Cricket 1906

154 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M a t 24, 1906, He has cultivated the same exactness in timing and an amount of freedom and power almost Trumperesque. He has fewer strokes than Trumper, hut he has so many that if he had any more they might become a source of weakness rather than of strength. Trumper had made the on-side stroke past mid-on his own. But Mackay has it, and in that stroke Trumper is not his master. Trumper is the most original and the most brilliant batsman the world has seen. Mackay is not quite so original, not quite so brilliant. But he recognises his limitation as well as his power, and for that reason we believe that he will be a greater run-getter on good wickets in first-class cricket than Trumper. An Australian correspondent sends the following cutting from the Sydney Herald of April 5th, 1856. It refers to the return of the victorious New South Wales team after the first match against Victoria. Our Cricketers.—N.S.W. v. Victoria.— The “ Wonga Wonga” came into harbour between 6 and 7 o’ clock yesterday morning, gaily dressed out with flags. She was hailed with demonstrations of great joy by a large number of our citizens, who were under the impression that she was the bearer of good news from the seat of war, intelligence of which is considerably overdue (120 days since amail). The ‘ 1Wonga ’ ’ hadbrought back our heroes of the bat, ball, and stumps, returning from the Melbourne match. Captain Gilmore had hoisted the flags in honour of our victorious New South Welshmen. T he Philadelphia C.O. has completed the purchase of the grounds and build­ ings at Wissahickon Heights. These grounds include half the adjoining property, formerly belonging to a Horse Show Association. The club has also secured a twenty-five years’ lease of the golf course. ------ F ob London County v. Spencer, G. W. Beldam, the Middlesex amateur, scored 104, and took seven wickets for 50 runs. For the same side E. H. D. Sewell made 61 not out. ------- I n Bailey, Somerset seem to have found the bowler for -whom they have waited a long time. Last season he was seldom able to play for the county on account of a prior claim by his club on his services, but now that he is able to appear regu­ larly in the county team great things are hoped of him. He may or may not be a really great bowler, but he must be a pretty good one, or he certainly would not have taken six wickets for 6 runs in eight overs against Warwickshire last Friday, however bad the wicket may have been. M any other bowlers have had a good time just lately, among them being Kermode, Hirst, Harry, Dean, Fielder, Laes, and Branston. Hirst’s analysis against Kent at the end of last week was as follow s:— O. M. R. W . First innings.......... 19.3 7 46 4 Second innings # ... 18.4 7 33 7 Against Leicestei shire this week he took t irelve for 66. P laying on a matting wioket for a Sydney team against Goulburn District XV III., on April 14th, Albert Cotter took eleven wickets for 45, the whole of them being clean bowled, an unusual occurrence. Victor Trumper, who was looking remarkably well, took two for 5. Only three of the eighteen reached double figures, and with sundries (59) they accounted for 174 out of a total of 206. On the next day Trumper scored 182 for the Sydney team, his hits includ­ ing six 6’s and twenty-two 4’s. W hile out fishing with a friend, Mr. F. M. Harpur, who writes on cricket for the Sydney Sportsman, made a wonderful left-handed catch. His friend, a real amateur fisherman, hooked a “ leather-j acket ” (not a cricket ball), and brought it to the surface, where the fish wriggled off the line. Quick as thought Mr. Harpur dived his left hand into the water, grabbed the fish before it could get away, and landed it safely, thus making a catch which would take a good deal of beating. Mr. Harpur, who has a fine record of Australian cricket in his library, was a fair cricketer in the “ days of his youth.” H. C aswell , a youthful first-grade batsman, while playing for Waverloy against Balmain, had the unusual experi­ ence of being given out l.b.w. by his father. R eferring to a bygone tour in Aus­ tralia “ Short Slip ” in the Sydney Mail says :— How we won the match at Kiama is worth the telling. When we were having a knock before the match began I noticed one of our team bowling. In the wildest flights of imagination, no one ever thought he could bowl; still he made so much pace from the pitch that I took a mental note for future reference. Kiama wanted about ten runs to overtake our score, and there were hut five wickets down. It was apparently all over, bar the shouting. Our bowling was badly collared. Then I thought of Tom Jones, the practice bowler, who attracted my notice early in the day and I threw him the ball. Said he: “ What is this for?” I replied: “ Bowl at that end.” “ Who, I ? ” and he looked to the other fellows incredulously. I said, “ Go on, I want you to bowl.” He did, and performed the hat trick. The other howler got the remaining couple of wickets, andwewon by eight runs. I wonder whether any of the members of that Kiama team will remember the incident. C onstant readers of Cricket will welcome as an old friend the following note from the Daily Chronicle :— Down in the heart of the Dickens country, in the best comer of the inn, sat the veteran cricketer, as the prospects of the season were discussed. Some one mentioned that the cricket pitch is cocoa-nut matting in tropical climes. “ Gimme Dickens,” said the aged cricketer. “ ’E knowed the game as what it ought to be.” The enquirer—encouraged— congratulated the villager on his knowledge of Dickens. Was it due to freelibraries . . .? “ I b’a’int no scholard,” said the old man. “ But they do say that Dickens wrote about cricket on the ’earth, and that’s where I says it ought to be.” I t is simply impossible to say what is the latest development of the situation in Australia, for the cablegrams, press and private, differ to a degree which is un­ usual. Hence it is stated that several players have been suspended, disqualified, excommunicated by the New South Wales C .A .; that no players have been sus­ pended, etc.; that time has been given to the recalcitrant players to repent them of their misdeeds; that the Melbourne C.C. has sent an invitation to the Mary­ lebone C.C. to send out a team this autumn, and that the offer has been declined; that no such invitation was ever sent; that a rival Board of Control has been formed by clubs which would not join the original Board; that no rival board has been formed; that the players who accepted the offer of the Melbourne club, and were suspended, have gone down on their knees to apologise, and have thrown over the Melbourne Club. ------ T he only things which seem incontro­ vertible in connection with the Board are that the original Board consists of New South Wales (2 representatives), Victorii C.A. (2 representatives) and Queensland (1 representative); that the Melbourne C.C. was to have joined the Board, but jilted when ordered to elect its repre­ sentatives ; that South Australia and Tasmania have declined to join the Board. All othar information seems indefinite and not to be relied on. W hiting to the Daily Graphic on the subject of fielding, John Tunnicliffe says:— When I am asked the question as to whether fielding in county cricket is as good to-day as it was, say, ten years ago, I must state bluntly and with no beating about the bush that 1 do not think it is nearly so good. ............... I repeat that the present genera­ tion of young cricketers who are aspiring to county fame are neglecting the importance of work in the field, and unless they take it more seriously to heart there will be more “ weeping and gnashing of teeth” in pavilions in the future than is heard at the present time. Yes, the wail over lost opportunities will rise longer and louder than ever, and the laments of the bowlers, even if suppressed, will be none the less real. I can fancy the bowler of the future as a man who ages quickly, and who retires from the game soon with broken heart and bowed head, to spend his years picturing special tortures for those who miss catches, and a new paradisefor such as have hands that fail not. T he Hampshire County Cricket Guide for 1906 has just made its appearance. Edited, as heretofore, by Mr. E. L. E ie, and published at sixpence by Henry King, of Southampton, it well maintains its reputation for providing an interesting and reliable summary of the county’s cricket for the previous year. Hampshire club cricketers should find the booklet a great convenience. In a recent two-day’s sale (May 14th and 15th) at Messrs. Puttick and Simpson’s, at 47, Leicester Square, Vols. 5 to 14 of Scores and Biographic were sold for 16s.