Cricket 1905

458 CRiCKElT: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. Nov. 30, 1905. A t a meeting of the Victorian Cricket Association on October 16th, it was stated that the amount divide! among the members of the Australian Eleven at the close of the tour was £900 for each member of the team, and that the sum realized as the result of each test match equalled £75 per man. It may be men­ tioned that the sum allotted to English professionals for a test match ia £20. I t is interesting to note that Darling, who had, perhaps, not heard of the above official statement, was questioned by a reporter on his arrival at Perth about the profits made by the members of the Aus­ tralian team. The reporter said : “ A telegram was published the other day stating that each member of your team would receive about £900 as his share.” Darling laughed and replied, “ You can deny that right away. The gross takings did not amount to that, and you can’t make the trip under £300 a man.” In the Australasian “ Felix ” says :— With all the thousands of members of the Melbourne C.C. we cannot manage to find a howler of high-class merit in the whole lot. Many a time have I been down at the nets, where hundreds practise, and I look in vain amongst them for a successor to the redoubt - able “ Hughie.” It is so on other grounds that I visit. There are numerous bowlers, but no signs of one to take Trumble’s place. Clearly, the inference is that first-class bowlers are exceedingly rare. At times I have been amused by some enthusiast saying, ‘ ‘ Give us district cricket and we’ll soon have bowlers.” But we had great bowlers long before any mention was made of district cricket....................District cricket may do good by causing some local interest in the play, but it will not make bowlers or batsmen possess any skill beyond that with which they were by nature endowed. Of course, the natural talent may be improved by assiduous practice and intelligent study with regard to break, variation of pace and deception in flight. “ W e have our international matches and our interstate matches regularly,” continues ‘ Felix,’ “ and this high-class cricket has given the public such a stan­ dard of excellence that they will not come to watch cricket of an inferior grade. It is very much to be regretted of course, but it is true, and all the dis­ trict cricket enthusiasts in the world will not alter it.” C a rp e n te r, the Essex professional, who has accepted an engagement as coach to the Melbourne C.C., arrived at Melbourne on October 18th, and began his duties on the 23rd. I t is stated that T. Warne, the Carlton (Melbourne) player, has been asked by the Belmont C.C. of Philadelphia to act as curator of its ground, and as coach. He has accepted the terms which were offered. It will be remembered that Wame ia December, 1898, made a score of 402 for Carlton v. Richmond at Melbourne. In Southern Tasmania the old clubs “ Break o’ Day,” “ Dsrwent,” etc., have given place to district clubs—North Hobart, South Hobart, East Hobart, West Hobart, and New Town. C. J. Eady will play for South, K. E. Bum and J. H . Savigny for East. H a r r y T r o tt, the old Australian captain, has decided not to play in pennant cricket this season. He has had to travel on Friday nights from his home, and on the Saturdays he has found that he has suffered from want of sleep. T h e r e was a remarkable finish to the match between Adelaide and North Adelaide on October 14th. The former made 171, and the latter lost five wickets for 23. Then came the struggle, says the Adelaide Observer. H. M. Jay, the St. Peter’s College left-hander, who was not successful last season, settled down with his captain (J. C. Reedman) to retrieve the fortunes of his side, and he played magnificent cricket. There was just enough rain to keep the ball greasy, and he sent it to all parts of the field. At 86 he lost his captain, but he did not lose heart. As the runs came the feeling grew more intense. One spectator “ smoked ” a box of matches; another stood rooted with pipe in one hand and the lucifers in the other. At 170 Jay made a fine off-drive, and the North Adelaide cheer rent the air. “ A fourer ” someone oried. But Ernie Bailey, by a grand effort, jumped at the rising ball, held it Bideways, and—Adelaide won by one run. E. F. W a d dy, who, to the great sur­ prise of English cricketers, was not chosen for the Australian team of 1905, although he was at the head of the Aus­ tralian averages in the interstate matches, has been ordained. It is hoped that he will still be able to play regularly in interstate cricket. As far as I am aware, no parson has yet represented one of the three great states. In connection with the Australian Board of Control, a conference was held in Sydney between representatives of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and the Melbourne Club, and a resolution was carried recommending that the repre­ sentation of the Victorian and New South Wales Associations should be increased to three each, and that the Melbourne Club should have the right to elect one of the Victorian representatives. It was origin­ ally intended that each association should have two representatives, and the change has been made to admit of the Melbourne Club having one. L a t e r , at a meeting of the New South Wales Cricket Association, a resolution was adopted that Rule I. governing the Board of Control should read as follows: “ Three representatives from New South Wales, three from the Viotorian Cricket Association (one of whom should be elected by the Melbourne Cricket Club), and one representative from the Queens­ land Cricket Association, all to be elected annually.” I t will thus be seen that South Aus­ tralia is still entirely ignored, and it may be doubted whether, as it stands, the Board will be recognised by the authori­ ties in England as representing Australia. South Australia is the weakest of the three great Associations, and English people always have a feeling of sympathy for the weak when they seem to be “ put upon.” As was stated some time ago in Cricket the method of scoring used in the Minor Counties’ Competition has been intro­ duced into electorate matches in Brisbane and Sydney. It has apparently quick­ ened the pace of scoring in these matches, at any rate in Brisbane, for a corres­ pondent writes from there as follows:— “ The cricketers of Brisbane have cast off their old sinful habits. Nowadays, all matches begin punctually at 2.15 p.m., although the rules of the competition allow fifteen minutes grace after that time; the batsmen pass one another on the way from and to the wickets; and substitutes for late­ comers are merely a memory of the dim past. They say that the umpiring in Brisbane— carried out by pure lily-white amateurs, is very nearly perfect. Beads like a forecast of the Millennium, doesn’t it? ” W r itin g about the matches in Sydney at tbe beginning of tbe season, “ Short- slip ” says, in the Sydney Mail: — It is just about this time of the year that sudden atmospheric changes are to be expected. I was chatting one first Saturday in October with an American humorist; it was about eight years or so ago. He was railing in a pleasant sort of way at things Australian. The weather that morning was delightfully warm—quite springlike, and in order to force him to agree that there was something good about Australia 1 remarked, “ Well, you must admit that the weather here is beautiful.” He thought for a mo­ ment, then replied : “ Well, yes, it is all very fine just now, but the chances are that before the day is out you will have spring, summer, autumu, and winter all crowded in half an hour.” And it was so. T h e Rev. G. B. Raikes, the old Oxford Blue and Norfolk cricketer, has been appointed chaplain to the Duke of Port­ land at Welbeck. The Rev. T. R. Hine- Haycock, the old Oxford Blue, bacomes Deputy Priest in Ordinary to the King. Sir F. H. E. Cunliffe, the old Oxford Blue, has been elected a? lecturer on Military History at Oxford University. V o g l e r , the M.C.C. professional, recently took eight wickets for eight runs for Port Elizabeth v. Bedford, South Africa. Tbe runs were made before he took his first wicket. In the oourse of the innings he did the hat trick. T h e programme of the Surrey Cjunty C.C. for 1906 is the same as that of the