas, b Pritchard ... ... Newcombe, b Grace... White, c Murdoch, b Bell ................. ... Lumsden, c Douglas, b Bell ................. Day, c Piitchard, b Grace.................... Leney, not o u t .......... E xtras ............ 12 Total 0 0 3 71 ..103 L. O. S. Poidevin, re­ tired .......... J.H. Douglas, retired J04 H. I i . Greenlees, c Dwyer, b Fisk ... 10 H.R.K. Inj za, not out 24 J. H. Salt, b Dwyer .. 9 R. N. Bell, not out .. 1 Extras.................31 W.G. Grace,cHarrison, b Stimpson ........ . W . L. Murdoch, b Dwyer .................£0 C. B. Fry, c Lock, b Appleton.................57 M. X ow E send, c Sbam- t rook, b Appleton .. 43 Goodlift.*,c Neweomt;e, b Appleton ..........12 I— Total (9 wkts) 447 H. Prichard did not bat. C RICKET Report Sheets, lOd. per dozen, post tree. Order of Going-in Cards, 7d. per dozen, poet free. Cricket Score Books, 6d. and Is. each; postage, 2 d. extra.—To be obtained at the Offices of Cricket, 168, "Upper Thames Street, London, E.C.