Cricket 1908

45 6 CR ICK ET : A W EEKLY RECORD OF TH E GAME. Nov. 26, 1908. NOTICE TO OUR READERS. Six numbers of Cricket are published during the Winter, from October to March inclusive, as follows :— No. 797.—THURSDAY, OCT. 29. No. 798.-THURSDAY. NOV. 26. No. 799.—THURSDAY. DEC. 24. No. 800.—THURSDAY, JAN. 28. No. 801.-THURSDAY, FEB. 25. No. 802.—THURSDAY, MARCH 25. The above series sent poet free to any pait of the world for 9d. Cricket is the on]}’ paper in the world solely devoted to the game. Weekly, April to September. Monthly, October to March. Teems of Subschiptton :—3/9 per annum. Weekly Nos. (only) 3/-. Payable in advance. All communications to bo sent direct to the Offices of Cricket, 168, Upper Thames Street, London, E.C. Cricket: A WEEKL V RECORD OF THE GAME. 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON E.C. THURSDAY, NOV. 2 6 th , 1908. offered dates early in May which could not be agreed to by the Bristol people, and as those were the only ones available on the Yorkshire card the long sequence o f matches had to end. It had been known for some years that Gloucester­ shire did not favour a visit from their old opponents so early in the season, and, in the circumstances, the temporary lapse of the match, though very regrettable, is not surprising. The seventy-three matches played between the two sides have resulted th u s:— Ground. Date of first Match. Won by Yorks. Won by Gloucs. Drwn. TU. Sheffield ... 1872 9 5 3 17 Clifton............ ... 1873 0 5 1 G Cheltenham ... 1876 4 2 5 11 Gloucester ... ... 1S83 2 1 2 5 Bradford ... 1SS3 0 0 2 8 Moreton-in-M;irsh 1884 1 0 0 1 Dewsbury ... ... 1887 1 1 1 3 Halifax ... 1888 1 0 0 1 B ristol........... ... 1S90 10 1 2 13 Huddersfield ... 1893 2 0 0 2 Leeds ........... ... 1894 2 0 1 3 Harrogate ... ... 1897 1 1 0 2 Hull ........... ... 1901 1 0 0 1 Played in Yorkshire ... 23 7 7 37 Played in Glouces. ... 17 9 10 30 Total ... 1872 40 16 17 73 O f the last twenty-two matches played between the sides Yorkshire have won seventeen and Gloucestershire one—by 1 run at Bristol in 1906. as compared with 1907, in all branches of sport permitted. With regard to cricket, it is pointed out that practice is frequently allowed upon unreserved pitches, and it is impossible to indicate to what extent these are used. T h e annual report of the Hampshire County C.C. states that, although last season was perhaps the most successful in the history of the Club, the adverse balance of ±193 in 1907 has been in- .creased to £974. This is attributed to the fact that the Bournemouth Week was ruined by rain, and that one of the Southampton matches was given to Llewellyn for his benefit. Llewellyn received ,£500, which is the largest sum any Hampshire professional has ever received for a benefit. B. T. C b a w f o r d , who is a student at the Guildhall School of Music, has carried off the school prize for tenor singers. He was recalled six times for his rendering of Marshall’s “ I hear thee calling m e.” This is, of course, not the first great hit he has made during his career : it had, too, long been known that he possessed a fine delivery. M a n y of m y readers may be glad to hear that The Memories o f D ean Hole, a volume which contains a chapter of cricket reminiscences, can now be obtained through Messrs. Thomas Nelson & Sons, of London, Edinburgh, Dublin, and New York, at the very nominal price of a shilling. One of the Dean’s recollections is the following :— “ And hero I must relate an incident which created such an intense excitement as I have rarely seen, and which was followed by a discussion, never to be solved, whether it was the result of intention or of accident. There was to be a great match between Nottingham and Kent. Mynn had recently made a big score, over one hundred runs, off Red- gate’s bowling at Leicester (in which operation, playing without pads, he was sorely bruised, and for some days was unable to leave his bed), and William Clarke was absorbed by one anxious ambition—to bowl him or get him caught. He walked about the ground before the play began, and murmured at intervals to a friend of mine, who reported the interview, ‘ If I can only get him —if I can only get him ! ’ The ground was cleared ; Mynn and his colleague went to tho wicket, and the umpire called 4Play.’ Then Clarke bowled, and Mynn seemed to prepare to hit but changed his mind, and quickly blocked the ball halfway between wicket and crease. Clarke bowled again with a similar result, but the ball was stopped much nearer the wicket. A third ball came, but the batsman went back so far that as the ball fell from bis bat, a bail fell also.' For two seconds there was a profound silence ; there might have been nobody where many thousands were. We Notts men were mute with amazement, dumb with a joy which hardly dare believe itself. The “ Lambs ” could not utter a bleat. Then they roared like lions ! They left their scats, and, not satisfied with shouting, they danced and capered on the sward ! ” The match referred to was obviously that played at Trent Bridge in July, 1845, when Mynn scored only 0 and 4 and was bowled in each innings by Clarke, who took sixteen wickets. Another in­ teresting anecdote concerning the same match was recorded at the time in B ell’s L ife. In the first innings of Kent, Felix took guard four yards in front of the wicket, Clarke being the bowler. Felix, who had made 54 in the first match between the two sides, when going in w'as greeted with cries o f “ Here comes Clarke’s Pavilion Gossip. The abstract and brief ehroniele of the time. — Hamlet. A l l cricketers insist have heard with the greatest satisfaction of the gratifying result attending the meeting of the Essex County C.C. members at the Great Eastern H otel on the 10th inst. That there was a distinct possibility of the ground being sold and the County Club collapsing was well-known, but a very generous action on the part of Mr. J. H. Douglas, who agreed to take up the second mortgage of £5,000, at once freed the Club from the pressure o f the bankers, and the meeting pledged itself to do its utmost to secure for the Club a member­ ship o f 2,500. A report of the proceed­ ings will be found on page 455. Mr. W . H . B e l o e , Chairman o f the Gloucestershire County C.C., at the an­ nual dinner of the Bohemian C.C. in Bristol on the 2nd inst., referred to the county’s financial position. It was esti­ mated that there would be a deficiency o f at least ±'200 on the year’s working, and that the amount might be increased to ±300 unless outstanding subscriptions were paid. As much as ±105 was due under that head from members, many o f whom had used their tickets freely during the season. Even if the hundred guineas referred to were paid, a falling-off in the membership would still have to be chronicled. A t the same meeting regret was expressed that the fixtures between Yorkshire and Gloucestershire were not to be renewed next season. Yorkshire A t Bristol on Saturday last, Edward Spry, the groundman of the County Cricket Ground, was presented with a cheque for ±300 and a gold watch. Spry has been at the County Ground 21 years. I h e a e that next season Kent will not, as formerly, meet Sussex on Whit M on­ day and August Bank Holiday. The latter have therefore made arrangements to oppose Hampshire on the days mentioned, the first match to be played at Southamp­ ton and the return at Brighton. Sussex’s home fixture with Surrey will take place at Horsham. T h e Dover Cricket Week Committee have been officially informed that the county matches allotted them for next season’s Week are Kent v. Yorkshire on August 23rd, 24th and 25th, and Kent v. Leicestershire on August 2Gth and two following days. Gloucestershire played there in 1907, and Yorkshire and Somerset this year. T h e return o f the games played in the parks and open spaces under the control o f the London County Council for the twelve months ending September 30th has been published. The annexed table gives particulars of the facilities provided and the games played during the past season and in 1907: - - Matches played. Places. Pitches. 1907. 1908. Bowls ... ... 17 . 89 ... 21,927 ... 18,949 Cricket ... ... 34 ... 442 ... 29,010 .. . 20,820 Croquet ... . 20 . 25 ... 1,376 .. . 1,318 Football ... ... 85 ... 227 ... 15,057 .. . 14,973 Hockey ... ... 23 ... 42 ... 2,330 .. . 2,222 Lacrosse ... . 5 . 8 ... 114 .. 96 Lawn Tennis ... 39 ... 471 ... 97,459 .. . 97,395 Quoits ... ... 18 ... 31 ... 3,792 .. 7,689 It will be seen that there was a falling off,