Cricket 1906

S ept . 20, 1906. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 425 W. P. McElhone, on the receipt of a cable message on August 9th from M.C.C., “ Committee consider it is too late to send a team,” remarking “ it is for us to prove to them that it is too late,” senta secondcablefromSydney the following day—“ Various bodies and public anxious for team. Urge reconsider­ ation.” The Lord Mayor the same day cabled to the Marylebone Club that the Citizens of Sydney would like to see an English team during the coming season, and the following afternoon Mr. Oliver, Chairman of the Trustees of the Sydney Cricket Ground, sent a cable message to Lord Jersey, asking him to use every effort to induce the Maryle­ bone Club to accede to the wishes of the Australian public and send a team. M. A. Noble, on behalf of the cricketers, also despatched messages to the Maryle­ bone Club and Mr. F. S. Jackson as follows :—“ Strongly suggest you sup­ port invitationBoardof Control. Players most desirous.” Though the fourth day’s play in the Champion County match at the Oval came as a bitter disappointment to those who had seen the Kent eleven in their later matches, the cricket throughout the match was up to the highest possible standard and interesting, even from the rather unexpected failure of the Kent batsmen, to the bitter end. The dismissal of their little stalwart, C. J. Burnup, in the first over gave the English bowlers an encouragement which they utilised to the full. Hutchings’ speedy retirement was another severe blow, and none of the later batsmen, with the one excep­ tion of the youngster, Woolley, showed any of the brilliance or dogged resolu­ tion which had characterised the Kent side in August. Even admitting that the wicket was a little bit worn, the bat­ ting was most disappointing. Every stage of the game seemed to emphasise the value of J. E. Mason’s all-round cricket to the side in a game where the issues were particularly important. S t ill, in its main aspect, the assistance of two deserving funds, the match, it is gratifying to have to record, wasin every way a pronounced success. The receipts, I have reason to belitve, reached close on £1,100, so that the Cricketers’ Fund and the London Playing Fields Committee ought each to benefit to some hundreds of pounds. As a mere matter of history, I may addthat in the four days 1,221 runs were scored for 38 wickets. Poob old Jim Street! It was my first privilege to have a good deal to do with him in the early seventies when his hand had already, perhaps, lost a little of its cunning with the ball. Even then he was a bowler of parts, straight, and without much sting, always a good length and able to keep up his end for any length of time. As a bowler he did good service for Surrey in its dark days, which were in the late sixties and early seventies, and though only a moderate bat as well as field, helped the County Eleven when it was at its weakest. Thoroughly good tempered, he enjoyed cricket fully and was popular with all classes by reason of his honest, straight­ forward, sturdy ways. A sonof his, A.. E. Street, played forSurreyfrom1891to1896, andwith success, being a free hitting and resolute batsman. Of late years he has had charge of the cricket at Eglington Castle, the seat of Lord Eglington, in Scotland. S ome weeks ago, in referring to some heavy scoring by P. H. Slater, who plays mostly for Dulwich and the Surrey Club, it was stated in “ Gossip” that he had made six hundreds within seven days at the end of July. A list of the innings of three figur*s he has made this year, which has been kindly sent me, dis­ proves this. He had, however, made six hundred at that time, as the follow­ ing figures will show :— May 31...Surrey Club & Ground v. Battersea ... 100* June 9...Dulwich v. Old Charlton .................102 July 7...Dulwich v. Merton ...............................121* July ? ...Mr. Gill’s XL j * g S a m A s y l'u m Z m Aug. 2...Gentlemen of Surrey v. Epsom ..........110 Aug. 6...Dulwich v. I b is ......................................140 He was unfortunate enough to miss the hundred by one run only on two or three occasions. Altogether, he made during the season 2,425 runs. This gave him an average of just over 55 runs. In him South London cricket has certainly one of its most consistent and heavy scorers. I n pursuance of a requisition from five first-class Counties, the MaryleboneClub, it is reported, is preparing to call a meeting of the Advisory County Cricket Committee for December 19th. Two of the subjects to be discussed have already been duly announced. These are:— 1. The proposal of Kent to consider the questionof extending the period required to qualifyby residence in the cases of players coming fromoutside theBritish Isles. 2. Thefollowingpropositionof Yorkshire: That a player qualified by residence shall have his qualification approved and regis­ tered by the M.C.O., and notified in the Daily Press, beforehe is entitledto play in a County Championshipmatch. What with Worcestershire’s suggestion that the visiting County should receive a percentage of all the receipts taken at the gate, there will apparently be no lack of topic for the consideration of the Countyrepresentatives onDecember 19th. O n Thursday last a case was heard before Mr. Mead, at Old Street, in which evidencewas given showing that a police­ man, in using his truncheon, had accidently given a very severe blow to a manotherthan theoneat whichheaimed. The following “ improving conversation” thereupon took place :— Mr. Mead : You don’t seem tohave avery accurate eye. Have you everplayedcricket? —Yes, sir ; when I was at school. Goodhandat itP—No, sir. Got caught first hall, I shouldthink. Your formin this affairwas rather bad. Mr. Mead’s knowledge of cricket is evidently more accurate than was that of the late Judge Waddy, who once urged Emmett to give evidence in “ the powerful voice in which you call “ Over ” when a man is out.” E rn est H a rry K illic k , the popular left-hander of Sussex, will, I hear, prob­ ably have a benefit next season. He made his debut for the County in 1893, at the age of eighteen, and has rendered the side splendid service. “ The Catalogue of CricketLiterature,’ which recently ran through the pages of this journal, has just been issued in book form. As the edition i? very limited—to fifty copies, in fact—only a few enthusi­ asts will be fortunate enough to possess the publication. Tbe compilation, I may add, was the work of Mr. Alfred D. Taylor, of Hove Place, West Brighton, Sussex. I t will be another piece of hard luck for Hants if F. J. Wyatt, the young bowler who did such good service in the latter matches, is ordered abroad this winter as seems not unlikely. A Subal­ tern in the Boyal Engineers, he has been one of their mainstays with the ball during the last threeyears. In 1905 against the Gunners at Woolwich, he got all tenwickets, and this year nine, among them those of W. L. Foster and the two brothers Farmer. Stationedat Longmoor Camp, near Aldershot, with his corps, he acquired his residential qualification for Hants. He bowls right-hand medium with a lot of spin and a telling fast one, and is quite a good bowler on anywicket. Mr. J. J. M orris, of the Salt Lake City C.C., writes:— Enclosed I send you the scores of two matchesplayedinUtahthis summer, thinking you might perhaps like to insert them in your valuable paper. I may also add that next year we expect to have a small league here, as there are two new clubs starting within 30 miles of Salt Lake City, one being the Murray City C.C. and the other the Park City C.C. As will be seen from the scores, Salt Lake City won both matches with ease: indeed this club has only lost one match since 1898, which was against the Denver C.C. last year, when we played two matches, Denver winning one and Salt Lake one; we attribute the loss of this match to the fact that ourtwo best bowlers couldnot bowl a single ball in the game, being too stiff and sore fromtheir work the day before, whenthey dismissed a strongDenver side for 27 and9, SaltLakescoring40andso winning thematchby aninnings and4 runs. The scores of the two matches to which our correspondent refers will be found on page 432. A sub-Committee appointed by the Leicestershire County C. C. to discover the reasons of the Eleven’s lack of success during the past season reported that the causes might be attributed to :— (1) “ A general lack of cohesion amongst the players” ; (2) unreliable batting and increasedweakness in the bowling; and (3) lackof available talent to fill vacancies in the