Cricket 1908

M ay 21, 1908. CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. at Cambridge on Friday, hitting a 6 and seventeen 4’s. He was in the Malvern XI. from 1904 to 1907. I n the match at Portsmouth on the 15th and 16th inst. between United Services and Bordon Camp, the latter arrived with only seven men, but, in order that the game should not suffer, the Services suggested that four of their opponents should bat twice in the first innings and substitutes be provided for the second day, which was done. Capt. Thorston took four wickets with consecutive balls in the second inn­ ings of Bordon, and (he Services won easily by nine wickets. R. M a c d o n a ld , the Anglo-Australian cricketer, whose defensive batting has been so valuable to Leicestershire in past years, is again in England. He has decided to settle in Leicester and follow his profession of a dentist. H a rd y , who performed so well all round for Northamptonshire against Notts last week, is not, as many have imagined, new to county cricket. His connection with the side, in fact, dates back to the days before Northants were promoted to first-class rank, but his appearances have not been very frequent. His record of six wickets for 11 runs is by far his best accomplish­ ment so -far during his career, the fact that it was achieved against the Champion County making it more noteworthy than would have been the case ordinarily. His analysis ball for ball w as:— W 3 1 1 * [ * * I 2 W * W 3 * W 2 * * * I * W I * * I w He is a teetotal publican. A f e w weeks ago I referred to the very successful bowling of J. Parkin, the North Ormesby professional, in the North York­ shire and South Durham League. On the 16th inst. he took six wickets for seven runs, making his record for the season twenty-three at an average cost of 2.74. Louis H a l l , who was born in 1852, and played his first match for Yorkshire as far back as 1873, still keeps up the game suc­ cessfully. On Saturday last he scored 31 not out for Batley against Cleckheaton, going in first and carrying out his bat. The Batley innings amounted to 64. J. T. N e w s te a d , who scored 70 not out against Cambridge University on Friday, was born at Middlesbrough on September 8th, 1879, a°d played his first match for Yorkshire in 1903. In 1904 he became a member of the ground staff at Lord’s, an undertaking being given to the Yorkshire authorities that he was not to be considered as qualifying for Middlesex. During 1906- 7 he was engaged at Kimberley by the Christian Brothers’ College, for which he a^jrejated 1^024 runs in ten completed innings, his highest scores being 206 v. Eclectic (second innings), 175 v. Kimberley, ! 73 v* Woodhouse, and 157 v. Kenilworth. He also took 58 wickets at a cost of 8.48 runs each. This form gained him another trial for Yorkshire last season, when he took 24 wickets for 12.91 runs apiece but averaged only 9.14 with the bat. Against Worcestershire at Bradford he took seven wickets for 10 runs, and in the second inn­ ings of the Kent match at Canterbury bowled 17 overs (14 maidens) for 3 runs and two wickets. The Athletic News states that Miss G. Reunert, writing regarding her brother, C. Reunert, one of the bowlers of Cam­ bridge University, says that he is not of Boer extraction. His parents, now living in Johannesburg, were born in Yorkshire, and his grandfather was a German, who resided for many years in Leeds, where he was well known as a professor of lan­ guages. Capt. W. L. F o ste r scored 2 and o for Leighton v. Lansdowne at Bath on Satur­ day. On the same afternoon C. B. Fry was bowled by Kennedy for a duck whilst appearing for Southampton Trojans v. Hants Club and Ground ; he made only 4 runs in his two innings. W r it in g in The Daily Chronicle of Mon­ day last on batsmen’s curious escapes from dismissal, C. B. Fry stated :— “ I remember a case which occurred in a match between Sussex and Warwickshire at Brighton. The decision in favour of the batsman saved the game for Warwickshire. F. J. Byrne was batting to Vine’s ‘ round- the-wicket ’ leg-break bowling. He ran out of his ground nearly three yards to drive, and missed the ball, which grazed the leg-stump. Curiously, the sideways impact of the ball on the leg-stump moved the bails so that the leg-bail stayed on and the off-bail fell off. The wicket-keeper missed taking the ball, which fell to the ground about 2ft. behind the stumps. We waited for Byrne to go, but as he did not know what had occurred someone appealed for ‘ bowled ’ and some other misguided enthusiast on our side appealed for ‘ stumped. ’ “ Now, the bowler’s umpire thought the batsman was stumped, and gave him not­ out for bowled, and the square-leg umpire, knowing he was not slumped, gave him not-out for that. Consequently, although the batsman was indubitably out either bowled or stumped, he was given in, and stayed in a long time. The mistake was made by the bowler’s umpire, who ought, before giving his decision, to have asked the square-leg umpire whether the wicket­ keeper had broken the wicket, in which case the square-leg umpire would have said ‘ No,’ and the bowler’s umpire, being no longer in doubt, and cherefore not obliged to give the batsman the benefit of the doubt, would have been able to give the correct decision. “ The case was strange, because there was no doubt at all that the batsman was out in one way or the other, and yet the fielding side could not get a decision given in accordance. “ Even more curious was the coincidence that occurred between Sussex and York­ shire. Two years in succession Cox clean bowled Rhodes with balls that just grazed the off-stump, and in each case the batsman was given in, because some fielder hear­ ing the click and not seeing the bail off appealed for a catch at the wicket. Here again, if the bowler’s umpire had consulted his colleague he could have found out what had happened.” Lord A lv e r s t o n e , L.C.J., the President of the Surrey County C.C., was involved in a carriage accident near Clapham Junc­ tion on Saturday afternoon, but fortunately sustained no ill-effects. The horses, startled by the sudden appearance of an electric tram, bolted, and, despite the efforts of the coachman, could not be stopped until they collided violently with a public-house. Lord Alverstone, who was assisted by passers-by to climb out of the window, was uninjured, but the carriage was seriously damaged. A small boy of 4, named Alfred McLeod, was knocked through the open door of the public-house and was taken in a somewhat serious condition to Bolingbroke Hospital. Lord.Alverstone, having arranged to be re­ gularly informed of the boy’s condition, continued his journey in a hansom. T h e Maldon C.C. has contributed twenty-five shillings and the Old Brent- woods and Heybridge C.C. each a guinea to the funds of the Essex County C.C. It is hoped that many clubs will follow the good example set them by the foregoing. “ N o t O u t ,” writing in the Sydney Referee, states:— “ The mention of Saunders recalls the fact that in 1905 he was not asked to become a member of the Australian Eleven, not because he was not likely to succeed on English wickets, but be­ cause a doubt had been raised as to the uniform fairness of his delivery. That doubt remains, and it rudely shoots through one’s brain only when the left-hander delivers a particular kind of ball, and that the most deadly in his repertoire, an abnormal break­ back from the leg-side. A similar cause operated against the selection of another Australian a few years ago. It is fair to Saunders to state unre­ servedly that Australian umpires have passed his bowling on all occasions. That may or may not mean much, for one has occasionally seen most pal­ pable throwing allowed to pass offici­ ally unnoticed.” It Is evident that “ Not Out ” has but a poor opinion of the competency of the average Australian umpire of to-day. J. R. M . M a ck a y, who scored so heavily for New South Wales a couple of seasons or so ago, has returned to that State after an absence of two years. It will be re­ called that in 1905-6 he averaged over a hundred in the inter-State matches,