Cricket 1905

fj M ay 4, 1905. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME: 105 H . GRAD IDGE & SONS, Manufacturers o f all Requisites for Cricket, Lawn Tennis, Racquets, Football, and all British Sports. PATENTEES AND SOLE MAEERb OF THE Used by all the Leading Players. Price Lists Tree on Application. Of all First=Class Outfitters and Dealers. Factory, ARTi LL ERY PLACE. WOOLWICH, C r i c k e t : A WEEKLY RECORD OF TEE GAME. 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON, E.C. THURSDAY, MAY 4 th , 1905. Jtototlton G o s s ip . The abstract and brief chronicle of the time.— Hamlet. A t the annual general meeting of the M.C.C. yesterday Mr. C. E. Green, the famous old Cambridge Blue, was elected President for the ensuing year. The meeting was afterwards made special to discuss the following proposals :— (1.) To add the words “ unless otherwise arranged ’ ’ to the last sentence of Law 1 which now reads: “ A match is played between two sides of eleven, players each, unless otherwise agreed to; each side has two innings, taken alternately, except in tbe case provided for in Law 53. The choice of innings shall be decided by tossing.” (2.) To replace the last sentence of Law 4 by the words, “ The fielding side may at any time, on giving notice to the batsmen, provide a new ball.” The first of these proposals was r<jected by a large majority ; the second was withdrawn. Y e s te r d a y Lord Hawke arrived at Plymouth from India, and it is, therefore, pcssible that he may play for Yorkshire against Somerset to-day. M r. W. L. M u rd o ch , Ihe London County and old Australian aud Sussex player, who accompanied the Australian t^am from Qieeustown to Liverpool on the Majestic, says in the Daily Mail: — Having had chats with two or three of the prominent members of the team with regard to its bowling strength, I have come to the conclusion that my previously expressed opinion as to its weakness in this respect was, to say the least, a little premature. For from what I heard yesterday I must con­ clude that the absence of “ Hughie ” Trum­ ble will not be so greatly felt as I had supposed. I should like to state frankly why I have revised my opinion. I was assured yesterday on every hand that Armstrong was a very much improved bowler, and that Hopkins was even more so than I had been led to believe. W ith regard to the above remarks about Armstrong and Hopkins it may be interesting to give their averages for tbe last three seasons. In 1902-3 Hopkins was twelfth and Arm­ strong eighth in the Inter-state averages with the following record :— O. It. R. W. Aver. 44 6132 4 33 00 167.2 42350 15 23'33 Hopkins ... Aranstrong In 1903-4 Hopkins was fifth and Armstrong eighteenth:— O. M. R. W. Aver. iEg. Hopkins....... 306.4 85 905 37 2445 Armstrong ...186.5 47 362 8 45*25 In Test Matches in Australia (M.C.C. team) the same year, Hopkins was fifth and Armstrong eighth:— O. M. R. W. Aver. 107.1 20 295 11 26-81 84 20 158 2 79-00 Hopkins ... Armstrong In the Inter-state matches in 1904-5 Hop­ kins was second and Armstrong fourth :— O. M. R. W. Aver. Hopkins.......... 113 34 279 17 16-41 Armstrong ... 1423431212 26"00 I t is interesting to note that the Aus­ tralians do not seem to have arrived at the same conclusion as some of the critics in England with regard to Mr. Fry’s ability to make runs iu representative cricket. One of them told Mr. Murdoch that “ he dd not expect that Fry would fail to come off every time in the test matches, and that the coming encounters would pro­ bably see a turn of his bad luck in repre­ sentative matches. As he put i t : “ He’s too good a bat to fail every time.” T h e re can be no doubt that English cricketers are just as anxious about C. B. Fry as the Australians are about Cotter. “ Will he do himself justice this time in the test matches f ” is the question which everybody is asking himself. Let me suggest to any reader of Cricket who may feel inclined to bet that Fry is a failure this year in tbe test matches, that he had better not stake his money unless he can very well afford to lose it. S cen e. —A cricket tent. The players are wailing uutil the rain ceases. One of them has made thirty and is still not out; he is the Centre of Attraction. Admiring Player : “ Who do you think was the best eleven men ever turned out by Orsteralia, Alf ? ” The C. of A .: “ Well, Bill, to say truth, I ’adn’t thought about it. But come to look at it in that way, of course you’d ’ave to begin with Spoff and Turner, and Billy Murdoch, and Trumper and Clem. Hill and Blackham.” Admiriug Player : “ Yes, we all knows that, go on.” The C. of A .: “ Well. You’d ’ave to ’ave the three all rounders. ’Arry Trott, George Gififen, and Monty Noble.” Admiring Player: “ Jess so. That leaves two places to fill up.” The C. of A .: “ And about a ’ undred to fill ’em. I should give ’em Ferris, and Darling as captain, and you couldn’t do no ’arm with a team like that.” Chorus of Players: “ ’Ear, ’ear! ” T iie team selected by t lij gentleman does not seem to be at all out of drawing. I wonder whom he would have con­ sidered the best eleven players produced by England since the test matches began (not counting Rai jitsinhji). He might perhaps have voted for W. G., Alfred Shaw, Peate, Shrewsbury, Fry, and Pilling without much hesita'ion, as in the case of the Australians, and for his three all-rounders he would probably have chosen Hirst, F. S. Jackson, and George Lohmann (A. G. Steel’s bowling not beiDg required so much with Alfred Shaw in the team), while he might have thrown in RichardsoD, and Lord Harris as captain. L e t us see how these two teams look side by side:— E n glan d . A u stra lia . \V. G. Grace \V. L. Murdoch Arthur Shrewsbury Clement Hill G. B. Fry Victor Trumper George Lohmann George Giffen F. S. Jackson Harry Trott George Hirst M. A. Noble Lord Harris J. Darling * Tom Richardson F. R. Spofforth Alfred Shaw C. T. B. Turner E. Peate J. J. Ferris R. Pilling J. M. Blackham It will be seen that, taking man for man, there is not a great deal of difference, although twoorthreeoneachtide mayseem better than the men whose names are placed against them. I t is stated that the secretary of a popular seaside cricket club in the North