Cricket 1908

4 2 6 CR ICK ET A W EEKLY »RECORD OF THE GAME. S e p t . 17, 1908. upon it has induced the Kent County Committee to allocate the Yorkshire and Northamptonshire matches to Dover next season. The Week will probably open on Monday, August 23rd. “ F u r t h e r interest might be added to the Minor Counties Competition,” says the Morning Post, “ if the Committee of the M.C.C. would act on the suggestion made to them some years ago and use the matches of the second-class counties as a field for experiment. They did once request the captains of the various teams to make trial of a suggested new rule about leg-before-wicket, and for one season a Minor County batsman was adjudged out if in the opinion o f the umpire he stopped with his legs a ball which would have hit the wicket, no matter where it pitched. The report of the experimenters showed the futility of the proposed rule as a means to to stopping high scoring on good wickets. When the conditions were in favour of the bat, the bowlers as seldom hit pads as stumps. When rain and sun made the wicket sticky, a scientific batsman, robbed of his natural advantage derived from skilful use of his feet and legs, was reduced to indiscriminate slogging. If the offer of the Minor Counties still holds good the M.C.C. might do worse than ask them to try some other devices calculated to aid the bowler on plumb wickets. How would it be if the bowling crease, like the batting crease, were regarded as unlimited in length ? Several fine bowlers find the existence of the return crease a nuisance, and any intelligent person would be en­ abled to impart some variety to the flight o f his ball if he had more scope for changing the angle of its approach to the batsman. There is a strong body of opinion, respectable both for other things and because it is conservative, which is opposed to any tampering with the in­ struments of the game. Yet it is unlikely that anybody would be seriously disturbed in his mind if the Minor Counties were to decide that for a season or two their bowlers should use a lighter ball and aim at higher or wider stumps defended by a batsman armed with a narrower bat. In any case •an experimental reversion to five-ball overs could be cavilled at by none.” I t may save several correspondents the trouble of writing to me, if I state that the matches played in the latter part of last week at Hambledon and Uttoxeter are counted first-class. I t cannot be said that the Australian team covered themselves with glory in either of their three recent matches. A t' Hastings they had none the best o f a drawn game in which the closure was used against them, whilst at Scarborough they were obviously outplayed. In the latter match, however, they were severely handicapped by the absence o f Fielder and Barnes, whose bowling on the hard, true wicket would have been invaluable. At Uttoxeter, where Blythe did all that was required in the way of bowling, they certainly beat an England X I., which included two fine all-round Colonial players in Tarrant and Marshal, by nine w ickets; but such a result, failing a drawn game, was not unexpected, for their opponents were far from being a representative team. Perhaps in future years it may be found possible to play such a ma,tch at Lord’s in May or June. Such a fixture, considering that the M.C.C. matches fail to attract the public as formerly, would prove a very welcome addition to the programme arranged for headquarters. Furthermore, the fact that the match would take place at Lord’s with the sanction and approval of the M.C.C. would add greatly to the im ­ portance of the fixture. A. W . S p rin g , who has played occa­ sionally for Surrey7, is to be married on the last day o f the present month at Christ Church, Forest Hill, to Miss Elizabeth Crew, eldest daughter of Mr. George Crew, o f Forest Hill. T h e fo llo w in g letter, w ritten from B ou rn em o u th b y “ T in y ,” appears in the cu rren t issue o f The F ield :— “ The cricket week here was depressing owing to the bad weather, but to an old lover of the game what can be more depressing than the terms now used ? Three Middlesex amateurs on the sodden turf hit the Hampshire bowling all over the ground. Their comrades on the pavilion seats naturally cheered them on. Did one hear the old words ‘ W ell h it !’ ‘ Well c u t!’ ‘ Well played! ’ ‘ Good stroke!’ ? Not once. The only word was ‘ Good sh ot! ’ When we see a partridge or pheasant coming down wind well crumpled up we can shout to a friend ‘ Good sh ot!’ But how utterly out of place at cricket. How exhilarating on Saturday afternoons is the old shout ‘ Well hit ; run it o u t! ” In the course of some editorial remarks on the communication The Field ob­ serves : “ I f our correspondent heard the exclamation in connection with a big drive over the boundary he has certainly reason to complain. The indiscriminate and unnecessary borrowing of terms by one game from another is to be depre­ cated. When the novelty has worn off it becomes wearisome to hear of ‘ stymies ’ at billiards and croquet, 1 slices ’ at ten­ nis, and ‘ lofted ’ catches to mid-off. The effect in the long run is not the enrich­ ment, but the impovrisliment o f the vocabulary, as the old terms peculiar to each gaine are crowded out by the new that are common to many, just as the rabbit, the housefly, and the thistle, when introduced into Australia, tend to reduce the fauna and flora to an uninteresting uniformity.” L a s t month a Tournament was held at Victoria, British'Columbia. Eight teams tock part in the matches, and Victoria beat Vancouver in the final by 17 runs. Brief particulars of the games are appended A ugust 17. Vancouver (206) v. Seattle (103). Vancouver won by 103 runs. Victoria (155) v. Albion (39 and 90). Victoria won by an innings and 26 runs. Portland (50 and 155) v. Vernon (14 and 88). Port­ land won by 103 runs. A ugust 18. Albion (153) v. Portland (42 and 73). Albion won by an innings and 38 runs. Seattle (210) v. Garrison (112). Seattle won by 9S runs. Vancouver (176) v. Burrard (74 and 71). Vancouver won by an innings and 31 runs. A ugust 20. Garrison (93 and 97) v. Burrard (74 and 118 for two wickets). Burrard won by eight wickets. Victoria (269) v. Portland (36 and 55). Victoria won by an innings and 178 runs. Vernon (47 and 139) v. Albion (96 and 81). Vernon won by 9 runs. A ugust 21. Victoria (185) v. Vancouver (168). Victoria won by 17 runs. Among the spectators was Mr. W . B. Davenport, who was interviewed last year by Cricket. F ro m The Jamaica Times :— Mr. Van Cuylenburg, a sports- Cricket Vermin. man to his finger tips, has had the painful duty of drawing public attention to the caddish behaviour of certain mem­ bers of the crowd which gathered to see a recent match between Melbourne and Lucas. Mr. Van Cuylenburg was umpire, acting by request of repre­ sentatives of both clubs, lie had to decide two points against the Lucas players, Holt and Shannon. These players did not at the time raise any objection and they have since stated in writing that they do not consider the decision unfair, but some of the crowd were mean enough and caddish enough to abuse the umpire with such terms as thief, robber, cheat. Lucas and every other club in the island cannot make it too plain that with sunh contempti­ ble and low down views of sport they held no parley whatever. Everything should be done to mark down behaviour of this sort in the category to which it belongs. It is essential in sport that when the game goes against us we take it like men, and that the person and decision of the umpire be regarded there with the respect and obedience given in other departments to the rulings of a judge. Unless that wholesome view is resolutely upheld sport will surely become a rottenness and abomination. A t Kensington Park, Kingston, on August 22nd, the final match in the Senior Cup Championship was played between Kensington Park and Melbourne. The game was drawn, leaving Melbourne holders of the Cup for 1908. The scores were :—Melbourne, 230 (Hutton, 74); Kensington Park, 154 for nine wickets (Motta, 74). M r . J. R . C h ic h e s t e r , writing from Damanhur, Egypt, points out several coincidences in connection with the score of the Sussex v. Notts match played at Hastings in the last week of August. He w rites:— “ In the first innings of Sussex all the scores save one, which was 1, are 3’s or divisible by 3, or in some way connected with 3., i.e., three men made 0; three men made 9 ; and with the exception of one score, which was one, the remaining scores, viz., 21.18, 6, •and 3, are divisible by 3. The first three men total 30 and likewise the last three, and 30 is divisible by 3. Again, divide the first man’s score (21) by the last man’s (3) and we get the first figure of the total (7), and divide the tenth man’s score (IS) by tho last man’s (3) and we get the second figure of the total. Furthermore, the three central men in the order of going-in made 15, which is divisible by 3, and exactly half the s j ). esof the first three men and of the last three. Air >, three of the Sussex team were caught.” “ Then look at the bowling in the first innings. The number of Sussex bowlers was six, which is divisible by three, and three men bowled for Notts. Three of the Sussex bowlers did not take wickets and three of them did, and the wickets in either case wore 6, 3, 1, and one was the only score in the Sussex innings not divisible by three.” “ Three amateurs played for Sussex and each made i), and Notts won by 183 runs, a number divisible by thi'ee)” Mr. Chichester adds :— “ There may be more coincidences than I have noted, but I am being too much devoured by mos­ quitoes—it is evening time— to make further investigation.” I h e a r on the most trustworthy authority that the suggestion that the head-quarters o f the Worcestershire County C.C. be moved to Dudley was