Cricket 1908

J u ly i6 , 19 0 8 . CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 287 of our best to you to contest in m anly gam es that brings hom e to us our great ties of race and blood as well as our com m unity of sport.” “ N othing that reason can overcom e should be perm itted to break the long continuity of these contests.” “ The change now proposed is entirely novel. It is not of our seeking in Australia, and to force it upon us is to risk a serious check in our mutual current of existence. We believe that it is due to us to be your visitors next year. We have just received a visit from an English eleven and have w on back again the international cham pionship. If anyone dared to m ake a change and insist upon it, surely the right, if any, belongs to the holders of the cham pionship. As tho holders o f ‘ the ashes ’ we propose 110 change, but are ready to com e and do battle as of yore 011 the old grounds and under old conditions. ” “ As the holders of the cricket cham pionship, w hy should Australia risk losing w hat it has fought so long for b y m ultiplying the test contests on strange grounds w ith tw o sets of com petitors in a triangular contest in w hich there w ill be added to the stress and fatigue of long journeys the strain o f just about double the test m atches ?” “ N othing can be charged against the Australian cricketing bodies m ore than a com m on-scnse desire to see that they and the team s are not involvod in results that w ill be fraught w ith ultim ate in jury to the gam e itself.” ‘ ‘ As one w ho know s w ell the feelings of Australia in this m atter and w ho perceives how fertile w ith serious m isunderstanding w ill be a persistence in the attitude of the counties, I plead for a review o f the decision arrived at.” “ N ot only as a lover of the gam e, but as a lover of this great Motherland, I ask that the sentim ent associated w ith our single-handed contests be not set aside for a change that Australia does not want, does n ot understand, and that is not well founded 011 any sense of failure in the old order.” “ Was it n ot Burke w ho said, ‘Change is a w ord of ill-om en to happy oars ? ’ Why not be satisfied with what has done so m uch for the national gam e and for the national spirit in the past ? ” On the sane day the following remarks from Mr. G. L. Jessop were published :— “ As one also whose good fortune it has been to take a hum ble part in international cricket, m ay I crave a sm all space in your colum ns in support of the view s o f the Hon. Stanley Jackson—and in so doing be it understood 1 w ish to dissociate m yself from all things official? As a m em ber of that Advisory Board, I can hardly reveal all the sapient resolutions of that couikcil.” “ It seem s to me that as the M.C.C. w ere invited to send a team to Australia it was ‘ up to them ,’ if I m ay for the once borrow a Yankee colloquialism , to return the invitation. And unless I am m istaken, this was already don e--ju dgin g from the term s of the m eeting of the M.C.C. That august body passed a resolution som ething to this e ffe ct: ‘ That whether the Australians saw fit or not to join in the proposed triangular schem e, it w ould n ot interfere w ith their arranged visit for 1909.” “ It appeal’s to me that there has been a revoke in the gam e, and to say the least of it, I cannot help thinking— in m y private capacity, of course—that our good friends the Australians have been treated som ew hat cavalierly. To hold a pistol to one’s head is 110 slight ordeal to face. I only hope—in m y pri­ vate capacity once again—that our brethren from the Southern Cross w ill dare the pistol to be snapped.” Iq Saturday’s Times Capt. E. G. Wynyard, the representative in this country of the South African Cricket As-ociation, remarked : — “ On reading the letters of Messrs. Jackson and Jessop one cannot refrain from asking if they were present respectively at the m eetings of the M.C.C. com m ittee and of the A dvisory County Cricket Com m ittee w hen the resolutions to w hich they take exception were passed, as 1 am sure their views w ould have been received w ith respect, even if they were not deem ed to be conclusive.” “ It seem s regrettable that they should attem pt to com plicate the relationships between England, Australia, aiid South Africa, now that after careful consideration a decision has been arrived at, by suggesting to Australia that they have been inten­ tionally slighted.” “ L ooking at the reasonable in terp olation of the resolutions, and of the cable message of the M C.C., they m ean, if they m ean anything at all, that the counties do not wish to play a series of m atches in 1909 w ith Australia alone ;and, having regard to this expression of feeling, it w ould bo futile for the M.C.C. to invito them to England unless they could ba certain to arrango an attractive list of fixtures in w hich they could t*ko part.” “ Th^j position of the M.C.C. in these m atters seems to be that of agent for the counties, w ith a right of veto in case their view s do not coincide w ith the best trfvditions of cricket,” “ The M.C.C. would obviously place the Australians and them selves in a false position if they invited the Australians to England against the wishes of the counties ; and I do not think that such an invitation w ould be acceptable to the Australians. ” “ The *pistol at the head ’ suggestion appears to m e tactless as well hs inopportune.” “ The position I have taken up, acting as agent f *r the South African Cricket Association, has not always been quite fairly represented.” “ The request of the South African Cricket Asso­ ciation had no definite reference to the future beyond 1909. It was, as I clearly pointed out at the m eeting of the A.C.C.C. at Lord’s, an attem pt to bring into operation an Im perial contest that year as an expe­ rim ent. If it proved a failure it need not be repeated. The South A frican Cricket Association were prepared to guarantee the Australians against pecuniary 1 ss, and were prepared, if necessary, to m ake s icrific^s in order to effect this. They wished, m oreover, to establish an Im perial conference, at which future contests betw een the three countries could be discussed and, if possible, satisfactorily m apped out.” “ Many hard things have been said about the South Afrie .n Cricket Association and m any hinted at the attitude taken up by them ; but 110 one can honestly say that they have d ne anything beyond m aking an attem pt to bring about a m eeting of the three countries, with the best m otives, and in m ak­ ing the attem pt they have done nothing they did not believe was in the best interests of the gam e.” “ There are, let us hope, m any yesrs of cricket besides 1909 before England and Australian cricketers in w hich they can contest the ‘ ashes ’ in friendly rivalry.” Mr. L. O. S. Poidevin, who is acting in this country on behalf of the Board of Control, wrote as follows in Tuesday’s Times :— As I was not present at the m eeting of the Advisory County Cricket Com m ittee held on t ie 3rd inst.—not having received any invitation to attend— perhaps you w ill be good enough to allow m e to express in your colum ns som e of the views w hich I should have expressed at that m eeting had I been present. In so com plicated a m atter there are, of course, num erous points for discussion, but all that it is necessary for me now to trouble you with are certain considerations lying at the root of the m a tter; details and personalities m ay be avoided for the present. From the Australian point of view , the first con­ sideration is as to the effect of the present position 011 Australian cricket generally and on the authority of the Board of Control particularly. What is the present position ? Prior to the recent m eeting of the Advisory Com m ittee there was a clear understanding, am ounting in substance to an engagem ent, that the Australians should be invited here alone for 1909. As evidence of this, I need only refer to the cablegram sent by the M.C.C. Comm ittee som e weeks ago to the Board of Control to the effect that, w hatever decision the Board of Control m ight com e to regarding their participation in the sug­ gested triangular contests in 1909, their prospect of com ing here alone in 1909 w ould not be im ­ paired. U ndoubtedly that was the proper attitude for the M.C.C. to adopt, because it pu t first the observance of a virtual promise and second participation or otherwise in the suggested triangular contests. Two years ago the M.C.C. expressed in the m ost em phatic w ay possible its refusal to have anything m ore to do w ith individual cricketers or individual clubs so far as future Australian tours in this country m ight be concerned ; and it insisted that all future negotiations should be w ith the Board of Control only. The Australians took the M.C.C. at their word, and, after surm ounting m any difficulties, the nature of w hich need not be referred to now, established a Board of Control endowed w ith the pow ers for w hich the M.C.C. had pressed. The virtual prom ise m ade by the M.C.C. was made to the Board of Control, and it is now either broken or in danger of being broken. The Board of Control, rightly or w rongly, declined to participate in the suggested triangular contests in 1909, and we m ust at least credit them with know ing their ow'ii business best. Follow ing 011 this, the action of the A dvisory Comm ittee causes the M.C.C. to break the prom ise in th j interests of a hastily considered alternative schem e to w hich tho Board of Control had already expressed its objection. I cannot conceive of any action more calculated to embarrass the Board of Control and to underm ine its authority— this Board for whose authority the M.C.C. so strongly contended. I do not w ish to dilate 011 the palpable inconsist­ ency of the M.C.C.’s attitude, but I do w ish to emphasise m ost strongly the extrem ely unfair and destructive effect of that attitude on the Board of Control. I do not know what further com m unication there m ay be between tl*e M.Q.C, and the Board of Control, nor what im m ediate developm ents m ay b3 caused if the M .C.C. m aintain their present attitude ; but I do know that there is every prospect of the good relations existing for so long between English and Australian cricketers being rudely disturbed. It is surely not too late to ask, as the H 011 . F. S. Jackson and others have already asked, that the previous understanding as to 1909 should be adhered to, and that the question of triangular contests should be at all events postponed lor m ore mature consideration. The appended statement was issued by the M.C.C. on Monday evening :— In com pliance w ith the request of the representa­ tives of the counties assembled at the Advisory C ounty Cricket Comm ittee on July 3, the Comm ittee of the M.C.C. cabled to the Australian Board o f Con­ trol as follow s:— “ That the representatives of the countios here are in favour of a triangular contest. “ That the M.C.C. be asked to im press 011 the Australian Board of Control that the counties are so strongly in favour of the triangular con­ test that the M .C.C. w ould not be in a position to invite any Colonial eleven in 1909 except for that purpose. “ In face of the action of the counties the M .C.C. regret that they cannot offer Australia a separate programm e in 1909.” W ithin the last few days, however, it has been con­ veyed to the Com m ittee from several quarters that the resolution passed by the representatives of the counties on July 3 does not correctly represent the view s of the counties, and that som e counties w ould favour a visit from an Australian eleven in 1909. The m inutes of the m eeting of the Advisory County Cricket Comm ittee and the resolutions passed thereat indicate no such opinion, lt is quite clear that no offer to m ove a resolution expressive of a w ish that the Australian eleven alone should be invited was made. Under these circum stances the Com m iitee of the M.C.C. felt they had no alternative but to cable to the Australian Board of Control as above. B ut there is nothing to prevent the counties, if they are w illing to arrange m atches in 1909, reconsidering their resolutions of July 3. Under the rules any five counties can secure a m eet­ ing of the Advisory County Cricket Comm ittee. The Comm ittee o f the M.C.C. regret that their invitation of June 9 to Mr. Poidevin to attend the m eeting of July 3 did not reach him , and that their attitude has been distorted into one discourteous to Australia. Such a suggestion the Com m ittee repu­ diate. Their view as regards a visit from the A us­ tralian Eleven in 1909 was em bodied in their instruc­ tion to their representative at the m eeting 011 July 3, Lord Harris, and was cabled to the Australian Board of Control, v iz .:— “ The follow ing resolution w as passed as an instruction to the M.C.C. representative for the m eeting of counties 011 July 3 : ‘ That a visit from the Australians in 1909 should not be re­ fused because they have declined to take part in a triangular contest, but the M.C.C. Would prefer to see the triangular contest carried out.’ ” This instruction w as read to the Advisory County Cricket Comm itteo before any resolution was passed. The decision of the counties was so distinct that it was quite out x)f the pow er of the Com m ittee of the M.C.C. to encourage the Australian Board of Control to hope that the M.C.C. could arrange a tour for an Australian Eleven in 1909. “ Is a thirty years’ cricket friendship between England and Australia to be sundered by this pandering to the w him of a Maecenas in a clim e where cricket is an exotic ? Have our English counties forgotten what they ow e to this Australian friend­ ship ? They m ay (or som e of them m ay) see the m onum ents of their debt to the Australians by looking on the noble pavilions, the splendid terracing for the public. D o they rem em ber whence the m oney came for all th is? This treatm ent of Australia is worse than discourteous, it is unm anly.’ —The Observer. “ it is—to m y m ind, at least—m onstrous and absurd that a coun ty like N ortham ptonshire—a thing of yesterday in the cricket w orld— should carry the same w eight as Surrey, Yorkshire, N otting­ ham shire, Kent, and Lancashire. I w rite purely 011 the abstract principle, as 1 do not know how the big counties voted at the m oeting. . . . The counties such as Surrey, Yorkshire, Lancashire, and N otting­ hamshire, that possess the large and well-appointed grounds 011 w hich Test m atches can fittingly be played ought surely to have m ore pow er than the hum blest of their rivals.”— “ Balin ” in The Referee. A t the D ripping Pan, Lewes, on Thursday last, Southdown H unt M em bers (117 and 112 for three w ickets) played Farm ers, 170 (P, Breach, 100 not Qut),