Cricket 1906

122 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M ay 10, 1906. It is proposed to aBk several well-known cricketers, belonging to other counties, to allow their names to be placed on the committee. Lord Hawke and Mr. J. H. Brain have already consented. F r o m the Irish Times :— Phoenix held their annual general meet­ ing on Wednesday, when the statement of accounts and report showed the club to be in a most flourishing condition. This happy state of affairs was so appreciated by the members that they marked their approval by re-electing the committee and officers under whose management such conditions were maintained. In continuance of the policy adopted of recent years by the Phoenix, an addition was, at the recent general meeting of the club, made to the rules, whereby schoolboys are admitted as playing members for two years, the latter of which must, however, be their last year at school. C a n e H il l A s y l u m opened their season on Saturday with a match against the Middlesex Hospital, whom they nearly defeated in a single innings. The Hospital made60and 105 for ninewickets, B. T. Crawford, in the first innings, taking six wickets for 14 runs only. The Cane Hill team scored 340 for six wickets and declared, B. T. Crawford carrying out his bat for a splendid contribution of 2 1 1 , made in two hours and a quarter. His hits comprised four 6 ’s and twenty- eight 4’s. T. Noake hit well for 46, and the Parson and his son put on 74 for the fourth wicket. T h e last time I saw the late George Atkinson was on the occasion of a match played at Dewsbury for, I believe, the benefit of that grand old cricketer George Anderson, which is somewhere between thirty and forty years ago. There were three Georges in the Yorkshire eleven at the time, and what a fine, as well as versatile, trio they were : George Ander­ son, George Atkinson, and that prince of bowlers, George Freeman. They could sing as well as play cricket, and many a pleasant hour I have had with them and Boger Iddison, who made up the quar­ tette. Atkinson was a vocalist by pro­ fession, and was at one time a member of one of the troupes of the Christy Min­ strels type. I can well remember him on the stage of the Dewsbury Theatre on one of the evenings of the match in question with his, “ England expects that every man this day will do his dooty, this day will do his dooty” T h o u g h present at the Oval during the Surrey match last week, Captain Greig, who was just home from India, was not, to everyone’s regret, well enough to assist Hampshire, The Captain, how­ ever, is to be in England for this summer, and the sides which are to oppose Hants during the next three months will have their bowling and fielding capaci­ ties well tested when he gets to work. Another great batsman, Major Poore, will also be available this year, and with the nucleus of several good bats and more than one young professional likely to train on, the outlook for Hants would seem to be more hopeful than it has been for some little time. I t will be good news to the supporters of Surrey cricket to learn that Lord Dalmeny will, barring accidents, be able to captain the county eleven in all but three championship matches this season. In his absence, Mr. J. E. Baphael, the old Oxonian, who has accepted the vice­ captaincy, will, of course, have charge of the side. With a comparatively young team, and more than one likely youngster coming along, Surrey’s prospects for the immediate future seem to be more than usually promising. M r . J eremiah C olman , who was unanimously elected Treasurer of the Surrey County C.C. at last Thursday’s Annual General Meeting, in succession to Mr. Wildman Cattley, was a good all-round cricketer at Cambridge some fifteen years ago. If I remember rightly he was captain of the St. John’s College eleven for two or three years. He was, indeed, a very useful type of the all­ round College player, and I should think could make a fairly good show now if he has not altogether given up active cricket. He has a cricket ground on his estate at Gatton Park, Merstham, and several matches are played there during the season. It was only a fitting recognition of his twenty-five years’ loyal service that Mr. Wildman Cattley, his predecessor in the Treasurership, should have been elected a Yice-President of the S.C.C.C. at last week’s General Meeting. L o r d A l v e r s t o n e ’ s remark at the Annual Meeting of the Surrey County C.C. last week that Surrey had no ill- feeling whatever against Somerset has already borne good fruit. Surrey, said Lord Alverstone, had acted solely in the interests of the game in appealing against the action of Somerset in engaging Montgomery, and now that they had been proved in the right, they|hoped to see the matches against Somerset resumed. Commenting on Lord Alverstone’s re­ marks, Mr. Gerald Fowler, at a meeting of the Somerset committee on Monday, said that:— “ They were all glad that the axe had been finally buried, and it was to be hoped that another year Surrey would once more come down to Taunton and again receive their annual beating. If they did come down, Taunton would have six matches instead of five as at present, and this should encourage the inhabitants of the town and district to support cricket to a greater extent than they had done recently.” E v e r y o n e will be glad to find that Somerset seem quite willing to take a common-sense view of the question. The honour of both sides has been satisfied, and it is very pleasing to think that in all probability the two counties will meet again next year, whether Surrey ex­ perience their annual defeat at Taunton, as Mr. Fowler naturally hopes, or make an example of their old and redoubtable opponents. I n his first important match of the season G. L. Jessop gave a most brilliant display of hitting. At Lord’s on Mon­ day, for M.C.C. and Ground v. York­ shire, he was in ten minute3 before he made his second run; but off the next twenty-five balls which he received he scored 61, by means of thirteen 4’s, a 3, a 2 and 4 singles. These sixty runs were practically made off four overs by different bowlers—Ringrose, Myers, Hirst and Rhodes. In the second innings he made 35 runs, including ten 4’s, in half an hour. K er m o d e is the first bowler of the season to take three wickets with successive balls in a first-class match, bis victims being Coe, Jayes and W. W. Odell. He was bowling for Lancashire against Leicestershire at Leicester. F ro m the Australasian : — While looking on at a match between the professional and the clerical divisions of the Lands Department, the veterans H. P. Boyle and J. Slight were indulging in amusing chaff about their fitness for the field at this stage of their existence. “ Why,” observed Slight, “ you couldn’t bowl mein a week.” “ All right,” replied Boyle. “ Come out and let me try.” They went out to the wicket, and Boyle with his second ball clean bowled the old South Melbourne warrior “ neck and crop.” T h a t was a curious mistake in the annual report of the Surrey County C.C. wherein the Committee stated that “ the marked improvement in the all-round play of the Surrey Eleven was one of the outstanding features of county cricket in 1906.” It was, of course, a printer’s error, and that much abused individual ought to be, as he is no doubt, very penitent. On the other hand there are strong pro-Surreyites who claim that it was really a case of “ intelligent anticipa­ tion.” Was Mr. Printer only a “ bit too previous ” ? I wonder. T h o u g h the Hampshire XI. have been playing Surrey since 1883, barring a short interregnum extending from 1892 to 1894, inclusive, they have yet to win their maiden victory at the Oval, at least on even terms. One can hardly realise that Captain Wynyard, whose play was quite one of the best features of Hampshire’s batting last week, represented the county in the first match of the series 23 years ago. He was, in fact, the only player of the 22 who took part in the memorable match of 1883 to figure in last week’s game. That match of 1883 was remark­ able in more ways than one. W. W. Bead, who was missed from the easiest possible catch before he had scored, sub­ sequently scored 186 of the best, assisting materially to Surrey’s huge aggregate of 650, which was at the time the record for an inter-county match. F . E. Lacey, the secretary of the M.C.C., also represented Hampshire on that occasion. I t may be interesting to compare the annual receipts and expenses of the M.C.C., the leading club of England and