Cricket 1909

184 CR ICK ET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J une 10, 1909. H. GRADIDGE And SONS, Manufacturers o f a ll Requisites for Cricket, Lawn Tennis, Racquets, Hockey, Football, a n d a ll B ritish Sports. PATENTEES AND SOLE MAKERS Factory; A r t iller y P l a c e , W O O LW IC H . URINE For cleaning and whitening Buckskin and Canyas Boots and Shoes, Cricket Pads, &c. Tackedin spunzinc container,with sponge. Of all dealers, or post free 6 c l. WILL NOT RUB OFF OR CAKE. STANLEY FEAST & CO, KBSES; C r i c k e t : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 168, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON, E.C. THUESDAY, JUNE IO t ii , 1909. | 3 a f o t l r o n ( S o s s i p . The abstract and brief chronicle of the time. — Hamlet. T he record of the Australians is now as follows:—Matches played, 10; won, 3; lost, 3 ; drawn, 4. They have won the toss five times and lost it five times. T h e names of the players who will be asked to be in attendance at Lord’s on Monday next for the second Test match will not be announced until to-day or to-morrow. It is believed that the bowl­ ing will be strengthened by the inclusion of Brearley or Wass and that Relf (A. E.) will be chosen instead of Thompson. If Hayward is quite fit he also will play, so the team will probably differ in three instances from that which played at Edgbaston. S o m e o n e has seriously proposed that Dr. W. G. Grace should be invited to play in one of the Test matches, “ for the sentiment of the thing,” as it would not “ severely weaken the side ” and “ would give the younger generation an oppor­ tunity of seeing the Father of English cricket.” he be ejected for 1barracking ’ just as the person who ‘ boos ’ a new drama can be removed from the theatre ? I have taken counsel’s opinion, the opinion of a barrister who has played cricket wisely and not too well, on this important point, and am satisfied that the manage­ ment of a ground would not be acting ultra vires if they took this extreme course.” T h e Australians have reason to be well satisfied with what they have done during the past week: they gained a moral victory over Cambridge University and beat Hampshire by six wickets. I f they can beat Somerset in the match which commences to-day they should take the field for the Test match at Lord’s on Monday with more confidence than they did at Edgbaston a fortnight ago. Laver’s recent successes with the ball have caused added interest to be taken in the doings of the side, and to make one wonder what the result would have been if he had played in the Test match at Edgbaston. England would probably still have won, but not by so large a margin as ten wickets. “ In summarizing the arguments for and against tea intervals,” says a corres­ pondent of The Times, “ it is advisable to begin by defining, if possible, the rights of the spectator who pays for entering the ground. In return for a piece of silver he is entitled to see all the cricket that is to be seen so long as he behaves decently. A person who hurled lemons into the game - following the example of spectators at an American baseball match, who make by so doing a practical application of the slang phrase 1to hand so-and-so a lemon ’— i.e., offer him the sour lot of lucklessness—would be summarily ejected, and he could not hope to recover his money either at the turnstiles or in a Court of law. Could “ T h e true issue is,” the writer con­ tinues, “ Do cricketers really require a tea interval ? ” And he adds, “ It must be remembered—the fact is often forgotten by those who do not play—that cricket is a mental as well as a physical diversion, a social as well as an athletic pursuit. On either score, then, it would appear that the cricketer is as much entitled to afternoon tea and the social amenities which accompany it as the mere spectator who, if he went home or remained at his office instead of hastening to Lord’s in order to cultivate ‘ cricket’s manly to il' by proxy, would in all probability indulgo in the mild and mellow delights of the tea table.............In Australia, as in Canada, urns of hot tea, a cooling drink in sub­ tropical summers, are carried out in the afternoon to the toilers in the field. It would be inconvenient to follow this example on a public cricket ground. The ball might be hit into the tea urn, thus giving rise to legal difficulties and worry­ ing the umpires—men, by the way, to whom the mental relaxation afforded by the tea interval is invaluable.” P. F. W a b n e r was on Saturday gazetted to a second lieutenancy in the 4th Bat­ talion Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment (Territorials). D r . H. A. M ie r s , F.R.S., Principal of the University of London, delivering on Thursday last the Foundation Oration at University College, said there was a danger lest athletics should absorb the mental energy that should be devoted to other objects and especially to learning. There was something splendid about the excite­ ment of a match or a race, something admirable in the skill and dexterity of a great athlete. But there was really nothing splendid or admirable or inspir­ ing in the study of records and scores, or in the silly idea that the writings of athletic champions were literature. It lay with University students to set matters right, to do for intellectual pur­ suits what schoolboys did for athletics, and to popularise learning as they had popularised games. H o b b s made his 1,000th run of the season on Saturday, in Surrey’s second innings against Worcestershire at the Oval. He is easily the first player to reach that number this year, the next in point of aggregate on Monday being Hayes with 641 and Hayward with 622. The last-named was top of the averages with 69*11. C. B. Ery’s figures were 21*87 for nine innings, one of which was unfinished.