Cricket 1905

472 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. D ec . 21, 1905. South Wales intends to fight to a finish, bo to speak, on the [question of a proper control of the sport. M r. W. T . A h e rn , the honorary secre­ tary of the Carlton C.C. (Melbourne), has written a pamphlet in which he discusses the law about leg-before-wicket. Through the medium of diagrams, he shows that, now the bowling crease extends 4 feet on each side of the stumps, a majority of straight balls bowled round the wicket cannot legitimately get batsmen out leg- before-wicket. His argument is that many batsmen are victims to wrong decisions. T h e New South Wales Cricket Asso­ ciation has informed the Southern Tas­ manian C.A. that if an opportunity occurs later in the season a match will be arranged with Tasmania. Meanwhile Tasmania is trying to arrange a match with South Australia. R e fe r r in g to the return to Australia of the team which visited England, the Sydney Mail says: “ It is no new thing to hear that the umpiring has not been up to what it should have been. I wonder how it is that there is always this complaint made ? It would, how­ ever, serve no purpose to refer to the instances. They could possibly be dis­ covered by looking up ‘ confident appeals’ in the various matches.” A cu rio u s incident happened in the first innings of Sydney against Balmain on October 28th. Goddard hit his wicket so hard with the bat that he split one of the bails and dislodged it, but on appeal he was given not out. S au nders, the left-hand bowler who visited England with the Australian team of 1902 is now, according to the Adelaide Observer, a professional with the Carlton Club. W isd en ’s C r ic k e te r s ’ A lm anack for 1906 will be ready about January 10th. U n le s s the original arrangement has had to be abandoned or modified, Madras cricketers this Christmas will be extend­ ing a welcome to a side from Ceylon. The team was to leave Ceylon to-morrow and play three two-day matches at Madras, commencing on Christmas Day. The games were to be against the Madras C.C., the Mofussil and the Madras Presidency. W. B ru ce , the brilliant left-handed batsman of the earlier Australian cricket teams, was representing Victoria in the inter-state golf matches, which took place during the Australian Championship meeting at Melbourne at the end of October. He was, too, one of the chief factors in Victoria’ s decisive victory over South Australia, being second to M. Scott with ten. A lth o u g h , as was stated in the last issue of Cricket, a new system of district matches is now in force in Hobart (Tas­ mania), three of the old clubs, Break o’ Day, Derwent, and Wellington, have decided not to disband. The two former clubs intend to play each other at least once a year. On November 4th G. H. Bailey, the old Tasmanian cricketer who came to England in 1878 with the first Australian team, scored 86 not out for New Town v. East Hobart, his side making a total of 136. Bailey was born on October 29th, 1853. T h e annual report of the New Zealand Cricket Council shows that the tour of the Australian team in New Zealand resulted in a loss—to the Council— of £120 15s. 3d. The Australians received £1,500. Despite the loss on the tour, the Council ended the season with a balance of £135 19s. 2d. W h e n a law in cricket is altered several years generally elapse before it is universally understood. Thus in a match at Geelong a player named Calder played the ball into his pad, whereupon the wicket-keeper took it out in triumph, and appealed for a catch. The umpire gave the batsman out, and he went. But of course the ball was dead. No sooner are the Australians beaten than they begin to look around for new men who will help to beat England in the next tour. Already several rising young players have been marked out by the critics as likely to gain a placa in the Australian team of 1908. Among them are J. R. Mackay, J. H. Pellew, B. Grounds, G. L. Garnsey, and Hazlitt. O f these men Mackay (N.S.W.) is just at present the most noticeable His suc­ cess this season has been truly remark­ able, and up to the middle of November he had scored in successive innings 68, 204, 147 not out, 121 and 203. This gives a total of 743 for four completed innings, and an average of 185. He is described as a player whose methods are similar to those of Trumper. P e lle w is the South Australian who made 87 for his State in the Victoria match at Adelaide. He is 23 years of age, aud is said to be the most promis­ ing young player since Clement Hill first took part in great matches. He cuts well, knows how to use his wrists, drives with power, is clever on the leg side, and possesses a strong defence. H a z lit t , a Victorian, is said to be the coming Lohmann of Australia. He has a fine off-break, and disguises his change of pace with great skill. He is one of Carpenter’s colts and is still at college, being only seventeen years old. Grounds (N.S.W.) is a fast bowler who makes the ball rise very quickly from the pitch, and varies his pace with judgment. Garnsey, who took eleven wickets for New South Wales against Queensland in October, is a most promising slow bowler. There are many other men who are making a name for themselves, and altogether the outlook for Australian cricket seems most promising, as far as batting and bowling are concerned. M ea n w h ile, Australian fielding seems to have deteriorated, and it was un­ animously agreed by the critics that the fielding of the Australian Teamof 1905 was by no means as good as that of most of its predecessors. In the innings played by Victoria against South Australia on Novembar 13th and 14th, Armstrong, who scored 165, was missed four times, and ten other catches were dropped. T h e re seems to be a difference of opinion in Australia as to the number of matches which have been played between South Australia and Victoria. The Australasian gives the number as 40, with 25 victories to Victoria and 15 to South Australia. The Adelaide Observer states that Victoria has won 24 and South Australia 14 out of 38 matches. Possibly the Australasian includes two matches against odds. On another page will bs found an anecdote about a pepper tree and a cricket ball. It forms an excellent pendant to the well-known “ Jarrah tree ” anecdote. T h e great Sydney cricket clubs had a glorious time during the Country Car­ nival at the beginning of November. Each club opposed a country team, with the result that inm y batsmen distin­ guished themselves. Below will be found a list of the highest scores :— L. Moore, Hunter River v. Waverley ................. *222 A. B. S. White, N. Sydney v. Mudgee................. 218 L. \V. Pye, O. Cumberland v. Lithgow .......... 213 O. Barnes, Redfern v. D ubbo............................... 192 F. Grow, Paddington v. Southern Districts ... 188 W. Whitting, Balmain v. South Ooast .......... 174 E. R. Bubb, Glebe v. Juniors............................... *135 * Signifies not out. J. R. Mackay, whose remarkable scores have already been mentioned, made 121 and then retired. F o llo w in g the example of other great cricketers, J. J. Kelly, the Australian wicket-keeper, has announced his inten­ tion of retiring from representative cricket. Kelly has excellent reasons for his decision, inasmuch as his hands were so damaged during the recent tour that the doctors advise him to run no more risks. It is proposed to present him with a testimonial. Up to November 4th A. B. S. White, a member of the North Sydney C.C., had scored 31, 96, 198 not out, and 218 in first grade cricket this season. Last season he played in the second grade matches. J. H ora n , a son of Tom Horan, the old Australian cricketer who is so well known as “ F elix” of the Australasian, made his first appearance on November 11th in the Sheffield Shield matches for Victoria against South Australia. His father played for Victoria in the first match between the two states thirty-one