Cricket 1907

410 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S e p t. 12, 1907. matches recently played there between the Parsis, (he Presidency, and the Hindus. A writer in the Bombay Gazette of the 24th ult. remarked :— “ W e are in the midst of a great cricket Saturnalia, such as has never before been seen ia Bombay. There must have been great excitement over the first Parsi and Presidency match, but I fancy the match between the Hindus and Parsis will far exceed any past cricketing event in this country in popular interest and excitfment. To-day’s crowd on the Maidan should be one of the biggest ever seen in India. I should imagine that nearly every Parsi in Bombay will be present and that there will be at least two Hindus for each Parsi. Fortunately it is impossible that all the Hindus in Bombay should be present. There are marwarris who don’t care a jot about cricket matches, and there are orthodox adherents of the Swadeshi movement who cannot possibly lend their countenance to a game intro­ duced by the intruding alien. These will fortunately be conspicuous by their absence, but I take it that every clean-minded and clean-bodied Hindu will he present to cheer on his representatives, and, whatever the result of this match, the time must soon be when the Hindu eleven will vanquish easily both Parsi and European sides, for the Hindus outnumber both the others by thousands to one. Having said this, I may be permitted to predict a win for the Parsis, who seem to me to possess a wider knowledge and experience of the game than the Hindus have yet attained to. I can find no bat on the Hindu side of the same class as Mistry, who, with Merherhomji, stands far above other native bats.” A t e l eg r ap h ic message in the last issue of Cricket announced that the Parsis had defeated both the Hindus and the Presidency: they beat the former by eight ■wickets, and the latter b y 140 rune. The match against the Hindus aroused the greatest interest, for it was the first occasion upon which the two sides had met. T h e majority of the members of the M .C .C .’s team to Ameiica sailed from Liverpool on the Cunard liner Lucania on Saturday last. Messrs. R. O. Schwarz and S. J. Snooke will follow as soon as possible, now that the South Africans’ tour is concluded, and hope to arrive in time for the first match with the Phila­ delphians which commences to-m orrow week. The team will consist o f :— H . Hesketh Prichard (Hampshire) (captain). Captain Wynyard (Hampshire). G. MacGregor (Middlesex). G. T . Branston (Notts). G .H . Simpson-Hayward (Worcestershire). J. W . H. T. Douglas (Essex). L. P. Collins (Berkshire). L . G. A. Collins (Berkshire). K . O. Goldie (Sussex). F. H. Browning (Ireland). B. O. Schwarz (South Africans). S. J. Snooke (South Africans). T h is is a very good all-round side, and one which w ill probably prove fully equal to the task before it. The pro­ gramme consists of the follow ing five matches :— September 17,18.—v. All New York, at New York. September, 20, 21, 23.—v. Gentlemen of Phila­ delphia, at Philadelphia. September 24, 25, 26.—v. XVIII. Colts, at Phila­ delphia. September 27, 28, 30. — v. Gentlemen of Phila­ delphia (return), at Philadelphia. October 2,3.—v. Canada, at Ottawa. The team will return on the Allan liner “ Tunisian,” which leavei Montreal on October 4th. T h e Morning Leader states that P. Tarrant, the Middlesex all-rounder, sails for Australia in the same steimer as the M.C.C. team. It is understood that the object of his visit is to play cricket in Australia. It is therefore quite possible that he will assist his native country in the Tests, and also play against the M C.C. team in other matches. The cricket season is a very short one, and as Tarrant has no occupation other than his summer profession as a cricketer, it is only natural that he should desire em­ ployment on the field during the seven months or so between seasons. It is understood that Middlesex not only approve of Tarrant making the trip, but are paying part of his expenses. Oyez ! Oyez ! Oyez ! This is to give notice that £ 1 0 REWARD is offered for information respecting the theft of a gold watch from Sir Reginald Bray, of the Manor House, Shere, Guild­ ford, at Kennington Oval Station on the 19th ult. Mr. Justice Bray, at the time of the theft, had just left the ground after watching toe Test Match, and believes the watch to have been take a whilst in the lift. The watch bears the words, “ R. M. Bray from E O.B , Sept., 1873.” T h e Athletic News announces that Harry Wrathall, the old Gloucestershire cricketer, has accepted an engagement with Hull next season. His retirement from the team has been taken for granted since he lost his place about midway through the summer. He was first played in 1894, having come into prominence by reason of a sound display with bat and ball in a trial match at Bristol. Prior to that he had gained a local reputation in Cheltenham, where he resided for many years. As soon as he was introduced into first-class cricket it was realised that he was a batsman with a bright future before him. Possessing plenty of nerve, he was capable of forcing tl e game under the U L O itd i.c juraging conditions, >mdsome of bis best work was done on wretched wickets when most of his colleagues fai'.el. A t the same time it must be admitted he never quite reached the standard that was expected of him. Still, when he got runs he got them in a most attractive style. Let him score a dozjn or twenty quickly and then he was happy. He would bring into play his famous squire cut and resolute drives, while he could turn a ball to leg off a fast bowler as cleverly as most men. Of lite years he suffered much from sciatica, and that handicapped him considerably. H e did his best work in 1900 and 1901, when he scored 1,276 and 1,450 runs, which gave him averages of 31'90 and 32-22. His aggregate of 1,450 is the highest ever obtained by aGloucestershire professional. In the course of his career he made 100 or more nine times for the county. AU told, in 414 completed innings he amassed 9,392 runs, which gave him an average of 22 9 2 -figu res which speak for them­ selves. R um ours concerning the intentions of J. N . Crawford have been so numerous and varied of late that it may be as well for me to state, on the best and only reliable authority, that no arrangement whatever has baen made, or even thought of, for him to settle down in Australia. Furthermore, there is no truth in the statement that he is to stu ly singing under Signor Caruso at Milan. There is, in fact, no reason whatever why he should not be found playing in England again next year. A . E. R elf has again left England in order to fulfil an engagement with tbe Auckland Cricket Club, in New Zailand. M r, D. K il l ik e l l y , of Montreal, kindly draws my attention to some re narkable bow ling in the match at Yalleyfield, a suburb of Montre .1, on August 24th, between Victori -4 and Yalleyfield. Playing for the former A. M. Fyfe had the follow ing extraordinary analysis :— Overs. Mdns. Buns. Wkts. 11 11 0 5 He bowled unchanged through the innings, which amounted to 35. Victoria had previously been dismissed for 43. N e w s of the death of Mr. Edgar Lubbock will have come as a shock to all those whose good fortune it was to know him well, for even as recently as last week he was out and about in his usual health. Ha was one of Sir John William Lubbock’s eight sons, all of whom played the game, and three of whom— Alfred, Edgar, and Sir Nevile— appeared in the Kent Eleven. Sir John himself did not take to the game much until over 40 years of age, and was of necessity a very moderate performer. Mr. Philip Norman, who remembers Sir John marking the positions of the fieldsmen by heaps of daisies from which it was deemed treason to stray, recalls th a t:— “ He kept a pony saddled at the cricket ground, and mounted and rode off at a rapid pace when his presence was required else­ where. One of the things which astonished my young mind was his peculiar mode of wearing his pads, or leg-guards ; they were inside his trousers', being strips of india- rubber passed through loops, if I am not mistaken, so that they remained as fixtures for the day. I have since found that Felix recommends something of the sort in his hook called “ Felix on the Bat.” A quaint figure