Cricket 1908

J u n e i i , 1908. C R IC K E T : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 207 CR ICKET IN INDIA. CORRESPONDENCE. T h e follow in g is a description of the C alcutta cricket ground in 1840. T he gam e is know n to have been played in India as far back as the previous century, but even in the year nam ed it may be con­ sidered to have been still practically in its infancy so far as that country is concerned. “ A m ore m agnificent ground than the space, a m ile square, and perfectly flat, on which the C alcutta Club pursues the gam e cannot well be conceived. Facing you stand a series of palatial buildings, including the Supreme C ourt, the Tow n H all, and Governm ent H o u s e ; to the left, the broad w ater of the G anges with its gay array o f ships hom e-bound to dear old E ngland ; to the right, another row of palaces bordering the C h ow rin gh ee-rca d ; and behind you the collegiate-lockin g church and official houses o f Fort W illiam , rising am id trees within its turf-coated batteries. On the cricket arena stand two spacious tents, not, how ever, like the paltry affairs bearing that name in E n g­ land, but lined with fancy chintz, furnished with looking-glasses, sofas, and chairs, and each player’s wants, whether it be a light for his cigar, iced soda-water, or cham pagne, supplied by his turbaned at­ tendant. T h e Club can turn out ‘ a very good eleven ,’ and whilst in full operation ‘ the field ’ exhibits no peculiar feature to the eye of the English freshm en, except the universality o f very broad-brimm ed white hats m ade o f a vegetable pith called sola, which is far lighter than cork, and an adm irable non-conductor of heat. The natives do not at all enter into the spirit of this m anly g a m e ; neither do the ser­ vants, o f the players, if desired to stop a stray ball, think it at all m eritorious to risk stin gin g their hands by staying it while in m o tio n ; they amble by its side until it has ceased rolling, and then pick it up. There is only one native that I know in Calcutta who dares attempt to catch a ball in full career. H is name, M odun, which is A nglicised in to ‘ M u tton,’ deserves to be recorded, for no ball can escape him ; arm s, legs, or foody being all or .separately thrown across its cou rse-as occasion m ay require.” The Editor does not holi himself responsible for the opinions of his correspondents. S U R R E Y C. A N D G. v. RICH M O N D —Played yesterday at Richm ond. R ichm ond . E . F . Bisgood, c Sted­ man , b Jackson ... a J . A . H ealing, c Abel, b H itch ................36 Alan Cam obell. c Sted­ man, b Rusl by ... 34 A . W orsley, b H itch... 6 E. H . Hargreaves, b H itch ............................. 0 W . L . L . R obeits, st Stedman, b A bel ... 26 R . Skewes-Cox, b A bel 18 R . E. W estm acott, b - A b e l.............................2 V . R. Polley, not out 7 R. Gabbett, st Sted­ man, b Jackson .. 15 E. H ancock, st Sted­ m an, b Rushby ... 0 Extras ... ... 7 Total . 153 S u rr e y C. a n d G. H on. S. R. Beresford, M ajor Lowis, b Polley 15 b Bisgood ................14 Baker, c and b W e»t- n u co tt ................ 21 E. F. Parker, not out ... ...137 Abel (W .), t> P olley 41 Captain J. B . Short, lbw, b P olley 0 Stedman, Jackson and Rushby did not bat. C. S. L lo 5 rd, c H eal­ ing b Roberts ... 25 H itch, b Policy ... 0 Extras 25 Total (7 \vkts.)278 A t Ram sgate, on June 3, Thanet Clergy (56) played St. Law rence College (155). On the same date Essex Farm ers (285) played Cambridgeshire Farm ers (149), at Shortgrove. N ew port, Essex. X I . Clergy o f Suffolk (220 for nine wickets) playtd Fram lingham College (82), at Fram lingham , on the 2 nd inst. L . Shoobert took nine wickets for three runs for D rayton v. Globe, at H ackney Marshes, on M ay 30. H e did the hat-trick, and tw ice took tw o wickets with consecutive balls. M O D E R N C R I C K E T . To the Editor of C r ic k e t. 3 ir , —The fact of this being holiday-tim e must plead m y excuse for this letter. In the cricket reports of last week there were two item s to which the attention of the organ o f the gam e should be invited. But I have m islaid m y cuttings. H ere, however, is their substance. The first, dealing with the Leicestershire innings on Saturday week [when the hom e side m ade no effort whatever to win the gam e, but played for a draw ], rem arked that the only bright period was when Mr. V. F . S. Crawford made 30 (odd) out o f 50 (odd) in the course o f an hour. I f I wasted columns of your paper m y comm ents con Id hardly heighten the effect o f this one pregnant sentence. N o blam e, of cjurse, can attach to M r. Crawford, who was playing to orders, or carrying out his captain’s, or comm ittee’s, idea of the tactics de­ manded by the situation, financial or otherwise. B ut never, I suppose, has m odern cricket, even in a m atch fo r the County Cham pionship, furnished such a m elancholy exam ple o f m is-guided methods. The second extract I intended to forw ard to you for Editorial comm ent was M ajor Trevor’s note in the Daily Telegraph o f Thursday last, dealing with the abrupt conclusion o f the Surrey and Essex m atch at the Oval. The substance o f this extract was the criticism o f certain spectators [in the Pavilion, I think, it was said, though that w ould not be very m aterial], to the effect that the match was finished off abruptly because it was Derby Day! Idle chatter, w e know,- often im putes m otives w hich are too ridiculous for serious con­ sideration. B ut in this case it is rather different. For had not M ajor Trevor evidently co n ­ sidered there was som ething in this chatter it is hardly conceivable he w ould have allowed him self to repro­ duce it in the Daily Telegraph. A nd yet it appears passing strange, for the first o f the three victim s— who sacrificed his w icket and cricket reputation, assuming o f course that the idle chatter had any sub­ stance or foundation, to allow these tw o teams to get away to E p som - was a clergym an ! Possibly, however, still more strange is the fact that such an innuendo, appearing in such a paper as the Daily Telegraph , under the name of such a writer, should have been allowed to pass— as I believe it has passed—w ithout the m ost em phatic and indignant denial of the Surrey and Essex authorities. My apologies are due to you for thus taking up so m uch of your valuable space, but having m islaid the tw o extracts I had no option.— Yours, &c., “ K ing W illo w .” June 7, 190S. [The unenterprising tactics of the Leicestershire team were com m ented upon in last w eek’s Gossip. The Daily Telegraph correspondent’s reference to the D erby was presum ably m ade jocosely ; at least, it w ould be difficult to im agine any level-headed person m aking it in all seriousness.— Ed., Cricket.] THE METROPOLITAN CLUBS IN 1908. ( 1 Continuedjrom page 176.) 2 .—Streatham, 2 .—K enley, v. 9.— Blackheath 9 .—Streatham, 16.— Richm ond, 16.—Sfcreatham, 23.—W im bledon, 23.—Streatham, 30.—Streatham, 30.—Kinsbury, v, v. M itcham . Kenley. v. Blackheath. v. N orbury. v. Richm ond, v. Oxted. W im bledon, v. Beckenham , v. Blackheath. . H.A.C. JUNE. 6 .— Streatham, v. Beckenham . 6 .— Oxted, v. Oxted. 8 .—Streatham , v. T ooting. 8 .—T ooting, v. T ooting. 9.— Streatham, v. Dulw ich. 13.— Leatherhead, v. Leatherhead. 13.— Streatham, v. W im bledon. 16.— Brom ley, v. Brom ley. 17.—Streatham , v. Streatham School. 20.— H am pstead, v. Ham pstead. 20.— Streatham, v. London and W estm inster Bank. 27.— Streatham, v. Purley. 27.—N orbury, v. N orbury. JULY. The S t r e a t h a m C .C . have a programme o f 48 fixtures for 1908, the match-list extend­ ing from May 2nd to September 5th. In July the Wanderers, Incogniti, Brom ley, Surrey Club and Ground, M .C .C ., and Mr. H . D . G. Leveson-G ower’s X I. will be met during the W eek, and among the many other very strong sides which will be played during the season may be mentioned Hampstead, B ecken­ ham , W imbledon, B ickley Park, and Old Westminsters. The H on. Stcretary is, as before, M r. H . H . Scott, o f “ Newstead,” Leigham Court R oad, Streatham. MAY. -Streatham , -Caterham , -Streatham , -Streatham , -Streatham , -Streatham , G round. -Streatham , -Streatham , G ow er’s -P urley, v. -Streatham , -N orbury, v. -Streatham , -Beckenham . -W im bledon. v. Old W estm insters, v. Caterham. v. W anderers, v. Incogniti. v. Brom ley, v. Surrey Club and Hom e W eek. / v. M.C.C. D. G. Leveson- X I. Purley. v. Leatherhead. London and W estm inster Bank, v. Streatham School. , v. Beckenham . , v. W im bledon. AUGUST. 1.—M itcham , v. M itcham . 3.— T ooting, v. Tooting. 3.—Streatham, v. Tooting. 8 .—Streatham, v. Caterham. 8 .—Beckenham , v. Beckenham . 15.—Streatham , v. Richm ond. 15.—B ickley, v. B ickley Park. 22.— Esher, v. Esher. s2.— Streatham, v. K enley. £3.—Streatham, v. H am pstead. SEPTEMBER. 5.—Streatham, v. The Village. The W a n d e r e r s have arranged their usual attractive fixture-list, which includes a tour in August. There are several promising new members, and it is not expected that any o f the old faces will be absent. For the first time in the history o f the Club the Young Amateurs o f Surrey will be met at the Oval in Septem ­ ber. T he H on. Secretary is Mr. A . M. Latham, o f 2, Tem ple Gardens, E .C ., and the H on. Treasurer, Mr. Stanley Colman, o f W oodlands, Tow er H ill, Dorking, w ho is also responsible for the arrangement o f the teams. MAY. 2.—v. Bickley Park. 9.—v. Lessness Park. 14.— v. H am pton W ick. 16.— v. St. Bartholom ew ’s H ospital. 20.— v. Sutton. 23.—v. Uxbridge. 26.—v. Surrey Club and Ground. 30.— v. N orbury Park. JU N E . 3.— v. Charlton Park. 6 .— v. Ealing. 8 .— v. Leatherhead. 9.—v. St. John’s School, Leatherhead. 13.— v. Hanwell Asylum . 15.— v. Brom ley and Bickley. 16.— v. Granville (Lee). 20.—v. G uildford. 21— Gravesend. JULY. 1.—v. Ham pstead. 4.— v. G uy’s H ospital. 6 .— v. Streatham. 9.— v. Forest H ill. 11.—v. N orwood. 16.— v. Upper T ooting. 18.—v. Richm ond. 23.— v. Dorking. 25.— v. Epsom. 29.— v. Pallingsw ick. AUGUST. 1.— v. East M olesey. 10.—v. Tonbridge.* 12.— v. Littleham pton.* 14.—v. W orthing.* J^Tour. 17.—v. Eastbourne.* 19.—v. Bexhill-on-Sea.* 29.— v. H orley. SEPTEMBER. 11.— v. Y oung Surrey Amateurs.