Cricket 1908

CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M a y 7, 1908. C A T A L O G U E U P O N A P P L IC A T IO N . The cover of this ball is constructed upon an improved system which ensures incieased dinability. The materials and workmanship are of the highest class, and there can be no doubt whatever that the first grade is ihe most desirable Ma ch Ball that can be produced. C A T A L O G U E U P O N A P P L IC A T IO N . The construction of the Demon Drivers is fully described in 7 he Evolution of a Cricket Bat , which may be obtained free up m applica­ tion to GEO. G. BUSSEY & Co., L td ., 36 & 38, Queen V ictoria St., LONDON. Manufactory — Timber Mills — PECKHAM, S.E. ELMSWELL, SUFFOLK. Agents all over the world. AT THE SIGN OF THE WICKET. By F. S. A s h le y - C o o p e r . At 5 p.m. to-day the Annual General Meeting of the Surrey County C.C. will be held at the Oval. After the usual business has been transacted the meeting will be made special in order to pass a new rule with regard to school-boy members, and to alter rules vi., xiii., and xv. in regard to members’ subscriptions, introduction into the Pavilion of members’ friends, and vacancies on the Committee. By far the most important matter is the last-named. One of the best-known members of the Club in the person of Mr. A. M. Latham will move that Rule iii. be amended to read as follows :— “ The Committee shall consist of the ex-officio Members, the Captain of the County Eleven for the time being, and 24 Members of the Club, one-third of whom shall retire at each Annual Meeting by rotation, and shall not be eligible for re-election until the Annual Meeting next following. The quorum of a Meeting of the Committee shall be seven. The names of Candidates for the Committee shall be forwarded to the Secretary by the 14th of April in each year, and such names shall be inserted in the Annual Report and for­ warded to each Member.” Hitherto the rule has allowed the retiring members of the Committee to be at once eligible for re-election. There can, I think, be no doubt whatever that it would be for the welfare of Surrey cricket for Mr. Latham’s resolution to be adopted, in which case the County Club would elect its Committee on the principle which has been found to answer so well at Lord’s. The alteration in the rule suggested by Mr. Latham would ensure a yearly change in the constitution of the Committee. It may be argued that the members of the Club have always been able, had they so wished, to oppose the re-election of any retiring Committee-man. This is so, cer­ tainly ; but to have acted in the manner mentioned would 1o all intents and pur­ poses have been to make a personal attack —a course which ninety-nine persons out of every hundred would hesitate to adopt in ordinary circumstances. Hither­ to the places on the Committee have been monopolized by a few, and all those who have the welfare of the Club at heart should endeavour to break that monopoly bv supporting Mr. Latham’s resolution. At various times some hard things have been said and written concerning the Surrey Committee, but more often than not, as readers of this column may remember, I have had little sympathy with those who have found fault with its actions. Such, however, has not been the case during the past year. No good purpose would be served by enumerating the instances of the Committee’s policy giving rise to no little criticism during the period mentioned, for such action would tend only to draw attention to matters which are now best left alone, but there is one matter of recent occurrence which cannoi be passed over. I refer to the action of the Committee in not inviting Mr. J. N. Crawford to take over the captaincy of the Eleven during the temporary absence of Mr. Leveson-Gower. Mr. Crawford, it is everywhere acknowledged, is the best all­ round gentleman player of the day. Furthermore, he can assist the side regu­ larly if necessary. At Repton he proved himself to be the best Public School cap­ tain of his year, and on the few occasions when he has been called upon to lead the County he has done so with credit to him­ self and advantage to the side. It seems ungenerous to hint that these facts may have been unknown to the Committee, but what else is one to think ? Mr. Crawford had every reason to imagine that he would be invited to undertake the captaincy tem­ porarily, and it was a most marked slight to pass him over and to offer the position to a man who had not played for the County for five seasons and who is now in his thirty-seventh year. In the circum­ stances, it is not surprising that the younger player, the one with by far the greater and more varied experience of first-class cricket, should elect to take a holiday. 'The Committee appears to have gone out of its way to inflict a most un­ deserved slight upon a cricketer whom ninety-nine counties out of a hundred would have been only too glad to have had avail­ able for the command of the Eleven. Their action will doubtless cause many members of the Club to support Mr. Latham’s re­ solution who might in other circumstances have voted against it or at least have remained neutral. The recent visit of the M .C .C .’s team to Australia was dealt with so fully in the last number of Cricket that only a few general remarks on the subject need be made here. To all Englishmen the tour was very disappointing, four of -the five Test matches being lost and more than half of the other first-class games remain­ ing unfinished. Despite the success of the Australians in the more important fixtures, I am by no means inclined to regard their best eleven as one whit stronger, if indeed as strong, as the team which visited us three years ago. The batting does not appear to have deteriorated, the younger men who have come to the fore playing quite as successfully as those who dropped out, but the bowling is quite another matter. During the tour of 1905, Laver, Howell, C. E. McLeod, and Hopkins took between them 312 wickcts at a cost of 20.66 runs each ; in 1907-8 their record against the Englishmen was seven for 36.14 runs apiece, Howell and McLeod dropping out of the game entirely. To take the place of this quartette only Macartney and O ’Connor have come to the front, and the latter is hardly so young as many writers on the game in this country imagine. It would appear to be necessary for the Aus­ tralians to unearth at least one thoroughly reliable bowler before they could hope to tour England again with a prospect of success. There is, as already stated, nothing to fear so far as batting is concerned, for, although the run-getting against the Englishmen was, on the whole, not quite so heavy as might have been expected, it must not be forgotten that the tourists had a very strong bowling side. That the visit resulted in a very heavy financial loss may be attributed largely to the fact that the side failed to meet with much success ; it is decidedly interesting to know that the Fijians received £2.00 as the result of their visit to Tasmania whereas the Englishmen netted only £160. The Board of Con­ trol, it will he recalled, guaranteed the Marylebone C.C. /Tio.ooo for the trip, the