Cricket 1905

M a y l i , 1905. CRICKET: A WEEKLY^ RECORD OF THE CAME- bowling, and above all it has enabled C. B. Fry to assert himself with a confi­ dence which must cause uneasiness to the Australians, who have hitherto (with some reason) felt that they were his masters. In this match he made 68 runs for once out, and it was not through any fault of his that he was run out in the first innings. One of our special statisticians esti­ mates that if all the matter printed about the present Australian team up to Satur­ day last were to be measured carefully, its length would exceed that of all the matter printed about the whole of the past Australian teams by three limes the distance between the Crystal Palace and Nottingham. I t may seem a curious thing to say that of all the bowlers who took part in the match at the Crystal Palace, the man who has the most cause for satisfaction is G. W. Beldam, the most puiiished of all of them. But no one else tied up the batsmen as he did when he was fresh, and no one suffered half as much as he from bad fielding and dropped catches. The extreme weakness of the Gentlemen’s bowling caused him to be kept on long after he had lost his fire and length, and everybody knows how easy it is to hit a leg break bowler when he is tired. So far from discouraging him, the match ought to give him great confidence, for he is hardly likely to have to bowl under such disheartening circumstances again in an Australian match. N o r has Breavley any reason at all to be discouraged bee luse he was much hit about in the second innings. He was tired and not fit, and yet showed clearly enough that when he could gat a length he was very difficult to deal with. Indeed, both he and Beldam s'ruck one as being bowlers of a higher class than anyone on the side of the Australians, although the Australian bowlers will naturally improve very much before long, and may possibly leave the two English­ men far behind. But the fact remains that there was no Australian in the Palace match who made batsmen look so uncomfortable as did Beldam and Brearley. T h e manager of the New South Wales team which played Tasmania and lost, stated that he considered the match ought to be counted as first-class, and it seems odd that exception has been taken to this by members of the N.S.W. Asso­ ciation. It has always been a mystery to English cricketers why Australians are content to consider N.S.W. and Victoria against Queensland and Tas­ mania as second-class matches, and why they have not long ago counted the pennant matches at Melbourne and Adelaide, and the Electorate matches at Sydney, as first-class. The fact that these matches are played on Saturday afternoons cannot possibly matter. The Melbourne C.C., the North Sydney C.C., Paddington C.C., and many others could take on any English county, including Yorkshire or Lancashire, and make it go all the way. To reckon scores made in matches between some of the weaker counties as first - class, and scores between North Sydney and Paddington as common or garden club scores, seems, to say the least of it, peculiar. U p to the end of March O. H. Dean, the Sydney schoolboy, had batted thirty- three times for 2,117 runs in all matches this season, and, with the aid of one not out innings, had an average of 6415. In school competition matches this season he has aggregated 1,117 runs for ten innings, which gives him an average of 11177. He has made nine scores of a hundred, five of them in school matches: 412, 126, 104, 174, and 106—and four in other matches : 111, 106, 142, and 146— a remarkable record for so young a cricketer. H a r r y T r o tt, the famous old Austra­ lian player, made 68 in sixty-seven minutes on March 24th for Carlton against Fit zroy at Melbourne. H e made 51 out of 63 in just over three-quarters of an hour, and his hits included a five and eight 4’s. A n o th e r famous old Australian player, H. P. Boyle, who came over with the first Australian team in 1878, and had a large share in the success of the team in the historical match against the M.C.C., played on March 30th for Past Players of the East Melbourne C.C. against Past of the Melbourne C.C. His side had to make 60 to win, with nine wickets down when he went in, but he bitted so well that he made 32 of the runs, and his tide won the match about half a minute before time by a wicket. F o r Leicester Town C.C. A. Emmett, a son of the great Tom Emmett, took all ten wickets on Saturday on the Leicestershire County ground against the Oakham Town C.C. Emmett took four wickets with the first four balls of his first over, and his analysis was 8 overs 2 maidens 14 runs and 10 wickets. In 1902 he played once for Leicestershire, scoring 0 anti 10, and bowling 31 overs, 7 maidens for 99 runs and 2 wickets. The Oakham Bcore was as follows, and it will be noticed [that Emmett bowled each of his men :— O akham T o w n . Rev. Marsh,b Enmiett H. Crake, not out ... W. Clark, b Emmett... T. Brown, b Emmett.. J. L. Grist, b Enmiett J. C. Kendrick, b Em­ mett ........................ G. Ruddle, b Emmett J. W. Senscall, b Em­ mett ........................ W . H. Ball, b Enmiett G. Downs, b Emmett S. Walker, b Enmiett. Extras .......... ... Total 63 Los i) H aw k e has been invited to a banquet at Scarborough to commemorate his twenty-five years’ connection with the cricket club. The banquet, at which Lord Hawke will be presented with a souvenir, is to take place during the Festival, I t is stated that the New Z-aland Cricket [Count il lost about £130 over two test matches against the Australians. C. J. E ady , the well-known Tasmanian cricketer, bowled exceedingly well against New South Wales for Tasmania at the end of March at Hobart, and had a large share in the success of his side. His analysis reads as follows :—First innings: 162 balls, 10 maidens, 57 runs, 6 wickets; second innings : 72 balls, 4 maidens, 41 runs, 5 wickets. I t will be remembered that Cricket ban made references to a proposed Board of Control fcr Australia, and has given a list of the rules which would govern the board. The three great Aus­ tralian Associations were asked to vote upon these rules, and the South Austra­ lian Association suggested several altera­ tions in the scheme, v iz.: — The insertion of clauses giving representa­ tion on the Board to one member of the Australian Eleven and one member of the inter-state teams; hy eliminating from the objects of the board the power to arrange visits of English teams; by including the power to arrange, control, and regulate inter-state mitches ; and by claiming 20 per cent, of the gross takings for the use of its ground in test matches, instead of 15 per cent. ------ A t a meeting of the Victorian Asso­ ciation on March 28th it was stated that the New South Wales Associa'ion had asked that these suggested alterations should not be accepted, and bad also proposed that as two associations out of the three were agreed, the board should be at once established. T h e following proposal was then dis­ cussed, and pissed by ten votes to two. “ That the South Australian Association be informed that the Victorian Cricket Association cannot agree to the amendments suggested by it with the exception that it will support tho suggestion that 20 per cent, of the gross takings shall be allowed to the South Australian Association for the use of its ground in test matches.” It was also decided on the motion of Mr. S. M ‘Michael, seconded by Mr. P, Knuckey, to write to the Marylebone Cricket Club, and inform it of what had been done, to proceed at once with the establishment of the Board of Control, and to invite the New South Wales Association to co-operate by nominating delegates, aud suggesting place and date of the first meeting. To English cricketers these measures must seem somewhat high-handed, for apparently a Board of Control has been appointed without giving actual players any voice in the matter at all, and without any consideration for the Association which did not come into line. But it is pretty certain that there will be thorns in the path of the way of the new Board, for the Melbourne Leader says :— The leading players of theAustralian team, before leaving New Zealand, held a meeting, at which indignation was expressed at the