Cricket 1909

i8 CR ICK ET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. F e b . 25, 1909. gender in cricketers—Amateurs, Players, and a third class with the title of the one and the emoluments of the other. I would rather do away with the offensive terms “ Gentlemen ” and “ Professionals” and substitute “ Ama­ teurs ” and “ Players,” strictly confining the former to those who can truthfully say they have not made a penny out of the game. The term “ Gentlemen ” implies that the other side may be non-gentlemen or cads when we all know that one of the first qualifications of the latter is that they should pretend to be something they are not. The term “ Professional Cricketer ” is for obvious reasons not a title desired by those who do not entirely make a living out of the game. There are still a good many who are willing to play cricket as a game and who welcome the little acts of self-sacrifice that it entails, and surely there is a broader line of demar­ cation between these and the cash-amateurs than there is between the cash amateur and the professional. I have sought in vain to discover an essential difference between a Rugby team and an Australian Eleven on tour in England. Yet we find the foot­ ballers eager 1o go for nothing (and unfortu­ nately boycotted by the Scottish and Irish Unions) while certain cricketers scream because it is proposed to reduce their £800 to £700.” “ What do you think of the chances of the Australian team in England ? ” “ We lost in 1905. We have no better bowlers now, and there is no Trumper-Duff first-wicket combination. I think the side which goes over will be rather weaker than the last, although the batting and the field­ ing should be well up to the average standard. But this does not answer your question. Briefly, I shall be surprised, and of course delighted, if we win more than one of the Tests.” “ Is cricket your sole game ? ” “ It is the game in which I am most interested, but I have played tennis more or less and once represented New South Wales against Queensland and an indulgent selec­ tion Committee gave me the same honour in Rugby football.” “ The strangest cricket-match I ever took part in,” mused Mr. Barbour, “ was when I was a master at the Sydney High School. We had a poor side—one decent batsman and the same number of bowlers. One after­ noon we played the Victoria Barracks, who made 91. We replied with 7G and as it was 5.15 I suggested we should draw stumps. The Artillery, however, were anxious to have another shot. I agreed and our one bowler found a length and in half-an hour they wero out for 28. It was now they who sug­ gested we should draw stumps. We had 44 to get and twelve minutes left for play. The runs were made in three overs for the loss of one wicket, and so a game that was lost by 15 runs at a-quarter past five was won by nine wickets forty-five minutes later.” GEORGE LEW IN & Co., (Established 1869.) Club Colour Specialists and Athletic Clothing Manufacturers. OUTFITTERS BY APPOINTMENT To the Australians, 1896,1899 and 1902 ; Mr. Stoddart’s XT.. 1894- 1895, 1897 - 1898; Mr. MacLaren’s XI., 1901-1902 ; West Indian XI., 1900 and 1906 ; South Africans X I., 1901 and 1907; and M.C.C., Lancashire, Kent, Surrey and London Counties, Wanderers, Stoics. Bromley, Sutton, and all Public Schools’ Old Boys’ Clubs.—Write for E stimates F ree . Telegraphic Address: “ LeotAde, London.*' Telephone: P.O. City 607. 8, Crooked Lane, Monument, London Bridge, E.C. NATAL CBICKET ASSOCIATION. THE NEW GOVERNING BODY. The old Natal Cricket Union is no more. Its affairs were duly wound up last week, and the inaugural meeting of the new governing body of Natal cricket was held at Mr. P. J. Taylor’s residence, when a fully representative gathering gave the N.C.A. a good send-off. The formation of the new' body was mooted over a year ago by the Durban Cricket Union, bat the matter was allowed to slide until the opening of the present season, when a sub-committee of the D.C.U. drew up a constitution for the new body, and in due course it was sub­ mitted to the Maritzburg and Northern Districts. Union, with the ultimate result that there was unanimity in favour of the change. As the idea emanated from Durban, the N.C.A. representatives agreed that Durban should be the headquarters for two years, and that Mr. P. J. Taylor should be the first chairman of the newly formed Associa­ tion. Mr. P. J. Taylor has been intimately connected with Durban cricket government off and on since 1897, when he first became a club delegate, representing the Albion C.C., which had an existence from 1896 to 1898 inclusive. Although a member after­ wards of the Wanderers and a representa­ tive Intertown player, it has been more as a cricket legislator that his value to Durban has been most marked. For a season or to, up to 1902-3, he was secretary of the D.C.U., and became chairman three seasons ago, which post he has been persuaded to accept again this year. His knowledge of the requirements for the ultimate success of the game in Durban, and his tactful way of handling delicate and serious subjects have achieved much, and gained the confidence of every cricketer who has come into contact with him. And so the choice of the first chairman of the new body is a very wise one. The executive of the N.C.A. includes three representatives from each district, one from each of the two districts away from the N.C.A.’s headquarters being a resident in the town where the head office is, which ensures the safeguarding of the interests of those districts which, perhaps, cannot always send down to a special meeting called in a hurry. The first secretary is Mr. H. L. Crockett, who is secretary of the D.C.U. also. The objects of the Association are :— (a) To control all matches in connection with representative Natal teams. (b) To make arrangements for the carrying out of Currie Cup tournaments. (c) To act in conjunction with the S.A.C.A. for the purpose of arranging incoming and outgoing English and Australian tours. (d) To deal with all other matters pertaining to Colonial cricket not herein specially referred to. One very good point in the constitution is that the Association can exercise its right, and delegate .to any district union the control of any match above referred to, and any profit accruing from the fixture shall be divided between the N.C.A. and the district union in which the match is played. All intertown and inter-district represen­ tative matches, and all inter-district cham­ pion club matches will be matters for arrangement between district and district. The old trophies—Intertown Cup, pre­ sented by the Union Castle Steamship Company, and the Dunne Cup—are no longer to be put up for competition, but will be safely resting in Messrs. Butcher and Sons’ Safe Deposit. Whether cups will ever appear in Durban and Natal Senior Cricket remains to be seen, but vge hope not, with all due deference to past donors.— The Latest, of Durban. WISDEN.* When we say that the forty-sixth issue of this inva’uable publication will bear favour­ able comparison with any of its predecessors it is tantamount to stating that the editing has been brilliant and that no student of cricket would fail to purchase the volume if. the price were many times the trifling sum asked for it. Practically everything of importance which has occurred in the cricket world since October, 1907, is duly reported and, in addition to the usual features (which are too well-known to need citation), there are two special articles of the greatest interest : one by Mr. Alfred Lubbock on “ Cricket in The Sixties aud At the Present Day,” and the other by Mr. Toppin entitled “ Public School Cricket in 1908.” Mr. Lubbock naturally has a good deal to say in favour of the giants of the past. “ There were splendid cricketers then, you know, There were splendid cricketers then ; The littlest drove for a mile or so, And the tallest drove for ten.’ He is not, however, a laudator temporh acli and nothing more. He admits—which is more than every old cricketer will do— that the modem game has its good points, and he confesses that he would prefer to see lianjitsinhji score 25 runs than any other player make 100. He concludes his article by remarking, “ Although I consider that now there are six good cricketers where formerly there were only one or two, they are not actually better than they were 40 years ago, but they have more advantages, and from an outsider’s poiut of view I do not think the game (unless Jessop is in and scoring) quite so attractive as it was in the sixties.” The five portraits and biographical notices given are of Lord Hawke, Hobbs, Marshal, Brearley, and Newstead. The Note Book, now in its tenth year, retains all its customary features and contains a great many facts of interest relating to the game for which space cannot be found in the Almanack. In. the article, on “ Missed Catches ” we are told that in the 183 three-figure innings played last season 23,519 runs were made, of which number 7,815, or 33-22 per cent., were made after chances had been offered and declined. The booklet consists of 216 pages, a great many of which are devoted to noteworthy events which have occurred in all gra ies of cricket both at home and abroad since October, 1907. * Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack. Edited by Sydney H. Pardon. London: John Wisden and Co., 21, Cranbourn Street, W.C. Price, Is. Wisden’s Cricketers' Note Book. Edited by F. S. Ashlcy-Cooper. London : John Wisden and Co., 21, Cranbourn Street, W.C. Price, 6d. BOOKS RECEIVED. The Cricketer’s Diary and Companion, 1909. London: Geo. G. Bussey & Co., Ltd., 36 & 38 Queen Victoria Street, E.C. Price, 8d. and 6d. ’ Surrey County Cricket Club, 190S. For Members Only.