Cricket 1905

M ay 11, 1905. 'CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 115 BUSSEY’S “DEMON DRIVERS. < C C B « GEO. G. BUSSEY & GO Desire to inform Cricketers all over the world who may experience a difficulty in ob­ taining “ Demon Drivers ” that this difficulty arises in consequence of the ever-increas­ ing demand exceeding the supply. Readers of G e o . G . B u ssey & Co.’s pamphlet, entitled “ Evolution of the Demon Driver,” are aware that a fea­ ture of the success of the “Demon Driver ” is due to a special process, occupying a long period, that the bats under­ go before leaving the works, and although there are always a large number of Bats under this treatment which could be placed on the market, G e o . G . B u ss e y & Co., in the interest of cricketers and their own repu­ tation, will not deviate from the system that has made the] $ C ^ The FinestBathe World produces. GEO.OUSSEY &CO, 36 & 38 , QUEENVICTORIASTREET, E.C. Manufactory—PECKHAM, S.E. Timber Mills—ELMSWELL SUFFOLK. AGENT8 ALL OYER THE WORLD. AT THE SIGN OF TH E W IC K E T . By F. S. A shley -C ooper . So little has yet been seen of the Austra­ lians in England that it would be premature to attempt to estimate what amount of success will attend them when they are pitted against really formidable sides. Their performance against the Gentlemen at the Crystal Palace certainly did not tend to support the almost unanimous verdict of the critics that their bowling would prove somewhat weak, inas­ much as they dismissed a strong batting side for considerably less than a couple of hundred. On hard wickets the side will probably be found able to dispose of opposing elevens at a reasonable cost, but if we have a wet summer it is difficult to see how they are going to get through without a man of the Khodes, Blythe, Hargreave or Hallows type. In batting they are, of course, extremely strong, and will make many large scores, whilst their fielding, judging from what one saw at the Palace, quite maintains the best Australian traditions. A friend, who was fortunate enough to see their matches in New Zealand, writes: —‘ ‘ The tour has been a melancholy showing-up for New Zealand cricket, but I am nevertheless convinced that the Austra­ lians will prove themselves in England to be not the equal of the preceding team. Cotter is not equal to Jones—not by a long way, in my j udgment —but on some wickets will be dangerous to batsmen owing to the way in which he ‘ bumps ’ his bowling, and there is no ‘ star ’ bowler in the team such as other Australian elevens have possessed. The scores made by the team in New Zealand speak for themselves, but they should have been largely reduced if the catching of the local players in the Otago and both New Zealand matches had been even moderately good.” With regard to Australian bowlers, some interesting comments were made in a letter recently received from Sydney, as follows :—“ Our best bowler by far is Marsh, who is a living wonder on his day out. His delivery is now perfectly fair, and Curran, who no-balled him some years ago, is now quite satisfied with it. He gets all his wickets with a slow, medium-paced ball, which curves and drops like the ball of a baseballer. Colour prejudice keeps him out of representative cricket, coupled with the fact that, not being overburdened with cash, he sometimes asks for a pipe of tobacco or perhaps the loan of a shilling. This in a black could easily be overlooked, and no doubt he could be kept in hisplace.” The maj ority ofAustralian critics, Poidevin among the number, agree as to Marsh’s skill with the ball, and it is to be regretted that so fine a player, who is more truly Australian than any of the men now over here, should have been passed over on account of his colour. A similar slight, many will remember, was paid to Hendricks, a very fine native bowler, when the South African team which visited us in 1894 was being selected. If aboriginals are regarded in Australia as some of the natives in India are by Europeans, the passing-over of Marsh will be intelligible to all who have lived in the East. Still, the fact remains that if .a man is worth playing with in ordinary club matches there should be no reason why he should not be allowed to participate in matches of importance. Several men of colour have played in great matches in England— one, in fact, has been on the ground staff at Lord’s—and have generally proved very popular, and to the man in the street there would seem to be no reason why yet another should not have been seen during the present year of grace as a member of the Australian team. Marsh would certainly have been well received by English crowds hadhe come over. The fact that when at Nottingham the Australians expressed a wish, which was com­ plied with, that play on each of the three days should start at noon, and stumps be drawn at six o’clock, makes one hope that they will not expect such an arrangement to be made so far as their matches against all the other counties are concerned. As every­ body is presumably aware, the custom in inter-county cricket is for play to commenceat twelve o’clock on the first day, and at half-past eleven on each of the others, and to continue until six-thirty. In Australia, where all great matches are played to a finish, irrespec­ tive of the number of days required, there is no reason why short hours should not be indulged in, but in England, where it is customary for a first-class match to be limited to three days, a longer duration of play is necessary if there is to be any possibility of definite results being arrived at. Previous teams from Australia have never objected to the usual hours of play, and why an altera­ tion, from which no advantage could be gained, should now be proposed is difficult to understand. A shortening of the hours, in addition to increasing the number of drawn games, would also prevent many people who could, in ordinary circumstances, see only the first or the last half-hour’s play of the day, being present at all. It may also be men­ tioned that if a different arrangement were arrived at with the counties concerning the hours of play, it might cause the Australian team to go down to posterity as a match- drawing team instead of a match-winning one, as it might otherwise easily prove itself to be. THE W A N D E R E R S v. ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S HOSPITAL.—Played atWinchmoreHill on May 6. T h e W anderers. S. Colman, c Way, b B ean........................67 E. A. Beldam, b Bean 27 T. A. Darke, b Bean... 3 A. E. Damian,c Adams b Bean ................. 0 D. L. A. Jephson, b P a g e ........................ 4 K. E. M. Barker, c Griffin, b Bean ... 23 A. M. Latham, b Bean J. E. G. Hadath, b R. S. LeMay, not out A. L. T. Rose, b Page L. Scudamore, run out B 8, nb 3... ... Total..........137 S t . B artholomew ’ s H ospital . W. B. Griffin, c Bel­ dam, b. Barker ... 26 T. Bean, lbw, b Rose 9 G. Viner, run out ... 3 G. H. Adar, b Barker 10 E. de Vertenil, c & b R o s e ........................ 0 T. M. Smith, b Barker 1 G. Bowen, b Barker... 0 0. Noon, c Darke, b Jephson .................12 G. T. Page, c Damain, b Barker .......... 6 T. Postlethwaith, not out ........................10 L.F.K.Way,b Jephson 13 Byes................. 9 Total ..........99 ROYAL ACADEMY STUDENTS v. ARTISTS.— Played at Kensington Park on May 2. R. A. Students. E. F. Bird, b Ford ... 9 V. Smith, run out ... 6 J. E. F. Crisp, c James, b Smithers ..........15 A. F. Bird, lbw, b Smithers................. 1 E. S. Carlos, b Swin- stead • •• •• 1 F. D. Barnes, b Swin- Total . stead........................44 A. N. Other did not bat. F. A. Eaton, b Fox ... 13 C. G. S. Naper, c Fox, b Swinstead ..........10 II. B. Cull,not out ... 4 A. S. B. Banbury, c Swinstead, b Fox ... 0 B 1, w 2 .......... 3 ...106 Hon. W. J. Jamas, b Crisp........................ 8 Henry J. Ford, b Naper .................76 A. C. Behrend, retired hurt ........................ 6 G. Hillyard Swinstead, c Barnes, b Naper... 46 G. Gascoyne, b Naper 0 A rtists . W. E. Fox, st Barnes, b Bird ................. N. Wilkinson, c andb B ir d ........................ F. Baxter, lbw, b Bird Collier Smithers, c & b E. A Abbey, not out B 14, w 1.......... Total 9 4 1 2 15 ..173 H. Gandy did not bat.