Cricket 1908

452 CR ICK ET : A W EEKLY RECORD OF TH E GAME. Nov. 26, 1908 V. — A ll-R o u n d P e r fo r m a n c e s . Five cricketers succeeded in scoring over a thousand runs in addition to securing more than a hundred wickets, the list being as follows:— Runs. Hirst (G. II.)........................... 159S Llewellyn (C. B .).................. 1317 Relf (A / E.) ........................... 1335 Rhodes ( W .) ........................... 1673 Tarrant (F. A.) .................. 1724 Hirst has now performed the double event nine times—the last six in successive seasons. To he continued. Wkts. 174 102 151 115 1C9 SURREY AVERAGES (ALL MATCHES). BATTING AVERAGES. Times Most not in an Total Inns. out. inns. runs. Hayward ................... 43 0 175 1991 Marshal ................... 4S 2 176 1SS4 J. N. Crawford........... 34 3 232 1258 H obbs.......................... 42 1 161 1(5(53 Spring.................. ... 16 3 135 439 D u ca t........................... 17 1 77* 487 Holland ................... 31 8 89* 064 H. 1). G. Lcveson- Gower ................... 28 11 78* 420 H ayes.......................... 42 0 136 1039 Lord D alm eny........... 0 0 71 145 G oatly........................... 14 2 54 284 Davis (W. E.) ......... 23 3 55 440 Lees ........................... 35 5 97 507 Blacklidge................... 0 1 45 77 Vigar .......................... 4 1 16 40 Smith (W .C.) ... ... 18 4 39* 109 Capt. H. S. Bush ... 9 0 47 94 E. C. K irk ................. 0 0 21 58 Rushby ................... 7 3 30 38 H itc h ........................... 12 1 30 98 Strudw ick................... 33 11 55 101 Stedman ................... 5 1 12 25 N. A. Knox ........... 5 1 16* 24 The following also batted : Platt, 20 and 4 ; (F. E.), 5 and 4*; H. Teesdale, 15 and 24: Longman, 4 and 0 ; S. E. Busher, 52; and Altham, 35. The following hundreds were hit for the side J. N. Crawford, v. Somerset, at the Oval ...• ... J. N. Crawford, v. Derbyshire, at D e rb y .......... J. N. Crawford, v. Hampshire, at Portsmouth... Hayes, v. Sussex, at the Oval . ... ................... Hayward, v. Essex, at, the Oval ........................... Hayward, v. Warwickshire, at the Oval ......... Hayward, v. Sussex, at the O v a l........................... Hayward, v. Sussex, at Brighton........................... Hobbs, v. Hampshire, at the Oval ................... Hobbs, v. Notts, at N ottingham ................... ... Hobbs, v. Northampton, at Northampton........... Hobbs, v. Kent, at Blackheath ........................... Hobbs, v. Kent, at the O v a l................................... Ilobbs, v. Oxford University, at the Oval........... Marshal, v. Worcestershire, at Worcester.......... Marshal, v. Northamptonshire, at Northampton Marshal, v. Middlesex, at the Oval ................... Marshal, v. Kent, at the Oval ........................... Marshal, v. Philadelphians, at the Oval ......... Spring, v. Oxford University, at the Oval ^Signifies not out. BOWLING AVERAGES. Overs. Mdns. Runs. Wkts. Aver. E. C. Kirk ... Smith (W. C.) Smith (F. E.) Marshal ........... Blacklidge J. N. Crawford L e e s ................... H itch ........... Hayes ........... Hobbs ........... Platt................... Davis (W. E.) Rushby ........... Spring ........... N. A. K nox ... Ducat ... -... S. E. Rusher (21-2-92-7) and Goatly (4-0-7-0) bowled in two innings, and Lord Dalmeny (0'5-0-4-l), II. D.G. Leveson-Gower (r4-0-7-O) and Hayward (1-0-2-0) once only. Aver. 40-30 40-95 40-58 40-56 33-76 30 43 28-80 25*05 24-73 24-16 23"60 22-00 16-90 15-40 13-33 12-07 10-44 9-60 9-50 8-90 7-31 6'25 6-00 Smith II. K. II. S. 200 63 470 30 1566 374 107 895 57 15-70 02"4 14 106 9 18-44 405*2 117 1047 55 19-03 58‘3 10 159 8 19-87 642 125 1880 92 20-43 9153 267 2211 108 20-47 353-5 50 1202 58 20-72 250-3 55 701 33 21*24 42-4 8 132 6 22*00 42 5 10 111 5 22-20 20 4 67 3 22-33 238 70 581 23 25-26 159-5 45 423 16 20-43 110 20 352 9 3911 15 3 57 0 ------ Mr. C. R. Smith, the first lion, secretary of the New Zealand Cricket Council, has been elected president of the Otago Cricket Association for 1908-9. NEW SOUTH WALES CRICKET FINANCE. The New South Wales Cricket Association has decided to abolish payment for loss of salary this season, as noted in The Referee last Wednesday. This payment has been made over only a comparatively brief period ; that is, within tbe last ten or eleven years. Prior to that amateurs received nothing — not even the 7s. 6 d. per day now given for personal expenses. The professionals were paid £ 1 0 a match out of the colony. In the old days the revenue from inter­ state cricket was far in excess of that gathered in now. And the reason is not that public support to the game has fallen away, but that the membership of the ground has gone up to thousands; and that the Association once derived all the funds from the sale of booths, etc., for the matches. This booth item was a big one, and ran into hundreds of pounds. This, and loss of the half crowns paid by thousands now members have largely reduced the match “ gates.” It has enriched the Trust, and impoverished cricket. As a matter of fact, the allowances to players are not too great. It is true that the system of making good loss of salary to amateur players who are in employment, or loss to amateurs in business on their own account, involves a good deal of unpleasant­ ness. But this is not the fault of the Association ; it is the fault of certain players who made the Assoc'ation’s work difficult and disagreeable. Theoretically, the loss-of- salary rule is excellent; practicably, it is almost impossible, especially to an Associa­ tion with limited financial resources. It would be an easier rule to administer if it applied only to cricketers who are employees; but even then practice has shown up diffi­ culties. What the Association needs is more revenue from big cricket; that is, a bigger share of the revenue that big cricket brings. In the old days of the Albert ground, the Association did infinitely better than it does to-day, and the reason is that the ground members’ roll was relatively infinitesimal, and the cost of running matches much less. Yet the Association left the Albert ground and started a ground of its own. And that ground is less its own to-day than it was thirly years ago ! If a fair share of the revenues earnel by cricket in New South Wales were available for fostering the game generally, it would be glorious. Coaches could then be appointed to the headquarters of New South Wales cricket, aud to visit the grounds of the leading clubs and possibly the secondary schools at specifiei times. There is no coach at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and none at any of the club grounds in Sydney. When Mr. Harry Moses was appointed to the Trust a few years back one looked forward to special attention being given to this part of the ground’s organisation. But so far it has not been seriously tackled. Among the old crick- ters of New South Wales are. some of the best coaches to be secured anywhere. These include the Bannermans. Than A. C. Bannerman one has never met a shrewder judge of cricket and cricketers. Many owe a good deal to his advice. It is very much regretted that the services of men who have had such wide experience should be practi­ cally lost to the game. Many years ago leading clubs of the day with small incomes employed as coaches such celebrities of cricket as Charles Lawrenca and William Caffyn, who put in their time on the Domain and tbe Albert Ground. But to-day the coach is not known, though he is just as necessary. New South Wales cricket will not be placed upon a proper financial basis until the original intention of Parliament, and the original control of the Association Ground, are reverted to. That ground was dedicated for the purposes of cricket to the New South Wales Cricket Association. It was the intention of the powers at the time that, after the ground had been sufficiently improved from the “ gate ” p-oceeds, the revenues were to be partly expended on other grounds in the metropolis and the suburbs. The id<a has never been carried out, and, with the building extensions now contem­ plated, and to cost several thousands of pounds, it never will, without pressure from public opinion or the mandate of a statesman. Instead, we find that while the Trustees separated themselves from the Association, which had actually, with the aid of Parlia­ ment, created them, they have gathered in immense revenues from members’ subscrip­ tions, and big revenues from international aud inter-Colonial cricket, and have taken away from the Association the booth money. And thus, while the Trustees have had their funds multiplied, with a big annual income, largely guaranteed by the annual cricket programme, they have kept up the charge of 15 per cent, to the Association for the use of the ground for big matches. The Trustees of the Association Ground for about twenty- five years have been partly blind to the intentious of Parliament, to the ground’s dedication, to the Association’s rights, and to' the necessities of cricket. One or two Trustees, and notably Sir William Lyne, have shown little interest in the broader aspects of the ground as a feeder for the cricket of the State. If the New South Wales Cricket Associa­ tion were by any means to become the owners of a piece of ground of sufficient area in the near suburbs of Sydney, the Trustees of THE ground might find it necessary to refresh their minds with its history. It is true, the Trust has been altered in its personnel of late years, and it is likely that further alterations will be made as time goes on. But these alterations at best are but expedients. The Trust has embraced too many politicians, as differentiated from real Statesmen, and too few men still actively in the game. Why should politicians numerically dominate the Trust ? The more one sees of politicians on public Trusts of this nature, the more one becomes convinced that they are not a suceess. Of course one knows that politicians neither dominate nor fill many positions on the Trust just now. There is a big difference between a Statesman and a politician, and it is to be sincerely hoped that if any more public men be honored with positions on this most important Trust they will be Statesmen, fearless in doing that which is right and in setting example. We know the Hon. C. G. Wade, the State Premier, to be a man who plants his foot on the bedrock of principle and evades the quicksands of expedient. We know him to be one of nature’s best sportsmen, and one hopes he may yet confer a lasting benefit on the national game in his State by using the powers of Parliament to place the ground once more under the direct guidance of the governing body in the sport, in order that, among other reasons, Cricket throughout the State may be nurtured with funds earned on the ground .—The Sydney Referee,