Cricket 1906

74 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A p r i l 19, 1906. decision. The ball was then thrown down to the howler's end by the wicket-keeper. The batsman (Johnstone), who was at the wicket farthest from the pavilion, left hia ground, evidently being under the impression that he was ont. Whilst he was eoin? towards the pavilion Dodds, of North Hobart, acting strictly within the laws of the game, got the hall and pulled a stump out of the ground, and appealed for a run out. This savoured so much of sharp practice that the spectators showed their disgust in unmeasured terms, and in the pavilion there was a lively “ scene,” in which players, umpires, and spectators got hopelessly mixed up. No one was able to find out exactly what was the matter, beyond hearing exclamations from excited individuals of “ Was the ball dead? ” “ Did the umpire give him out?” After a quarter of an hour’s wrangling the two captains and the two umpires retired to “ calmly discuss the situation.” The result of their deliberations was that the batsmen, Hudson and Johnstone, should resume. They did so. The renewal of play aroused intense excitement amongst thefew spectators who had remained, and there were terrific yells from North Hobart’s section, when at one minute to six, Johnstone was run out. ging.” What happened afterwards is thus described in the Australian news­ papers :— Mr. McMichael moved—“ That the M.C.C. be written to, asking that it should nominate a representative to sit on the Board of Control.” The Chairman—That is an insulting motion, and leaves the matter where it was before. It is signed by Mr. A. E. Clarke. Is he here ? Mr. McMichael (heatedly)—“ Insulting motion ” is very insulting. The Chairman—I have stood enough in­ sults to-night from you, Mr. McMichael, about the conference of which I was a member. You have spoken of my devious ways. Col. Hoad said that as a new member he was surprised to hear Mr. McMichael speak­ ing of “ wobbling” and “ smoodging.” Mr. McMichael—I am prepared to back up what I say, either here or outside. Order having been restored, a motion, submitted by Mr. Kush and seconded by Mr. Fitzgerald, that further conference with the M.C.C. should be held on the subject, was carried, and a prolonged meeting terminated. A. D. N otjrsh , the Natal cricketer, has been choien as goalkeeper for the South Afrioan Association football team which is to tour iu the Argentine Republic. A REPORT comes from Australia that the Melbourne C.C. is trying to induce the M.C.C. to sjnd out a team in the autumn, in defiance of the new Board of Control. “ H. C arpenter , the Essex professional who has been acting as coach to the Melbourne C.C., left, in tin ‘ Mongolia,’ on March 6th, for the old country,” pays “ Felix” in the Australasian. “ Each year he comes he wins more and more the regard and good-will of the colts at his net, and I myself can bear witness, evening after evening, to the assiduous and painstaking care he displays in his efforts to teach the young idea how to bat. By the way, Carpenter euchres the revolviog seasons all right. He can hardly know what a London fog is like now, seeing that he has skipped four suo cessive winters.” A rnold S eitz , a member of the East Melbourne C.C., has gained one of the Rhodes Scholarships at Oxford. He is an improving batsman, and his friends hope to see him in the University X I. F rom the Sydney Mail :— When he first went to England Victor Trumper played the correct game, taking no risks, yet got his runs by beautifully clean strokes in all directions. Now he is a law only unto hitnself. All things taught by school coaches are set at defiance. The style of cricket he plays courts disaster, and to me it is surprising that bad luck did not come along before. Time was, and not so very long ago either, when every bowler stood in awe of Victor. Now a good deal of that has worn off. There comes a time in every bats­ man’ s career when he will have a succession of short scores, and now they are coming to Trumper. Big crowds follow Victor Trumper in the expectation of seeing sensational bat­ ting. On February 28th close on 3,000 people visited Hampden Park Oval, where the local teamwere playing University. One does not exaggerate a great deal when he says that almist every stroke of Trumper’s contains a risk. The Trumperian influence on batting is to be seen everywhere. We have not a stonewaller now, no, or even a slow batsman; all are out after runs. Thi has been the case with us for the past few years, and to it may be attributed in a measure the fact that the Englishmen have beaten us during the last couple of tours. I n the course of an interview, the Hon. Reginald J. Black spoke of C. T. B. Turner’s first appearance in important cricket. Turner was employed with Cobb and Co., Bathurst. He was chosen to play for Bathurst 22 against the English Eleven organist d by Shaw, Shrewsbury and Lillywhite. The manager of Cobb and Co. was a hard-headed American, and he could not see the force of letting a man off duty to play cricket. However, Mr. Black waited upon him, and finally persuaded him to let Turner off for the match. When 30 runs had been M r . W. G ardner writes from East London (South A frica):—“ I have much pleasure in enclosing a clipping which originally appeared in the Johannesburg Leader, and which you may like to put before your many readers throughout the world. It would appear to be a case without parallel in the history of cricket, or certainly so a9 far as test matches are concerned. Strange to relate the inci­ dent occurred on the day South Africa’s position was made secure. The day fol­ lowing saw the defeat of the M.C.C. and the rubber in the hands of the Colonials.” T he incident to which my correspon­ dent refers is described as follows : — The defence of all the batsmen was excel­ lent, and it is a curious fact that right through the innings, just over six hours, the wickets at the railway end were never hit nor did the wicket-keeper displace the bails. In this connection it is extraordinary to relate that a spider, who climbed the stumps, care­ fully spun his web between the wickets turning his web round the bails. This was discovered by the groundsman, and after tea the fielders observed the phenomenon of bails being secured to the stumps by tiny silken threads, the outcome of a spider’s industry. T he latest news about the Australian Board of Control is that at a meeting of the Victorian Cricket Association on March 13th a letter was read from the Melbourne Cricket Club in respect to the nomination of a representative to sit on the Board of Control. This was to the tffect that the Melbourne Cricket Club would not nominate a representative until a communication was received frcm the association stating the position of South Australia in regard to the matter. T he reading of this letter was followed by a somewhat animated discussion, in which Mr. S. McMichael said that this action by the Melbourne C.C. was a fight on behalf of the South Australian Cricket Association. He added that the Mel­ bourne Club was “ wobbling and smood- T here still seems to be a chance that the South Australian O.A. may teinducel to enter the fold. Thus the Advertiser says:— The question as to whether the South Australian Cricket Association will send representatives remains open, and this body is at present considering the matter, with the view of coming to a determination. The association does not object to the principle of a board of control, but the committee are chary of joining the body until they are satisfied that the preponderating influence of New South Wales and Victoria will not he used detrimentally to the interests of the game in this State. They also wish to be assured that due regard would be paid to the interests of players. The opinion is held by many prominent cricketers in Australia that the board of control will shortly give itself the “ bappy dispatch,” but meanwhile the cricketing public will be interested to learn what steps the i^outh Australian Association intend to take. At a recent meeting a sub­ committee was appointed to enquire into the matter, and it is anticipated that they will shortly present their rfport. A fternoon cricket is apparently not always very lively in Australia, for with reference to a first-grade match p’ ayed at Adelaide on March 10th the Adelaide Observer says :— “ A study of the bowling analyses in the Port v. Adelaide match should be interesting. Fc r Dr<w to have sent down 44 overs—264 balk—in an innings consisting of only 206 runs is in itself remarkable. But in addition, other trundlers sent down 65.4 overs—394 balls —and altogether the 206 runs were gathered tff 199.4 overs, of 658 balls—a truly prolific harvest! Of the total number of overs delivered no fewer than 37 (rather more than one-third of the total) were maidens.” A n inter-state match has been arranged between lady cricketers of Tasmania and Victoria, to take place in Melbourne. In Tasmania there is a ladies’ cricket associa­ tion.