Cricket 1905

Nov. 30, 1905. CRICKET |r A, WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME 457 petent officials secured tor the Association. The arrangements then made have worked most amicably and the Association is indeed fortunate in having the nssis ance of umpires qualified and willing to undertake these duties which tend to make th» g ime more pleasant and satisfactory to all concerned. A r e p o r t, running to two columns and a half, of the above meeting appears in the St. George Call, a newspaper which circulates in the suburbs where the asso­ ciation has its being. I wonder whether auy meeting of a small league of English clubs has ever been as fully reported. The Illawalla Association, like the great associations in Sydney, publishes an annual, in which full details about the clubs are to be found. I gather from it that there is a difficulty in obtaining a sufficient supply of wickets. Hence the follow ing: — “ Carlton wicket is the same as Hurstville, Oriental same as Hurstville Methodist, Kogarah Presbyterian wickct is on Kogarah Park, and Dalmorlon wicket is thatpreviously us d by Hurstyille Presbyterian. Arncliffe Undaunted wicket, when finally arranged, will be duly notified.” Fkom the Sydney Mail: — “ Some of our authorities expect Grounds to develop into our leading bowler. Let’s hope so. One of our best wicket-keepers remarked to me when one of our bowlers were not doing well in England—I forget which match it was, for they failed pretty often—that the best howler in Australia in Grounds was left behind. At the start of last season he had a bad leg, and his cricket­ ing days were considered to he over. There, however, came the bloodless cure doctor, and Grounds was peremptorily told to play cricket. In trepidation he did, and after a couple of games found to his amazement that his “ leg ” was gone. Tn \V. Bardsley, Glebe have one of the most promising hats of the day.” L o r d B r a c k le y , the captain of the team which visited the West Indies last winter, was married on October 28th at St. Margaret’s, Westminster, to Miss Violet Lambton, a daughter of Mr. F. W. Lambton, M.P. In the match between Victoria and South Australia on November 11th, 13th and 14th at Adelaide, the visitors won by an innings and 148 runs. South Australia batted first and scored 244. Victoria followed with 526, and then disposed of South Australia in the second innings for 134. According to the reports which have been cibled to England McAlister scored 157 and Armstrong 165. “ C r ic k e t’s ” scheme for a book-club is not yet complete, but it is settled that, on payment of a year’s subscription in advance, plus a mere trifle of £5 or so, subscribers will be entitled to write to- any well-known collector, asking him for the loan of any book or books which they may require. If the well-known collector fails to reply or, what is more likely, sends a somewhat hasty letter, they need not be discouraged ; they will still be entitled to a ticket to the reading-room of the British Museum, provided that they can obtain the signature of two responsible householders, and can satisfy the Museum authorities that they are tit and proper persons to be admitted to the reading-room. But a word of warning may be given. If, despite these obvious advantages, you do not subscribe at once, YOU MAY HAVE TO WAIT. W ritin g in the Australasian about the Australian tour in England, “ Felix” says “ The cost for each man from start to finish of the tour would be, say, £300, so that the proceeds from the test matches would more thau cover the whole expenses of the tour. The Aus­ tralian share from the remaining thirty- three matches would be profit, and as tbe New Zealand trip yiel led £1,500, I fancy an estimate of about £700 per man will not be wide of the mirk.” On the second Saturday of the season at Sydney, October 7th, P. Mickay scored 204, and F. Johnston 107 not out for Burwood against Glebe. Mackay’s hits included nine 5’s and nineteen 4’s, and at one period of his innings he made 50 in twelve minutes. His partnership with Johnston produced 290 runs in a little over two hours and a-half. From the Sydney Mail: — It is seldom that a ball is hit from the wicket on the Sydney Cricket Ground into the Agricultural Ground, yet this was what Diamond did on Saturday. The wicket was placed on the eastern side of the centre ; all the same, the hit was a remarkable one. The ball landed on the top of the stand and bounded into the neigbouring ground. I remember Bonnor lifting a ball on to the top of the booth—the one which was burned down when a lot of fireworks were stored therein—and A. Sweetman also hit a ball in the same direction over the fence. He was playing for the builders against the archi­ tects. Bonnor’s hit occurred in the Austra­ lian Eleven v. N.S.W. Fifteen in 1884, and he was caught by a substitute fielding for myself. ------ A co rre s p o n d e n t writes from Aus­ tralia : “ I was reading to my wife au extract from ‘ The theory and practice of Cricket,’ by Charles Box, published in 1868. An old English lady who was present said, ‘ Why, that’s nothing. About four months ago I burned up a lot of cricket books which my graud- father used to have, some of them pub­ lished iu seventeen hundred and odd, aud all beautifully bound. Most of them were printed in the old English type.’ It has quite put me out. Fancy burning such a gold mine ! ” But I should be inclined to think that the old lady was mistaken in her idea that she was burn­ ing cricket books. U n d er the title of “ Cricket and Cricketers,” a history of the game is shortly to be published by the American Cricketer. The author is Mr. F. S. Ashley-Cooper, whose name will be well known to readers of Cricket. The book, of which the price is a dollar and a half, contains an introduction by Mr. George M. Newhall. This publishers of Mr. Frainjee Patel’s book, “ Stray Thoughts on Iudian Cricket,” ask me to state that it may be obtained at the Lmdon office of The Times of India, 121, Fleet Street, E.C., aud that its p-ice is 9j. 6i. J o h n B. T h a y e r, a member of many All-Philadelphia elevens, and famous for his circus catches,” has, says the American Cricketer, been appointed fourth vice-president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, iu which company his rise has been as remarkable as many of his stops on the cricket field. He once ciused the dismissal of “ W. G .” by such a wonder­ ful catch that the champion then and there presented him with his bat. The annual election of members of the committee of the Melbourne Cricket Club took place on September 13th. There were ten candidates for the seven positions to be filled. The result of the polliug was as follows :— ELECTED. H. TRUMBLE ...................................1,059 W. M’BEAN ................................... 964 J. O HOAD ................................ 918 G. B. GORDON................................. 907 E. K. M1TOHELI............................... 846 A. A. A IT K E N ................................. 814 FRANK E. ALLAN ........................ 789 NOT ELECTED. W. Bruce ................................... ... 732 G. M. Munro ........... ... ... 6U3 G. H. Purchas .................................. 402 Allan, Bruce, Gordon, M ’Bean and Trumble were the retiring memberd of the committee. A t a meeting of the Victorian Ccicket Association the annual balance-sheet showed a credit balance of £14 9s. lid . This did not include Dr. Moore’s account for attendance on J. H. Stuckey, who had his knee-cap broken while playing against South Australia last season. Ihat account amounted to £85 10s. 61., of which Dr. Moore claimed 58 guineas for the operation, the balance being made up of nurses’ fees, medicines, crutches, etc. The secretary reported that he had asked Dr. Moore to reduce his fee, as they could not expend more than £50 for the player’s benefit. Dr. Moore refused to make any abatement on that amount, and state 1 that there were only four surgeons in Melbourne that could have undertaken the operation. He, however, was willing to allow the account to stand over until the Association was in funds. A member suggested, amidst much laughter, that the account should stand over until the Association could pay it, and that in the meantime Dr. Moore should be elected as honorary surgeon to the Association. M r. A. J. G a ston has accepted an invitation to lecture on “ Cricket and Cricketers ” at Canterbury, on the 8th February, iu aid of the funds of tbe Beverley Club. Mr. Gaston has also received an invitation to lecture at Darby early in the new year on behalf of the Derbyshire County Cricket Club.