Cricket 1908

45 8 CR ICK ET A W EEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. Nov. 26, 1908. 1882 and 1890, and in 1886 played an innings o f 127 against Yorkshire at Canterbury. He had an unusual experi­ ence on his first appearance for the county— against Yorkshire at Sheffield in 1882. Sent in second wicket down, he carried out his bat for 8 , the seven batsmen who went in after him scoring only a couple, both o f which were made by Pentecost. It was in the second innings o f this match that Peate, "having performed tlie hat-trick at the expense of Lord Harris, O’Shaughnessy, and Viscount Throwley, remarked that he had upset the House of Lords and knocked out H ome Buie in three balls. A c o r r e s p o n d e n t has written to me expressing the hope that, in the event of the Australians visiting us next season, none of the counties will ask to be allowed to avail themselves o f the services of men who are not fully qualified to play. Such a request has often been made in the past, but there is little to recommend it. One does not, for instance, wish to see C. Dwyer, the ex-Melbourne player, turn­ ing out for Northamptonshire after living in the county for only a little more than a year. Perhaps the matter could be discussed and some arrangement come to at the meetings to be held at Lord’s next month. W i t h reference to the appointment of a professional coach to the Canterbury Association, Lord Hawke wrote to that body I have pleasure in informing you that I have engaged E. Humphreys, of Kent, for your Associa­ tion. He is one of the most reliable men in their eleven, and I have the very greatest confidence that he will give you every satisfaction. A very good all-round man is what you want, and I really consider I have been lucky in getting him. He will sail with Relf as soon as the season is over. I hope he will bear out all I have said of him. With every good wish for the success of cricket in New Zealand. Yours very truly, H aw ke . The hon. secretary o f the Canterbury Association was instructed to convey to Lord Hawke the thanks of the Association. B y a recent mail Mr. Philip Sheridan, of Sydney, forwarded me five pounds for Braund’s Benefit Fund. The kindly act was naturally much appreciated by the player named, who had the unfortunate experience of seeing his match ruined by the weather. T h e first inter-State match of the Australian season of 1908-9 was played at Adelaide on the 7th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th inst., when South Australia beat Victoria by a couple of wickets. The total scores were : Victoria, 219 and 411 (Vernon Ransford, 131); South Australia, 496 (C. H ill, 141) and 135 for eight wickets (Mayne, not out 77). It will be seen that only two centuries were made in the match, and that left-handers were re­ sponsible for both. The Victorian team had been invited by the West Australian Cricket Association to go on to Perth after playing at Adelaide, but it was found impossible to fall in with the suggestion as many of the players would not have been able to obtain the necessary extension o f leave so soon before Christmas. T h is season’s matches between New South Wales and Queensland will be played as follow s:—At Brisbane, Decem ­ ber 12, 14, and 15 ; at Sydney, January 1, 2, and 4. A t Sydney on October 3rd and 5th Glebe (196) caused a good deal of surprise by defeating Paddington (43 and 108) by an innings and 45 runs. The Paddington men were obviously short of batting practice, but it was none the less a great thing for Glebe to dismiss so strong a side twice on a good wicket for 151 runs. Cotter took nine wickets for 43 runs and Bowden six for 58. For Paddington Noble made 6 and 20 and Trumper 17 and 2 0 . O n the same dates the Bev. E . F. Waddy played an innings of 110 for Central Cumberland against Gordon at Chatswood Oval. He made his runs in an hour and three-quarters and hit thirteen 4’s, but gave three chances. “ I h e a r d yesterday with very great pleasure,” writes ‘ Felix,' in The Austra­ lasian, “ that Clem H ill, in a letter to a friend in Melbourne, expressed his willingness to go to England in 1909 as a member of the next Australian team. I am sure that all lovers of cricket in Australia will be just as pleased as I am to learn this good news.” And Englishmen also will be very glad to know that the great left-hander will be seen in this country again. O n Friday, September 18th, the mem ­ bers o f tho Melbourne C.C. voted for seven o f the nine candidates who pre­ sented themselves for election to the committee o f the club. The poll resulted thus :— E. F. Mitchell ................... 1,170 H. Trumble............................ 1,138 Dr. Bamsay Mailer ........... 1,122 Judge Moule........................... 1,116 A. A. Aitken........................... 1,058 W. M‘B ean ........................... 1,006 G. B. Gordon ................... 904 W. H. Pleasonts ........................... 031 J. R. Urquliart ........................... 332 The Club will be represented on the Board of Control by A. A . Aitken. The majority o f the names of those elected w’ill be familiar to Cricket readers. Judge Moule will be better known to Englishmen as W . H . Moule of the Australian team of 1880. In the Test match at the Oval that year he and Murdoch added 88 for the last wicket in the second innings, thereby setting England 57 to win, a number which cost five wickets to obtain. I n the Annual Report of the Melbourne C.C. for 1907-8, it is stated that the receipts o f the Club were ±11,827 17s. 4d., or ±1,458 17s. 8 d. more than in the previous year. The total amounts from entrance fees and subscriptions were .£9,352 7s., as against ±9,368 2s., but Ground Beceipts showed an increase of ±‘1,694 16s. 8 d., mainly due to the visit o f the English team, when ±995 was received for the use o f the ground. It is worthy o f mention that in 1877-8, when Major Wardill was appointed secretary to the Melbourne C.C., the membership was only 400, the aggregate receipts for the whole club ±1,285, and aggregate expenditure ±1,483: in 1907-8 the members’ roll was 4,866, while the full expenditure was ±16,655 and the full receipts ±13,910. I n the matches which commenced in Melbourne on October 3rd some good individual performances were recorded. Playing for Carlton v. Essendon, T. Warne carried his bat through the innings o f 73 for 39, which was the only double­ figure score on the side. Laver played a three-figure innings for East Melbourne against University, and Hazlitt took seven South Melbourne wickets for 31 runs on behalf of Melbourne. I n the Victorian Cricket Association’s annual report is the following paragraph relating to the Board of C on trol:— “ The Board of Control may now be considered as firmly established, and its co-operation with the principal authority in the motherland makes it paramount on this side in all matters relating to the interchange of visits between English and Australian elevens. The success achieved in tho management of the recent Marylebone eleven tour has done much to confirm the confidence of the cricket world in the Board, which is very fortunate in the possession of so capable an official as the hon. secretary, Alderman W. P. McElhone. Messrs. E. E. Bean, E. F. Mitchell, and H. R. Rush re­ presented the Association on the Board during the past year.” During the last week of September Mr. Mitchell announced his resolve not to be re-nominated to the Board of Control, and sent a letter to the press explaining his position. His action was due to the V.C.A. deciding not to carry out some of its agreements originally entered into with the second-grade clubs. Mr. Mitchell was largely instrumental in bringing about the agreements referred to, and, as the member of the Board of Control nom i­ nated by the Melbourne Club must be one of its delegates to the Association, he has emphatically declined to accept re-nomination. “ M e n t io n o f ‘ W . G .’ reminds m e ” says “ F elix” in The Australasian, “ that when he was here with Lord Sheffield’s team, I said to him, in the East Mel­ bourne pavilion, ‘ I suppose, “ W . G.,” you cannot pick up any more wrinkles in cricket ? ’ ‘ Oh, yes, I can,’ he replied; ‘ and if I played until I reached one hun­ dred I could keep on picking up wrinkles. The fact is, that in cricket, either in batting, bowling, or fielding, you can never attain absolute perfection.’ ” F ro m the Adelaide Observer :— “ Mr. F. D. Harris, who was killed in the motor accident near Kapunda last week, was the first cricketer to score a century in South Australia. He was playing for St. Peter’s College against a team called the Casuals, which was organized by Mr. J. A. Fergusson in 1870, and no end of Excite­ ment was caused at the time.” W ith bated breath I suggest tha “ Be-