Cricket 1905

J u n e 22, 1905, CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME 219 JUwlin, and at 22 Hearne gave way to Trott—so that, before the first wicket fell at 27, three changes of bowling had been made. ------- T h e long duel between C. B. Pry and the Australians, from which Fry has come out in triumph, seems likely to have interesting developments. It will be remembered that in the test match five or six men were placed for him on the on side and he was given hardly any opportunities of hitting to the off. Tbe example set by the Australian captain has been followed by C. H. B. Marsham, who, in the Sussex match against Kent, placed several men on the on side when Fry was batting, while the bowlers aimed at the leg stump. Whether, in the long run this policy is likely to be successful in crippling Fry’s batting, remains to be seen. On Monday, at Tonbridge, he was batting for 40 minutes for 9 runs; but in the second innings he Bcored 175 in three hours and a-half. No doubt other captains will try the experiment for all it is worth, for to keep Fry quiet has hitherto been an insolvable problem. T h e r e was some exceedingly curious cricket on Monday after the heavy rains. At Lord’s, 256 runs were made for twenty-one wickets. At Sheffield, York­ shire could only make 61 against Notts, and the day’s play produced 279 for twenty-one wickets. At Tonbridge, Kent lost nine wickets for 82 after Sussex had scored 217. At Oxford the University lost four wickets for 16 in reply to 229 by Warwickshire ; and Gen­ tlemen of England seven wickets for 54 at the Crystal Palace after Cambridge had made 388. On the other hand, Leicestershire scored 349 for two wickets against Hampshire at Southampton, and Lancashire 401 against Somerset at Taunton. ------- Some of the readers of Cricket may remember that in Mark Twain’s “ New Pilgrim’s Progress ” there is an American who, having read that “ the voice of the turtle is heard in the land,” endeavoured to induce one of the songsters to give a performance. He explained, when ques­ tioned by his friends as to his proceed­ ings, that he had been waiting in vain for hours to hear the turtle sing, but he would give him one more chance, and then! There must be many cricketers who have had a similar feeling with regard to C. B. Fry’s performances in test matches. They believed that he was the soundest bat of the day, and they felt sure that he could make a hundred against modem Australian bowling if he had any luck. But they waited and waited, and still the long-looked-for score did not come. They must have felt that they would give him one more chance, and then, if he did not come off, reluctantly come to the conclusion that it was not want of luck but want of skill which had told against him. O f course, after his scores of 73 and 36 not out in the test match on a wicket which was certainly not in favour of batsmen, Fry’s most severe and sceptical critics admit that he is the man for a great occasion. It is to be feared that he must have considerably disappointed the Australians who, rightly or wrongly, were under the impression that they had taken his measure. It is within the bounds of possibility that they may not have occasion to find fault with him for scoring slowly, if they meet him when he has a good wicket to play upon. A t last the June rain has reached the north of England, but for all that it has not left the London district. Up to the present date rain has fallen in London in greater or less quantities on nearly every day of the month, and there seems no sign that the weather will improve. This may not be the wettest June on record as far as inches are concerned—at present the rainfall is only about twice the average quantity in inches—but it must hold a record for downright persis­ tency in the way of steady rain. P. R. M ay and R. A. Young have received their blue at Cambridge. As there are seven old blues at the Univer­ sity who will all probably play against Oxford, this leaves two places to fill up, and in the natural order of things L. G. Colbeck will be the tenth choice. It will be remembered that he scored 52 not out for Cambridge against the Australians in a low-scoring match, Noble’s 75 not out baing the only score higher than bis, and since then he has played several good innings. It is generally admitted that May ought to have gained bis blue last year. Young is the Repton freshman. G e h r s , the South Australian batsman from whom such great things were ex­ pected, has at last shown his true form, and on Monday he made 52 for the Aus- traliins against Dublin University by excellent cricket. His previous scores this season are 23 and 14, 16 and 13, 0 and 2, 23 and 18. T h e r e are two great cricketers who at the present moment may be reminded that philosophers are all agreed as to the truth of Shakespeare’s saying, “ Sweet are the uses of adversity.” These two cricketers are G. L. Jessop and Percy Perrin, whose record for the season up to Tuesday was as follows ;— Jessop—28, 1 and 60, 38, 14 and 38*, 10 and 0, 1 and 25, 1 and 17, 20 and 11, and 14. Perrin— 10 and 7, 6 and 24, 13 and 3, 6 and 7, 45 and 6 , 0 and 14*, 13 and 2. * .Signifies not out. On Tuesday Jessop’s luck changed, and Perrin’s must certainly change soon. A m o n th or two ago it was pointed out in Cricket that there was likely to be trouble in Australia over the new Board of Control. It will be remembered that the South Australian Cricket Asso­ ciation objected to join the Board if the financing of future teams was to be one of its objects, and if present-day players were not to be represented. Thereupon the two other associations decided to form the Board of Control without the aid of South Australia. A cc o r d in g to the Sydney correspon­ dent of the Daily Mail , who cab’es on June 19, the situation seems now to have become acute. The correspondent says:— South Australia have been notified by cable from Darling to the effect that the Maryle- bone Club will refuse to recognise the board unless South Australia is included. A meeting of the N.S.W . Association to-day resented Darling’s threat, and defied the interference of the Marylebone Club in Australian cricket. A resolution was carried unanimously formally eliminating South Australia from the constitution of the Board of Control. The hoard is communicating with the Marylebone Club asking for confirmation or otherwise of Darling’s threat. T h e second annual match between Jockeys, captained by Mornington Can­ non, and Amateur Champion Athletes, captained by W. Lotinga, will take place at Kennington Oval on Monday, July 3rd. The entire proceeds will be devoted to the Belgrave Children’s Hospital, Clap- ham Road, S.W. Tke teams will be selected from the following :— J ockeys : M. Cannon (capt.), D. Maher, O. Madden, E. Wheatley, J. Jarvis, C. Trigg, J. H. Martin, W. Griggs, P. Woodland, K. Cannon, H. Jones, Mr. George Thursby, W. Dollery, E. Matthews, T. Cannon, jun.. P. Chaloner, B. Dillon, C. Williamson and H. Randall. A matecjr A thletes : C. H. Jnpp, Leon Meredith, A. Aldridge, J. W. Morton, G. A. Barry, Lord Hugh Grosvenor, K. H. Miles, Vivian J. Woodward, Lord Cardross, A. Shrubb, J. A. Jarvis, G. E. Larner, H. D. Buck, J. W. H. T. Douglas, A. W. T. Good, H. L. Doherty, A. E. Wills, W. de Wend-Fenton, Lord Ingestre and W, Lotinga. U mpire : Lord Dalmeny.- C. B. F ry has now played five innings of a hundred this year, viz :— v. M.C.C. and Ground (Lord’s), 156 and 106. v. Notts (Brighton), 201 not out. v. Notts (Nottingham), 233. v. Kent (Tonbridge), 175. He has made 1,481 runs. I t is stated that K. S. Ranjitsinhji is now on his way from India, and that he will be in England next month. M r. J. D. B etham , whose book en­ titled “ Oxford and Cambridge Cricket Scores and Biographies,” has just appeared and will be reviewed in next week’s Cricket, writes to say that Mr. H. E. Bull, the Oxford Blue of 1863, died on May 31st. Mr. Bull, who was at school atWestminster, played for Oxford­ shire in 1863 and 1864, and for Buck­ inghamshire from 1864 to 1868. He was the first honorary secretary of the Buckinghamshire County C.C. An­ other Oxford Blue, Mr. J. Rashleigh, also died in May. He was in the Harrow X L in 1836, but owing to illness could not play against Eton. He was in the Oxford X I. in 1842, and was born on January 7th, 1820. The death of these two cricketers took place too recently to allow of mention in Mr. Betham’s book, which otherwise is entirely up to the present date. T h e re are very few batsmen who, when they have played against an Aus­ tralian team, can point to a greater triumph than has been enjoyed by F. H.