Cricket 1908

A p r il 30 , 190 8. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. remarks :— Cricketers generally, and especially first- class cricketers, have never taken kindly to the idea of cups or trophies, thinking, and rightly thinking, that the pleasure of win­ ning is sufficient reward, and that the spirit of the game would not be affected for good if it became anything like a general prac­ tice to mark success in competitions by the presentation of some work of art. We have not the least doubt that if cricketers were canvassed on the subject they would unhesitatingly declare their preference that no trophy should be identified with the sug- gested Tournament. The above sentiments cause me to feel in the position of the footboy in Oliver Twist who so reverenced the butler as always to “ say the same as Mr. Giles here.” Cricket in San Francisco, says the American Cricketer, has taken a new lease of life since the earthquake. Three new clubs have been admitted to the California Cricket Association, namely, Barbarians, Golden Gate, and Wanderers. The four old clubs—the Alameda, Pacific, San Fran­ cisco County, and Burns Valley—have also retained their membership. C ongratulations to Mr. A. O. Jones, captain of the Notts County Eleven, upon the birth of a son at Musters Road, W'est Bridgford, on Tuesday last! J. Anderson, of 15, St. John Street, Perth, has forwarded me a copy of his Scottish Cricket Annual —a most useful little publication now in its eighth year. It contains many very interesting tables of averages and results, as well as the chief fixtures for the coming season, and is issued at the popular price of a penny. It should prove quite invaluable to Scotch cricketers. L ord H awke has returned from his shooting trip in India and will in all prob­ ability captain Yorkshire in their opening match of the season—against Northamp­ tonshire on Thursday next. C ricketers have suffered severely at the hands of the weather during the past week. In addition to the temperature being lower at Eastbourne on March 3rd, left estate to the gross value of j£ i 16,475 12s. gd., of which the net personalty has been sworn at ^108,251 10s. 3d. From the Globe :— “ Cricketers,” says a Sunday news­ paper, “ will be hard at work in a day or two.” Shovelling snow, we presume. O n March 2^st South Hobart made 340 for three wickets against North Hobart, Eady contributing 134 and F. Green 102 of the number. The pair came together upon the fall of the first wicket at 3 and put on 216 together in an hour and three-quarters, the first hundred taking only 42 minutes to compile. Eady hit twenty 4’s in his fault­ less and vigorous display and was second out, at 219, after batting 113 minutes. “ Not O u t,” writing in the Sydney Referee of March 18th, says :— “ The M. A. Noble Testimonial Fund in Sydney already amounts to ^'950, which, John, 4 th Earl of Darnley. (Kent X I., 1790-1796. B. 1767, d. 1831.) Edward, 5 th Earl of Darnley. (B. 1795 , d. 1835 .) H on . S ir J. D. B ligh . (President of K.C.C.C., 1864 . B. 1798 , d. 1872 .) John Stuart, 6th Earl of Darnley. (President of K.C.C.C., 1859 , ’ 69 , 72 , ’ 82 . 1827 , d. 1896 .) Hon. (and Rev.) E. V. Bligh. (Kent X I., 1849 - 1864 . B. 1829 , d. 1908 .) G en . the H o n . E. Bltgh. (Kent X I., 1790 - 1806 . B. 1769 , d. 1840 .) H o n . (and Rev.) H . B l ig h . (Kent XI., 1854 - 1860 . B. 1834 , d. 1905 .) En. Hr. Stuart, 7 th Earl of Darnlet. (Lord Ivo Francis Walter, 8th Earl of Darnlet. Clifton.) (Kent X I., 1877 - 1883 . President of K.C.C.C., (Kent X I., 1871 - 1879 . B. 1851 , d. 1900 .) 1892 and 1902 . B. 1859 .) Lodovick Edward Bi.tgh. (Kent XI., 1878 - 1884 . B. 1854 .) G enealogical T able S howing the C onnection of the B ligh F amily with K ent C ounty C ricket . D. Hamilton, playing for Southland against Otago, at Dunedin on February 19th and 20th, so monopolised the scoring that of the 118 runs made during the id minutes he was in he claimed as many : 95. He hit a 6, a 5, thirteen 4*s, four 3’s, six 2’s, and eight singles, and made his runs without a chance. On the same dates North Canterbury (623) beat South Canterbury (57 and 131) by an innings and 435 runs. The North’s innings was as fol­ lows :— E. R. Caygill, c Craw­ shaw, b O’Callaghan 35 A. Jones, c Kennah, b O’Callaghan ... 67 H. Ellis,b O’Callaghan 0 R.Read,bO’Callaghan 55 S. A . Orchard, c Douglas, b O’Calla- ghan.........................113 B. B.W ood, c Kennah b A d c o c k .............137 C. F. D. Cook, lbw b Douglas ...............20 A. H. Neild, b O’Callaghan ... 44 E. E. Crawihaw, not out .......................... 61 H. D. Goldsmith, b Kenna ...............25 H. M’Lelland b Kenna 3 Byes, &c. .. Total ... ... 63 ...623 The total of 623 constitutes, I believe, a record for New Zealand; in any case, it surpasses the 609 by Napier United A against Napier United B on January 28th and February 4th, 1899. than usual, snow has fallen heavily in many districts, putting match-playing and practice altogether out of the question. Last Saturday the weather was as unsuit­ able for cricket as could well be imagined, and, according to the Yorkshire Evening Post, a team cancelled their match and went tobogganing. L ast month Major W’ardill, the Secre­ tary of the Melbourne C.C., fell from a tram in Melbourne and sustained slight concussion of the brain. The latest re­ ports to hand state that he is making good progress towards recovery. T iie Annual General Meeting of the Essex County C.C. will be held at the Liverpool Street Hotel (Bishopsgate Street entrance) this afternoon at 4 o ’clock. The chief matters to be considered at the meet­ ing have already been announced in Gossip. M r . A lexander T hackeray , who played for Glamorgan and Cardiff, and who died with subscriptions in the other States, makes the sum in hand approximating ,£'1,200. This includes ^240 net profit from the entertainment given by Messrs. J. and N. Tait at the Sydney Cricket Ground last Wednesday evening. The magnificent nature of this testimonial, augmented materially by the efforts of the public and the Press, must carry an impressive lesson to every cricketer with a reflective mind. The public and the Press in the recent cricket crisis united solidly in opposition to the course pursued by certain allied players as against the governing bodies in New South Wales and Australian cricket. That fight, grim and earnest, was won, not by the players. And now the public, as generous in support as it was unanimous against the cricketers, is showing in the most eloquent and expres­ sive way its appreciation of the service and the qualities as player and leader put forth by M.A.N. in regaining the ashes. It shows that public sentiment in Australian cricket is not dead. It is there, deep- rooted, ready to be fused by the electric spark of national success. And I know of no Australian cricketer more likely, by reason of his power of mind, to more thoroughly appreciate the moral than Mon­ tagu Alfred Noble himself.”