Cricket 1908

M ay 7, 190°. CRICKET : A WI-.EKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 1 2 1 by comparatively sedate cricket before the last wicket fell. I t is good to hear that a reconciliation has been effected between Walter Brearley and the Lancashire authorities, and that the famous fast bowler will resame his place in the County Eleven on Monday next at Bath, where Lancashire meet Somerset. The estrangement has lasted rather more than eighteen months, and I cannot help feeling that with a little tact the mis­ understanding might have been done away with long ago. His presence will strengthen the Lancashire attack enor­ mously, provided he is in form, and, with Huddleston, Harry, Dean, Cook, Kermode and others in addition to call upon, the County should not have many large totals to face this season. ; 2,500 men cannot be found willing to sub­ scribe a guinea annually for the up-keep of the Club, especially as Essex have a very serviceable side at the present time and can generally be relied upon to give a good game to the strongest of their oppo­ nents. It seems that if 739 new members are not enrolled during the present season ' there will be a distinct possibility of the Club being disbanded. But before such a regrettable step was taken, would it not be well to try the experiment of playing matches in various parts of the County— at Colchester and Chelmsford for in­ stance? It is a significant fact that only 44 of the 1,761 members of the Club at­ tended the Annual General Meeting last Thursday. Cadm an, of the Derbyshire Eleven, tcok past thirty-one years has been groundman at Shorncliffe Camp. That he is by no means a back number even yet is evident from the fact that in 1906 he took 265 wickets and last season 266. During his sixty-ninth and seventieth years, therefore, he dismissed 531 men ; Charles Absolon’s aggregate for the corresponding period was 524—320 in 1885 and 204 in 1886. This should prove a very effective reply to the “ Too Old at Sixty” brigade. J. P a rk in , the North Ormesby profes­ sional, has opened the season in sensational fashion. On April 25th he took five Thornaby wickets with consecutive balls, and on the 2nd inst., when playing against Norton on the latter’s ground, dismissed eight of his opponents, five clean bowled, at a cost of but 3 runs. Despite this last- Photoby ] T H E Y O R K S H I R E T E A M . [Haw'cins, Brighton. Newstead. Deyes. Hoyland (scorer). Tunnicliffe. ‘Wilkinson (W . H .j Bates. Hunter. Hirst. Lord Hawke. Haish. Rhodes. In the North Staffordshire League match on the 2nd inst. between Fenton and Silver- dale, on the former’s ground, E. H. Bourne took four wickets for Fenton with successive balls. For the same side, Gill, formerly of Leicestershire, and now Fen­ ton’s professional, hit four 6’s, ten 4’s, and three 2’s in an innings cf 79. In another North Staffordshire League match on the same date-—for Porthill v. Crewe Alexandra, at Porthill—S. F. Barnes, fresh from his Australian trip, look six wickets for 6 runs in a total of 41. I t was only natural that, at last week’s Annual General Meeting of the Essex County C.C., Mr. C. E. Green should lament the poor support accorded to the County Club. It certainly is remarkable that in so large and populous a county Myers. Denton. seven wickets for 17 runs for Glossop v. \ Milnrow on Saturday, and Arthur Morton eight for 22 (including the hat-trick) for Belper Meadows against Derby Constitu­ tional. R h o d e s and Hirst appeared for Kirk- heaton against Huddersfield on the Far- town ground on the 2nd inst., and enabled their side to gain the easiest of victories. Rhodes scored 109, a fine display marred only by a couple of chances near the close, and, after the innings had been declared closed at 170 for five wickets, helped Hirst to dismiss Huddersfield for 28. Rhodes took five wickets for 13 and Hirst five for 15- G. C. W in g h a m , who is now in his seventy-first year, has been engaged in Army cricket since 1863 and during the mentioned feat, North Ormesby suffered defeat, being dismissed for 39 after dis­ posing of Norton for 40. The Morning Tost of Monday last, in the course of a very interesting article on the alleged decadence of cricket, said :— “ The only sound argument adduced by those who wish to prove it inferior to the first-class cricket of twenty or thirty years ago is the contention that if Dr. W. G. Grace could start a season now in the plenitude of his powers he would not get out more than once a week. That proposition is not capable of mathematical proof, but nevertheless its truth is not to be denied. On the good wickets of to-day he would break the heart of all bowlers and would establish in the minds of the fraternity a feeling of hopelessness which would make them swing their arms and wait for some­ thing to turn up instead of really bowling at him.. Yet the art of bowling has im