Cricket 1908

74 CRICKET A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. A p r il i 6, 1908. runs were made by boundary hits. His off-side strokes, according to a Sydney contemporary, accounted for only 37 runs, while on the on-side he got no fewer than 117, the remaining twelve being obtained by straight drives. His Scoring strokes were:—Slips, 3 ; third man, 4, 1, 1, 1; point, nil ; cover-point, 1, 2 ; extra mid-off, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1 ; mid-off, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 4 ; mid-on, 4, 4, 4, 1, 4, 4, 2 ; extra mid-on, 2, 1, 4, 4, 1, 1, 1, 1, 4, 2, 2, 1, 4, 1, 4,2, 3 ; square-leg, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 4, I, 1, 2, 2, 2,1, 2, 2 ; fine leg, 4, 1, 4, 3, 4, 4, 1, 1, 1,1, 1, 3, 2, 2,1 ; straight drives, 1, 4, 1, 1,1, 1, 1, 1, 1. Off 47 balls from Barnes he scored 30 runs; off 54 from Rhodes, 38 runs; off 83 from Crawford, 59 runs ; off 52 from Braund, 32 runs ; and off 13 from Hobbs, 7 runs. F rom the Sydney Sportsman :— “ At a country cricket match last week one of the fielders was suddenly chased by an angry tiger snake, which was lurk­ ing in the long grass. The batsman ran out of his crease in great excitement to slay the reptile, and the cold-blooded wicket-keeper, taking advantage, knocked his bails off and yielded “ O u t!” But the umpire, after the snake was battered to death, decided that the batsman should have another life.” A t North Sydney, on February 29th and March 2nd, Sydney Church of Eng­ land Grammar School (527) beat St. Joseph’s (90) by 437 runs. C. J. Tozer scored 261 in five hours and thirty-five minutes : he hit twenty-nine 4’s and gave only one chance—when 238. A f t e r their match with Victoria in Melbourne last month, the Tasmanian team went to Bendigo, where they played against fifteen of the local club. Harry Trott, English cricketers will be pleased to hear, greatly distinguished himself by scoring 108 against the bowling of Wind­ sor, Eady, Paton, Hawson, and others. His form during the past few months has been excellent. In all probability he will again be found taking part in Pennant matches in Melbourne next season. O ne of the outstanding features of Tas­ manian cricket during the past season has been the batting of E. W. Harrison. For the State team he scored 54 and 11 not out against England, at Launceston ; 97 and 52 against Victoria, in Melbourne ; and 84 v. XV. of Bendigo, at Bendigo. This shows an aggregate of 298 for four completed innings. Prior to playing in Melbourne, he had made 595 runs in Tas­ mania during the season with an average of 99.16. O n March 6th and 7th, the Fijians played in Melbourne against a Victorian team composed of representatives of the Melbourne, Richmond, and St. Kilda Clubs. The Governor-General of the Com­ monwealth and the Governor of Victoria honoured the match with their presence. The Victorian team scored 367 (B. Onyons 152) and 121 for four wickets, innings declared closed, the Fijians responding with 244 and 96 for four wickets. Sokidi made 81 in 66 minutes and Meleti 50 in about the same time, and the total of 244 was made in the fast time of 143 minutes. Prince Kadavu Levu won the toss and put the home side in. at the brand critically, and then, in a loud voice, intended to impress all ordin­ ary guests within range, called out, “ ’Ere, waiter, ’aven’t ye got none no drier nor this?” Yet poor Billy Bates, another Yorkshireman, used to explain that when, as a boy, he wished to practise cricket, he had to hurry from the factory to the village green and dine upon a raw turnip en route. T iie Adelaide Observer records a fine piece of bowling by H. Langsford in an Adelaide and Suburban Association match on March 7th. The Norwood team, for which he plays, had scored 219 and Kent Town had reached that number for six wickets. Langsford then created sensa­ tion by doing the hat-trick, and as the last man was absent the match ended in a tie. F rom the same source I learn that in the match Glen Osmond v. Quidnuncs on the same afternoon some fast scoring was done. Glen Osmond, batting first, made 145 for 7 wickets and declared (by arrange­ ment) at 5.5 p.m., giving Quidnuncs about an hour to bat, and they succeeded in making 166 runs for 2 wickets by 6.10. Selth and G. Bloomfield became associ­ ated at 5.30, when the score was 2 for 39, and scored most rapidly, th^ir running between the wickets being very brilliant. Bloomfield made 105, and included in his score was 20 fourers and one fiver, all run, while his partner made 22, both re­ maining not out. The last 127 runs were accordingly made in 40 minutes. C. G. M acartney , the New South Wales international player, accomplished a fine all-round performance for Gordon against Waverley in Sydney on March 7th. He commenced by taking nine wickets for 38 runs in an innings of 125, and afterwards contributed 23 towards a total of 60 for nine wickets. T im es have changed with the English professional cricketer since the days of Andrew Greenwood and Tom Emmett, writes “ Woomera ” in The Melbourne Australasian. When the first of these worthies visited Australia he asked for corned beef at lunch, and the waiter brought him a dantily-cut slice. The Yorkshireman looked contemptuously at the wafer, and remarked, “ That biant naw good to Oi. Fetch Oi a bit as woan’t bend.” In place of these rustics of Las- celles Hall and the rural villages has arisen a generation of sybarites highly critical upon the subject of victuals. With the last team that visited Australia was a Yorkshireman, who found himself faced by two great problems. One of them was to find things good enongh to eat and drink, the other was to get runs. He brought a friend with him to dine at the Australia in Sydney, ordered wine, looked T he Australian mosquito used to be the bane of the old type of professional visit­ ing cricketer. The first question he asked on entering a new hotel was, “ Be there any o ’ them ere moskeeters ’ere?” One badly-bitten wicket-keeper looked ruefully at his swollen wrists, and said, “ W e’ve got rats and mice at home, but them’s hangels compared w i’ these ’ere things.” Mr. L yn diiu rst O gd en , of the Toronto Stock Exctange, always has a good story. The above anecdotes of the appetites of Eng­ lish professionals in Australia remind him of the time when one of them, the identical Tom Emmett, visited Toronto in 1879. He was then in Richard Daft’s team. The President of the Toronto Cricket Club, the late Colonel Cumberland, entertained at luncheon at his residence, Pendarves, at the corner of College and St. George Streets. One of the dishes was some­ thing unknown in England, and when Tom Emmett, who sat opposite Mr. Ogden, had in a twinkling disposed of one huge helping he at once passed his plate for another, saying, “ I ’ll tak’ a little more of that coostard.” The Colonel replied, “ I beg your pardon, this is pumpkin pie.” M r . A. L. F o rd has in his possession a letter dated June 27th, 1776, and ad­ dressed, it is believed, to the Prince of Wales of the period, wherein reference is made to a game of cricket in which His Royal Highness took part. The fol­ lowing is a copy of the document:— Sir,— I was extremely sorry to hear from the letter Your Royal Highness honoured me with, that Your Royal High­ ness suffered from your Game of Cricket ; as for myself I cannot say I suffer’d much ; Your Royal Highnesses had so elated my spirits with Yr gracious receptions, that it was impossible I could feel any Incon­ venience. I gratefully received the franks, which Your R Highness was so good to send me. Mrs. Cotesworth was delighted to find so many of the Franks directed to my Latin Master, as I had then no excuse to be idle. She refers you to the Prince of Wales’ letter, for the sentiments of Her Heart towards Your R. Highness. I have the Honor to be, Sir, Your Royal Highnesses Most Dutiful, and Grateful Humble Servant, J. L. BLOMBERG. June 29th, 1776.