Cricket 1906

M ar . 29, 1906. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 43 Winchester. He played in the Fresh­ men’s match at Oxford in the following year. C eylon made 251 against the Pars1 Gymkhana, who scored 89 and 132. Against the Hindu Gymkhana, Ceylon had the worst of the game, scoring 177 and 143 for seven wickets against 258 and 257 for seven wickets (declared). In the match against Elphinstone C.C., Ceylon made 217 and 163 against 118 and 216, and were thus beaten by 14 runs. A c c o r d in g to the latest reports from Australia the composition of the Board of Control has not yet been settled. It is stated that in no case will New South Wales consent to the direct representa­ tion of players. On the other hand, it is stated, and also denied, that South Australia will join the board, the words “ if necessary ” being inserted in the clause which would give power to the board to finance Australian touring teams. The Melbourne Club is still holding aloof, and the Board apparently consists of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland as before. But on all sides in Australia it seems to be agreed that there will be trouble if a team from England visits Australia before the question of the board is settled. I n the course of a conversation with a representative of the Sydney Referee, Senator Neild, referring to old-time cricket, said:— “ One of our matches was won through a newspaper paragraph. Up to the time I speak of round-arm bowlers were not per­ mitted to raise the hand above the shoulder. One day I saw in the Herald a paragraph stating that the Kent Club (England) had passed a resolution permitting absolute liberty to bowlers regarding the height of the hand. This little bit of knowledge I care­ fully preserved, and securing the co-operation of a friend, spent a few hours usefully on the Racecourse bowling at a walking cane, according to the newly allowed freedom. A week later we met a club we had challenged, and Mr. Webster, who was terribly fast, went on to bowl. Despite back-stop and long- stop, byes were mounting up at an awful pace, so I took Webster off and went on my­ self. Of course the captain of the other side objected to my over-the-shoulder bowling, and the umpire was on the point of deciding against me when 1 produced the clipping from the Herald. The umpire gave way, and we won the match easily. My record was 5 wides, 8 runs, 6 wickets. The wides were bad, but I hadn’t had enough practice at the new style.” A t Sydney, on February 3rd, J. R. M. Mackay scored 61 out of 76 in half-an- hour, hitting a 6 and eight 4’s, for Burwood v. Central Cumberland. M aokat ’ s scores in club cricket this season for Burwood, up to February 3rd, are as f o l l o w s 68, 204, 147*, 121 (retired), 27, 17, and 0, and 61. Alto­ gether this season he has scored 1547 runs in fourteen completed innings, averaging 110 runs per innings. I n Australian cricket during the past season D. R. A. Gehrs, who was hardly a success in England, has made the following scores:— Port Adelaide v. Adelaide ............................... 200* South Australia v. New South Wales .......... 34 South Australia v. New South Wales .......... 33* South Australia v. New South W ales .......... 101 Australian Eleven v. New South W ales.......... 30 Australian Eleven v. New South Wales .......... 36* South Australia v. Western Australia .......... 84 South Australia v.Perth...................................... 100 South Australia v. Western Australia .......... 148* South Australia v. Western Australia .......... 100* T he Surrey committee have decided not to drop the match between the Champion County and the Rest of England, and the date has been fixed for September 10th, and, if necessary, the match will last for four days. The pro­ ceeds will, as before, be divided equally between the Cricketers’ Fund and the London Playing Fields Society. A t the annual meeting of the Leices­ tershire County C.C. Mr. J. W. Logan, the chairman, was re-elected as president. It was proposed that an attempt should be made to raise funds for [the improve­ ment of the pavilion and for a covered stand, and the committee was requested to '.endeavour to raise the money. The balance due to the bank has been reduced to about £700. F r o m the Sydney M ail :— A peculiar point arose in connection with the match between the South Australian team touring the West, and Perth. The contest was limited to two days, and before starting Lyons and G-ouly, the respective captains, agreed that in the event of want of time precluding a finish,'the match was to be decided on the first innings. South Australia applied the closure with six wickets for 451, and just on “ time ” on the second day the last Perth wicket fell for 224. Therefore, as the arrangement stood, South Australia won. But the Cricket Council had something to say about the matter. They appealed to the laws of the game, and decided that the action of Lyons and Groulywas ultra vires, and there­ fore could not hold good. L o r d C h e l m s f o r d , the new Gover­ nor of Queensland, played in a match at Toowoomba in January, and made the second score of the side, besides meeting with success as a bowler. A gainst the South Australian team which toured in West Australia at the bewinning of February, a bowler named R. Selk took 29 wickets for 396 runs, and was presented with a purse of sovereigns by West Australian cricketers. A peculiar incident occurred on February 10th in one of the Grade matches at Sydney. In the second grade, Glebe beat Paddington by one run, but the match ought to have ended in a tie. The last two men were together, and becoming over-anxious, they ran for a stroke to mid-off. One of the batsmen slipped and fell four yards from the crease, but the fieldsman, instead of quietly running to the wicket or gently tossing the ball to the bowler or the wicket-keeper, threw it so badly as j.Q strike the batsman on the head. The batsman scrambled to his feet and com­ pleted the run. T he ball with which the Jubilee match between New South Wales and Victoria match was concluded has been presented to Mr. Harry Hilliard, who played in the first match between the two States. R. F. M id d le to n scored 228 not out for East Torrens v. North Adelaide at Adelaide, on February 17th. East Torrens made 374 for three wickets. T he foundation stone of the new members’ pavilion of the Melbourne C.C. was laid on February 12th by Mr. Bent, the Premier of Victoria. A CASE of great interest to committees of cricket clubs whose ground is bounded by a fence belonging to a private owner, was heard at the Maidstone County Court on March 21st. The plaintiff claimed £14 damages against the Snod- land C.C. for alleged trespass and nuisance, and injury to a fence. On his behalf it was stated that the fence was damaged by cricket balls and by persons climbing over it to get the ball. The action was dismissed on the understand­ ing that the committee of the club undertook to do their best not to repeat the annoyance. His Honour Judge Emden suggested that they might place rough boarding or netting in front of the fence. W ith reference to the above, I may say that the Snodland C.C., of which Dr. Douglas Freeland was captain in 1904 and 1905, while Mr. Charles Godfrey is the honorary secretary, tried to bring about a friendly settlement of the ques­ tion, but without avail, and has been put to great expense in defending the action. As nearly all the members are working men, it is feared that the club will be ruined unless some substantial help from outside is forthcoming. The Snodland Club has done excellent work for many years, and among its members are several most promising young players. But donbtless there are many cricketers in Kent who will lend a helping hand to the club in its difficulty. A tea m from Ceylon visited Bombay in the middle of February. The match against Bombay Gymkhana was drawn, Ceylon scoring 194 and 315 for eight wickets (declared) and the Gymkhana 262 and 49 for one wicket. The Islam Gymkhana with scores of 139 and 83 suffered defeat by an innings and 82 runs, Ceylon scoring 304. O n March 16th the pavilion of the Torquay C.C. was destroyed by fire. A S outh A frican correspondent in­ forms me that A. D. Nourse intends to leave South Africa at the end of the month on a holiday visit to England. On February 24th he took six wickets for