Cricket 1904

92 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A pril 28, 1904. Victor Trumper will be obliged to give up cricket on account of ill health, and that he has been ordered to a hydropathic in Queensland, near Brisbane. I t is de­ voutly to be hoped that this is only one of the many rumours which are entirely unfounded. The Melbourne correspondent of the Daily News w r it e s a s f o l lo w s :— Though Australians frankly admit the superiority of the English side, they explain their defeat in two ways. First, there is no doubt that cricket in the Commonwi alth is not too Btrong at present. By our wretched system of choosing our teams for Inter-State matches very little encouragement is given to the colt?. Consequently, Australia had to fall hack pn her veterans. I observe that the States are' already profiting by the English drubbings, and are doing all in their power to train and encourage young players. For a second extenuating circumstance Australians point to the unprecedented wet summer. With norihal weather conditions test matches are played in a suffocating atmosphere, with a “ brickfielder ” sweeping down from the north and the acclimatised Australians naturally prefer this to the rainy days on which many of the principal matches were played. This rainy weather had rather an unfortunate effect on (he financial success of the tour. With the matches nearly all shortened, the gate was, of course, small, and it was officially announced before the eleven sailed that the M.C.C. had lost heavily on the team’ s visit. ------- G e o r g e H a y , the old Derbyshire pro­ fessional, who is now head of the ground B ta ff at L ord’s, has almost recovered from his recent illness. H e has had the unusual experience of seeing in one of the provincial papers an announcement of his death, together with a long obituary notice. L . C. B r a tjn d has been presented with a case of pipes, at a smoking concert given in his honour b y the Bath Railway Cricket and Football Club. T h e question of playing the “ Test ” matches with Australia to a finish was again brought into prominent notice by Mr. Warner at the dinner given to the M .C.C. Australian team. Mr. Warner tLiuks that there ought to be five test matches and that they should be played to a finish, regardless of time and county matches. But the difficulties in the way o f this are enormous, and the arrange­ ment would upset' all other first-class cricket, while the horror of seeing men play “ for keeps ” to r a week or two is too terrible for contemplation. It would be a somewhat stupid state of affairs if a match was finished at about ^half-past twelve on the fourth day, as might easily happen. T b« system is all right for Australia, where so few first-class matches are played, but it would be almost insufferable in Eogland. After all, what does it matter whether the Test matches are played to a finish or not ? T he Glamorganshire committee are trying to arrange a three-day match to be played at Cardiff in July between the oounty and a team chosen b y P. F. Warner. T he competition for the Senior League in Durban cricket, particulars of which have been kindly sent us by a correspon­ dent, seems this season to have been of a more than ordinarily exciting character. The Zingari eventually won the first position b y only one point, though it did not lose one of the eight matches played. Its record was somewhat peculiar, as it only beat the Wanderers by a wicket, while in two of its three drawn games its last batsmen were in. The final positions of the five competing clubs were as follows : Zingari .......... 8 ... 6 ... 0 ... 3 ... 10 Greyville .......... 8 ... 4 ... 1 ... 3 ... 9 Queen’s Park ... 8 ... 2 ... 4 ... 2 ... &' Wanderers ... 8 ... 2 ... 4 ... 2 ... 6 Austia’asiana ... 8 ... 2 ... 6 ... 2 ... 4 N ot the least interesting reference in the report to be presented to the annual general meeting of the Surrey County C.C. next Thursday, is the announcement that the Committee have headed the list of contributions for the proposed testi­ monial to Robert Abel in recognition of his conspicuous services to the club with a donation of £50. It is a matter of common knowledge that Abel’s benefit match in 1895 was from various causes not as great a financial success as could have been wished. Since then Abel’s cricket has been invaluable to the county, and remembering the ill-luck he had last season in having to stand down during the greater part of the season, owing to eye troubles, the members of the S.C.C.C. are certain to come liberally to the aid of a cricketer who has not only provided them with any amount of entertainment, but has been in every way a credit to his profession. In the first of the two matches to be played between Surrey and the London County C.C, K . J. Key, the old Oxonian, will captain the Surrey eleven. Lord Dal- meny, who made his debut for Surrey last year in the match against the Gentle­ men of Philadelphia, will not only assist the county this week, but it is hoped will be seen regularly in the side through­ out the season. Abel, whose sight has ceased to trouble him, will also be engaged at the Palace, and as Richardson, Lock­ wood, Hayes, Holland and Lees have been hard at practice during the last fortnight, with Strudwick since his return from Australia, most of the Surrey men will, at least, be in fairly good condition. F rom the Literary World :— Kumar shri Samat sing ji is not an attempt on the part of a Cockney to recall the name of a famous Indian cricketer, but the name of the late heir-apparent to the throne of a native State, well known in Bombay City for his hospitality and gifts to charities. In the Captain for May, C. B. Fry givfs the follow ing advice to boys :— You want advice about your bag ? Certainly never be ashamed of a carpet bag with one handle; many a j oyous run of mine has lain inside a green carpet bag, with a brass label on the face of one of the very hardest bats, a bat that can never have had any idea of a sunny south-sided willow tree. But what did it matter? Laughter rang in the runs, and, my goodness! that bat did wear, and I did use it, all hours, no sun, sunrise, sunset. Sometimes stones - that is not fair on a bat. I n the same magazine, he says: — “ Never be above practising with any­ body anywhere. When a sister is not having batting practice with you, get her to bowl or th row ; you can have real good times with either, especially if you have fielders like I have that never tire, that anticipate every stroke, and find the ball anywhere; my fielders wear four leg s; their names are •*Jane Brindle ” — she is small Scotch—and “ John Sandy ” —he is big Scotch, and has the finest nose you can imagine for findiug a b ill.” M r. J. B. Payne writes :— “ I am send­ ing a list of matches in which errors occur in the analysis. Should any Good Samaritan have the correct figures he will confer a boon and blessing by com- municaHna; with me.” Oxford University v. Southgate, June 7 —8, 1867. Kent v. Hants, July 8—10, 1867. Kent y. Gents. M.C.C., August 7—8, 1867. Kent v. Sussex, August 22—24, 1867. Camb. Univ. v. Gents. England, June 1 and 2, 1874. Yorkshire v. United South, June 22— 24, 1874. North v. South, July 23—25, 1877. United North v. United South, September 2 -4 , 1872. T h e Annual General Meeting of the M.C.C. will be held on Wednesday, May 4th, while the meeting of the Surrey Club will be on the follow ing day. The M.C.C. accounts show total gate receipts of £3,169 16s., match expenses £3,536. A sum of £13,432 19s. was received in sub- criptions and entrance fees. T h e M.C.C. Annual Report states that an Advisory Committee is being formed with the co-operation of the counties, the effect of which will be to bring the coun­ ties in closer touch with the M.C.C. A thorough investigation of the drainage of the match ground showed that it was inadequate for carrying off the surface water in a year of abnormal rainfall. Additional pipes have now been laid on an improved system, which can be en­ larged if necessary. T h e rep ort show s th a t there w ere, in 1903, 4,933 m em bers, o f w h om 400 are life m em bers. T o fill th e vacan cies caused b y th e re tirin g com m itteem en —M essrs. E. Rutter, E. L. Bateman, C.B., Gregor Macgregor, and F. Marchant — Lord Alverstone (retiring president), Messrs. P. F. Warner, W . H . Patterson, and R. E. Foster will be proposed at the annual general meeting. D escribing the fifth test match in the W estm inster Gazette, Mr. Warner thus refers to the remarkable ball b y which Hirst bowled Trumper:— “ It pitched a couple of inches outside the oflf-stump, swerved in the air, and hit the top of the middle. Trumper played back, but he was too late, and out he went first ball. He