Cricket 1906

456 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. Nov. 29, 1906. M WISHERI Cl. CRICKET BALL MAKERS, Supply all the Principal Conaties and Clubs through out the world with their well-known M a rve llou s Te s tim ony . The Inns of Court Hotel, 18th Sept., 1905. Messrs. JohnWisden &Co., London. Dear Sirs,—Before leading for home, I should like to hear testimony to the Bats you supplied me with and which I have used nearly all thetour. I must alsospeakinpraise of your “ Special Crown” Cricket Balls, which, of course, we have used in all the Tests and many other Matches, they are less hardon the hands, in my opinion, than any othermake.—Yours faithfully, W arw ick W . A rmstrong . S.S. “ China,” 18th, Sept., 1905. Messrs. JohnWisden &Co. Dear Sirs,—During the tour of the 1905 Australian Eleven, your “ Special Crown” Cricket Balls were the only balls used in the TestMatches, andtheygaveeverysatisfaction. We also used your “ Special Crown” Balls in nearly all our matches, and I must say that they are the best Ballsinthemarket, being less severe on the hands and bats than other balls, besides lasting as well, nothing but your “ Special Crown ” Balls are used in the International and Inter-State Matches in Australia, andwe findthem in every way suitable to our hardgrounds. All themembers ofthe 1905AustralianXI. usedyour “ Crawford Exceller” Bats, and we all like thembetter than any other bat in themarket onaccount of the handle you put in them.—Yours sincerely, J oe D arling , AustralianXI. i'romthe EveningStandard&St. James'sGazette. Monday, May 29th, 1905. AUSTRALIANS OBJECTTOTHE BALL. A slight delay occurredat the start, as the Australians wouldnot use the ball provided, Darling returnedto the pavilionwhere Jack­ sonmet him, Jones taking out the new ball, which also was rejected, Noble running in to fetch the desiredbrand. The desired brand wag a JohnWisden &Co.’s “ SPECIAL CROWN.” F. S. Jacksonhas agreed toyour “ Special Crown ” Balls being usedinallthefiveTests. There were not any of yours here, so we lent themthree until theyreceivedsomefrom you.—Yours very sincerely, J oe D arling . The Balia to be used in Test Matches are now settled. WISDEN’S are the only makes permissible. From Dealers all over the world, and 21, Cranbourn St., London, W.C. City Mentis BBH IIIH • OO., CHEAP8IDE. NOTICE TO OUR READERS. Six numbers are published during the Winter, fromOctober to March inclusive, as follows:— No. 737.—THURSDAY, OCT. 25. No. 738.—THURSDAY, NOV. 29. No. 739.—THURSDAY, DEC. 20. No. 740.—THURSDAY, JAN. 31. No. 741.—THURSDAY, FEB. 28. No. 742.—THURSDAY, MARCH 28. The above series sent post free to any part of the world for Is. 3d. All communications to be sent direct to the Offices of Cricket, 168, UpperThames Street, London, E.C. Owing to the Christmas Holidays, the next number of ‘‘ CRICKET ’’ will be published onThursday, December 20th. Cricket: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON, E.C. THURSDAY, NOV. 29 th , 1906. ^a\)tlton Gossip, The abstract and briel chronicle of the time — Uamle D is a p p o in t e d in their efforts to secure the valuable services of W. Mead, the Essex player, for the Adelaide Oval, as coach for local cricketers, the Executive of the South Australian Cricket Associa­ tion has engaged J. A. O’Connor, the inter-State bowler of New South Wale?, as coach and ground bowler for three years, and A. McBeth, also of New South Wales, for one year as ground bowler. O’Connor, it ishardlynecessary to remind Cricket readers, has shown himself to be a bowler of great capacity in inter-State matches for New South Wales, and, indeed, there are good judges out there who think his bowling would have strengthened the last two Australian teams which have visited England. It will probably be of interest to English cricketers who know how the game is ordinarily played in South Africa, to learn that the South African Cricket Association has decided to raise the height of the stumps by a quarter of an inch. Hitherto the wickets have been 27 inches out of the ground, and the bails had not to project more than one inch above them. “ Umpire,” the cricket critic of the Natal Mercury, points out that bowlers had not had 27^ inches of wicket to bowl at, as the surface of the matting had been quite a quarter of an inch above the foot of the stumps. The Sydney Mail recounts a not unamusing experience of the Rev. W. Bradley, who used to take a regular part in Victoria Club cricket a quarter of a century ago :— Mr. Bradley used to appear in the Woollahra Victoria cricket team every Saturday, and he was generally on the winning side. The irreverant might suggest that perhaps hewas umpire or scorer, but he was neither. How they won one match in particular was in this way : His club wanted 10 to win when he came in. Our fastest bowler was dead on the spot, and was send­ ing them like one o’clock when the parson came in. Our “ express” appeared to lose all his pace, and the result was that the runs weregot. In givinganexplanationthehowler said, “ Well, I was frightened a ball might bumpand hit the parson in the face; then seewhat an awful thing it would be if he had to appear in the pulpit next day with a pair of black eyes.” The New Zealand Cricket Council has decided that the tour of the M.C.C. Eoglish team shall be financed by the Council of Affiliated Associations; that the Council, the Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago Associations, be allowed to contribute up to £500, and the remaining Associations up to £100 each. The Auckland C.A. has agreed to guarantee £500 subject to the Manage­ ment Committee being able to raise ttie required sum. At the recent meeting of the A.C.A. nearly all the delegates present expressed strong disapproval of the English team’s proposal to bring over an umpire and a servant. The following reference to the failure of the Australian authorities to secure a visit of an English team to Australia this winter occupies a place in the annual report of the Melbourne C.C., and there­ fore represents its official view of the situation:— The Committee have done all that was possible to induce the English authorities to allowa team to come out to Australia this coming season. They also forwarded, on the 12th June last, to all the cricket bodies concerned, as well as to the Trustees of the Sydney Ground, a proposalthat—recognising the fact that the Marylebone C.C. would not send a team to Australia for the season 1906-7, unless an invitation be sent by all the cricketingbodies of Australia—the com­ position of the Board of Control be left in abeyance until after the conclusion of the coming cricket season, and that all the cricket bodies of the Commonwealth, the Trustees of the Sydney Ground, and the Melbourne Cricket Club, unite in an invitation to theMarylebone Club to send a teamtoAustralia during the coming season ; and that, inthe month of May, 1907, a con­ ference be called of representatives fromeach State, to consider the constitution of a Board of Control that would be thoroughly repre­ sentative of cricket in Australia. This proposal was not accepted. Hugh Trumblk made such hosts of friends on and off the cricket field over here during his many visits to England with Australian teams, that every one will bepleased tohearhe can still hold his own with the very best of the younger order of trundlers in Victorian cricket.