Cricket 1905

N ov. 30, 1905. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD 01* THE GAME. 459 past season except for the Australian matches. Oxford University will be played at the Oval and Cambridge Uni­ versity at Cambridge as well as the Oval. The first match of the season begins on April 16th (Easter Monday) at the Oval, and is against a Gentlemen of England team chosen by Dr. W. G. Grace. The match between Gentlemen v. Players at the Oval is fixed for July 16th, 17th and 18th. A t the annual meeting of the Worcestershire County C.C. it was stated that in addition to the usual programme, matches will probably be arranged with Northamptonshire. Mr. H. K. Foster who has again been appointed captain, stated that the services of Bale, the Surrey player, had been secured as wicket­ keeper ; he considered him to be one of the finest wicket-keepers he had ever seen, and but little inferior to Lilley. The report showed a loss on the year’s matches of £518 as against £327 in the previous year, but this does not take into account the sum which will be received from the Test matches. The total deficiency of the county is now £3,359. It was stated that Burrows’ benefit match produced £110 10s. Id., a sum which affords a remarkable contrast to the £3,000 odd which was received by George Hirst. T h e report of the Middlesex County C.C. shows that the season of 1905 was not as successful as usual, the profits fall­ ing from £697 0s. 8d. in 1904 to £274 8s. 7d. But although the balance in hand on the 3eir’s matches was only £247 10s. 6d., the county has £4,500 invested in Consols, and its only liability is a balance of £200 from a loan by Mr. Y. E. Walker. The annual 'meeting was held on Tuesday. T h e match against Cambridge Uni­ versity will be dropped next season by Warwickshire, who have arranged to play the home match with Northamptonshire at Coventry. T h e annual meeting of the Hampshire County C.C. was held yesterday (Wed­ nesday) at Portsmouth. There was a loss of £332 83. lid . on the pist season’s matches, but, thanks to the success of the fancy fete, which produced a profit of £1,028, tbe affairs of the club are in a better position than they have been for a long time. The success of the matches played at Bournemouth, Portsmouth aud Aldershot may induce the committee to consider the advisability of lessening the number played at Southampton. M r. C h am b erla in has written a letter to the secretary of the Lilley Testimonial Fund consenting to allow his name to be added to the committee, and expressing a hope that the project may be a great success. A t the annual meeting of the Minor Counties Association at Lord’s on Decem­ ber 5th, a proposal to group the counties will ba discussed. It will be seen, from the announcement which appears on another page, that it is proposed to divide the counties into two groups, North %^d Midlands, and South and Western, and that the winning county in each division shall meet for a deciding match at the end of August. Each com­ peting team would have to play each other team in its division on the League system. I t is by no means certain that the above proposal will be carried. The League system is anathema to a very large number of cricketers, who earnestly hope that the elaborate legislation which is the outcome of the league system in Association football will never be seen in cricket. There is quite enough legislation in cricket at the present time, and the minor counties would be very unwise if they sacrificed their present freedom in order to have the pleasure of increasing the authority which governs them. But, apart from this, it is ex­ ceedingly doubtful whether it would be for the good of many of the counties if they were bound down to play a certain number of matches. The finances of most of the minor counties are not in a very flourishing condition, and it would be a great pity to run any new risks of increased failure. It may be pointed out that the proposed system would fall very heavily on the second elevens of Yorkshire, Lancashire and Surrey, who cannot place their best team in the field in every match, on account of the demands of the first eleven. On the whole, the scheme seems unnecessary and vexatious, and it is to be hoped that for their own sake the minor counties will not accept it. Th e Gentlemen of Holland intend to pay another visit to England, under the management of theDutch Cricket Union. According to present arrangements the team will arrive in England before the middle of August and will play about four matches, their opponents being Gentlemen of the M.C.C., Gentlemen of Surrey, Gentlemen of Worcestershire, and possibly Gentlemen of Kent. T h e Yorkshire report shows that the county made a profit of £1,117 10s. 4d. on last season’s matches, whereas in the previous year there was a loss on the season of £588 8s. 61. The income for 1905 was £14,127 4s. 9d., and the club has now a balance to its credit of £11,514 15s. 5d,, of which £10,500 is invested. The Australians received £2,125 8s. 6d. as their share of the proceeds of their matches against York­ shire. It is interesting to note that only two county matches produced any con­ siderable profit—against Lancashire at Sheffield, and Middlesex at Bradford. F o r South Brisbane v. Fortitude Valley, at the Exhibition Ground, Bris­ bane, on October 21st, W. B. Hayes and T. B. Faunce put on 290 for the first wicket in 2 hrs. 15 min., Hayes scoring 143 and Faunce 134. The pair made the first 100 in 35 min., and 200 in 75 min. South Brisbane’s score for the afternoon (2.15 p.m. to 6 p.m.) was 420 for five wickets. Hiyes was in the Queensland X I. last season, and was not found want­ ing in either of his two matches. Although he has shown considerable promise during the last few seasons, Fauncs has not yet been honoured by the interstate selectors. L a n ca s h ire has again had a satis­ factory season as regards finances, the profits of the year being £2,384 7s. Id. The gate receipts were £5,966 4s., of which £1,105 11s. 3d. went to the Aus­ tralians. It is intended to carry out various improvements at the Old Trafford Ground and to continue the winter pay to the professionals. The club now com­ prises 2,906 members, 76 life members and 866 lady subscribers. The committee intend to repay £ 1,000 of the loan on account of the purchase of the Old Traf­ ford ground. They express a hope that Mr. W. Brearley will fiud time to play occasionally for the county next season, and that Mr. Maclaren’s testimonial will be a great success. On another page will be found the first part of an interesting article, entitled “ Cricket and the Clock,” by H. P.-T.— initials which will be well known to most readers of Cricket. The writer makes a suggestion which is worthy of considera­ tion, and, as far as I know, it is quite original. T h e Sussex county committee have decided to shorten their programme by dropping the matches with Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. The home match against Hampshire is to be played at Chichester. Up to the present, North­ amptonshire have not been able to arrange a sufficient number of matches to give them a place in the county cham­ pionship. I n place of the matches against Sussex, Leicestershire have arranged out and home matches with Kent for next season, the two counties having never previously encountered each other. Knight will probably receive about £500 as the pro­ ceeds of his benefit match, and will thus be more fortunate than any other Leices­ tershire professional. A sk ed by a representative of the Press at Perth whether he would care to say anything about the question of pro­ fessionalism among Australian cricketers, Darling replied:— “ There are no professionals among the Australian players. All the men who have adopted cricket as a profession have had to go to England. There was talk ahout some of the men, but here is the position. When they came hack from England last time they went hack to their places, which were kept for them. ‘ But,’ Said the employers, ‘ if you want to take part'in the interstate matches which begin in ahout a fortnight you had