Cricket 1907

D ec . 19, 1907. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 473 arrangement would be to invite the South Africans to England at the same time. Believe me, yours sincerely, A be B aij . ey . I am requested to state that during Mr. Bailey’s absence from England Captain E. G. Wynyard is acting for him in connection with the proposed scheme. M r. L a cey , in the course of a speech at the Secretaries’ meeting at Lord’s last week, whilst admitting that such a Tournament would create enormous interest, stated that nothing definite could be decided until the matter had been placed before the M.O.O. sub­ committee and the Counties for consider­ ation. The idea will doubtless be very favourably considered by English and South African cricketers, but what the Australians will think of it is quite another matter. The latter have gener­ ally benefited so largely financially when visiting Eagland that they might not readily consent to share the spoils of a summer campaign with a new comer. Th e marriage arranged between Sir Foster Cunliffe, Bart., and L idy Anson, which was announced in the last number of Cricket, will not take place. A t the Annual General Meeting of the Minor Counties Association, at Lord’s on the 10th inst., a propossl that iu future the second elevens of first-class counties should not be deemed eligible to compete in the Minor County Championship was defeated by ten votes to four. A v e r y satisfactory bilance-sheet aud report were presented to the members of the Hertfordshire County C.C. at the Annual General Meeting at the St. Fancras Hotel on the 5th inst. Their match record was the best they had secured for some years, but the County, after easily heading the Eastern Group ia the Minor County Championship, were well beaten by Lancashire 2nd XT. in the semi-final at Old Trafford. The balance in hand was £161 2s. Id. as against £116 16s. 7d. in 1906. M r . H. C. W is d e n -L u ff, acting Eeoretary of the Cricketers’ Fund Friendly Society during the absence in Australia of his father, has received from the Surrey Couuty C.C. a cheque for £179 6s. 21., being half-share of the proceeds of the Champion County v. Rest of Eagland match at the Oval iu September. One of the most familiar schemes con­ cerning the conduct of the Couuty Chan; - pijnship—the proposal that the leading counties at the end of each season in the Second Division take the place of the counties occupying the lowest positions in the First Division—has been submitted to the Committee of the M.C.C. by Mr. C. E. Green, who suggests:— That the first-class counties he limited to twelve, and each he obliged to play home and home matches with the others. That after 1908 the four counties at the bottom of Division I. he relegated to Division II. of the counties, and take the places of the four second elevens of recognised counties now taking part in the second-class competi­ tion. In other respects the second-class competition he conducted as in 1907. That each season, commencing at the end of 1909, the two leading counties in Division II. be promoted to Division I., and take the places of the two counties at the bottom of Division I. In the event of the proposal being adopted, old fixtures would not necessarily be interfered with, but when one side was in Division I. and the other in Divi­ sion II. the match would not, of course, count in the Championship Competition. T h e r e are points both against and in favour of the scheme, but the disadvan­ tages certainly appear to outweigh thd advantages. At the present time many of the First-Class Counties are in a very precarious condition financially, and if the weakest of these were suddenly relegated to the Second Division the gates would decrease and the member­ ship fall off, and it would be only a matter of time before it was found com­ pulsory to wind up the Clubs. On the other hand the position of the County promoted from the Second to the First Division would be little, if any, more enviable. Greater expense would be incurred, and iu all probability the County would, at the end of the season, descend to its former position, un­ honoured and with a sadly depleted exchequer. That this is no exaggerated view of affairs seems to me obvious when we bear in mind the big gulf which was clearly shown to exist last season between First-Glass aud Minor Counties by the fact of the second eleven of a First-Class County winning the Minor County Championship. B u t any scheme such as this which would involve, as the result of one poor season, the relegation to second-class rank of a great county such as Surrey, Yorkshire, Kent, or Notts, would not p )8sess the slightest chance of ever being adopted. As the Daily Telegraph re­ marked : — The point to remember is that the cham­ pionship exists for cricket, not cricket for the championship. The game itself is much greater than any organised competition. Rather than adopt Mr. Green’s proposals we would do away altogether with the present system of scoring by points, and let the positions of the counties be determined at the tnd of each season—on the general run of the play—by the M.C.C. or any independent authorities they and the county committees might agree upon. The D .T.’s proposal strikes me as btiug certainly one of the best made concern­ ing the method of deciding the Cham­ pionship. D u rin g 1907 Hampshire experienced a far more satisfactory season financially tban for many years past. The net result of the season’s working was a deficit of £46 18s. lid ., but there was a profit on matches of £150. At the Annual General Meeting the Club promised its patronage and support to a match it was proposed to play at Hambledon next year between sides designated Hambledon and England. T h i s is an age of innovations and suggestions, and scarcely a season passes without some change being proposed or accorded a trial. Next year an interest­ ing experiment will be tried in the second week of May, it having been decided to commence play in the Leicestershire v. Warwickshire match at Leicester on a Saturday. Like most questions, that of the advisability of starting first-class matches on Saturdays can be looked at from more than one point of view. Fine weather on the first afternoon would make a good “ gate” assured, but when visiting players had to be away from home for four days instead of the usual three, a wet Saturday would involve the Club in loss owing to the extra cost. A t the Annual General Meeting of the Cambridgeshire County C.C. the Com­ mittee reported that, owing to the receipt of £24 15s. 4d. from the South African Test matches, there was a balance at the bank of £34 3s. 5 i. against £14 4s. 2d. list year. The number of subscribers was 104. F r o m the Globe :— “ Rhodes,” says a writer in a daily paper, treating of England’s chances in the Test Match, ‘ ‘ is the type of cricketer who can with equal celerity break up a long partner­ ship or score a hundred runs.” This does not seem particularly high praise. It takes two or three hours to make a century. Rhodes can surely break up a partnership in less time than that. T h e annual concert of the Derrick Wanderers C.C. took place in the Hamil­ ton Hall of the Great Eastern Hotel on Friday evening last. The prizes won during the season were presented, and a very attractive programme was got through in the course of the evening. The concert committee consisted of Messrs. H. F. Wharton, H. W. Bacchus, and G. V. E. Jesse. As the result of the appeal of the Committee of the Leicestershire County C.C., the sum of £1,791 has been re­ ceived. This will liquidate the debt of £1,500, and admit of the erection of a c overed stand for a thousand spectators, but a further sum of £1,000 is needed for the extension of the members’ stand. O f f ic i a l siatistics published this week show that in the London County Council parks 29,010 games were played during the past season. In 1906 the number was 28,904, and in the previous year 22,379. A t the Annual General Meeting of the Lancashire County C.C., at Man­ chester on Friday last, a proposition that the President of the Club should hold