Cricket 1908

J an . 30, 1908. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 11 I shall indeed be very grateful if you can assist me. I may say I often get ofl-break, but can’t control ball properly, and, having a high action, find they come very, very slowly off the wet pitches when they do turn. I can’t get the right spin at will, which annoys me tremendously. I make very obvious efforts to spin the ball, but most frequently (as discovered from a chalk mark round the seam) get horizontal twist which never breaks. When the ball does bend I have held it same way as when it doesn’t, therefore believe it must be some knack of leaving go at a particular moment and so altering the axis of spin. Any details you can find time to give me will be eigerly devoured. Hoping you will take compassion on my sad case. Yours faithfully, The correspondence ceased here. A n amusing story is told concerning Henry Montague Butler, the present Master of Trinity, Cambridge, in Mr. G. W . E. Russell's volume of reminis­ cences entitled A Pocketful o f Sixpences, ■which Mr. Grant Richards has just issued:— When batting for Harrow he received a blow on the knee so violent that play was stopped, and the opposite side crowded round with sympathy and remedies. When play was resumed theumpire whispered in Butler’s ear—“ It’s lucky for you, sir, that you was ’it so ’ard, as the bowler forgot to ask for leg before, and you was clean out.” The umpires were Samuel Dakin and Tom Sewell, sen., and Butler in the only innings he had made 41—the second largest B core in the match. Dr. Butler was Headmaster of Harrow from 1859 until 1885, and has been Master of Trinity since 1886. F r o m “ Mid-on’s ” notes in t ie Mel­ bourne Leader :— A singularly pathetic illustration of the ruling passion asserting itself to the end was forthcoming in the last hours of my old and dear friend, Harry Boyle. Up to the close of the match between England and Victoria on the day previous to his death, he was keenly interested in the details of the play, and practically the lust act of his life, other than bidding farewell to his assembled friends and relations, was to dispitch from his deathbed a telegram congratulating Vernon liansfordon making a century against the Englishmen. I believe Ransford is having the telegram framed, and will preserve it in memory of one of the best sportsmen the world has ever known. E. B a r n e s , the well-known Western District cricketer, played an innings of 251 for Meadow Creek v. Reserves at Orange (N.S.W ) on November 2nd, hav­ ing previously taken five of the Reserves’ wickets for 12 runs. He hit seventeen 6’s and twenty-two 4’ s, and in partnership with W . S. Row (90) put up 270 for the first wicket. Perusal of the score-sheet suggests that Meadow Creek allowed their opponents 25 runs start, for the Reserves’ total of 62 was made up of 23 runs from the bat, 4 extras, and “ handi- cap, 25.’’ Meadow Creek scored 425 for eight wickets, and accordingly won by 363 runs. In successive innings for Meadow Creek Barnes has made 115, 0, 251, 69, 87*, and 102, besides taking about fifty wickets at an average cost of 3 runs. T h e Sydney Sportsman records that, in a match on November 9th. between St. Charles (Waver'ey) and St. Charles II., a batsman named Sullivan hit 28 runs off an over delivered by J. Noonan. “ R e c o r d e r , ” w ri;ing in t ie sime paper, is responsible i r tt e follow ing :— The women cannot be beaten for ingenuity in working a swindle. The secretary of the Sydney Cricket Ground gives an instance of this in connection with the ladies’ tickets of admission to the ground. It was discov<red that one ticket had been used no less than 17 times in the one day. Probably the owner had passed it over or through the fence to friends outside, and had thus got in no less than 16 ladies without the right of entrance. This little fraud has been stopped now, as the tickets have numbers on them, and the gate­ keeper punches a hole through the number, preventing the ticket from being used again that day.” A m b e t in q of the Advisory County Committee was held at Lord’s on Monday lust under the presidency of Lord Harris, when, after several amendments had baen proposed, the follow ing resolution was passed :— The counties representing the Advisory County Committee are prepared, subject to the consideration of a detailed scheme, to assist the M.C.C. if the M.C.C. see fit to invite an eleven from Australia and from South Africa in 1909 for the purpose of an Imperial cricket contest. This resolution wi.l be discussed at a committee meeting of the M.C.C. on the 3rd prox, when it is probable that the view of the matter taken by Australia will be made known. Although the voting in favour of the scheme was almost unanimous last Monday, it is known that Surrey, Lancashire, and Yoikshire do not support the proposal on the ground that, if acted upon, it would seriously disorganise county cricket. On the other hand, Gloucestershire, Nortbants, and Warwickshire have ac­ knowledged themselves in favour of the Tournament, and Lord Selbourne and Dr. Jameson have supported the scheme. A t the meeting of the Advisory County Committee referred to the follow ing addition to the rules of county cricket was passed, subject to confirmation by the M C .C .:— A cricketer may not play for more than one county within the calendar year. The penalty for infringement of this rule to be disqualification for two years. A British colony, dependency, or state shall for the purposes of this rule be regarded as a county. The above is interesting especially so far as concerns Tarrant, who has recently been playing for Victoria. For many years pabt Australians have discussed what qualification should be necessary for representation of a State, but it may well be doubted whether they will accept the above proposal so far as inter-State cricket is concerned. A t Brisbane, on November 9th and 11th, the Metropolis scored 570 for eight wickets against Combined Country, and won by an innings and 295 run«, the latter making only 158 and 117. In the first innings of the vi-i'ors Dunne (64) obtained 50 out of 64 in 42 minutes. The Brisbane score was as follows : — T. B. Faunee, retired h u r t ................... 1 G. Brown, c Gibson, b Dunne .28 W . K. Hayes, c Delpratt b Coombe ...134 J. S. Hutchcon, c Delpratt, b Timbury 40 G. F. Martin, st Shelley, b Ooombe ...121 S. J. Redgrave, b C o om b e ....................... 2 K. R. Oroucli, not out ........................... 139 G. S. Crouch, b Clarke... ......................61 J. Thomson, st Shelley, b Clarke ... 8 W . T.E vans,b C larke................. . ... 6 J. W . McLaren, not out ................... 21 B 6, lb 3 ...........■............. 9 Total (8 wkts) ...................570 During the season of 1906-7 Brisbane scored 655 against Central Queensland and 608 for nine wickets against North Queensland. T h e r e were 99 extras in St. Joseph’s College’s innings of 468 against Sydney Church of England Grammar School, at Hunter’s H ill on November 13th and 14th. A t Birchgrove, Sydney, on November 16th, B. Calverley (94) and P. Russell (22 not out) added 130 for the last wicket of Balmain I I I . v. Leichhardt II. Cal- verley went in last man when 22 runs were still required to win, and hit seven­ teen 4’s in his 94. The partnership, states “ N ot Out ” of the Sydney Referee, is a record for Sydney Third Grade Competition, the best hitherto being 129, once each by Paddington III. and Sydney III. The record last wicket stand in Sydney Grade cricket is 193 by R. N. Hickson and A. E . Whatmore in the Second Grade seven years ago. I n the match at Sydney last month between South Australia and New South Wales Clem H ill came within measurable distance of making two separate hun­ dreds, his scores being 92 and 94. He has now made as many as 90 but less than 100 runs in an innings twelve times in first-cla83 cricket, the list being as follows :— Score. Match. Ground. Season. 99 ... Australia v. England ... Melbourne... 1901-2 j Australia v. England ... Adelaide ... 1901-2 96 ... Australia v. England ... Sydney.. 1897-8 95 ... S. Australia v. Victoria.. Adelaide... 1896-7 95 ... S. Australia v. Victoria.. Melbourne... 1901-2 943 ... 8 . Australia v. N.S.W.... Sydney.. 1907-8 93 ... Aust. v. Gents, of Eng... O. Palace ... 1905 92 ... Australia v. N.S.W. ... Sydney.. 1906-7 92 a ... S. Australia v. N.S.W. .. Sydney.. 1907-8 91* ... Australia v. S. Africa ... Gape Tow n... 1902 90 ... Australia v. Surrey ... Oval .1902 a signifies 1st inns., b 2nd, and * not out. In addition to the above, he m^de 98 for the Australians v. Midland Counties at Edgbaston in 1896, and 90 for Australia v. X Y . of Natal at Durban in 1902. A t Maitland, South Australia, on November 27th, an amusing match was played between the Maitland Eleven and