Cricket 1907

28 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. F eb. 28, 1907. action of W. W. Armstrong and T. Warne in declining to take part in the match Victoria versus South Australia, and the ac'.ion of J. V. Saunders and F. Collins in not attending to bat when required on the last day of the match, was considered. The committee sub­ mitted the following recommendations : — “ Re Warne—We consider his expla­ nation satisfactory, but tbiuk he should have taken other means to inform the secretary of his mishap earlier than he did. Re Saunders and Collins—We recommend that Saunders and Collins be reprimanded for not being in attendance wnen required to bat in the late match against So uh Australia, and that the professional fee to Saunders be reduced to £3. Re Armstrong—We recommend that the reasons given by Armstrong for not playing in the South Australian match were satisfactory.” An amend­ ment that the recommendation for the reduction of Saunders’ fee from £5 to £3 be deleted from the report was agreed to after considerable discustion. Tho re­ port as amended was agreed to. In a recen t issue of th e Sydney Referee “ Not Out ” gave th e b a t t in g averages in Sheffield Shield m atch es of some of the best-kD O w n players. M. A. Noble, it will be seen, is well ahead of all rivals :— M. A. NOBLE (N.SW.) Inns. N.O. H.S. Runs. Aver. Victoria ........ 37 5 281 1938 6056 S. Australia .. 31 2 230 1789 61-68 Totals .. G8 7 281 3727 6109 R. A. DUFF (N.S.W.) Victoria ......... 24 1 132 1109 48-21 y. Australia .. 17 0 271 958 5635 Totals .. 41 1 271 2067 51-67 O. HILL (S.A.) N. 8. Wales .. 46 3 365* 2254 5241 Victoria ......... 39 2 147 1800 48 64 Totals .. 85 5 365 4054 50-67 V. THUMPER (N.S.W.) Victoria ... . . 26 1 230 1232 49*21 S. Australia .. . 28 1 178 1068 39 55 Totals . . 54 2 230 2300 4423 W. W. ARMSTRONG (Victoria). N. S. Wales ... 24 1 168* 932 40-05 S. Australia . . 18 1 J65 832 48-94 Totals . . 42 2 168 1764 4401 J. DARLING (S.A.) N. S. Wales . . 35 1 121 983 28-85 Victoria ... . . 31 1 87 975 32-50 Totals . . 66 2 121 1978 3090 “ Not Out ” truly remarks that, consider­ ing the amount of work as bowler Noble has also accomplished, it will be readily acknowledged that he has figured as a Colossus in inter-State cricket for ten years. M r. C. I . S. W a ll a c e , of Charlton, kindly draws my attention to a coinci­ dence in connection with the bowling of Hargieave and John Gunn last season. In addition to takiDg the same number of wickets, 112, and being next to each other in the averages, each had thirteen men caught at tne wicket and five stumped. T he same correspondent shows, by means of the appended table, the extent to which those bowlers who took as many as 100 wickets last year were assisted by the wicket-keeper :— Bowler. Ct. Std. Ttl. Ttl. Per- Wkts. centge. 1. Bestwick, W. ... 27 .. 1 . . 28 .. 115 .. 24*34 2. Italian), A. ... 17 .. 7 . . 24 . . 104 .. 23-07 3. Warren, A. R. ... 21 .. 2 . 23 .. 101 .. 22-77 4. Lees, W. ... ... 33 .. 3 . . 30 . . 108 .. 21-43 5. Rolf, A. E. ... 18 .. 1 . . 19 .. 100 .. 17*92 l>. Dennett, G. ... 13 .. 17 . . 30 . . 175 .. 17-14 r. 4Gunn, J. ... .. 13 .. 5 . . 18 . 112 j 10*07 ( Hargreave, S. ... 13 .. 5 . . 18 . . 112 9. Buckenliani, C. 1*. 20 .. 0 . . 20 . . 135 ... 14*81 10. Fielder, A. ... 25 .. 1 . . 20 . . 180 ... 13*97 11. Blythe, C. ... 5 .. 10 . . 15 . . Ill ... 13*51 1‘2. Rhodes, W. ... 0 . 10 . . 10 . . 128 ... 12*50 13. Wass, T. ... ... 12 .. 0 . . 12 .. 100 ... 12*00 1t. N. A. Knox ... 10 .. 0 . . 10 . 144 ... 11*11 15. Hirst, G. H. ... 23 .. 0 . . 23 . . 208 ... u-oo 16. J. N. Crawford ... 12 . . 0 . . 12 . . 118 ... 10*17 17. Mead, W.... ... 9 . . 4 . . 13 . . 133 ... 9*77 18. Jayes, T.... Thompson, G. ... 8 .. 0 . . 8 . . 104 ... 7*09 19. J. 8 .. 2 . . 10 . . 130 ... 7*35 20. Haigh, S.... ... 9 .. . 0 . . 9 . . 174 ... 5*17 Santall, S., who c iptured 52 wickets, had 12 men caught at the wickct and 5 stumped off his bowling : percentage, 32’(39. I n the course of a speech made at a meeting at the Church Institute at Croydon the Rev. G. MacGillivray said:— “ All would agree that the object—the sole object—ot sport, from the Gnristian’s point of view, was to make the people more fit for the business of life. All legitimate forms of sport were calculated to do that. Such games as cricket, football, tennis, golf, aud so on, taught them self-control, patience, and unselfish­ ness. In cricket aud football they were bound to play, not for themselves, but for their side. They also taught them esprit de corps, which was an excellent thing.” M r . R o nald J. M c N e il l , who, in the recent South Aberdeen election, brought down the Liberal majority from 4,444 to 367, was in the Harrow Eleven in 1880. tLe presumably played as a bowler, for he was eleventh in the batting order. He was only put on to bowl in the first innings, and his analysis was 8 overs, 3 maidens, 6 runs, no wickets. He afterwards playtd for his college eleven at Oxford. A srEECH at Manchester on February 4th by Mr. Winston Churchill shows how dangerous it is to take illustrations lrom a gameunless the speaker thoroughly understands its points. Mr. Churcmli, referring to the Houseof Lords, isreported to have said :— The policy of bowling lobs for the House of Lords to uky, and wailing till the spectators take pity on the poor bowler, is not one in which the present House of Commons will consent to take part. Unionist cricketers will naturally point out that the poor lob bowler’s chief object in life is that his lobs shall be skied. They will point out that when the spectators begin to take pity on the poor lob bowler it is either Decause he is a duffer himself, or because his field cannot hold the catches. Also they will point out that, at about the time when the poor lob bowler begins to be pitied by the spectators, he is generally taken off. But perhaps Mr. Churchill would not under­ stand what is meant by taking a bowler off. T h e following proposed rules for the registration of county cricketers have been sent to the various counties for their consideration:— 1. In the case of cricketers claiming under Rule 5, the Committee of the M..C.O. will be able lor itself to check the claim. [Rule 5 reads : A cricketer who has played for his county for five successive years is qualified to play lor that county for the rest of ms cricket career, or until he plays for some other county.] 2. In the case of cricketers claiming under Rule 2, a certified copy of the cricketers’ birth register must be lodged with the M.U.C., if possible, before he plays for his county, but, if that is impossible, then as soon as possible after his first match. [Rule 2 reads: Qualification by Birth—A cricketer is always eligible to play for the county of his birth.] 3. In the case of cricketers claiming unuer the residential rules, a full statement, signed by the secretary of the county club on behalf oi his committee, or, in case of emergency, by the captain of the County X I., of the resi­ dential qualifications of each cricketer must be lodgeu annually with the M.C.C. N .b .— It will obviously save much incon­ venience if county eommiitees will lodge their claims early m the year. In the case of cricketers suddenly called on to play for their counties, the M.C.C. will do their best to give a prompt response to such applications for registration, out it is obvious mat this will depend to a considerable extent on the in­ formation supplied by the county clubs. The above is the outcome of the sug­ gestion, made at the meeting of the Advisory Committee, at Lord’s, in December last, that the M.C.C. should draw up a scheme for the registration of the qualifications of players engaged in County Championship matches. O n Wednesday, the 20th inst., Mr. A. J. Gaston gave his popular lantern lecture on “ Cricaet and Cricketers” at the Village Hall, Storrington. A. B. W il l ia m s , who made 100 against the M.C.C. iu the Wellington match, is the player who scored a double-ceutury— 114 and 105—for Midland (Wellington) v. Wellington, at Wellington, in Feb­ ruary, 1898, and by so doing established a record for New Zealand cricket which holds good to this day. He was bom at Swansea, in South Wales, on January 6tb, 1870, and is an attractive.batsman to watch, diiving and hitting to leg in capital style, though in nis younger uays be was a stone-waller of a .very pro­ nounced order. In his first inter-fro- vincial match, agaiust Canterbury, in 1886-7, he was in two hours and a-nalf for 9 ! For XV . of NewZsaland against the Australian team of 1896, at Cnrist- caurch, he scored 21 and 73. When it is added that he is also in the first flight of wicket-keepers, it will be admitted that he is a player of great cipabilities. T h e experience of the English crick­ eters in ISe w Zjaland in the Wellington match reminds one of what occaeiunally to happened to members of the A.E.E. and U.A.E.E. when, after a long and fatiguing journey, they had to go iu to bat when almost asleep. I have, in fact, been more than once assured by Parr,