Cricket 1905

122 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M a y 11, 1905. ■withdrawal by the associations of New South Wales and Victoria of the representation of the players on the proposed Board of Control. Those members of the team who were pre­ viously favourable to a board of some kind are now quite against it, and a cable message has been sent to the South Australian Cricket Association, stating that if the Melbourne C.C. brings out an English team the Austra­ lian Eleven will certainly play in matches against it. The South Australian Cricket Association approved of the representation of the players on the board, and the cable message has been sent to Mr. Creswell, the secretary, to assist him in his contentions with the other associations in the matter, and in other objections by the South Australian Cricket Association to the proposed rules of the board, regarding not only representation, but the sharing of the profits as well as losses in English visits in equal proportions, man­ agement of inter-state matches, etc. Th e Sydney Mail has some plain com­ ments on the question. Thus:— There will be trouble in the International Board of Control or with the Australian Eleven when the latter return, that is if any importance is to be attached to the message cabled from New Zealand. The Australian Eleven will insist upon the representation of the team upon the board, and also of the Sheffield Shield players. Failing that, they will support the South Australian Association, presumably in the demand for pooling part of the profits of International and Sheffield Shield matches, and will play against an English team, should the Melbourne Club decide to bring one out to Australia—which means that the Australians will support the Melbourne Club against the Victorian Asso­ ciation. I anticipated there would be trouble over the non-representation of the players on the board. T h e r e was similar trouble when the Australian Cricket Council was in exist­ ence, continues our contemporary. There is foundation in the matter for an ugly development, though it is a far-away cry to season 1906-7 when we may expect another English team here, and by that time many of the present Austra­ lian team might be on the shelf. Some prominent members of the New South Wales Cricket Association say that the players have no possible chance of secur­ ing special representation on the board of control. Still, the conference held in Sydney early in the year included such representation in the draft constitution. Victoria and New South Wales knocked the clause out; South Australia wants it in. N. R. U d a l , who took twelve wickets in the Seniors’ match at Oxford for 65 runs, is the old Winchester College boy. He played in the Freshmen’s match at Oxford in 1903, bowling five overs for 6 runs and three wickets in the first innings, but was not tried in the second. He then played for the Next Sixteen against the First Twelve, and bowled 5 overs for 10 runs and a wicket in the first innings, but again was not tried in the second innings. It might have been thought that his performances were good enough to earn him another trial, but he was forgotten, until last year, when after taking eight wickets for 95 in the first innings in the Seniors’ match, he was given a trial for the University against Gentlemen of England. He made 25, but took no wickets, and was promptly dropped. Perhaps it may occur to the Oxford captain this year that a fast bowler who can take twelve wickets for 65 in the Seniors’ match must be a little out of the common run of bowlers. Mr. Udal is the son of His Honour J. S. Udal, who is now in Antigua. Two of the members of last year’s South African team, S. Horwood and S. J. Snooke, have distinguished them­ selves in a match between Cape Town and Green Point at Newlands on April 15th. Green Point made 212 on the previous day, and Snooke and Horwood put together 134 for the first wicket of Cape Town without being separated. On the next day they increased the total to 370 without being defeated, the score reading as follows:— C ape T own . S. Horwood, not out .......................... 209 S. J. Snooke, not o u t .......................... 119 Extras ................................ 12 Total (no wicket)* ..........370 *Innings declared closed. This performance seems to be a record for South Africa. The record for the first wicket in any match is 554 by J. T. Brown and J. Tunnicliffe for Yorkshire against Derbyshire at Chesterfi aid in August, 1898, and the total of 370 has often been beaten. For an uDfiaished partnership for the first wicket the record is 470 by L. Wilson (246 not out) and W. G. Wyld (203 not out) for Beckenham against Bexley at Beckenham in August, 1885. O f f the first ball which he received in first class county cricket, Hobbs, the new Surrey professional, made a four to leg off Young, the Essex bowler. A co in c id e n c e :— The first individual innings of over two hundred made in 1905, was 201 by Wilfred Rhodes for Yorkshire v. Somerset at Taunton. The first individual innings of over two hundred made in 1904, was 201 by J. E. Raphael for Oxford University v. Yorkshire. An application for a grant towards cricket expenses came before the Chester Education Committee on Monday on behalf of the City and County Girls’ School, which is at present taking up temporary quarters on the racecourse. It was stated that the sub-committee for higher education had voted two pounds, and this grant was confirmed after a discussion in which one of the members asked whether the school thought of playing the Australians. To tbij brilliant remark the chairman replied that it depended on whether the Australians challenged them, an answer which apparently satisfied the questioner. Commenting on the modern craze about the swerving ball, which, as has often been pointed out in Cricket, is no new thing, the Standard says :— It is common knowledge among first-class cricketers that all the to-do that there has been of recent years—as though our forbears never swerved a bail!—has had a bad effect upon bowling generally. Very nearly the first thing observed when a new bowler is spoken of is either “ Does he swerve?” or “ He’s got a tremendous swerve from leg, and does it in the last few yards or so.” As a fact, all swerves at cricket “ do it ” in the last few yards. Consequently, far too much attention has been given to swerving, and in the attempt to improve upon already good bowling many men have quite lost the first art, viz., length. . . . And with loss of length the bowling throughout first-class cricket must suffer, so that nothing should be done that might even tend to harm length bowling. T h e “ Derbyshire Cricket Guide for 1905 ” has just made its appearance. It is again compiled by L. G. Wright and W. J. Piper, jun., and is published by Bacon & Hudson, Darby, at the price of twopence. In addition to statistical tables, fixtures, etc., the annual contains a biography of Mr. G. Curgenven, with an excellent portrait, an article on first-class cricket in 1904, with special reference to Derbyshire, by L. G. W., and another on the Australian team of 1905, by F. S. Ashley-Cooper. The book is indispens­ able to Derbyshire cricketers. O n Friday Wilfred Rhodes made 201 for Yorkihire against Sussex, the first innings of two hundred this season. He was not loDg left alone, for on Tuesday, P. F. Warner followed him with 204 for M.C.C. against Sussex. Neither of the two men has ever made two hundred before in first-class cricket, although Rhodes has made 196 and Warner 197. Warner made 211 for Lord Hawke’s team in New Zealand against Otago, three years ago. ------- As far as appearances go Sussex and Somersetshire players will have plenty of fielding this season. Neither county has produced a new bowler of any note of late years, and it is but natural that the old bowlers should gradually be falling off. Already this season each side has had an innings of two hundred scored against it. T h e Lancashire County Committee has succeeded in obtaining concessions from the railway companies for the benefit of cricketers in Manchester and Liverpool. The Railway Conference has agreed to a scheme by which return tickets will be issued to Manchester at a fare aud a quarter from outlying stations on all occasions when county matches are played at Old Trafford and Liverpool. Three of the local companies have already accepted the scheme. T h e r e are very few men even in the pride of youth who can make 50 runs in a first-class match without any practice, and it is therefore all the more remarkable that Lord Hawke succeeded in making 51 for Yorkshire against Somerset on the £rst two days after he returned from a long journey in the East.