Cricket 1908

S e p t . io , 1 9 0 8 . CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OP THE GAME. 409 against the M .C.C. The absence from our cricket of the “ googlie” — a horrible word, but there is no other that conveys the same meaning— argues either a lack of enterprise on the part of our young bowlers or a physical difficulty that they cannot overcome. I am assured that several of our players know how to bowl the deadly ball, but that they are afraid to try it in a match, the consequences of failure being so serious.” T h e death of the venerable L ord Saik ville at Know le House, Sevenoaks, on Thursday last, recalls the fact that at one time the leading members o f the fam ily were very enthusiastic supporters of cricket. The first of the Sackvilles to be identified w ith the game was, so far as is known, Lionel Cranfield, the 1st Duke and 8 tli B a ri of Dorset, whose gardener was the famous Y a l Rom ney of the K ent X I of 1744, 1750 , and 17 5 1. This Duke had two sons, Charles and Joh n Philip. The former, a great friend o f Frederick Louis, the cricketing P rin ce of W ales, was known as the E a r l of Middlesex from 1720 until 1765, when he succeeded to his father’s title s ; he played for the county in 17 3 4 and 17 3 5 . The younger son, Jo h n Philip, is best remembered as the promoter of the great match between Kent and E n glan d which was played in the A rtillery Ground, London, on Ju n e 18th, 174 4, and which was won by the county by one wicket. H e was, how ­ ever, no m ean player, and, in fact, appeared for K en t in 1734 , 17 3 5 , 17 3 7 , and 1744. I t is probable that he was coached by the above mentioned Eom ney. Jo h n Ph ilip’s son, Jo h n Frederick Sack- ville, succeeded his uncle Charles as 3rd Duke and 10th E arl, and w as a very great supporter o f the gam e indeed. H e played for K ent from 17 7 3 until 178 3, and would probably have continued to do so had he not been appointed Ambassador to Fran ce in the last-mentioned year. T he Y ine ground at Sevenoaks belonged to him , and he kept in his employ several well- known cricketers, including Bow ra, M iller, and M inshull. T h e story of how, whilst residing in France, he made arrangem ents for Yalden, of Surrey, to take a team to Paris and show the game there, and how the eleven had got as far as Dover when it met the Duke flying before the outbreak of the French R evolu­ tion, is too well-known to need repeating in detail. Portraits o f the 2nd and 3rd Dukes and of Lord Jo h n Philip Sackville are to be seen in the H istory o f K ent County Cricket. K n o w le H o u s e , the seat of the Dukes, was originally one ot sixteen palaces possessed by the See of Canter­ bury. and is rem arkable from the tact that it contains 365 bedrooms. The House is referred to in Surry Triumphant, where the following stanza is to be found To fee the Surry cricketers Out-bat them and out-bowl, To Dorfet’s Duke the tidings came, All in the park at Knowle. T he fam ily, according to Collins, traces its descent from H erbrand de Salkavilla, a resident in Normandy in 1079, who came over with W illiam I ., and then returned to the Norm an Duchy. M e. G e o e g e B . R o u t l e d g e , a keen student of cricket lore, w rites:— “ In your obituary o f the R ev. O. Hammond it is stated that he was educated at B u ry St. Edmunds School. I have recently received a copy of the Biographical L ist o f Boys Educated at K ing Edward VI. Free Grammar School, B u ry St. Edmunds, 1550— 1900 and his name does not appear in that list. H is name, however, occurs in the Uppingham School R oll from August 1849—October 1852, and he was in the Cricket X I . in 1850 and 18 5 1 and captain in 18 5 2.” Those who possess a set of Scores and B io­ graphies w ill be glad to avail them selves of the opportunity of m aking the neces­ sary correction in Vol. 5, page 30. M r. J . D. B etham kindly points out that M r. H ammond died at H erringsw ell on August 22nd, and was buried in N ew ­ market Cemetery five days later. Photo by Hawkins tO CoBrighton. E. G. HAYES ( s UHKEY). HIS BENEFIT MATCH COMMENCES AT THE OVAL TO-DAY. without a run. Such is the luck o f the game. T h e E a r l of Chesterfield has joined with other influential residents in Herefordshire in an appeal for funds to acquire ten acres of land belonging to H ereford racecourse as a county cricket ground. It is pointed out that there would be ample space for gam es and sport other than cricket, and the sum required to carry out the scheme is less than .£500. An E a rl of Chesterfield, it m ay be of interest to recall, was an enthusiastic supporter of the gam e in the days of Frederick Louis, Prince of W ales, the father of George I I I . W it h reference to the F estival match which commences to-day at Hambledon, a w riter in the Morning Post rem arks :— “ No doubt those who take part in it as players or spectators will spend three enjoy­ able days it the weather is fine. But there is something inappropriate about the game. It is in the nature of a burlesque on the cricket of old times, when eight of the Hampshire Eleven pay what may very well be their first visit to Broadhalfpenny llown to join forces with Mr. C. B. Fry and two genuine Hambledon cricketers and tackle an Eleven of England on a pitch specially pre­ pared, very likely with Nottingham marl, for the occasion. Such a match might just as well be played anywhere else. The fact of its taking p'ace on the ground where Nyren and those whose names he commemorated played their cricket, after drinking the wouderful ale which he describes so enthu­ siastically, does nothing to re-create the past. Nor is it desirable tt at the past should be re­ created. In old days cricket was a medium for betting, and probably frequent appeal was made to the law which says that the umpire is the sole judge of fair and unfair play. Now that rule is not wanted except to decide imaginary conundrums, as, for instance, the question whether the batsman having hit a ball so straight up in the air that it looks like falling on his stumps may have a second shot at it as it descends, even if he thereby obstructs the wicket-keeper and prevents him from making the catch.” A t a meeting of the Provisional Com ­ mittee of the proposed Cheshire County Cricket Club, held at Stockport last week, the secretary (Mr. F . Hampson) read several letters from the gentry of the county, and it was decided to proceed with the club. It was announced that application had been made for admission into the M inor Counties competition. “ F o r m y part,” says A rthur L illey, “ I have every confidence in the future of W arw ickshire cricket. We have plenty of good material both w ithin and without the county’s ranks, and sufficient to ju stify every reasonable anticipation of a most successful future, and in such a spirit must we look forward to the programme of 1909.” I n last week’s cricket at Scarborough D avid Denton made two separate hun­ dreds in his first m atch but failed to score in his second. A t H astings on Monday last he was again dismissed T h e “ silly season ” is not yet in full swing. So far only one person has seen a sea-serpent and nobody has -yet written to the sporting papers to prove that either Somerset or Northants is really entitled to be Champion County. M a jo e A . J . H . L u a e d , D .S.O ., the well-known Gloucestershire and A rm y cricketer, has been appointed Lieut.-Col. in command of the 2nd B attalion Norfolk Regim ent in N atal, which is under orders for G ibraltar. Lieut.-Col. L u ard has seen active service in Burm ah and South Africa. T h e Victorian Cricket Association made a profit of ± 1,0 8 0 on the tour of the last E n glish cricket team , and there was a gross profit of ± 1,14 3 at the end of the financial year. The executive recom ­ mended that a dividend of ±25 per dele­ gate be declared, absorbing ±650. This was the first dividend declared for fifteen years. I t was decided to allot ± 50 to