Cricket 1908

F eb . 27, 1908. CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 27 two of the three matches played. The results of the inter-State games between New South Wales, Yictoria, and South Australia during 1907-8 are as follows :— W on. Lost. Drwn. Total. Victoria ................... 2 ... 1 ... 0 ... 3 South Australia ... 1 ... 1 ... 0 ... 2 New South Wales... 1 ... 2 ... 0 ... 3 The competition for theSheffield Shield was in abeyance this season ow ing to the home matches of South Australia having been eliminated from the inter-State programme. ------- T he match at Sydney between New South Wales and Yictoria produced run- getting which in a way must, I think, be unique. For the latter, Tarrant made 206, Ratsford 129, and Armstrong 110; the heaviest scorers for New South Wales were Noble, with 176 and 123, and S. E. Gregory, with 201 and 63. Thus, not only did Noble make two separate centuries, but Tarrant and Gregory each exceeded 200. There are now five instances upon record of a batsman play­ ing two three-figure innings in a first- class match in Australia: — O. J. Eady, 116 and 112* ; Tasmania v. Victoria, at Hobart, 1894-95. D. R. A. Gehrs, 148* and ICO*, South Australia v. West Australia, at Fremantle, 1905-6 J. R. M. Mackay, 105 and 102*, New South Wales v. South Australia, at Sydney, 1905-6 A. O. MacLaren, 142 and 100, England v. New South Wales, at Sydney, 1897-8. M. A. Noble, 176 and 123, New South Wales v. Victoria, at Sydney, 1907-8. Last month’s inter-State match at Sydney produced as many as 1,615 runs. S. E. G r e g o ry 's startling success upon his reappearance in the New South Wales Eleven, to which reference was made in the last budget of Gossip, adds interest to the following remarks which appeared last month in the Sydney Daily Telegraph :— The Gregory family have put up a unique record, Five of them—David, Charles, Edward, Arthur, and Walter (brothers)— played cricket for New South Wales. Two sons of Edward—Sydney and Charles—were playing for New South Wales last Thursday, the_ one against Victoria, and the other against Queensland. S. E. Gregory has a record all to himself. He has played in more Test matches than any other player. His father and his uncle—Edward and David— played in the first Test match. Then Walter, a son of Walter, sen., played Rugby football tor his S;ate, and, coming down to the trregorys who are still in their teens, there are two—Clive and Leslie, sons of Arthur Jjregory—who have already represented New South Wales. Clive, in the race on Thurs­ day for the 14-ft. sailing championship of Australia, at Brisbane, was one of the crew of the New South Wales boat Euchre-, while f8^1® recently played in Australian football with Fort Street as the champion New South v i sok°°l against the champion Victorian school for Australian supremacy. Harold reg°ry, son of Albert Gregory, was a good runner, and was the emergency man for New outh Wales in the half-mile championship fh us^ra^a* The men of the family are not • oonly °nes to make the name remembered ^ the athletic line. Mrs. Donnan (nee Nellie regory), Mrs. Meagher (nee Gertie Gregory), j lce Gregory, and Louisa Gregory, all aughters of Edward Gregory, were first- rate cricketers, and more than one of them nas played for her State. This record is Probably unparalleled. A ccording to the Australasian, E. Selk, of West Australia, has grown so 8tout that he has given up the game. H. B. L ewers , playing for Melbourne C.E.G S. against Sydney Grammar School in Melbourne on December 16th, 17th, and 18th, made 106 in his first innings and 98 in hia second. Sydney G.S., however, won by 28 runs, scoring 148 and 464 (H . R . Gregg, 180) against 225 and 359. “ N ot O u t ” of the Sydney Referee makes some interesting remarks concern­ ing the method of computing competition points in Grade matches in Sydney. The system, introduced in 1903-4, briefly is that 3 points are awarded for a win in a finished match, 2 for a win on the first innings of an unfinished match, and 1 for a tie ; 3 points are deducted for an out­ right defeat, and 2 points for a defeat on the first innings, drawn games being ignored. “ Not Out ” says It is generally acknowledged that the system of allotting points is the best ever put into practice in Sydney and, I believe, in Australia, or anywhere. It has proved so stimulating and produced so many brilliant and stirring finishes that it has attracted the attention of kindred associations to such an extent that, save Adelaide, all the leading cities and associations of Australia have adopted it. If this system could he introduced into English County Cricket, it would probably solve some of the cricket problems which perennially crop up in the English Press. By providing for a win on the first innings in event of the match being not won outright, it would at once practically eliminate that great bug-bear, the drawn game. And by providing what are practically two finishes to each match it would introduce an ever­ present stimulus to the actual cricket, as well as to public interest. Anything tending to make cricketers more intelligently alert and the game less mechanically monotonous should always command serious attention. Some day perhaps the County Clubs of England will work out a championship scheme based on this simple points system. And if so, people who patronise cricket in England and cricketers themselves may begin to wonder why it was not introduced years before. The practice of attaching value to a win on the first innings in the event of the match not being won outright has been in force for some time in the second division of the County Championship Competition. I t is pleasing to find the name of Bannerman again figuring prominently in Sydney cricket. A t the Sydney Cricket Ground on January 11th, R. Bannerman, a son of Charles, the hero of the first in the long series of Test matches between England and Australia, made 181 for Sydney District 2nd v. Burwood 2nd. “ N at L ee ,” writing in a recent issue of the Tasmanian Mail, remarks :— “ There exists an opinion in the neigh­ bouring States that Tasmania, from a cricket standpoint, is the most backward of the lo t; due no doubt to the conservatism that per­ meates the institutions that govern the game here. Our players have not enough oppor­ tunities of showing their skill, a drawback which would be quickly remedied if contests were arranged to take place annually with other States in addition to Victoria, who invariably decline to put their best men in the field against Tasmania. It is somewhat of a reflection on the management of cricket at Hobart that Launceston is able to pay a capable coach to impart instruction to its young players. True, the Association at the capital did open up negotiations with Tarrant, but the matter does not appear to have been very seriously grappled with, and our cricket suffers as a consequence. Even in far-away New Zealand the game is progressing by leaps and bounds, due chiefly to the engage­ ment of English and Australian professionals as ‘ coaches.’ ” The same authority also writes :— “ It is said that at least one celebrated cricketer was not invited to become a member of the M.C.C. English team. And it is also said that the future history of cricket in Australia may produce its parallel if one or two players in Australia are not more careful of their attitude towards the ruling body in the sport. It can ba truly said of cricket, as of all other things, that the game is greater than the man.” I n a B. grade match at Hobart on December 21st G. H . Bailey, who visited England as a member of the Australian team of 1878, played an innings which gained the unanimous praise of the critics. Playing for New Town against North Hobart, he scored 156 out of 239. The only other double figures in the innings were 21 by G. Rust and 18 by H . Raad. On the same afternoon H . P. Pacy, whose grandfather umpired in a scratch match played at Hobart by H . H . Stephenson’s team in 1862, made 134 for East Hobart v. South Hobart. T here was some exceptional scoring in a match between Married and Single at St. Mary’s, Tasmania, on December 21st. The Single, after disposing of their opponents for 76, hit up 490 in 210 minutes. Of this total George Lohrey was responsible for as many as 321, made in 150 minutes. He hit eleven 6’s, seven 5’s, and forty-five 4’s. One of his hits measured 115 yards from hit to pitch, and another 112 yards. The Adelaide Observer records an innings of 314 played b y V. H. Hese the same month for Preeling v. Tanunda. E nglish cricketers complained, andnot without good cause, of the weather ex­ perienced last season. Judging from Colonial papers received, the meteor­ ological conditions in Australia have not been everything that could be wished. In his report of the first day’s play in the match at Melbourne between Victoria and New South Wales, “ F elix,” writing in the Australasian, says :— 1 have watched cricket on the Melbourne ground every Christmas since the flood (1863), and I cannot recall any day so hopelessly “ rotten” for cricket as this Boxing Day. On my way to the ground I spent a good deai