Cricket 1906

O ct . 25, 1906. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 441 Eton Elevens of 1869 and 1870, and, with full opportunities, would have made a name forhimself in first-class cricket. In Army and Regimental matches he was a very heavy scorer and—I am writing purely from memory—one season when he was quartered in Ireland made several hundreds in Irish cricket. He was, in later years, on the staff of Lord Harris when the latter was Governor of Bombay. Though there seems every justification for his confidence of the successful pross- cution of his claim, E. 8. Ranjitsinhji has yet to have his appointment asJamof Nawana- gar approved by the Indian Government. In the course of a recent letter to Mr. Newton Digby, of Cambridge, Ranji says:— There are several claimants to the throne, some possessing some shadowof right, others none at all. “ I honestly believe,” he adds, “ my claimto bejust andright, as I did even during the life-time of the late possessor. “ When I get official news as to the final settlement ofthisquestion I will certainly let you know. In case of success, I fear my yearly connection with English life will come to an end, but in any case, before I sever the tie which has been a source hitherto of the greatest pleasure, happiness, and contentment to me, I will, with the sanction of the Government of India andtheSecretaryof State, come and bid good-bye to all my very dear friends in England and theBritishpublic, whohave always treated me with the greatest kind­ ness and courtesy, andencouraged me to achieve success in sport. “ England is to me as dear a home as India. Cambridge has a warm and affectionate place in my heart.” By this time the steamer Gorinthie which left Tilbury on Friday with the first detach­ ment of the English amateurs bound for New Zealand on board, will be well on the first stage of its journey, carrying all tbe members of the touring partybar one. The one is P. R. Johnson, of Somerset, who is going out by way of the Suez Canal to Australia. The team, as finally made up, consists of the following fourteen:— Captain E. G. Wynyard (Hants), (captain), C. E. de Trafford (Leicestershire), P. R. Johnson (Somerset), G. T. Branston (Notts), G. H. Simpson-Hayward (Worces­ tershire), W. J. H. Curwen (Surrey), P. R. May (Surrey), W. P. Harrison (Middlesex), C. C. Page (Essex), J, W. H. T. Douglas (Essex), W. B. Burns (Worcestershire), R. H. Fox (M.C.C.), A. A. Torrens(Kent) and N. C. Tufnell (Surrey). Irish cricket will have a considerable fillip, if all the negotiations on foot, with a view to welcome first-class English of view from which cricket leagues are regarded. In his letter Mr. Townsend speaks strongly in favour of league?. He says:— At the time I left Bristol to come to Stockton-on-Tees, I ambound to say that I had a very strong feeling against the system of League cricket; but my stayhere of four years has completely changed my views in this respect, and I can unhesitatingly s<j thatthe league cricketwe playhere onSatur­ day afternoon is the best club cricket I have ever played. The great difficultyyou would experience in Bristol is in dividing up the different districts and in relation to the grounds. It seemstomeabsolutely essentialthat eachclub shouldplay ontheir own ground. I may point out that uphere every club in the league has a very excellent ground of its own, and very considerable sums are taken every Saturday in ga'.e-money. O n the other hand, Mr. Gardner, who may be said to voice the opinions of most cricketers in tne South, said :— Three arguments had been ad­ vanced in favour of the proposi­ tion— that it would make the players keener, that the cricket wouldbebetter,andthattheCounty would be assisted. If aman had his heart in the welfare of his club and he loved the game, the mere matter of gaining a point or two in a league competition wouldnot tendtoimprovehis play. A league might produce a kind of keenness whichsomeof themperhaps, would be inclined to call by a different name. As to a league making cricket better, that was a matter they had entirely in their own hands. With regard to the third point, the real reason why local clubs did not furnishthe County with more recruits was this—the majority of menwho took part in club cricket in the district could not give the time that waa neces­ sary toplay for the County,evenif they were goodenough. W. C u tte ll, thewell-known Lancashire professional, has been appointed cricket coach to Rugby School, and has therefore sent in his resignation to the County Committee. It will be remembered that Tom Emmett was the school cricket coach a year or two before his death. T he special sub-Committee whichwasappointed toconsider various suggestions for reformmade by members of theSussexCountyC.C. hasre­ commended that cricket weeks should be held at Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings and Chichester, and that the selection committee shouldconsist of thePresident, Captain, and Hon. Treasurer, and a re­ presentative from each of the principal cricket centres in the County, which would each meet a Sussex second eleven. It was also recommended that half-a- guinea season tickets should be issued to admit after 4.30 each afternoon except teams, develop satisfactorily. The York­ shire eleven have already accepted an invitation from Mr. Stanley H. Cochrane toplay Ireland onhis picturesque ground at Bray, Co. Wicklow, on May 2, 3 and 4. It is pretty certain too, that the Surrey eleven will also be Mr. Cochrane’s guests later in the season. The Surrey authori­ ties, indeed, arehoping to be able to fit in dates to enable them to meet Ireland at Bray, under Mr. Cochrane’s hospitable auspices. THEj'pros and cons of league cricket C. P. BUCKENHAM (ESSEX). were fully discussed at a meeting of the Bristol and District Cricket Association at Bristol on October 5th, gathered together to vote upon an offer made by Mr. J. W. Arrowsmith to provido a cup for each of the winning teams in two proposed leagues. In the end the vote was not in favour of the scheme. A letter fromMr. C. L. Townsend, the well- knownGloucestershire cricketer, wasread at the meeting, and this and a speech made by Mr. A. J. Gardner may be said fairly to represent the two chief points