Cricket 1908

M ay 14, 1908. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE CAME. 133 Hargreave, b A still.............. 2 b Jayes ... 24 Field, lbw, b Astill............... 9 b King ... 0 B 4, lb 1 ............... 5 N -b 1 1 Total ...............54 Total 165 L eicestersh ire . First inning;!. Second innings O. M. R. W . O. M R.W . Hargreave ... 28 6 63 6 20 6 40 0 S a n ta ll............... 27 8 63 4 33 12 HO 3 Charlesworth ... 3 0 14 0 8-3 0 15 1 Field ............... 3 0 14 0 26 4 66 6 Q,uaife 9 0 32 0 W a rw ick sh ire . First innings. Second innings. O. M. R. W . O. M. R. W . Odell .............. 13 3 26 3 15 4 26 1 Astill ............... 13 4 23 7 14 6 28 1 Jayes 19 2 57 3 K in? 19 6 51 5 W ood 1 0 2 0 Jayes bowled one no-ball. WEEK-END CRICKET. The experiment of commencing a first- class county match on a Saturday was one which was bound to attract considerable attention. Those who supported the idea maintained that the receipts would be far larger than if the old practice of arranging matches to open on Mondays were adhered to, so many more people being able to spare time to watch cricket on that day than in the early part of the week. On the other hand, it was impossible to over­ look two facts : first, that the new arrange­ ment would frequently necessitate players spending Sunday away from home; second, that the Sunday intervening would mean an increase in the expenses of the players, umpires, and scorers. One must not attach too much importance to the one trial already accorded the scheme, for Leicestershire and Warwickshire being neighbouring counties the latter’s players were in a position to return to their homes on Saturday evening and remain there until Monday morning if they so wished, which would scarcely have been possible had they been playing further afield—at Southamp­ ton or Canterbury, for instance. The takings on Saturday were very satisfactory, despite the weather in the morning being dull and threatening. From the following comments it will be seen that the critics are practically unani­ mous in regarding the experiment at Leicester as a success:— “ Leicestershire’s experiment of opening their season on a Saturday proved enor­ mously successful, the attendance during the afternoon exceeding 6,000.”— Sports­ man. “ However much the wisdom of starting on Saturdays may be questioned in other counties, in the hunting shire it has been received with general approval.”— Star. “ Just before luncheon the weather ‘ set fair ’ and so Saturday tests have at the first time of asking had a practical trial in England. And the result ? An immediate and striking success ! For 3,455 people paid entrance money at the gates as against 1,000 or thereabouts—the exact figures are not yet available—on the first day of the corresponding match of last year, while the receipts were over three times as great. The members’ stands, too, were well filled. Had a fine day been assured from the very outset there is not the least doubt that the attendance would have been considerably swollen by arrivals from country districts as well as the more distant parts of the borough, but even as things were the Leicestershire Committee are more than satisfied with the financial experiment, and, if other neighbouring counties besides Warwickshire are willing, not one but several Saturday starts will figure on the fixture list next season.”— Athletic News. “ The experiment, it may be said, at once proved, so far as Saturday was concerned, an unqualified success.— Daily Chronicle , Daily Telegraph, and Morning Post. “ WTe are certain that, if county matches could be begun on Saturday afternoons, the gain both financially and in developed interest would be great.”— Evening Standard. “ Success has attended the experiment tried by Leicestershire and Warwickshire of beginning a county cricket match on the last day of the week.” — Express. “ Thanks to the accompaniment of beau­ tiful sunshine the Saturday start of the Leicestershire v. Warwickshire match at Leicester was successful beyond expecta­ tions. At noon when the match was started there were not more than three hundred people present, but immediately the en­ thusiasts of Leicester, released from work, had lunched they flocked to the ground to the strength of nearly six thousand, with the result that the receipts for the one day exceeded the average of years past for the whole three days of corresponding games. The Leicestershire County Committee will now naturally want more Saturday starts, and, if we mistake not, they have already converted at least seventy-five per cent, of the first-class county clubs to a reform which will save the game from bank­ ruptcy. Nothing further need be said in these columns. The system we have for years consistently advocated has triumphed upon its first trial.”— Daily News. “ Generally speaking, I should say that the new idea would be a source of con­ siderable income, weather, of course, per­ mitting.” —“ Rover ” in The Cricket Star. “ Week-end cricket may become popular with spectators, but it will never be popular with players. Long -1 eg ” in The Sport­ ing Life. “ This leads me to think that it is the prospect of a full day’s play, the certainty of getting full value for sixpence, which prompts the majority of our Laodicean admirers of cricket. And since Saturday afternoon is free to the larger part of our people, it is only reasonable to anticipate a goodly and an increased crowd. The crowds that flock to our Association foot­ ball, which has been so brilliantly organised within recent years, must not, however, be anticipated. Cricket is a longer and a less exciting game, as contrasted with the winter pursuit, as are the respec­ tive seasons in which it is played. Sum­ mer sun tempts men further afield than does the brief daylight of a winter’s after­ noon ; innumerable open-air attractions, in which the family can share, vie with cricket. Expenses, too, will slightly in­ crease with this new experiment. The wealthier counties will compensate the pro­ fessionals for the expense and the wretched misery of a Sunday exiled from home, and the other counties must perforce follow suit. Hence, while thinking that increased attendances are practically assured as the result of a full Saturday’s cricket, I cannot think the difference in gate money will be sufficiently great to create anything which may be termed a startling success. The rebuke to the crowd that they do not sup­ port the county clubs as they should do is, in my judgment, addressed to the wrong quarter. They do support them quite as far as limited time and far more limited means permit. W’e tacitly admit the illegi­ timate growth of our expenses in ad­ ministering such rebukes. Cricket, the first-class game, not the game as a game, is in the majority of counties as much in need of patrons now as in the earlier days when players gathered round some noble­ man’s purse and wore his colours.”—A. E. Knight in The Morning Leader. “ If we are to judge by the success that attended the opening of the cricket season at Leicester, the experiment of commencing county matches on a Saturday should be­ come an established fact before many years are past. From the purely financial point of view the idea has everything in its favour.”— Sporting Life. “ The experiment has been a great suc­ cess, a large crowd being present.— Sport­ ing Chronicle . SURREY v. HAMPSHIRE. Played at the Oval on May 7, 8, and 9. HAT-TRICK BY SMITH (W . C.). Surrey won by 342 runs. Hampshire took the field without their full side, Persse, Johnston, and Wyatt being away, whilst on tho Surrey side Goatly displaced F. E. Smith and Crawford was still an absentee. Surrey, winning the toss, made a useful start, Hayward and Hobbs scoring 60 together in 50 minutes ere the latter was bowled. A run later, however, Hayes was also sent back, whilst at 62 Marshal was yorked. Hayward and Holland advanced the total to 109 and then the former, who had batted 110 minutes for 45, was lb w : he was scarcely at his best, but no chance could be urged against him. Holland was at the wickets for an hour for a stylish and bright display for 32, but Bush made only 11 and Goatly 6. Lees and Davis during the half-hour they were to­ gether added 45, of which number the former made 30 by free cricket. Davis gave a capital display on the slow wicket, showing good de­ fence, but never om itting to punish a loose ball whenever one came along : he batted 65 minutes for his not-out score of 54 and hit jeven 4’s. The Surrey innings lasted ohree hour* and a quarter, and realised 233, Newman, who main­ tained a fine length, taking five of the wickets for 65 runs. Hampshire fared badly against Smith, who, by dismissing Hill, White and Sprot with consecutive balls, was chiefly responsible for the visitors losing their first five wickets for 41—all taken by Smith at a cost to himself of only 14 runs. Llewellyn, fortunately, proved equal to the occasion, playing a plucky game and showing good defence in making 37 not out. When play ceased for the day seven wiokets were down for 75—a poor position which might have been worse had not Smith, when he had taken five wickets for 21 runs, split his hand in endeavouring to stop a drive from Llewellyn and so been compelled to retire. On Friday 8urrey went right ahead and at the end of the day Hampshire, with half their wickets down, required 351 to win. Llewellyn added 19 runs to his overnight total, and made some excellent drives in scoring 56 out of 80 obtained whilst in. Smith, with his finger bandaged, was able to continue bowling, and made his record six for 35 in a total of 100. Possessed of a lead of 133, Surrey commenced their second innings with the usual pair, and, after Hayward had been caught at long-on at 34, Hayes remained with Hobbs whilst 71 were added for the second wicket. Then three disasters occurred in quick succession, and the total was but 132 when the fifth wicket fell. The association of Goatly and Hobbs, however, enabled Surrey to forge ahead once more, the newcomer playing steadily whilst his partner hit. In an hour and a half the stand for the sixth wicket realised 132 and then Hobbs was caught at mid-off for & lucky but attractive innings. He completed 102 out of 175 in two hours and a half and, after reach-