Cricket 1907

472 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. D ec . 19, 1907. 200, M. A. Noble 170, S. E. Gregory 165, V. Trumper 174, T. Hayward 167, A. C. MacLaren 142, J. T. Tyldesley 179, L. O. S. Poidevin 149, H. Carter 117, L. W. Pye 231, W. W. Armstrong 109, V. Ransford 105, F. A. Tarrant ) New South Wales v. South f Australia, at Adelaide, ) 1899-1900. England v. New South Wales, at Sydney, 1901-2. New South Wales v. Queensland, at Sydney, 1904-5. Victoria v. South Aus­ tralia, at Melbourne, 1907-8. * Signifies not out. Ia addition to the instance mentioned abova, five individual hundreds have be?n hit ia an innings on two occasions in a minor match in Australia. For Padding­ ton v. Burwood, at Sydney in December, 1895, A. 0. K. Mackenzie scored 155, A. C. B»nnerman 122, M. A. Noble 113, R. Alderson 113 (retired), and J. J. Kelly 106 not out, whilst for Melbourne University v. Ejsendon, at Melbourne, in March, 1898, L. Miller made 205, E. C. Osborne 190, J. J. Quirk 179, E. Feilchen- feld 176, and H. Bullivant 139 not out. Paddington scored 726 for four wickets and Melbourne University 1094. A l t h o u g h South Australian bowling is not particularly formidable at the present time, it would be difficult to imagine stronger testimony to the strength of New South Wales’ batting than that given ia the match which finished at Sydney on Thursday last. Set 593 to win, tbe side scored 572 and accordingly suffered defeat by the narrow margin of 20 runs. Such a reverse was, in the circumstances, a veritable triumph, and it may well be doubted whether any other tide playing at all regularly would have come so near obtaining a victory which would have been without parallel. During the past few seasons New South Wales have accomplished many great run-getting feats, but nothing—at least, on paper—to equal their latest perform­ ance. In January, 1906, when playing against the Australian team of 1905, they made 472 agaiost a strong attack when set 552 to win, although three of theii best batsmen ia Trumper, Noble, and Duff were on that occasion playing against them. The aggregate of 1716 obtained last week has been exceeded iu first-class cricket only by the 1739 made in the match between England and New South Wales at Sydney ia February, 1898. The play on Thursday last was quite a curiosity, seeing that no runs were scored, the last wicket of New South Wales falling with the overnight total unaltered. As the following figures will show, it was just seven years since New South Wales had succumbed to South Australia, who then owed their success chiefly to a great not-out innings of 365 by Clem Hill Season. 1900-1.—At Adelaide. S.A. won by inns, and 35 runs. 1900-1.—At Sydney. N.S.W. won by inns, and 605 runs. 1901-2.—At Sydney. N.S.W. won by inns, and 98 runs. 1901-2.—At Adelaide. N.S.W. won by inns, and 19 runs. 1902-3.—At Adelaide. N.S.W. won by 210 runs. 1902-3.—At Sydney. N.S.W. won by ten wickets. 1903-4.—At Sydney. N.S.W. won by inns, and 29 runs. 1903-4.—At Adelaide. N.S.W. won by eight wickets. 1904-5.—At Adelaide. N.S.W. won by inns, and 120 runs. 1904-5.—At Sydney. N.S.W. won by seven wickets. 1905-6.—At Adelaide. N.S.W. won by inns, and 82 runs. 1905-6.—At Sydney. N.S.W. won by nine wickets. 1906-7.—At Adelaide. N.S.W. won by inns, and 109 runs. 1906-7.—At Sydney. N.S.W. won by inns, and 168 runs. 1907-8.—At Sydney S.A. won by 20 runs. It was certainly time that South Austra­ lia won a match, but it must not be over­ looked that New South Wale3 took the field without Cotter and Macartney. It is to be regretted that the two sides will not play a return match this season owing to the presence of the English team. I n Sydney on November 2ud, five wickets were taken with consecutive balls by Dr. C. Charlton, a brother of P. C., for North Sydney Veterans v. Rydalmere Hospital, and by Scott for Newington College v. The King’s School. On the same afternoon W. E. Forsyth and A. Lennar! z both performed the hat-trick iu the same innings for Beecroft v. Riilway Audit. From the Montreal Daily Star : — Just before stepping aboard the Virginian, on which vessel he is sailing from Canada to the old country, Lord Hawke, the British peer and sportsman, who has been touring the United States with his cricket team, and later has been trying his luck as a hunter in the wilds of the Dominion, had a few words to say by way of comparison betweeu sport in this country and sport in the old country. “ I had the pleasure, during my stay here this time,” said his lordship, “ of witnessing my first baseball match.” “ When a batsman knocks out a long fly in our cricket matches, and the fielder runs after it, misjudges it, and eventually fumbles it, our British crowd claps. ‘ Well tried, well tried,’ they cry. “ Now over here the spirit seems to be entirely different. At the baseball match I attended, at which there must have been five or six thousand people sitting in the bleachers the batsman knocked up a beautiful spinning high fly. The far fielder was after it like a hawk. He had his eye on it all the way. When it came down he caught it, but it bounded out of his hands. “ Kill him, kill him,’ they shouted. ‘ He’s sold the game. He’s a lemon.’ “ Really I was quite surprised. Such a scene is never under any circumstances enacted in the old country. Over here I am told it is the natural outlet for the overflow of energy possessed by nearly every citizen, of this glorious country.” Some of the expressions attributed to his lordship remind one of the notice appear­ ing in an advertisement of a Cairo hotel— “ English spoken here. American under­ stood.” A. F. S p o o n e r , who has played occasionally in America for the Staten Island C.C., and is a brother of R. H. Spooner, has returned to England on account of ill-health. I t is a noteworthy fact that in a year in which the great majority of the counties suffered a financial loss—in many cases a heavy one—Kent should be able to chronicle a profit on the year’s working of over £1,500. During 1907 no less than 848 new members j >ined the County Club, which now has a balance iu hand of £2,920 0s. lid . O n the invitation of the Committee of the Derbyshire County C.C., Mr. A. E. Lawton has consented to resume the captaincy of the eleven next season. This decision has naturally given general satisfaction from one end of the county to the other. T h e proceeds of next year’s match between Somerset and Surrey, at Bath on August 27th and two following days, will be set aside as a benefit for Braund. A t the Annual General Meeting of the Worcestershire County C.C. Mr. P. H. Foley stated that the loss last season was £300, making tbe total debt £4,250, and that since 1904 the membership had de­ creased 228. Lord Cobham was elected President for the year, and the Duke of Orleans and E vrl Beauchamp were added to the list of vice-Presidents. T h e following letter has been addressed to Mr. F. E. Lacey (Secretary of the Marylebone Club) by Mr. Abe Bailey, the President of the South African Cricket Association, and is now, I believe, under onsideration :— R.M.S. Walmer Castle, Nov. 30th, 1907. Dear Mr. Lacey—As you are aware, I have for years past been intimately connected with South African cricket and the work of the South African Cricket Association. The visit of the South African team to England this year was productive of interest­ ing cricket, and was so far satisfactory that the Association is very anxious to promote a triangular or Imperial cricket contest between representative teams from England, Australia, and South Africa. I am aware that in promoting a contest of this kind there are many difficulties to be overcome, but I am confident that if your Committee could see its way to open negotia­ tions on the subject these would not be found insuperable. On the other hand there are, it seems to me, many advantages likely to ensue from such a contest. In the first place inter-rivalry within the Empire cannot but fail to draw together in closer friendly interest all those many thousands of our kinsmen who regard cricket as their national sport, while secondly it would probably give a direct stimulus to amateurism. I would venture to suggest that the first step would be to form an Imperial Cricket Board, to formulate the necessary rules and regulations. I would also like to put forward the desirability of playing the first Imperial contest in England, or, in the event of insurmountable difficulties arising, in South Africa ; further, that the competition should be held at no distant date. I understand that the Australians have accepted an invitation to tour in England in 1909, and it would seem that the most fitting