Cricket 1908

39 2 CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S e p t . 3 , 1908. H. GRADIDGE And SONS, Manufacturers o f all Requisites for Cricket, Lawn Tennis, Racquets, Hockey, Football, and all B ritish Sports. P A T E N T E E S AND SO L E M A K E R S . ------------------- OF TH E Used b y all the m Leading: Players. ^ Made In Men's, Small Men'a, or College, 6, 5, 4, 4 3 ■lzes. P r ic e L ists F r e e ou A p p lica tion . ° f all ^ First=Class Outfitters TO and Dealers. ^ Reblading a Speciality. Factory; A rtillery P lace , WOOLWICH. “ O V A L B A . ” R E I D ’ S O V A L . W H I T E . The celebrated preparation for cleaning Cricket and all Buff Leather Good*, Warranted not to m b off or cake. As used at Ken- ninr’on Oval, and highly recommended by K . 8 Ranjiisinhji, Dr. W. 0 . Grace, O. B. F ry, I ord Dalineny, Australian XL, 1905, G. L. Jessop, Ac., &r. Packcd in xinc boxes, 6d. per box. J. J. REID, 373, Kennington Rd., London. TH O S . J. T A T E , A ll E n g la n d C h am p io n sh ip R a c k e t M a k e r. C R I C K E T B A T S a n d B A L L S . 1 8 , P r i n c e s S t r e e t , C a v e n d i s h S q u a r e , L O N D O N , W The Sportsman says:—“ The bound volume of Cricket for 1907 is now ready, and affords a valuable record of tlie game not only in England, but in Oioater r.ritain.*’ T'ricf 8s. Gd., \ ost free 9s. C r i c k e t : A W EEK LY RECORD OF THE GAME. 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON E.C. THURSDAY, SEPT. 3 r d , 1908. Pavilion Gossip. The abstract and brief chronicle of the time. — Hamlet. B ain has played havoc with the past week’s cricket, and the story the faithful chronicler has to tell is a very m elan­ choly one. More than one follower of the gam e must have recalled Jo h n Trew- H a y ’s lines w ritten on the Su rrey v. Lancashire tie-m atch at the Oval fourteen years a g o :— As the rain comes steadily pouring down On the first Of the days for play, The crowd outside the entrance gate Of the Oval stolidly stand and w ait; For a reason full easy to understand, When this notice displayed to view is scanned : I’LAY VERY DOUHTFUL— NO MONEY RETURNED. For sixpences aren’t too easily earned, And are not to be thrown away. The optimistical weatherwise man Declares, in a confident tone, That “ It’s nothing more than a passing shower, lt,’s sure to be fine in half-an-hour," Yet the rain keeps steadily pouring down, And the sky puts on a darker frown, While the clouds get lower and lower still, And the east wind blows with a deadly chill That goes to the very bone. * * * * * * And so the day goes dragging along, Till close on half-past two ; With little improvement overhead, Incessant rain and a sky like lead Till even the optimistical man The wind and the weather has ceased to scan ; And, now that there’s not to be any play, With the rest of the crowd has gone away— The wisest thing to do. A l l cricketers w ill regret that B rau n d ’s benefit has proved a failure. T he match was ruined by rain, which is no respecter of persons, and in con­ sequence one o f the best players of modern times w ill suffer heavily. U n ­ fortunately, he failed to insure the gate, and as not a ball could be bowled on either o f the last two days the match failed completely in its object. Braund, however, is a member o f the ground staff at L ord’s, and perhaps the M .C.C. w ill before long set apart a Whit-Monday m atch for him . I t is only right that a m an who has played so prom inent a part in county and international cricket should receive an adequate recognition of his services. I h e a r that, on F rid a y afternoon, blankets were obtained from B rau n d ’s house, and the water from the pitch squeezed into them w ith the light roller. T h is w as so successful that it is said play would have been possible by noon but for the fact th at another heavy storm broke over the ground about 10.30, and an abandonment was then agreed to early. S o m e r s e t have experienced a very poor season, and a deficit o f about £30 0 w ill probably be reported. The games at B ath have been well supported, but the six matches given to Taunton have realised only £‘440. The gam es with Y orkshire, W arw ickshire, Worcestershire, and Sussex averaged only £ 4 0 apiece in gate-money. N ext season’s programme w ill be reduced to matches with eight counties, and the number allotted to Taunton will be appreciably reduced. The Sportsman states that in a match between the E a s t Su rrey Begim ent and M ajor H assard’s X I . at Shorncliffe Camp on August 24th, as one of the batsmen stood ready to receive the ball, a sparrow halted in its flight across the ground and alighted on the batsm an’s back, only m oving as soon as he began to make the stroke. L o r d D u n s a n y , who has come into prom inence by generously paying the losses incurred over the recent matches played in Ireland by Yorkshire and the Philadelphians, is not a representative Irish peer; indeed, he tells me (writes the Club W indow Gossip of the Liverpool Post) he is going to stand for Parliam ent, I fancy somewhere in South W ales. He m arried a daughter of L ord Je rse y . He is an enthusiast of the most vivacious temperament, extrem ely hospitable, with a predilection for entertaining his guests not only with card tricks, but also with rather elem entary physical research, in which he has almost fanatic faith. T h e Norwood Wanderers, who have recently been visiting Devon, put up a good performance in the opening match o f their tour, against Exm outh. The score of their second innings w as :— J . S. Killick, not o u t................. *T.. ... I ll F. W. Robarts, retired hurt ................... 120 J . M. Ashcroft, not out .......... ........... 39 Byes, &c.............................................. 32 Total (no wkt) ...................*325 * Innings declared closed. Exm outh were dismissed for 17 4 and 114 and beaten by 278 runs. L . H . G ay, the Brighton, Cambridge, Hampshire, and Somerset wicket-keeper of form er days, scored 40 and 28. L i e u t . H . S. K a y e , K .O .Y .L .I., the Yorkshire County cricketer, is to be married at St. M argaret’s-on-Thames on Tuesday next to the daughter o f Director- G eneral J . Porter, C .B ., M .D ., B oyal N avy. Two days later B . N. B . B lak er’s wedding to M iss M ary Godby, only daughter of M r. and M rs. Alexander Godby, of Baltim ore, w ill take place at E lth am Church. Hardinge, o f Kent, was m arried in London on Monday to M iss D aisy Cornford, only daughter o f M r. and M rs. Cornford, o f Tonbridge. I hear, too, that Fielder’s wedding will be cele­ brated before the end of the month. L a s t week K ent gained two triumphs such as seldom fa ll to the lot o f a county in successive matches. On W ednesday they defeated M iddlesex at L o rd ’s in dramatic fashion, winning ten minutes before time after a draw had appeared a