Cricket 1906

S ept . 6, 1906. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 393 ing does not occupy so large a place in the players’ admiration as the more showy arts of batting and howling. I am a good field myself, though an injury to my left leg and a certain stiffness in my right arm rather handicap my run-saving powers. As to my social qualifications to play for the Gentlemen of England, you need have no fear, hut I may mention that I am on most friendly terms with several of the Essex amateurs, though unfortunately I have not the pleasure of Mr. Fane’ s acquaintance.— Believe me, my Lord, your ohedient servant, Jas. B i l l b e r r t . T hat J . B . is a w ag it hardly requires much acumen to discover. Indeed, I should not be surprised to hear that he is some w ell-k n ow n cricket personality en joyin g him self, as he fancies, at the expense of the Y orksh ire Captain. C ricket humour is generally a b it heavy. That sort of jok e is frequently exploded in the South, as I have g o od reason to know . T h e annual fixture at L o rd ’s betw een the R oyal N avy and the Gentlem en o f the M .C .C . was productive o f some b rig h t and interest­ in g cricket. The gam e, which is the seventh o f the series, ended in a w in for the sailormen by nine wickets. Lieutenant L ew in ’s 139, on a sporting pitch, was a th orou gh ly sound innings. The feature o f the m atch was the excellent fielding of the sailors, handicapped though th ey were w ith the w et and greasy ball. C om ­ mander H u g h W atson’s w ork at cover-poin t was really brilliant, and, as was gener­ ally remarked, w ould hardly have suffered in comparison w ith som e o f the best per­ form ances in that position o f the Gloucestershire cap­ tain, w h om , b y the w ay, he m uch resembles. L ieu­ tenant P hilbrick behind the stumps w as quite above the average amateur level. I t is to be hoped that next season the M .C .C . w ill afford this sporting fixture an earlier date and a stronger team. T h e Surrey eleven finished up a strenuous and fighting season in appro­ priate fashion at the Oval on Saturday w ith an excitin g finish w ith M iddlesex. C. M . W ells took a sporting risk when he p u t Surrey in w ith an over before lun ch to make 267 to win. T he three hours and tw enty m inutes that remained w ere curtailed Bome fifteen or tw enty m inutes b y the tea interval, so that Surrey w ou ld have had p ractically to score at the rate of ninety runs an hour to w in. Thanks m ainly to H obbs, w ho m ade his 103 by g o o d p lay all round the w icket, at one time they looked like w inn ing. A s it was, th ou gh several o f the team did their best to force the gam e, th ey had finally to play fo r safety, in which Baker’s solid defence stood them in splendid stead, and ju st saved the gam e. A s H ollan d was n ot able to bat, and was not, in fact, on the ground, R ush by and Baker, the not outs, were the on ly available bats­ men, and when stum ps were finally drawn Surrey still wanted 21 to w in with practically on ly a w icket to fall. In the whole m atch 1006 runs were m ade for th irty -six wickets. So “ R a n ji,” w ith the approval o f the G overnm ent o f India is, after all, to be Jam Sahib o f N aw anagar. The value o f his services to cricket cannot be over-estimated, and, in undertaking his new and responsible position, he is assured o f the heartiest wishes o f cricketers in all parts. The State over which “ R a n ji” w ill rule, I quote from the D aily M ail, is the largest o f the little kingdom s under G. S. HIRST. (Photo by H awkins <5** Co., Brighton ). British protection in K athiaw ar, w hich lies in the north-w estern country alon g the g u lf o f Cutch, and is a little m ore than tw ice the size o f Sussex. Its popu la­ tion approaches 320,000. The form er Sussex cricketer w ill have a m iniature arm y o f 2,700 troops, upon which to develop his m ilitary training. It is a fine country for cotton, wheat, and silk, and w ill no doubt be vastly im proved as one o f the consequences o f the new Jam ’s E nglish education. The revenue is £160,000, bu t Sio Y ib ra ji squandered the State’s resources. C ricket, p olo, and fo o t­ ball are already played in the State. In another part o f the paper w ill be fou n d a humorous picture o f R an ji. in his new role. ------- S o, after all, there is still at least a chance, even if it be a rem ote one, o f an E nglish team visitin g Australia this com ­ in g w inter. One had heard rumours of high authorities here, as w ell as in A us­ tralia m aking urgent representation in this direction, and I believe I am righ t in saying that a w ell-know n E nglish sports­ m an— an ex-G overnor o f one o f the States o f the C omm onw ealth — has taken an active part in the efforts to induce the M arylebone C lub to reconsider its decision not to send a team out this winter. T h e position at present w ill be gathered from the official pronouncem ent o f M r. F . E . L ic e y , the secretary o f the M .C .C ., w hich is as follow s : — As a result of my last cahle to Australia, saying that my Committee’s decision was final, a certain influential person in Aus­ tralia was asked to use his influence towards inducing the M.C.C. Committee to reconsider their decision, and to this intent a communication was received by a prominent member of the M.C.C. After consulting the President, it was decided that, in consideration of the new character which the negotiations had assumed, a special meeting of the Com­ mittee should be summoned. This is to be held on Friday next, but the attitude of the M.C.C. does not appear to be changed, nor do the prospects of the M.C.C. being able to send a team to Australia this year appear to be brighter I n an interview yesterday M r. L acey added that, in his opinion, it was to o late for the C lub to send out a team, for, although n egotia­ tions had quite recently assumed a different char­ acter, none o f the difficulties had been removed. T h o u g h , so it w ou ld seem, the lo n g and m uch-w anted rain m ay n ot unlikely affect the closing match, the g ood old S carborough F esti­ val, it is pleasant to find, has been, from a cricket standpoint as w ell as finan­ cially, a great success, which was only to be expected after the exceptional interest shown in the better class o f cricket throughout the country this year. W ith so m any o f the best all-round players engaged, the cricket was bou nd to be b rig h t and attractive. A ltogether, M r. C. I. Thornton has g o o d reason to be satisfied w ith his recent success o f the cricket function fo r w h ich he has been so la rgely responsible for m any years. W it h the fou r w ickets he took in the second innings against P inner last Satur­ day, A . H . K . B urt com pleted his hundred wickets fo r the U .C .S . O ld B oys this season. C onsidering that he has on ly been able to p lay in Saturday after­ n oon oricket and in the clu b ’s tour in South D evon, this must be accounted a