Cricket 1908

A p r il i6, 1908. CRICKET : A WEEKLY .RECORD OF THE GAME. 73 Treasurer, Frederick A. Myers, jun., of Haverford. A record for Ceylon was established at Kalutara on March 4th by T. W. Roberts, who, playing for Kalutara Bar against i the Galle Bar, carried out his bat for 241 in a total of 432 for nine wickets. The previous highest individual score made in the island was W. L. Kindersley’s 231 for Kalutara against Kelani Valley on the latter’s ground on February 20th, 1904. A regular subscriber to this paper, writing from South Africa, kindly sends I me particulars of a very unusual expe­ rience which recently occurred to a bats­ man in Cape Colony. Playing for Steyns- burg Public School against Schoombie, at Steynsburg on January 25th, W. H. Gar- I of the match not being played out. On the first day B made 112 and A 157 . On |the second afternoon the captain of A re- i ceived a message to the effect that one of |his team was ill and would not be down to field but, if better, would go to the ground to take his innings. B, after de­ claring at 190 for nine wickets, got A ’s ninth wicket down within two minutes of time when 20 runs were still required to win. The sick man being still an ab- I sentee, B ’s captain claimed the match, j whilst A ’s maintained, on the ground that I two minutes are allowed for the next man in to take his place at the wicket, that the result should be determined on the first in­ nings. and that, consequently, his side ■should be declared the winners by 45 runs. The query is, What was the result of the ' match? Most people, I imagine, would was available, were pursued by bad luck in having at various times the best men on the side incapable of playing for some reason or other. Jones’s illness, no doubt, was a big blow to the team. It is rumoured that they were not quite so happy a family as they might have been, but then, perhaps, dame rumour lieth as usual. One fact is certain ; never in the 1history of the. game has Australia been more deficient in first-class bowling talent than at present, and superhuman efforts should be made to unearth, a couple of new trundlers before the. next team goes to England. Had a representative Eleven visited us this season, and shown anything like their proper form, how many Test matches would we have won? How would Charles Turner, Ferris, Spofforth, and others of that ilk have revelled in some of THE FLEET v. YOKOHAMA, 1863. Dr. Allen. Lieut. Lyons. Lieut. Davis. Lieut. H. Dunlop. Mr. Dennis. Major Wolridge. Mr. Atkins. Lieut. W . Stewart Mr. Douglas. Lieut., dener carried his bat through both com­ peted innings, contributing 38 and 46 to totals of 79 and 83. The School won. In the return match, at Schoombie on Feb­ ruary nth, Gardener again went in first in each innings, but on this occasion ob­ tained a pair of spectacles. The totals made by the School were 60 and 32, and Schoombie won with scores of 60 and 331 lor nine wickets. The batsman’s expe­ rience was the more curious inasmuch as, with but one exception, the bowlers were the same in both matches. A nother South African correspondent, writing from King William’s Town, asks my opinion on a point which, occurring in connection with a league match, gave rise to considerable discussion. The game was arranged for two successive Saturday afternoons, and it was agreed to decide the result on the first innings in the event now Admiral Sir A.. H ., Markham. Lieut., now A< give the verdict in favour of B by 19 runs for the reason that, the eleventh man on the A side being absent, there was no player left to go in when the ninth wicket fell, the innings closing at that point. “ T hough the Australians have won four out of the five Test matches,” remarks “ Recorder” of the Sydney Sportsman , “ their actual play did not disclose that they were very much superior to their opponents, for they were pushed very hard upon each occasion, and at certain stages of the games the visitors held a winning hand, but failed to take advantage of it. The grit and stubbornness of the early English Elevens appeared to be wanting in this one, and the traditional pluck of the Englishman, which never allows him to know when he is beaten, was an un­ known quantity to them. Certainly the Eleven, weak enough when ever member (Umpire). niral Sir H ., liawson. the pitches upon which the games were played ? I rather think there would have been a few totals under a century. W7e have good fieldsmen, several first-class wicket-keepers, and batting talent galore, but bowling talent we are sadly in need of to carry the war successfully into the enemy’s camp.” 1 u nderstand that a movement is on foot among Queensland cricketers to secure for their State the privilege of tak­ ing part in the Sheffield Shield matches with the other States. This is certainly a move in the right direction and one which, if successful, should do much for the advancement of the game in Queens­ land. I n the second innings of the fifth Test match, at Sydney, Trumper batted 245 minutes for 166 runs. Of this total, 72